User blog:Shadowblade777/Fanfic: Demon's Dance

Prologue: Hidden Target
"Hm, is this the place...?" A lone male human figure dressed in dark clothing with a hood stood in front of the mountains within the Gold region. He began pressing his hands along the sides of the hill as if to feel something. Sure enough the wall eventually created a small ripple to his touch, decamouflaging into a magic barrier. "I found it... She said this was here for a thousand years? It must have dramatically weakened over time." the human muttered as an aura of darkness materialized in his right hand, forming two swords with their pommels fused together; a blade staff. He then slashed the barrier, cutting it into two before it dispersed.

The human then walked into the cave. The cave was extremely short and the sun shined in, revealing a curled up creature, which then uncurled. It was a monster with a white-colored carapace and hair along with two pairs of wings and pincers arms, and an abdomen lined with numerous pairs of breasts. She also had a fly-like head on top of her hair; a fly monster. "Ahh... what a wonderful thousand-year nap... Oh, a human, what a wonderful way to start my day!" the creature observed the human and giggled. The monster flew next to the human and wrapped him up in her abdomen, but he suddenly disappeared. "W-what the?!"

As the fly monster searched around, the human reappeared behind her and slashed her rear, hitting her pairs of wings. She screamed in pain as she collapsed to the ground with a little thud. "The hell?! My wings! How the hell did you-?!" the creature's eyes grew wide as she looked at the human; a dark menacing aura manifested around him. "That power... That dark power! You possibly can't be-?!" The human didn't reply as he walked toward the downed beast. She tried to use her abdomen to trip him, but he leaped up and slashed her waist, cutting off everything below it. The fly monster screamed in pain as the human stepped on her chest and stabbed her, driving his blade deep down into her heart. The creature struggled and her attempts to push the blade out were a futile; she eventually stopped moving after a few seconds as a pool of blood formed around her body, indicating that she was dead.

"...Beelzebub. My masters told me you were one of the most strongest and deadliest monsters a thousand years ago and a threat to everyone everywhere. Then again you just came out of hibernation..." the human let out a soft sigh and wiped off the sweat on his face. "She's dead, Mistress Tamamo. I'll head back to the castle now." human quietly muttered before sinking into the shadow of the ground.

I am Shadow, a masterful Demon Assassin shaped to kill any target without regrets. I was raised and trained by the Heavenly Knight Tamamo and accepted into the Four Five Heavenly Knights and also joining the Monster Lord. I use my talents to serve them and maintain peace and order throughout the world... and destroy the evil that lingers throughout the world!

Chapter 1: Demon Boy meets Demon Girl
I reappeared in the Monster Lord's Castle in the Hall of the Heavenly Knights. I've been serving them for quite a while, following their orders in assassinating any evil monster. "Welcome back, Shadow!" a voice greeted me followed by the presence of Tamamo, a nine-tailed Queen Kitsune and a Heavenly Knight, and also my wife. "The Beezlebubs were sealed away a thousand years ago by the founding Monster Lord, in this 'Calamity Box', right? I didn't find a box anywhere. She was just resting in that cave." I informed Tamamo. "Well... Perhaps this one somehow escaped against the founder but sealed herself away to recover, but that's just my theory at best. You did a splendid job in eliminating her though." Tamamo commented with a happy face and pulled me into a hug and kissing me on the lips.

"Yes, you did a well on this task, taking care of an issue directly involving my ancestors." another voice rang out along with the appearance of Alice, a demonic-looking lamia that serves as the sixteenth and current Monster Lord. "Thank you, Alice... Hm?" as I got a look at her, she was wielding some sort of strange sword-looking item that depicted many angels clinging onto it in a rather unusual way. "Oh, this? It's called the Angel Halo, a weapon made from 666 melted angels. It can weaken and seal away creatures, but its true power lies in its ability to harm angels. Yes, today is Ilias's stupid baptism and when she descends to the world, I'll smack her with this!" Alice exclaimed gleefully; if that were an evil laugh it'd send shivers up my spine. "Also, I want to see the world with my own eyes and taste all the delicious food in the world, and I want to investigate the Slaughter of Remina. I'm going alone; both of you don't follow me." Alice finished. Tamamo let go of me and approached Alice. "Are you sureeeeeeee you want to go out~?" the Kitsune said in a very teasing manner. Alice gave off a very annoyed look. "Yes! Stop treating me like a child! I'll be 22 this year! I'm a full grown adult!" Alice whined. Tamamo nodded and Alice regained composure. "All right, Tamamo please take care of everything while I'm away." with that, Alice departed as Tamamo and I waved.

"Hmmhmm..." Tamamo gave off a slightly annoyed look. "Well, I think she'll be all right. She's the Monster Lord. You raised her well didn't you?" I told Tamamo. "... It's just... Ah never mind." Tamamo perked up and gently stroked my hair. "Mistress Tamamo, please excuse me. I've had a very long day and I would like to rest." I told her. She agreed and led me to her room. When I got there, I went over to the occupied bed and sat on the edge, looking at the monster resting there: Rose, an alraune who was fiercely loyal to Tamamo and my first lover who went into a coma when trying to save me from a fatal attack. I kissed her lips and told her what I did today before sighing. "I miss her too, Shadow. All we can do is wait for her to come back. I'm sure she's happy with what you've been doing for us, and I don't think she wants to see you sad." Tamamo held my sad face close to her chest before laying me on the empty bed and cuddled me tightly in her nine fluffy tails.

The next morning, I woke up but Tamamo wasn't in bed. I went back to the Hall of the Heavenly Knights and found her there, with an extremely shocked look on her face as she talked with her Kitsune subordinates; one of them was Nanabi, a seven-tailed Kitsune and one of Tamamo's right hands; the other was a young two-tailed Kitsune. "What?! Alice got hit by Ilias and was sent crash landing into Ilias Continent?!" Tamamo exclaimed. I quickly joined in. "Unfortunately yes. She was found by a human, but fortunately he didn't raise a blade against her. In fact, for whatever reason the two are traveling together and even slept together at campfire." Nanabi continued to report. "What?! I need to investigate this immediately! You two are coming with me right away!" Tamamo exclaimed. "Of course. And one more thing... Black Alice is making her move again. She was said to be headed to Fairy's Island, this time she's going there personally." Nanabi finished reporting. "WHAT?! That needs to be investigated too!" Tamamo shouted again; it's almost like she's having a heart attack. "Don't worry, go look after the Monster Lord. I'll investigate Black Alice straight away!" I told her. "...All right, I'm counting on you!" All four of us then disappeared from the Monster Lord's Castle, making our way to our own destinations.

I reappeared in an alleyway in Sabasa Kingdom. It was my first time here and the area felt very hot, due to being in a sunny desert area. I quickly rushed to the nearest bar I could find, and to my surprise it was filled with mermaids. I requested cold orange juice and gulped down several glasses and let out a relaxed sigh, feeling myself cool down from the heat. I then spoke to the mermaids to gather information about Fairy's Island; they explained it was remotely not far to the west but was extremely hostile to human trespassers. I thanked them and headed out of the kingdom to my destination; it took almost an hour under the scorching hot sun to reach the shores of the area. It was empty, but I could sense something coming off from the distance. Utilizing the dark power in my feet, I stepped on the surface of the water, perfectly standing on it as if it were normal ground; the bottom of my feet didn't sink. I quickly dashed toward the direction of my senses, and sure enough and island came into view.

The island itself emitted a strong flow of energy. I closed my eyes to focus, isolating that power to detect my objective's aura. I sensed three beings at the center of the island, two of them being queen-class monsters but the other was extremely faint but suspicious. I headed into that direction and Shadow Melded into the ground to avoid detection. I eventually arrived to a small clearing in the deep forest and there were three creatures: an elf, a fairy, and a... young girl? "I am the Queen Elf, who will unite all Elves of the world." the elf began. "And I'm the Queen Fairy, the most powerful Fairy." the fairy said after. The young girl smiled happily. "And I'm Black Alice. I'm the one guiding wonderful monsters to the glory of darkness. The group of monsters that live on this island that you lead... Won't you all become my allies? We'll gather all of the humans together... Suck on them... Feed on them... Sate our lust... It will be a wonderful party... Doesn't that sound fantastic?" the girl said. She had an extremely sinister tone and giggle and just as she said that an extremely sinister atmosphere grew around her; it sent me deep chills and I could also sense the two queen's fear. This power... it felt stronger than any of the Heavenly Knights... it felt so familiar... it felt like the current monster lord's! So this 'Black Alice' is real?! The elf and fairy queens hesitated for a very long while before giving an answer: "Erm... Will you please give us some time to discuss this...?" Black Alice gave off a slightly surprised look. "... Very well. I hope you will join me in creating a new world, one where we can use humans however we desire. I will be back soon to hear your decision." Black Alice smiled, vanishing. The two queens then turned to talk to each other.

After that I immediately fled the forest and ran back to the outer edge of the island. "Well well, look who we have here!" a voice rang out from behind me. My body froze as I turned around to see who was behind me. It was the same young-looking girl from before, Black Alice! Her oppressive aura made me fall on my back and crawl away, bumping into a tree. Black Alice giggled and walked over to me, then got on her fours and leaned in very close, causing me to squint my eyes. "Mm, you're that interesting human with that dark power, Shadow! I've been dying to meet you!" Black Alice giggled more; when I opened my eyes she was sitting down in front of me with a smile across her face, but that sinister aura wasn't making me feel better; it's like she could kill me if I made one wrong move. "Oh come now! I thought you were this 'fearless Demon Assassin', but you're shivering so much! Are you going to say something at least?" she giggled even more. I couldn't reply; I was completely frozen in fear. "Ah, it's rude of me not to introduce myself. I'm Black Alice. I know who you are; a servant of the sixteenth Monster Lord, playing as her 'Fifth Heavenly Knight', and a carrier of a very dark power. You're a very interesting person indeed." Black Alice said, holding onto her stuffed bear very tightly. But I still didn't say anything, her presence still making me shiver. "I was hoping we would have a little chat, but alas I've overstayed my welcome. It was very nice meeting you! I hope to see you again, perhaps over tea and a dance! And you'd better not die until then!" Black Alice grinned before leaning in to kiss my cheek. I felt my body numb and shut down from that kiss, seeing Black Alice stand up and disappear as my eyes went completely shut.

Eventually my body recovered, but I still felt chills. I looked around my surroundings and pinched myself; I was still on Fairy's Island, alive. I then heard quiet moans and saw a fairy grinding herself against my groin. I picked her up by the tiny back of her neck. "... I'm sorry. I'm sure it would feel nice but... I'm really not in the mood." I apologized. The fairy whined about not feeling a man, but I ignored her and disappeared into the ground to return to the Monster Lord's Castle. At the Hall of the Heavenly Knights, only Granberia was present; she immediately noticed me. "... What happened to you? You look like you saw a ghost." she said, noticing my body shivering. Just then, Tamamo arrived, along with a slightly frightened two-tailed Kitsune and a small seven-tailed Fox; Nanabi in her sealed form. "Hmmhmm, that Luka's quite interesting... You both run along now, I have some business to attend to." Tamamo told her subordinates, who bowed their heads and left. She then turned her attention to me. "...Hey, what the hell happened?!" Tamamo immediately rushed to me to pull me into a very tight hug. "Black... Alice... she's..." Tamamo gave off an extremely concerned look and interrupted me mid-sentence. "WHAT?! SHE'S THE REAL DEAL?! This is terrible!" Granberia added on, "Black Alice... The eighth monster lord from 500 years ago? That can't be..." I took many deep breaths to calm myself to explain the situation. "Black Alice... she seems to be gathering rebel monsters to dominate the humans and overthrow Alice!" Both the Heavenly Knights had a shocked expression. "This is a very grave matter. The tragedy of Black Alice must not repeat itself! We need to deal with this discreetly and as soon as possible. Only the three of us know of her existence in this day; Alma Elma won't give a damn and Erubetie's too much of a shut in to care. Shadow, you'd better get some rest, I'll contact you and Granberia tomorrow."

I nodded at Tamamo's request and headed to her room straight away. As I headed out of the hall, Alma Elma passed me, also mentioning about a 'Luka' whom Tamamo already mentioned once earlier. I shrugged it off and continued heading to Tamamo's room and plopped myself on the bed; Tamamo entered a few minutes later and held me extremely tight to her fluffy tails.

Chapter 2: The Hunt
When I returned to the Hall of the Heavenly Knights to receive orders; both Tamamo and Granberia were present, discussing something. "That Luka... he's showing a lot of potential even though he's just a human. I just wonder how he'll compare to Shadow." Granberia said. All three of them mentioned a 'Luka' and that piped my curiosity. "Just who is this Luka...? You all mentioned him, so now that makes me interested too." I spoke up. "Ah, good morning, Shadow. Luka... is a human who seemed to have sparked Alice's interest. She gave him the Angel Halo and I'm certain she's training him in Cursed Sword style. He seems fairly ideal on coexistence, despite being a devout loyalist to Ilias. It looks like he's Alice's 'hero'." Tamamo replied. "So he's basically like me, huh? If he sealed Nanabi then he must be very powerful. Maybe I'll observe him one day."

"Well, Alma Elma went back to the colosseum... again. And Erubetie's still shut in at Undine's Spring. So, let's get down to business with just the three of us. As we all know, Black Alice was the eighth monster lord and she's gathering monsters to rebel against the current lord." Tamamo said, bringing us up to speed. "She's stronger than the three of us combined. Confronting her like that..." Granberia said. "... We'd get our butt whooped, obviously. She's had 500 years to strengthen herself. We need another approach." Tamamo continued. All three of us pondered a little bit before I spoke up. "...When I was at Fairy's Island, Black Alice showed a lot of interest in me. I'm sure there's a way we can use that to our advantage while thinning her herd." Tamamo gave off a concerned look. "... I don't want to lose my husband and find a replacement, but I don't have any better ideas. It's a huge risk to attract Black Alice; she's very malicious and she could kill you right on the spot, you're just lucky to be alive on that first encounter but next time she may not be so merciful. All right, here's what we'll do: me and Granberia will investigate any potential rebels while you deal with the ones that have fully defected; that will attract Black Alice's attention to you." Granberia and I nodded our heads. "By the way... Fairy's Island hesitated to defect to Black Alice. But I've heard they still harbored a grudge against humans. Will one of you keep an eye on them to make sure they don't defect?" Granberia acknowledged the task at hand. "Understood. Will that be all?"

"I guess that's all for now. You're both dismissed. Get some more rest, Shadow, you'll need all the strength before your next encounter with Black Alice." Tamamo said. I nodded and the three of us went our ways. I returned to Tamamo's room and plopped myself on the bed to sleep.

The next few days I spent myself lying around in bed, doing nothing. I eventually got a call from Granberia to meet her at the hall. "You look a lot better now, are you ready?" Granberia asked me. "Yeah... Where's Mistress Tamamo?" I asked, surveying my surroundings and noticed that only Granberia was present. "She went back to Yamatai Village. I don't know what that sloth's up to, but whatever. Anyway, there's a huge crisis going on at southern seas of Sentora. Down at the depths of the sea the monster population there has been vastly decreasing over the past few days, and word is already reaching Port Natalia. It might be Black Alice's goons, so you know what you need to do." I nodded at the response. "Of course... But how am I supposed to get to the deep seas? Humans obviously can't go down that far, let alone breathe." I said, concerned for my safety. "Hmm... I'm sure you'll figure it out." Granberia replied. "That's you're way of saying 'I don't know'! How could you?! I thought you cared about me! I'm the Fifth Heavenly Knight and part of this family! You're supposed to give me the full details!" I said, pouting. We both sighed as Granberia said "... Dammit Tamamo, what's so important in your hometown that you couldn't give the briefing?"

I went my way and appeared out of an alleyway in Port Natalia. It looked interesting, with humans and mermaids living together, just like in Sabasa, only that there was no hot desert sun. I went to the bar and asked for a cup of hot tea. "Hey, have you heard? There's something down under the sea, devouring everything!" a nearby mermaid said. "Yeah, so what do you think it is? It might be a submarine; are the humans planning to betray us?" another mermaid said. "No way! It might be a giant mutant fish!" a third mermaid said. I sighed at the gossip and continued to drink my tea. "Some rumor, huh?" the mermaid bartender said toward me. "All this gossip is so annoying..." she then wrote something under a paper plate and slide it towards me along with the refill of juice, saying "Meet me out back"; the bartender winked at me before leaving. I finished the cup and went into a lone corner to disappear and reappear out the back of the bar; the bartender just appeared out of the door. "Woah, how the hell did you beat me here?" she asked. "I'm light on my feet like that." I replied, smirking. The bartender just laughed. "Wow, you are pretty damn good, Shadow. I've watched you fight in the Queen's Cup four years ago; that was an impressive performance against Kyuba and Granberia! To think a human could survive against them! Anyway, I'm guessing you're here because of that rumor? There's some crazy monster or something that's roaming around the seas..." the mermaid continued. "Yes, I'm here to investigate that, but I don't know how to get down there..." I said. "Ah, not to worry. You can have this!" she said, handing me a orb. "This Ball of Guidance allows you to reach the depths of the sea. Just stand on the beach shore and hold it up there. You can keep it. Now, go kick some ass!" I thanked the mermaid and headed out of the port.

Arriving at the beach, as I held up the sphere, a small normal crab came out of the water. It then tried to pinch my toe, but I leaped back; it then scurried back into the water. I shrugged it off and used the sphere; it shone brightly and emitted a light down into the sea. I stepped into the light in the water and dove down. While underneath the sea, I noticed my vision wasn't obscured, my clothes were still dry, and I could breathe normally, though I still needed to swim. As I swam down and reached a temple, I noticed a normal jellyfish, sea anemone, and anglerfish pass by me, not paying me any notice. At the temple I heard battle cries; I investigated and stayed hidden in the shadows: a human boy was battling against a squid monster, the Kraken. This boy had no visually distinguishing features, other than he was wielding an unusual looking sword: the Angel Halo. "So that's Luka...?" I muttered. "Hey, are you here to observe him too?" a voice rang out from behind me. I turned around and saw Alice in a corner, chewing some seaweed. "Oh, it's you, Alice. No I came here for a different reason, but I didn't think you'd both already be here." I said, watching the human hold out well against Kraken who used Demon Skull Beheading on her and then dodged her tentacles that fired simultaneously. "I see. Well, I trust you have it handled." Alice replied. Kraken summoned a humongous wall of water: Aqua Pentagon, a water barrier of space and time that nullifies any attack. Luka's attacks were futile until Alice peered out of the corner and stared at Luka, causing him to collapse into sleep. "Hehe... Just watch." Alice said as Kraken moved in to attack, but the unconscious Luka mysteriously dodges it. Still asleep, Luka's blade flashes and strikes the barrier, causing it to shatter completely! "What the-?! That's not human!" I was shocked. A hidden power in his sleep; was he a half monster just like me? Some giant meteor-like object then landed on Kraken as Luka slashed her nine times! "Hm, well I guess that wraps up the battle. I guess I'll see you soon." Alice swam out of the hiding spot and stared at Luka again, causing him to wake up; the Kraken was trembling and shaking.

The attacking monster could no way be Kraken. I've heard she's too loyal to the Monster Lord, but she's also too slow in the head to know what's happening in her domain. I left the temple and walked around the deepest parts of the sea. I could sense a few monsters around, but they were all in hiding. As I continued to look around, I sensed something... aimed towards me! I saw a large fish monster swim toward me at a very fast speed, but I narrowly dodged due to the anti-gravity slowing me down and slashed the target's underside. The creature roared in pain as I got a better look at it. It was a shark girl, with deep blue skin and a white underside and had her humanoid body in her mouth: a great white shark. "What a feisty meal! Just stay still and be devoured!" the creature said. The shark was about 10 meters long; there was no way she could be the one devouring everything down here. I was clearly at a disadvantage due to the anti-gravity, but I had no time to waste with her either. "Enveloping Darkness." I muttered; an aura of darkness formed itself around me. My body gently landed on the floor, the aura sharply reducing the effects of the water's gravity around me. "Oho? Interesting prey!" the creature darted at me at a much faster pace, but I dodged while slashing off her fins. The shark girl roared and could only shake side to side; without her fins she couldn't move.

However, just before I could finish off the great white shark, a humongous creature burst out of the ground beneath her and devoured her in one gulp! "Holy... Freaking... Hell...!" it was an even larger shark that was 25 meters long with a fat body that was big as a house, had grey skin, and a scar on its right eye: a megalodon shark! The monsterpedia said nothing about her! The sheer oppressive body and power of the creature caused me to take a step back; this had to be the creature terrorizing the southern seas! The megalodon turned towards me and let out a fierce roar, revealing her humanoid body in her mouth. She wasted no time for an introduction statement and swam at me faster than the great white shark; I narrowly dodged and cut along the creature's sides and fin, but her body moved to the side and smacked straight into me, sending me tumbling across the sand. As I struggled to get back up, the creature then tried to inhale me while swimming towards me, giving me no time to evade. "Forcing me to use that already... Shadow Slayer!" As the beast moved in to swallow me, the darkness around me body grew stronger as I wielded my blades in a horizontal position; a second blade staff was formed into my left hand as I slashed the sides of the creature's mouth, cutting them and causing the megalodon to rear backward.

This only provoked the creature, causing it to swim even faster than before. It darted towards me and suddenly turned toward its side to ram me with its body, but I jumped out of the way, causing the creature to tumble across the ground a bit. I took advantage of the opening and slashed her fin, but only small cuts were made to the creature's body, as if my attack had little effect! The shark quickly recovered; I had to think of a way to damage her faster. The creature then darted back at me with its vacuum power and open mouth, exposing its human body in it; I waited until it got close before executing Sonic Slash, darting into the creature's mouth to slash the human body with all four of my blades for a total of eight hits, then darted out to my original spot. The creature roared and tumbled into the ground again, stunned, its mouth open and exposed; I swam in to execute Phantom Blow and struck the human body with twenty slashes before darting out.

Megalodon recovered again and let out a furious roar, causing numerous smaller sharks to appear. However, to my surprise, instead of allowing them to assist, megalodon turned and devoured them all in a flash! "Damn... And I was just making progress..." I muttered as the humongous shark replenished her vitals while I was left tired. The creature roared again and darted at me, this time with her mouth closed; the headbutt connected, smashing me into the ground! I felt my body failing me as the creature moved in, mouth open! As the creature was inches away from my body, it suddenly stopped to turn around: a human piloted submarine and several powerful-looking mermaids armed with tridents were behind it! "Reinforcements have arrived!" one of the mermaids shouted; I recognized her as the bartender from earlier. The giant shark angrily swam towards the submarine and tackled it head on, but the mermaids around the sub ejected bursts of water and electricity from their tridents toward the shark, slowing it down, but it's force slammed into the sub and created a large crack in its hull; it was still operating but it quickly floated up to the surface. A couple of mermaids swam next to me and helped me get back on my feet and the bartender from earlier gave me cup full of blood to drink. I recognized it as mermaid blood, special blood with healing properties, and quickly drank it down, feeling my body revitalize. The giant shark then tried to devour the mermaids around it, but I intercepted its path and slashed the exposed human body. Megalodon roared and collapsed to the ground, stunned again.

However, when I swam to attack the downed creature, it quickly recovered and its monster mouth closed shut, trapping me. "Enough of this crap! I'll deal with you first, then I'll devour those stupid mermaids!" the human body of the megalodon shouted at me as her giant tongue slammed me against her wall of teeth. There were small rumblings occurring inside the creature, from the mermaid's attacks I guessed, but the tongue didn't budge and kept me pinned. I struggled as the human body moved closer, with sharp teeth from her human mouth at the ready. Suddenly there was a huge force of impact coming from the outside, causing megalodon to loosen her grip and be stunned again! "Damn you, humans!" the beast roared as I took the opportunity to slash her human body repeatedly. Covering her entire body in scars, I was eventually spat out from the monster; the giant shark turned upsidedown and sank to the ground, finally dead for good. I observed my surroundings; the human submarine had an even bigger crack and the humans were evacuating from it, and were cheering along with the mermaids. The dark aura around me disappeared as I felt my body tiring more, eventually causing me to slip into unconsciousness.

"Nngh..." I felt my body regain consciousness. I looked around my surroundings and found myself in a house, laying on a bed. "Finally awake? You've been out for quite a number of hours." a voice rang out followed by a giggle. I know that voice. There was also a figure sitting on the edge of the bed, turning her head toward me. "Y-you...! B-Black Alice!" the figure was the eighth monster lord! Her appearance shocked me and caused me to crawl backward; she turned her body and started to crawl toward me as well. I instinctively tried to attack her, but she grabbed my sword arm! "C-crap...!" I shouted as my sword dispersed and Black Alice grabbed my shoulders and pushed me down, pinning me with her body. "Is that any way to treat and old friend~? Bad Shadow!" Black Alice giggled as she started to rub her waist against my groin; I shut my eyes tightly and felt my face turn deep red, and after a few seconds a moan escaped my lips. "Aww, how cute~ You're blushing and moaning~" her voice said, right next to my ear. Black Alice stopped her teasing movements as I felt her get off me. I got back up and looked at her for a bit before turning away. "... What's with the teasing...?" I nervously muttered. "Oh now, if I wanted you dead I would have killed you a long time ago. I've already told you, I find you interesting! You've handled your own very well, and I'm curious to see how far you'll go with that dark power of yours." Black Alice said, giggling. I stayed silent. "At least you spoke up this time, I'll want to hear more of that lovely voice the next time we meet~ I'll get the tea ready next time, promise! Good night~" Black Alice leaned in to kiss my nose; again her touch caused me to pass out, only seeing her throw a blanket on me and leave the house.

"Nngh..." I regained consciousness and looked around. "Finally awake? You've been out for quite a number of hours." a voice said along with a figure sitting at the edge of the bed. It was a different one this time; it was the mermaid bartender from before. Was I dreaming about Black Alice...? She passed me a cup full hot tea as she mixed her blood in it. I drank it all and felt my body revitalize. "Ah... thanks." the mermaid smiled at me and gave me a hug. "There's no need to thank me, really. After all you put your efforts into vanquishing that giant shark! Port Natalia couldn't be more grateful! And for that I thank you!" she replied. I got up, ready to leave. "Oh? Already going to go? I hope you visit soon! Thanks again!" the mermaid called out as I left the house. I went into a secluded area to teleport back to the Monster Lord's Castle.

"Ugh..." I groaned, heading back to the Hall of the Heavenly Knights. Tamamo was still absent, leaving only Granberia. "I heard what happened, you did a well done job eliminating the threat." she said, smiling. "I thought megalodon sharks were extinct...?" I wondered. "... Who knows, really? Still, a humongous house-sized shark must have been tough." Granberia muttered. "...Gah! That 'I don't know' attitude again! ...Bah, whatever, I'm going to bed!" I shouted at her, retiring to Tamamo's room. I could only hear Granberia sighing as I left.

Chapter 3: Dance of the Night
"The Queen Vampire, an infamous greedy aristocratic-like vampire that mercilessly attacks and sucks humans dry. So she's my next target?" It's been a few weeks since I've fought that giant shark, and now Granberia's giving me my next task; Tamamo's still lounging around at Yamatai Village for whatever reason, as are the other two knights. "Yes. I don't need to say more now, do I? Oh, Tamamo wanted me to give you this before you engaged the vampires" Granberia said as she handed me a spherical object before leaving the hall. "Hmph, always straight to the point. You really don't like words at all, huh? Not going to tell me what this is?" I laughed as I too left the hall. Granberia wouldn't tell me because she didn't know, but I couldn't bother to have a sidechat with her now.

I arrived a bit of a distance from a cave where Queen Vampire was said to be hiding in. As I went nearer, large hordes of bats flew into the cave; vampires transformed, was there some sort of urgent meeting? The entrance wasn't guarded either, but I still had to be careful. I stealthily made my way to the core of the cave, surprised there wasn't any vampires roaming about other than overhead bats. The cave's core was a very large room, containing a lot of bats circling overhead and vampires standing around in wait; there were far too many for me to deal with alone. After a while, two vampires appeared on an elevated platform; one was a tall pinked haired vampire while the other was shorter and had a more younger appearance with silver hair, less clothing, and a monocle. The chatter came to a quiet with their appearance. "Please, give a round of applause for our glorious queen!" the two said as a swarm of bats came together and formed a small dark cloud, and out of that cloud formed a tall figure in regal clothing; the Queen Vampire herself!

"Welcome, my brethren!" the queen announced, and her followers began to cheer and clap. There were far too many vampires plus the queen's two hands; they'd give me very little opportunity to attack the queen, so all I could do was wait. "Yes... welcome to our tea party!" another voice rang out. "D-damn..." I muttered under my breath as a figure gently floated down in front of Queen Vampire: Black Alice! With her around, my chances of assassinating the queen dropped to zero percent. "Join me in creating a new world! We'll overthrow the current monster lord and devour all the humans in our path! Doesn't that sound like a sweet party?" Black Alice said sinisterly. The vampires murmured a bit. "Yes, a new glorious world for me-- I mean us! A new world, one right for us vampires! Come my brethren, we shall dance in the promised night!" Queen Vampire cackled, and the vampires began to root for her.

Dammit, I'm too late. I have no choice but to abort the mission; as much as I hate to do that I can't breeze through all the bodyguards, especially not Black Alice! I quickly turned to leave the cave. "Hm? *Sniff sniff*" the Queen began to smell around her. "I smell... the scent of a human!" the Queen hissed; her followers hissed in response. "Oh my..." Black Alice giggled; I tried to make a mad dash out of the cave, but a barrier blocked the exit, causing me to stumble backwards as I collided into it, revealing my presence to all. "Little rat!" the Queen shouted as she approached me, her two hands following behind. I quickly generated my blade and slashed the Queen Vampire's chest; she leaped back and bled, but licked up her wounds and laugh. "Hahaha, I was careless to leave my guard down from you. Looks like you've got some fight in you, kid! But are you truly worthy enough to bask in my glory? Dance with him, my children!"

The massive swarm of bats and vampires went straight for me! I nimbly dodged a bite attack aimed for my shoulder and slashed the first vampire that came at me, causing her to screech in pain as she collapsed to the side. "Black Reaper!" I spun my lengthened blades vertically to cut down the bat swarm. "Surround him!" The vampires then tried to surround me from all sides as their mantles moved around as if controlled by magic and shot toward me, but a Bloody Tornado tore their clothing. "Become my slave!" a vampire shouted; I turned toward her but her eyes shined brightly, causing my body to stop. "Guh... Yes... Mistress..." I shambled over to her as she laughed, only for my hand to stab her chest. "Hmph... Those eyes don't work on me." I grinned as my face turned to her dying look, my eyes closed.

"You're good as they say, Shadow. But the Queen's Royal Guards shall end this!" the other vampires ceased their attacks as the queen's hands moved in. "I, Carmilla, shall silence you!" the tall pinked haired vampire said. "Are you going to have him all to yourself? I, Elizabeth, will dance to this lovely night as well; don't stop me from joining in." laughed the shorter vampire. Two vampire hands... It's bad enough that I have to fight them simultaneously. "Enveloping Darkness." I muttered as my dark aura manifested itself. The two vampires moved in to bite me, but I Shadow Melded behind them, however their cloaks had small specks that shot out like needles, hitting my chest; it wasn't strong enough to pierce my body but it was definitely enough to cause bleeding. "Gah... I was a little careless..." I regained my composure and used Ghost Stab to erect my shadowy blades underneath the two, both of them dodged, but I noticed Elizabeth's movements were slower than Carmilla's, so I went after her first with a Sonic Slash. She took the direct hit, but the force my attack only caused her to slide backwards. "Not bad!" the attacked vampire commented as Carmilla moved behind me and tried to wrap me with her mantle, but I moved out of the way. However, as I dodged, Carmilla rushed at a blinding speed, the surprise gave me no time to dodge her mantle that shot at me like a fast-moving missile, knocking me down. As I struggled to get on my feet, Elizabeth stood in front of me and grabbed me with her mantle; my struggles were completely futile.

"Ugh..." I groaned, continuing to struggle. The two vampire hands laughed. "Thanks to Black Alice, we're not ordinary vampires! We're much more stronger thanks to her power! You can't escape my grasp!" I ignored them and continued struggling; as I did so something dropped out from my clothing; the spherical object Granberia gave me. It hit the floor and started making sparks and a fizzling noise. "Is that a... holy hand grenade?!" the vampire hands immediately let go of me and fled to the other side of the room and all the vampires followed suit, and I noticed the magic barrier sealing the exit fading away. I made a mad dash for it as a loud explosion sound occurred, along with a very bright light flashing across my shadow as I ran to the exit. Eventually the light died down after a few seconds. "GET HIM! GET HIM!!" shouted the Queen's voice as I ran. Eventually a bright light appeared in front of me, the cave's exit!

However, as I ran towards the exit, the light faded away into nothingness, and so did the space around me. A black empty space enveloped my surroundings. "Hm, are you stalking me, Shadow?" a voice rang; I turned around and saw Black Alice! She was sitting down on at a table with tea cups; there was an empty seat across from her. "Come, come sit and join me! I promise tea, haven't I?" Black Alice giggled. I gulped and looked at my surroundings again before sitting down at the empty seat; I had nowhere to run. Black Alice then poured me a cup of tea and slid it towards me, and I picked it up but hesitated. I looked at the eighth monster lord, who just smiled at me and was leaning on the table in an admiring way; I gulped and nervously drank the tea. As the hot boiling liquid slipped into my lips. "It tastes... normal...?" I couldn't sense something off from the taste. I quietly finished the tea and set it down as Black Alice giggled at me. "More tea~? Ah, it's so nice to finally do this with a human~" she said and poured more tea without waiting for me to answer. "Um... at least you're not trying to kill me... yet." I let out a sigh of relief as I continued drinking Black Alice's tea. "Your inner darkness has guided you pretty well. To be able to stand against one of the most famous types of monsters... It's quite unexpected for any human, though I guess fighting that giant shark was more than enough to impress. Like I said, I'm not going to kill you yet." she giggled more as she got up and walked around the table.

"Come on, let's dance~! Dance in the night with me~!" Black Alice led me by the hand and stood up, holding me close to her as we did a rather 'slow' dance; I had a rather bored look but Black Alice wouldn't let me out of her grasp, so I was forced to comply. As we danced, Black Alice moved her hips close to me and started rubbing herself on my groin, causing me to blush and let out a moan. At some point my body tripped and landed on the dark floor, causing Black Alice to stumble on top of me as she straddled my lap. "Woah, what a fall there~" Black Alice giggled; I blushed and looked away, but she turned my head back to her, wraps her arms around my neck, and kissed my nose again; I felt a little woozy from the contact but this time I didn't faint. "You never cease to amaze me, Shadow. You really are the perfect dark human, that manifested darkness within you came to you by no accident, I can assure you." Black Alice continued to comment about my inner power. "... Just... why are you so interested...?" I asked. Black Alice's expression suddenly turned to a surprised one, but she quickly resumed her giddy expression. "Oh~ I'd rather tell you another time~ We're both busy people after all~ Thank you for all the fun, though~ I'll see you again~!"

Black Alice waved toward me as the surrounding darkness faded away; when I blinked I found myself back at the Monster Lord's Castle. "What the... Just what are you planning, Black Alice...?" I muttered and went to the hall of the heavenly knights. Of course, Granberia was waiting, but to my surprise Alma Elma, Tamamo, and Erubetie were also present. "Luka-boy, he's getting a lot stronger! He defeated me during the Queen's Cup using wind!" Alma Elma exclaimed. "Hoho, really? Surely you must have just given him the win! Nevertheless he's getting a lot better at handling the power of earth." Tamamo said. "... That boy will pay for treading his muddy feet through my territory." Erubetie grudgingly complained. "Hm, looks like I'll have to test him again. Once he acquires Salamander I'll drop by..." Granberia said. "Are we talking about Luka? I've seen him hold well against Kraken... Even got past her Aqua Pentagon technique." I joined in. The knights were surprised at my appearance, but they quickly greeted me. "So, how'd that mission go?" Tamamo piped up. "... I... failed. I'm sorry, but the target was too heavily guarded." I said, sighing. Tamamo and Alma Elma held me to them, comforting me for my failure; Granberia stood on the sidelines with silence and closed eyes while Erubetie gave off a grudgingly annoyed sound. "It's okay, I understand you had little opportunity. Still, you did a splendid job in your investigation, so go rest." I nodded at Tamamo's suggestion and retired to her room.

Chapter 4: The Mysterious Seal
"Hey, Shadow. Do you remember Grangold?" Tamamo asked me. "Yes, you mentioned about a mysterious figure named Promestein giving them technology. Did something go haywire?" I asked. "Well, I've just received a report: the humans are detaining Queen Ant in there! That must be why the Ant Girls are mindlessly obeying the humans there." Tamamo exclaimed. "Queen Ant's loyal to the Monster Lord. I'm guessing you want me to free her?" I replied. "Yes, also I want you to bring me any notes and data pertaining to the seal used on her. The other knights don't know about this, so report to me only, all right?"

I warped to the outskirts of Grangold. As I approached, a humongous rocky figure stood in front of the gate. "WARNING. NO AUTHORITY TO PASS. RETURN." the figure's voice boomed, but I ignored it and walked toward the gate through the creature's legs. "INTRUDER REMAINS. BEGIN REMOVAL." I still ignored the creature. "ATTACK METHOD B SELECTED." the figure tried to stomp me with its gigantic foot, but I rushed out of the way. "Tch, how annoying..." I muttered as I dashed into the open gate; there was no way for the creature to follow beyond the gates. I sighed and looked around, noticing humans lounging around and drinking beer and swiss cheese while the ant girls, a mud monster, and a robot monster were doing all the labor. "Lazy-ass idiots..." I searched for the castle and headed into it.

I stealthily made my way in, noticing many lazy humans guards but a number of ant guards and scientists working and walking around. I followed a scientist heading down a long staircase, leading me into a large busy room with many machines. "Hey, lunch time guys." the scientist that came down said, gesturing all the other scientists to follow. "Hooray, I hope it's fried chicken!" one of the workers said. "Man, I'm beat... I could go for lunch!" this was perfect! I didn't have to do anything to incapacitate them!

There were a few discs carelessly lying around so I snagged those. I then went to press the buttons on the machine, and eventually a long document came out of the machine. I had no time to read it; I quickly glimpsed the top which said "Queen Ant's Seal Data" and took the report with me. After looking around I found a hidden door in the corner of a room, leading me to a small chamber. There was another machine with a capsule above it containing Queen Ant! She looked like she was in stasis, but her antennae were still moving. I generated my sword and slashed the machine; the small wreckage emitted sparks, but the room started blaring and flashing red. Suddenly an overwhelming force of anger appeared in the room, along with a voice saying "My children, attack the humans! Make them pay for what they did to your mother!"; they both came from Queen Ant. Her antennae were moving more vigorously and her body began to shake; the capsule slowly began to crack. "What the hell?!" a came a voice outside the room as the scientists returned and stared in shock; I Shadow Melded into the wall. "No! She's about to be free!" I quickly fled the room as I heard the sounds of glass shattering and the ecstasy screams of the male scientists behind me.

I immediately left the castle and saw the monsters attacking the humans, spotting the ant girls taking the humans into the castle. As that happened, I spotted a male human fighting back against the monsters; I recognized him as Luka, this time he felt much more powerful since I first encountered him, but Alice wasn't with him. I sensed Alice's presence as well, coming from outside the kingdom. I escaped the kingdom undetected by the monsters; Alice was slumped against the wall. "You look bored, Alice..." I said. She gave off a terrified shriek as if I scared her. "AIEEEEEE! Oh, it's just you, Shadow. Did that stupid fox send you on a mission here?" Alice asked. "Yes. I came here to gather data on Queen Ant's seal and free her. Her aura of anger is pretty extreme. I'm sure you're interested as to why she was sealed?" I replied, handing her the report. Alice examined it thoroughly. "WHAT?! They're developing a seal... to use against the Monster Lord?! I have to make sure...!" a shocked Alice exclaimed as she handed me back the report and went back into the kingdom. I sighed; knowing Luka and Alice obviously have the situation under control, I returned to the Monster Lord's Castle.

Tamamo greeted me as I handed her the report and discs. She studied the document thoroughly. "WHAT?! They're developing a seal... to use against the Monster Lord?!" Tamamo exclaimed. She then put one of the discs into her mouth and said: "Five years ago, a mysterious scientist named Promestein gave Grangold free technology to use and test them..." She then took the disc out of her mouth and had a grave look on her face. "... So it's true, Promestein's working far more sinister plans. I knew one day someone would try to seal the Monster Lord... Anyway, you did well done retrieving this. I have to analyze this right away." I laid down on the bed as Tamamo studied the document and continued sticking discs into her mouth.

Chapter 5: Land of Eternal Paradise?
"Well, Mistress Tamamo? You look troubled." I said, clinging onto Tamamo's fluffy tails. "Yes... Well... The thing about that other day has been on my mind for a while. And now I have the feeling that something very bad will happen in the upcoming days..." Tamamo replied. "Eh? What's this 'bad thing that will happen?" a voice rang out from behind us; it was Granberia. "Oh, um... Nothing...?" Tamamo responded. Granberia went silent, eyes closed, as if she knew Tamamo was holding back on her. "I-it's not important. Anyway, you got here just in time; there's two problems that needs to be taken care of. The first is the Succubus Village: I've recently received word that they're planning to revive a legendary succubus known as Lilith; she was a subordinate of Black Alice 500 years ago, and we need to confirm her plans right away." Tamamo explained. "Hm... Wait, I thought the Purple Sabbath happened almost a week ago? This is a succubus problem, right? Shouldn't Alma Elma have done something?" I asked. "Yes, well... As the so-called Queen Succubus, I THOUGHT she'd take care of it, but since that would require her to actually do something useful for once, I guess not. And I didn't know that she hadn't done anything about it until less than an hour ago..." Tamamo replied. "... Lazy-ass idiot... Ugh, fine I'll clean up her stupid mess. And, what's the second mission?" I accepted the task and waited for the next mission's details. "The second mission is Fairy's Island. You both remember what happened right? This time they've escalated into kidnapping a human; the Sabasa Princess to be precise. I don't know what they're planning, but it can't be left alone, especially when they might be planning to align themselves with Black Alice." Tamamo explained the details of the mission. "Oh, right. I guess I should clean up after mysel--" I responded, but Granberia interrupted, with a light blush on her face. "... No. You have your own task; I'll investigate this one. It's more efficient this way, and you don't need to tire yourself so much."

I thanked Granberia and the three of us went our own separate ways. I arrived just at the outskirts of the so-called Succubus Village. I was told that this Purple Sabbath happened every 100 years where succubi flocked to the village to attack and rape humans, or so it was said; in actuality high-level succubi implant themselves and use magic to turn the female human inhabitants into succubus. As I stepped into the village, I could feel the presence of monsters all around, along with weakened spirits of human men. Eventually coming closer, I spotted many human men laying on the ground with ecstasy faces, being openly 'serviced' by naked women with demonic wings and tails; succubus. "Hi, welcome to Succubus Village!" a female voice greeted me; I turned around and a red-haired succubus greeted me, a Maccubus judging from her power and semen covered all over her body. I quickly engaged a defensive stance, ready if she was going to try to attack me. "You must have had a long day, traveler!" said another voice. "Yes, let us make you feel welcome to our village!" two more succubi joined in; a younger light-green haired Mincubus and a taller blonde Lencubus. All three of them showed no signs of hostility, so I stood down. "Sorry, but I don't have time. I need to speak to your leader right away." I told them. "Aw, you don't want to get serviced by us?" Maccubus seductively gestured. "... No."

The three succubus that introduced themselves had disappointments on their face, but I waved it off as they pointed to the chief's house. "This isn't like what Mistress Tamamo described to me at all... Rather it seems like the humans want to be sucked dry, but at least the succubi aren't going that far to kill them..." I muttered to myself as I arrived at the chief's house. "Hello there!" the village chief greeted me; a senior succubi with green hair and had a strong flow of power coming off of her. Next to her was a witch-looking senior succubus, also radiating power, who greeted me as well. "Ah, what a cutie! Did you come all this way to have fun with me~?" the village chief smiled in delight with a blush on her face while the witch simply giggled. "... No. I'm here to investigate the revival of Lilith and the Purple Sabbath. But... it's far more different than what I was informed of." I told her. "Oh, I see. You're a bit slow in getting here. Well, not to worry our days of attacking human settlements are over. We're not kidnapping men or keeping them against their will, in fact they love us so much they want to be our livestock! But, why do you request an audience with Lilith & Lilim?" the chief replied and asked. "A request from the Five Heavenly Knights." Just as I said that, the chief burst out laughing. "W-what? F-five? You must be joking! There are only four! You act as if you're one of them, but how can a mere human be so? Hahaha!" But the witch started backing up very slowly with a concerned expression. "I-I don't think he's playing around... There's something in him..." In a flash, I instantly generated my blades and held them up toward the chief's throat. "She's right, I'm dead serious. I'd almost forgotten my identity as a Heavenly Knight was kept secret due to non-believers. Now tell me where Lilith is!" the succubus village gulped at my threats and pointed to a door behind her.

I barged into the door and entered a room lined with magic circles; a ritual-summoning chamber. At the center were two tanned and blonde succubi. "Hehe... A delicious smelling boy is here, sister." the elder succubus, Lilith asked as her eyes looked up and down on me. "He looks absolutely delectable, sister. I want to play with him, and absorb his energy so badly..." the younger Lilim said. "... Let's get to the point. I need to know what happened to this town." I told them. "Oh? Will you reward us if you do?" giggled Lilith as the four succubi began to explain in great detail how they wanted a haven to live in without being orchestrated by human women, and after being stopped by a hero, he and the current Monster Lord allowed them to live and prosper in the village. "I see... so it looks like Luka handled the village here, too. Thank you for your time." The four succubi seemed really happy, so it looks like there was no need for violence after all. The chief and witch left and as I was about to follow suit, I stopped and turned toward the legendary succubi sisters. "One more thing... You both were once subordinates of Black Alice, right? What was she like...?"

Both the succubi sisters looked at me in surprise. "A human, curious about Black Alice?" Lilith asked curiously. "Teeheehee, what an interesting boy." Lilim giggled in delight. "Alice the Eighth, she was so kind to us back then..." Lilith began. "Yes, she was the one who inspired our dream." Lilim continued. This left me dumbfounded; despite all I've heard about Black Alice being evil, these two are saying that she's actually kind-hearted and looks out for her brethren. Was the Black Alice I've met really her 'good' side as these two are saying? The two were loyal to the current Monster Lord, so I intentionally neglected to tell them about Black Alice's existence in the current era, otherwise they'd likely jump the chance to join her. "By the way... That power of yours... It feels similar but extremely faint..." Lilith examined me, sniffing my body. "Why yes, sister. The power lying with him also feels familiar to me as well... But it's too hard to pinpoint its origin." Lilim commented. Wait, my power existed around 500 years ago? It was astonishing to hear, but it's too bad they didn't know much about it. "Heehee, you must have had a long day. Why don't you relax with us?" the sisters offered. They're rather quick to change the subject, but I nodded as I pushed Lilith down on the floor and threw Lilim on top of her before moving in pantless. "K-kya?!"

The next day I found myself sandwiched between Lilith and Lilim. I excused myself to head back to the Monster Lord's Castle, but before I left the two said I was welcome to be sandwiched again anytime. Back at the castle, I went to the hall to report in. "Eh? Shadow you... smell funny." Tamamo told me. I explained to her the condition of the Succubus Village and she was relieved to hear that Lilith and Lilim pledged loyalty to the current Monster Lord, unaware of Black Alice's existence. Tamamo was quite pleased to hear that as Granberia arrived as well, blushing. "W-well... Queen Elf pledged loyalty and turned down Black Alice's offer. She apologized for kidnapping the Sabasa Princess, too. Coincidentally, Luka was also there." she reported in. "Erm, why so nervous?" I asked. "... B-because... I accidentally 'kidnapped' her..." Granberia replied. Both me and Tamamo jaw-dropped. "WHAT?! RETURN HER RIGHT NOW!" Tamamo shouted. "I-It was an accident! She jumped me! And I can't, she's insisting on being my maid!" Granberia replied, her face reddening more. I sighed a bit and retired to Tamamo's room, but it was rather interesting to hear Granberia 'capturing' a human...

As I was about to lay down on the bed, there was a knock on the door. "Hello? I have a plate of thin fried tofu for a Tamamo and a cup of tea for a... Shadow?" a woman's voice came from out the door. "Yes? Come in." I replied. The door opened and an unexpected figure stepped in: a blonde human wearing a maid outfit. After setting down a tray carrying a cup of tea and several dishes of thin fried tofu, the maid turned toward me and bowed. "It's a pleasure to be in your acquaintance, miss... eh?" the figure looked up at me with surprise. "Y-you're a human... Are you working as a butler?" What kind of assumption is that? I don't even look like a butler! "... No. I'm one of the Five Heavenly Knights, the Demon Assassin Shadow, and Mistress Tamamo's right hand." I told her as I took the cup of tea, but this only caused her to be more confused. "Eh...? I thought they were only four...? How did a human become one...?" I quietly sighed. "... Long story short, I'm a half-monster too, just like you. I can sense your monster bloodline; succubus power flowing through your veins." I said. This caused her to be at awe. "... Wow, you can tell that much? You're like my father; he can gauge the abilities of other creatures. Oh, how rude of me not to introduce myself. I'm Sara, the Princess of Sabasa. I'll be working here in the castle as Granberia's maid, out of my undying love for her! See this dragon mark on the back of my hand? With proof that I completed the Dragon Seal Trial, I'm one step closer to being Granberia's lovely wedded wife!" Sara exclaimed; I quietly sipped my tea. "I... see." I wasn't particularly interested in her story, but it was only fair I shared my story as well. Once again, Sara was surprised and at awe. "Wow... what an impressive half-human you've become, just like my dad..." I finally finished my tea and set it on her tray. "Ah, right I'd better get back to work. Thank you for your time." Sara bowed again before leaving with the tray. A minute later, Tamamo came in, munching thin fried tofu. "Hmmhmm, so many interesting humans. I figure it won't be long for that Luka to come barging in, too." I let out a sigh as I went back to sleep.

Chapter 6: Epic Human Battle - Hero vs Demon Assassin
"Shadow? Are you almost through with your mission? When you're done, get back to the Monster Lord's Castle right away!" Tamamo telepathically ordered me. "Give me a minute!" I telepathically responded while slashing my enemy's chest, Tsuchigumo; an elite spider monster. "Grr, you brat! How can you resist for so long?!" the giant spider hissed as she tried to ram her body into me, but I noticed she was drastically slowing down, allowing me to dodge. "Stay still dammit!" the creature tried to fling webs at me, but I dodged them; I Shadow Melded behind the creature and used Phantom Blow on her rear, causing her to hiss in pain before collapsing. Her space-time cave field around us disappeared, and I fled the cave of spiders once the dimension was distorted. Eventually I made it out and went a safe distance from the den to teleport.

"Wait one moment, Shadow." a voice rang out in front of me; Black Alice. She gently floated down in front of me and opened out her arms. " I want you to join me, play a part in the new world that will be created." she offered. "...And I've told you before, no. I won't follow a path of destruction. I've made my own path of defeating all those that are evil... And one day that will have to include you." I sternly told Black Alice. She put her arms down. Her facial expression didn't display shock or disappointment, rather she smirked at what I said. "I... see. You really are interesting in your own way, using that power that way... Very well, I was hoping we wouldn't have to be on opposite sides. Unfortunately I will have to end our meeting now, but I will warn you this much: the creation of the new world will begin... tonight. I hope you're ready for it~" Black Alice giggled before vanishing. "T-tonight...?!" I immediately teleported back to the Castle.

"Mistress Tamamo, it's urgent!" I shouted as I rushed into the Hall of the Heavenly Knights; surprisingly all the other four were gathered. "... Yes, Shadow, we know. Luka's already here rampaging in the castle, making his way toward us. We've already deployed the Giganto Weapon against him." Tamamo said. "Luka... Wait, what?! He's finally here at last?" So that's why all five of us are present, waiting for Luka to challenge us. I quickly pulled Tamamo out of the room to talk to her. "... No, it's much more urgent! Black Alice... She's going to spread her world-wide terror tonight!" Tamamo reared back in shock. "W-WHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! Tonight?! It can't be... It isn't a coincidence that she's going to do it on the day that Luka comes to defeat us... Once we're weakened she's going to take advantage of that...! ... This... was all part of her plan... A trap for us... Darn it... if the fight between us and Luka stops, she'll notice... We don't have a choice but to spring the trap..." Tamamo sighed deeply. "Thank you, Shadow. You've done all you can..." Tamamo said quietly, leading me back into the hall.

The other Heavenly Knights didn't seem to care as to what happened between me and Tamamo. After a while, the door leading to the hall burst open, and the human Luka stepped in. As the Knights greeted him with varying levels of friendliness, I stood in the shadows. He then asked the Knights to stop attacking humans, but they refused. As Luka readied his blade, I launched a lightning-speed slash toward him, but to my surprise he blocked it. "W-what the...?" Luka looked at the knights, but they were still in the same gesture as when I attacked Luka. He eventually got a good glimpse of me: a human standing between him and the other knights. "You... did they capture you?" Luka asked." There was a heavy silence as I put the palm of my hand to my face. "No, you idiot! If I was captured I wouldn't be here! I'm the Fifth Heavenly Knight, the Demon Assassin, Shadow. And I'll be the first to face you!" I exclaimed. "... Five? I thought there were four...? How is a human one of them?" I facepalmed again. "You're a total idiot. What do you think would happen if word got out if a half-human was a member of the Heavenly Knights? Idiot."

I quickly zipped behind him and attacked him; Luka took the attack by surprise and was flung forward. "... Are you serious? Are you holding back on me because I'm half-human? Idiot, you're disappointing us all already." I taunted as I charged forward to slash him. "Sylph!" Luka cried out and narrowly evaded my attack. I was informed that Luka was receiving aid from the Four Spirits; I had to be careful. "I'm a hero! I won't let some assassin of the Heavenly Knights stop me in my way!" Luka arrogantly cried out as he made lightning fast thrust toward me, which I tried to dodge but grazed my cheek; Lightning Sword Flash, enhanced by Sylph. I wiped the blood off my cheek. "Enveloping Darkness." Luka was taken aback as a dark aura manifested around me. "W-what is that...?" Luka said, confused. "I've told you, idiot, I'm a half-human. It's only logical that my other half is from monster origin; this is the power laying dormant within me." I replied as I used Sonic Slash; Luka shouted "Gnome" and tried to withstand, but the attack's force knocked him back into a pillar. He then quickly jumped up and dropped his sword down on me with a heavy force, but I dodged as the attack came inches away from my foot; Earth Rumbling Decapitation, enhanced by Gnome.

I used Shadow Meld to slip behind him and executed Phantom Blow; he took all ten hits head-on, causing him to stumble. As he struggled to get back on his feet, he suddenly closed his eyes and took a second breather before getting back up on his feet; I sensed his vitals completely recovering. "Did you... heal...?" What a cheater; I myself only had Enveloping Darkness Devil's Toxin, but that recovery was too small compared to Luka's healing. I executed Sonic Slash again, but Luka too used Lightning Sword Flash; our attacks completely collided, completely offsetting each other. "Hmph, you're as good as they say." I complimented, noticing his power beginning to show its colors. I gripped my sword tightly and shot a Ghost Stab at him; he didn't dodge the two spikes that struck the back of his neck, and I used the opening to attack him with Black Reaper, once again knocking Luka down. He used that recovery thing again; jeez, how many times can this guy use that?!

"I see now... I see now why you're one of the Heavenly Knights. It's impressive for two humans to come so far into the Monster Lord's Castle." Luka complimented. "Undine!" he shouted, calling the spirit of water. "Undine... It's been so long hasn't it?" I muttered as I used Phantom Blow, but Luka dodged my attacks; that accursed water power was close on Granberia's level, but more than enough to still evade my attacks. Luka then made an attack that hit me square in the shoulder, causing me to cough out blood. "I shall cut along the flow; Serene Demon Sword!" Luka cried out as he sheathed his sword before pulling it out in a fluid slash; I tried to intercept him but he dodged the attack and struck back, hitting me in the chest and knocking me on my back. I got back up, but Luka struck me down with the same technique again; I was no match for his water.

My body was on the ground, exhausted from the relentless water attacks and the darkness wearing out on me, my aura fading. "Come, Sylph!" Luka shouted as he raised his sword above his head. "Come, Gnome! Come, Undine!" Luka called out as his sword began to radiate immense power. "Come, Salamander!" Luka's sword started shaking, radiating an overwhelming force. "Quadruple Giga!!" Luka cried as he dropped his blade, creating a massive explosion and a giant empty crater in his wake! "What the hell is wrong with you?! Are you trying to kill me, just like how you vaporized Imp?! Idiot! That was completely overkill!" I Shadow Melded behind Luka and kicked him into the crater. He quickly got back out. "S-sorry... Come Salamander; Vaporizing Rebellion Sword!" I was panting and tried to use Bloody Tornado to counterattack, but his five hits of flame canceled my counterattack and knocked me onto the ground. "... Damn, it's my loss..."

"You fought very well, Shadow. I commend your power. Now, are you going to stop driving a wedge between humans and monsters?" Luka tried to help me up, but I ignored his hand and helped myself, then slumped over to one of the pillars to lay back and rest. "... I never did any of that. I was only assigned to eliminate those who tried to cause trouble. However, you do have my word in creating a coexisting world." I replied. "One down, four more left..." Luka went to challenge the remaining knights, and one by one he defeated them all while enhancing his Four Spirit powers. Luka was quite shocked to see all five of us bowing before him, but his congratulations stopped as a booming voice entered the room: Alice. The door ahead opened and Alice called Luka to challenge her; Tamamo told him to wait but Luka ignored her and rushed through, and the door closed. "... Luka... He'd better not go down that path..." Tamamo said scornfully. I knew what she was talking about; the path of allowing Alice's self-sacrifice and killing her. "... We can't do anything... All we can do is hope Luka makes the right choice..." I said as I slumped onto the ground, passing out.

Chapter 7: Demonic Assault
A sudden violent rumble woke me up; the heavenly knights had grave looks on their faces as a Behemoth came running in. "I-it's urgent! S-strange monsters have invaded the castle!" she reported. "W-what?! Intercept them right away! " Tamamo commanded. "We've already begun to counterattack, but there's far too many! They're also being assisted by a-a-ang-- Gah!" the Behemoth was interrupted as she was shot by an arrow from behind. Her assailant was wearing pink with a bow, had hearts for eyes, a long braided blonde hair, and two white wings; an angel. "A-angels too?! H-has Ilias declared war again!?" Tamamo exclaimed in surprise; the other knights were shocked. Shortly after, several castle residents rushed into the room, followed by a horde of many unusual-looking beast monsters. Tamamo quickly disappeared from the hall and Erubetie went into the throne room, leaving only me, Alma Elma, and Granberia to fight against the defenders.

"Bloody Tornado!" I shouted as I attacked the strange monster, but the creature blocked my attack with their long tails; my fight with Luka left me severely drained, unable to go all out. "Death Sword Chaos Star!" Granberia leaped beside me as her sword flashed like a shooting star and unleashed a barrage of strikes, knocking back the opposition. Two more strange monsters appeared to take the downed one's place and charged at us, but were quickly pushed back by a gust of wind. "Shamshir!" Alma Elma cried out as she fired more wind blasts. "*Pant Pant* Thanks..." I was on one knee already, clearly in no condition to fight. "Are you all right, Shadow-boy?" Alma Elma asked with concern. "You shouldn't push yourself so hard, remember you're not fully monster. Let us handle this." Granberia told me, but I eventually managed to get back up. "No... This is my fight too. I'm not one to give up easily." I told them, and Granberia smiled. "You still got some fight in you, boy. I admire that."

Suddenly, the wall behind Granberia burst open as a giant hulking figure slid through; Granberia turned only to get sucker punched in the face and got sent tumbling to a wall! Me and Alma Elma were shock, which was interrupted when a lightning fast harpy figure came through the hole and slammed into Alma Elma, also causing her to slam into a wall! I didn't get any time to blink to what happened when I was also felt two sharp cuts slash along my chest and the force of the attack causing me to fly back into a wall as well! The three Heavenly Knights present struggled to get back on their feet as we got a better look at our attackers: the one striking Granberia down was a large hulking humanoid mecha, Alma Elma's attacker was a harpy mecha, and my attacker was a shorter humanoid mecha armed with... a blade staff and greatly resembled me! "Well done! Arc-En-Ciel, Hainuwele, Raven!" a voice exclaimed; a human-looking scientist walked in and was clapping as the three mechas stared us down; a spider-like mecha, a tiger-like mecha, and an insect-like mecha also arrived and started laughing and mocking the three of us. As I looked at the mecha that attacked me, I remembered something. "Y-you... You're the one who copied me!" I shouted and rushed toward her. "Shadow Slayer." the mecha Raven muttered as she held her blade staff horizontally and generated a second one in the same manner as I did, gaining a dark aura making a wide slash that sent me back onto the wall! "Th-that's my technique...!" I shouted angrily as I struggled to get back onto my feet. "Yes. She's the perfect copy of you. The Shadow Chimera, Raven!" the scientist calmly said with an evil grin. "Hah... That Darkroid you fought before was just my prototype! The data from your battles, combined with your semen samples, your dark power, and upgrades to my mechanical body has made me surpass you in every way! You cannot hope to defeat me, and this time there's no one here to save you!" the copycat mecha laughed evilly.

Alma Elma and Granberia continued to struggle against their respective attackers and the castle citizens too were faltering. Luka and Alice also eventually arrived and took notice of what was happening; the scientist then introduced herself as Promestein, and I recognized that name as the mysterious scientist instigating technology all over the world. Luka's attack failed when Promestein suddenly moved fast as the wind and explained her army was massively fortified by artificial Four Spirits, forcing Luka to resort to attacking the angels and Alice to attack the chimeras. I, on the other hand, continued to fight Raven, but my fatigue from my fight with Luka already decided the fight in her favor. "Sonic-- ack!" Any skill I tried to execute, Raven would do it right before I did and strike me down. Promestein wasn't kidding; this creature copied me and my abilities perfectly, and the backed-up force of her offensive power only just made it worse for me. "This is the legendary Demon Assassin and Fifth Heavenly Knight?! Pathetic!" Raven taunted as she continued slashing me down, giving me zero opportunity to fight back. I tried to Shadow Meld, but a Ghost Stab from her suddenly forced me out of the shadows! "There's nothing you can do, just lay back and die!" Raven shouted as she pushed me down and impaled her swords into both my shoulders, causing me to scream in pain as I was wedged into the floor. "He's done for, Master Promestein!" Raven exclaimed as she walked to Promestein as I weakly struggled with the two blades in my body.

Arc-En-Ciel and Hainuwele were finished with their respective opponents, but Luka also just wrapped up defeating the angels. Alice tried to attack Promestein, but suddenly a seal appeared on her and she disappeared! Luka was also suddenly weakened as the Four Spirits didn't come to his aid and his attacks were frail. Promestein then offered Luka a chance to surrender, but he refused. As the six unique chimera, the Next Dolls, began to close in on Luka, there was another rumble! The wall next to me burst open as the Giganto Weapon came rushing through, with Tamamo riding it, and the beast went berserk on the chimera forces while accidentally throwing Tamamo off her back. The Next Dolls were stopped in their tracks as the beast came rushing toward them, but Arc-En-Ciel single-handedly took down the Giganto Weapon. Tamamo rushed over to me to pull out the blades. "Careful, you need medical attention right away. Give me a minute." Tamamo informed me just as she was surrounded by more Chimera Beasts. After hearing correctly from Promestein that the beasts were mostly comprised of animals, Tamamo gave off a menacing glare, causing the beasts to cower before her; this forced Promestein to order a retreat, to the dismay of the Next Dolls; I glared at Raven as she left with her master. Luka immediately chased after the chimeras, once again ignoring Tamamo's warning.

I was immediately given medical attention and bandages all over my cuts and pierced shoulders and Tamamo channeled magic to heal my wounds. I was told to lie in bed and rest from my severe injuries and I had no choice but to comply.

Chapter 8: Despair
My body felt very weak and frail. Over the course of my life as the Demon Assassin serving the Heavenly Knights and the Monster Lord, there's been a line of failures; I failed to eliminate Cassandra, Queen Vampire, and Spider Princess, and just recently I fell to defeat by the Shadow Chimera Raven, and before that her prototype put my lover into a coma. This could only bring despair into my heart; was I really the one meant to carry the essence of darkness...? Did I make the right choice in joining the side of good and not fighting alongside Black Alice and creating a new world with her...?

"Shadow, are you okay?" Tamamo asked as she came into the room, inspecting my body. "I... don't really know. I was defeated so easily by a copy." I replied. "... Don't let that get to you. Promestein made counters to all five of us, but my tail's even more fluffier than Tsukuyomi's. Of course, I'll win in my fight against her, but what about you? Your shadow's more stronger than her's I'm sure." Tamamo told me to try to cheer me up. "... Thanks but... I initially struggled against her prototype, and now her finalized version is more powerful, faster, and flexible than I am... I've already failed a number of missions too, and Rose is still in a coma. It's all my fault..." I replied, hiding my head into the pillow but Tamamo pulled me out. "Stop thinking like that, idiot! Remember who you are and how far you've gotten! You can't let your resolve falter here! If you do, the world will end!" Tamamo shouted as she started to shake me. "You're one of the Five Heavenly Knights, and a masterful Demon Assassin! Look at Granberia! She struggled in the battle royale against my earth defenses, but that never stopped her from getting stronger! Alma Elma, Erubetie, Alice... Haven't you seen them all change?! All because two humans impressed them, and that Luka never gave up either! Both you and Luka made it to where no other human's ever gone before! Get your head in the game, dammit!" Tamamo continued to shout and lecture me all while shaking my body. "Gahh! Stop shaking me! All right, all right, I get it!" I shouted back; Tamamo stopped shaking me and still had a grave look on her face. "... No, you still don't get it. I can sense how... empty those words were. You really are falling into despair, aren't you...?" Tamamo sighed and got up to leave. "... I really want you to think carefully about this. Think very hard and I want to hear your answer when I get back." she said bitterly as she walked out of the room. I had never seen Tamamo so angry...

As I pondered about what Tamamo said, the space around me suddenly warped into nothing but pitch-black darkness. This space... Black Alice. "You don't look like you're enjoying the party prepared by Ilias, Promestein, and I. And I did it all for you." Black Alice giggled as she appeared from the shadows of her dimension. "What's wrong? Falling into despair? You should have joined me when you had the chance." Black Alice continued to giggle as she sat down on the bed. "... Here to gloat, Black Alice? I'm tired of playing games." I told her. Black Alice looked surprised when I said that. "Oh no no no no no, I've never gloated to you. How could you think that? I'm only here to check up on you, and you look like you don't look so happy. I can feel your... despair looming. And it looks like Tamamo isn't happy about that, either." Black Alice said, and to my surprise she was still in a surprised state.

"Shadow... You promised me you wouldn't die, but now you're dying to despair. What kind of guy breaks a girl's heart like that?" Black Alice asked, still concerned; I couldn't get a read off her emotions so I had no idea if she was bluffing or not. "No matter the obstacle you faced, you never faltered. I would have killed you at any point, but yet you still haven't faltered. Have you forgotten that? I've told you countless times, you're an impressive boy, but if you're going to let yourself down then I might as well finish you off here and now." Black Alice continued going on, still making the same face, but I didn't say anything. "... Are you going to disappoint your fellows? Are you going to disappoint me? Have you forgotten everything up to this point now? If you're going to be a burden to us all, I'll make your death quick and swift."

Black Alice... is lecturing me, just like Tamamo. As Black Alice went on, she waved a hand, and the darkness around us changed to show a figure standing alone in the breeze of a grassland near a lake... That figure was me. The vision showed all of my past: from befriending Rose to awakening my inner darkness and defeating Ilias Kreuz, assassinating Chrome and Black Alice's Scylla messenger, then me standing up against all the Four Heavenly Knights and becoming the Monster Lord's servant, and finally all my encounters with Black Alice. "Who... am I...? I came so far and I'd forgotten the accomplishments I made to get here... I'm a half-human, half-monster, inheriting a power of darkness and using it to defeat all the evil standing in the way of coexistence! I won't hesitate to slay anyone that serves as an instigator to that path, and that includes Ilias, Promestein, and your evil nature Black Alice! I have to keep fighting, and I can't let any obstacle get in my way, not even a useless copycat!" I shouted. Black Alice's expression once again changed to my surprise, from shock to a brief smile.

"You've come so very far, Shadow. I'm very glad to see how much you've grown, and I really want to see how it fares when we finally have our final dance together. You're very unique in your own way, and that makes me very giddy inside." Black Alice giggled and handed me a cup of tea. "Black Alice... That title of 'Black' hardly seems to suit you, given the way you've tried to push me up so many times. Were Lilith and Lilim right, that you used to be so kind?" I chuckled as I sipped her tea. Black Alice simply continued to giggle. "Hm, may~be~ But don't misunderstand, I'd still chew your head off if you disappoint me again." she said innocently. "Also... they mentioned someone holding my power existed 500 years ago..." I told her, but all she did was giggle more. "Oh~ Who could ever that be~?" Black Alice replied, clearly avoiding my question. I finished her tea and set it aside, which vanished into the black space.

"I'm looking forward to our final meeting, Shadow. Please keep moving forward and don't disappoint me, promise?" I nodded. "Thank you... Alipheese the Eighth." She giggled as I said that and waved as the dimensional space warped back to Tamamo's room. Shortly afterward, Tamamo entered. "Oh, hello Mistress. I thought long and hard about my future... I remembered everything I did up until now, I was stupid to let the despair reach my heart and for that I apologize. I'm going to keep fighting against Ilias, Promestein, and Black Alice.... I won't falter against them or their twisted army, I have to push forward to create a coexisting world, just like Luka's doing... I'm an assassin! And my darkness overpowers that stupid chimera copy! I'll do everything in my power for the better new world..." As I said that, Tamamo hugged me tightly and brushed her tails on me. "Welcome back, Shadow. It looks like you've recovered from the darkness of despair, and I'm glad to see you're in good spirits again. Thank you for not disappointing me."

"Now, what's my next mission?" I asked her. "Oh? How eager... Very well, your next mission is to lie down and recover! You're still not ready to go out yet!" Tamamo cheerfully exclaimed as she laid me down and continued focusing her magic on my injuries. I nodded and laid down, leaving my body in her care. Once I'm ready, I'll get going, completing missions and making one step closer to defeating Ilias!

Chapter 9: Epic Human Battle - Seeker of Truth vs Demon Assassin
Eventually my body fully recovered and I was ready to go out. "Finally ready? Good, because this is a vital task. We found one of Promestein's laboratories in Remina, and it holds a lot of data discs that I'm sure details her plans. I snagged a few, but the moment I left the area was immediately reinforced. I'll stay here and decode the ones I have; Nanabi and Yao will join you in obtaining those discs." I nodded at Tamamo's request and set out to Remina.

Nanabi and Yao were already at the outskirts, waiting for me. "It's been a long time, Shadow." Nanabi began. "Yes, I was wondering when you'd 'play' with us." Yao chuckled. "Get to the point already. I want a status report right now." I ordered. "Yes, our kitsune forces are still fighting off those strange beast monsters. However, we detected another presence amongst the enemy forces, perhaps a commander." Yao informed me. "Understood. While the forces are diverted, we'll go straight for the leading enemy. I'll stay in the shadows until I see an opening." I told them. "Understood."

As we headed into Remina, many kitsunes were fighting on even terms against the Chimera Beasts. However, one of the beasts suddenly grabbed a kitsune with its tail, but I sliced it off before it could fling her and caught the kitsune; the same silver two-tailed one that I've met over the course of my time. "Wawawa, thank you Shadow!" the Kitsune cried out as Nanabi and Yao kicked the ass of the beast attacking her. "You shouldn't be here, it's too dangerous. Tamamo could use your help in deciphering the discs." I told her. She thanked me again before running out of Remina.

Eventually the three of us made it into the heart of the ruins; I stood hidden in the shadows as Nanabi and Yao approached the commander: a... technologically powered human male? An unexpected enemy, guarded by two Chimera Beasts who were easily crushed by the two kitsunes, as expected of Tamamo's right hands. The human introduced himself as Solomon, a Seeker and Enforcer of Truth, armed with a strange-looking staff, a typical sword, a pair of metal claws, and some weird-looking goggles. Nanabi moved in, but I sensed the power of Earth appear in him, allowing him to effortlessly break Nanabi's hold. Yao jumped in and the two prepared a combination of Seven and Eight Moons, but Solomon's wind power made itself known and he fired a blast of bright white light, allowing him to dodge Fifteen Moons. Nanabi had to recharge while Solomon took Yao by surprising by firing an electric pulse from his staff, hitting and stunning her.

I Shadow Melded out from behind Solomon to attack, but he drew his blade and suddenly blocked my attack as if he knew where I was. I quickly leaped back in an engaged stance. "I can't allow you to harm these monsters." I told him. "And who are you?" my opponent asked as he too engaged a battle stance. "An assassin. With orders to take you and these chimeras down." I answered. "Well, then I'll have to face you first." And soon the two of us charged in. My opponent was more formidable than I initially expected; even though I was faster, his wind somehow allowed him to narrowly dodge my attacks, and I could tell he was analyzing my movements when he stared at me with those goggles equipped. He also countered my Shadow Meld, striking my attack down with his metal claws when I moved in to appear behind him. "How can you detect me?" I asked. He pointed to his goggles. "These eyes reveal the truth." I quickly moved at lightning speed and Shadow Melded behind him, but that mistake cost me when his earth power returned and his metal claws grabbed me, restraining my sword arm and holding me up in the air!

"C-crap... That was careless..." I struggled feebly but with that earth power it was no use. "Intriguing power you have. Ah, a Monster and human hybrid? Extraordinary!" Solomon exclaimed as he examined me. "How did you-" I tried to ask, but he cut me off. "Like I said... These goggles reveal the truth. And your power is intruiging. Perhaps we can make something of it." As he said that, he swapped to his electric gun-staff and charged a blast, but Yao recovered from her paralysis and tackled Solomon, freeing me from his grasp. I quickly dusted myself off. "Shadow, are you alright?" Nanabi asked. "I'm fine. Thank you Yao." She nodded and suggested. "It seems he's extremely troublesome, we must face him all at once." The two of us agreed. "He needs to be stopped. I'll finish him quickly." I replied and charged toward Solomon. As he tried to charge his electric gun-staff, I executed Ghost Stab in motion, striking the ground while erecting an ethereal blade under his foot, interrupting Solomon's charge; I didn't hesitate to unleash a Black Reaper on him, tripling my blade length and striking him down several times. Solomon flew back into a wall, and struggled to get back on his feet; it was quite clear Devil's Toxin was taking its toll on his body.

"Surrender now." I calmly requested while pointing my blades at Solomon. "Surrender? I'm afraid not. This ends now... for me at least. You are quite rare to force my hand at this." Solomon exclaimed as he reached into his pocket and grabbed a syringe. "I was afraid of what might happened after I call him out. He takes things too far. But for you three... he might have a lot of fun. They're yours now....Hyde." Solomon said as he pricked his arm with the syringe, its fluids entering Solomon's body; he then dropped the syringe as his eyes closed. "What's going on? Who is Hyde? And what happened to him?" Yao asked. "He's unconscious. He might fall if we so much as poked him." I said as I examined Solomon's body carefully. Yao went to sniff him and exclaimed "He's...not down yet! In fact... all of the damage you have done to him is healed!" I quickly sensed something wrong when Solomon's vitals suddenly replenished itself and his body gave off a destructive, murderous aura. Solomon's body suddenly puffed up a bit he raised his head and his eyes opened, and started laughing and grinning. "Ehehehehe.... of course my eight-tailed fox girl. He's letting me play now. And look here! Three new things to rip open!" I quickly realized a murderous alter-ego of Solomon appeared before us.

Hyde switched to his sword and charged toward me, but I managed to block his powerful strikes. Nanabi tried to intercept, but Hyde leaped onto her and drove her into the ground. But before he could attack, Yao swatted him off with his tails. I moved in with Shadow Meld to strike his back, but he blocked it and tripped me, then drove his blade down into my face, but I rolled out of the way and recovered. "I watched as he fought you three. I know all your little tricks! Gigamander! Azure Flame Blade!" Hyde grinned as he pulled out energy canisters and summoned the power of fire, glowing with an unusual blue fire, more hotter than the red one. "Bloody Tornado!" I shouted and spun towards Hyde with six strikes, but my steroid enhanced enemy deflected my attack with three powerful swings from his flaming sword, the scorching flame nearly burning my face. Nanabi took advantage of Hyde's distraction and grabbed him as Yao tried to charge a Moonlight Cannon, but on completion Hyde managed to cut off Nanabi's tails and causing the cannon to miss. As Nanabi's tails regenerated, Hyde didn't hesitate to rush to the two kitsunes and, with a red glow in his eyes and a evil laugh, spun rapidly, creating a massive crimson cyclone! "Black Tyrant Wyvern Blade! Die! Die! Die! Die!" the evil alter-ego shouted as the cyclone dealt devastating damage to the kitsunes, causing them to fly back overhead. I turned to the two Kitsunes before glaring at my opposition.

"Hehehe. What's with that face? I'm not done playing." Hyde chuckled evilly. "You're going to wish this 'game' was over when I'm finished." I told Hyde threateningly. I made a promise to fight for these Kitsune, and I will! "Well then, don't disappoint Shadow. You're more entertaining than those foxes." Hyde said, engaging a stance. "Enveloping Darkness!" I shouted, generating my dark aura. "Grandine!" Hyde called as the two of us charged. "Blinking Blade! Black Reaper!" we called out; Hyde struck with a fast moving blade while I struck back with quadruple lengthened blades. Our attacks collided, striking each other, but Hyde's power of water allowed him to make a blow to my chest, causing me to wince in pain. I then used Shadow Meld to get behind Hyde, and he struck the ground to make a large impact, but I was already behind him, and I landed my attack square on the back of his neck, causing my opponent to wince in pain! He didn't even try to use water for dodging!

Hyde seemed to be slowing down dramatically as our fight raged on. "Sonic Slash!" I shouted as I appeared behind him and slashed Hyde's rear, and flashed backward to avoid Hyde's slash. It was quite clear Hyde was panting, and Devil's Toxin was enough to diminish his strength despite the steroid endurance. "This isn't fair... I'm supposed to be winning." Hyde said while exhausted and lightly dazed. "Where'd you go?" As Hyde looked around, it was too late: "Shadow Slayer!" more dark power radiated from my body as I slashed Hyde's back, causing him to fly back; the battle was decided in my favor! However, just before I could finish him off with Assassinate, an energy shield enveloped Hyde, and he switched to his electric gun-staff to drop another bright white light; I shielded my eyes and detected Hyde fleeing. "Coward..." I muttered as I briefly turned to the two kitsune. "A-amazing... You've improved so much..." Nanabi commented. "W-we're fine! Go get the discs!" Yao shouted. I nodded and chased after Hyde, dispelling Shadow Slayer early.

Despite my tired state, I had enough energy remaining to complete my mission. I followed Hyde, but eventually I lost track of his presence. I looked around and saw a small open hatch; I jumped into it and found myself in a strange room lined with metal everywhere. I went deeper into Promestein's laboratory, seeing some waist-high mess along with several detained monsters. I ignored their capsules and headed deeper into the lab, eventually reaching a large room. I spotted a humongous pile of discs neatly piled together in the wall. "Mistress Tamamo? I've secured the discs, but there's far too many for me to move alone." I telepathically contacted my mistress. "Ah, excellent work. One moment please." Tamamo said; she suddenly appeared in the room, along with several kitsunes accompanying her. All of us grabbed every single disc in the room and Tamamo teleported us all back to the Monster Lord's Castle.

"Well done everyone. We've evacuated successfully and secured all the data discs; this will surely help us in the war. Shadow, you did splendid; you never let me down. Now, please take some rest while my merry band will investigate these discs." I nodded. "Hold on... Promestein had a male human helper... Who was he? He called himself... Solomon." I told her. Tamamo looked at me in surprise. "Eh...? Two years ago, a person named Solomon came to me and asked me historical questions. If he's an underling of Promestein, he must be one of her truth seekers and her right hands... Oh shoot, so that's why Tsukuyomi has my DNA! I knew something was off when he came to me!" Tamamo said with a concerned look. "Anyway, you defeated him, right? Even though you didn't capture or execute him, you still did well facing him. He'll be taken down one way or another. Now, please take your rest, I'm very very busy busy!" Tamamo shooed me off and I went to her room once again to take a break.

Chapter 10: Fate and Destiny
Luka and, surprisingly, a smaller Alice had returned to the castle. However, Luka had undergone an immense transformation: he had some wing-like structure on his back right, the left half of his face was lit ablaze, and the tip of his sword shined in a bright holy glow. Luka explained that he was the son of the second angel Seraph, Lucifina, and Alice explained how she partially escaped her seal. "Two half humans present... How interesting." I quietly muttered. Queen Fairy and Elf eventually arrived to request that their kind be allowed to stay in the castle, due to the enemy force overtaking the island and moving all prisoners there; Tamamo explained the existence of a Drain Lab run by Promestein. Nanabi was also able to sense the presence of Alice's seal somewhere in the Forest of Spirits. Tamamo also planned to retrieve the holy energy source from the Sealed Sinner's Prison to counter Ilias's angel army. Despite Luka's determination to set out, Tamamo and Alice ordered him to rest his body and take care of it tomorrow, forcing him to retire into an empty room.

Tamamo suggested I let Luka handle all of that, but also slipped me a note that said "Confront Black Alice; she's waiting for you at Sealed Sinner's Prison." I nodded to Tamamo as I left the castle. The prison itself looked rather unusual: it was just a simple old monument. Black Alice was there, leaning on one of the ruin walls and plucking off the petals from a black-colored rose. "Ah~ Shadow, you're here at last. I was hoping you wouldn't keep me waiting." Black Alice giggled as she noticed and skipped towards me after gently placing her rose on the ground. "Let's not waste any more time, I know how you hate it when people don't get to the point." Black Alice said as she snapped her fingers, once again forming the dark empty dimensional space around us. "So, it's finally time..." I muttered. Black Alice grinned. "Yes it's time we finally danced for real. You've come a long way to face me like this, so you'd better not disappoint me. One misstep... and it'll be your end." I never fought the current Monster Lord before; this would be a very tough battle.

As I generated my blade staff, Black Alice rushed toward me and tried to punch me at a fast speed, but I slashed her chest, causing her to slide backward. She then appeared behind me and reached over my arm to rub my groin; this caused me to let out a little moan, but I quickly regained my senses and elbowed her face and slashed. As she rubbed her cheek, her hair began to move and darted toward me, but I countered with Black Reaper and sliced her hair down. Black Alice giggled as she regenerated her hair and charged toward me, but when I slashed, she evaded and pushed me down from behind. I tried to roll, but Black Alice pinned me and tried to drop her waist down on my groin, but I Shadow Melded away and reappeared in front of her to kick her face. Black Alice rubbed her cheek and got back on her feet.

"Ha... Hahaha, you're just as fun as Heinrich! I expected no less from you!" Black Alice giggled as she started to radiate power, generating two dark orbs in her hands and a dark aura around her body. She then began to float into the air. "It seems pleasure attacks won't work against you. I wonder how you'll fare against my dark magic?" Black Alice began firing blasts of dark energy out of her hands, which I dodged, however they suddenly turned around and impaled me from behind, knocking me down. "Hah! Don't be stupid! A low-rate monster's magic doesn't even compare to mines!" Black Alice gloated as she continued firing blasts of magic; I dodged and charged towards Black Alice, and moved out of the way once I sensed the blasts home back on me but ended up hitting Black Alice, knocking her down from the air! As she got back on her feet, I charged in and used Enveloping Darkness and Phantom Blow, striking her vulnerable body with ten darkness enhanced slashes! As I finished the attack, Black Alice generated a shockwave around her body that sent me flying into the air! She then made a hand gesture that summoned a large magical hand that grabbed me in mid-air! "See for yourself the power of the Monster Lord!" Black Alice exclaimed as she started to concentrate magic while I struggled in her grip. As she finished, a giant flaming whirlpool followed by a very cold atmosphere and finally several blasts of darkness were all ejected simultaneously.

I quickly Shadow Melded into the air and slid behind Black Alice. "Huff... That was really close..." I muttered as I jumped high into the air and again in mid-air to strike Black Alice's rear from behind. She quickly turned around to me in surprise. "Well well... I half expected you to dodge that. But how's this?!" Black Alice shouted as her dark aura began to radiate even more. Her blasts of dark energy were fired even faster and swerved in random directions, making it more difficult to dodge them and forcing me to use Shadow Meld on occasion. When I tried to get any close to her, Black Alice grinned and shouted "Black Space" channeling a magic vacuum that pulled me in, but what caught me by surprise was a magic shield during the vacuum, giving me no time to retreat after being pulled into the depths of the vacuum as Black Alice expelled the energy and ruptured the area around her with darkness, impacting my body and sending me flying! She then started channeling magic into more charged bursts that fired out at a lightning-fast speed, giving me ample time to evade; though her rate of fire seemed to have decreased slightly with these focused bursts, the power behind them made that irrelevant. "Still light on your feet, huh? Frost Ozma!" Black Alice used her magic to freeze the atmosphere around us, which then suddenly froze the floor and caused me to trip! I noticed ice particles began to form around my feet, making it difficult to move. "And now, Omega Blaze!" a giant whirlpool of flame was summoned over me, but as she did that I used Ghost Stab on Black Alice, generating an ethereal blade that struck her hip, breaking off her concentration on me and allowing me to escape the flames before they incinerated me.

Black Alice's magic was incredibly oppressive, giving me zero opportunity to get anywhere close to her. However, she was far too focused on offense, so Ghost Stab nailed her a few times, but she laughed it off and maintained her attack, continuing to fire magic blasts repeatedly. I used Ghost Stab to distract Black Alice and charged in; just as she tried to use Black Space and envelop herself in a shield, the attack was interrupted by my quadruple lengthened blades of Black Reaper, striking her down to the ground! I leaped on top of her, using Assassinate to drive my blade down into her chest! Black Alice coughed blood as my blade penetrated into her body, I retracted and got off her. "Heehee... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Black Alice's voice rang as her body got back up and she snapped her fingers, clearing up her blood. "It's been centuries since I've had so much fun like this, since Heinrich! No more games! I'll show you my secret skill! Be glad to be the second person to see it, behind Heinrich of course!" Black Alice sinisterly laughed as her dark aura grew even bigger and more menacing; I felt my knees wobble slightly but I had to stay strong. Just what was she planning to use...?

"Both of us have lived our own lives, living in the darkness but following two different paths... We chose to live our own fates, and we wove our own destinies! Our choices led us down this road, and it's finally come to this! I made a choice to side with evil, but you've allowed your darkness to side with all that is good and right! I don't regret my choice, and I hope you don't either! This is our fate and destiny!" Black Alice said aloud, grinning. "Now come to me... Death & Darkness!" Black Alice shouted as she disappeared. "Death.. and Darkness...? That's...!" Black Alice suddenly reappeared in front of me and attacked; I knew to block right away! As I got a good look at her, Black Alice's clothing changed completely to black light armor, and she was in possession of... a blade staff! Not just any kind; slightly curved blades, skulls for pommels, colored red in blood, and encompassed by a dark mist! "T-that's... my clothing! My weapon! H-how?" I was completely stupefied; Black Alice held a perfect replica of my own weapon! "If that's the case, then that means... I'm... Y-you're..." my train of thought was interrupted as Black Alice pushed me back and attacked with Ghost Stab, hitting my chest by surprise! "Don't speak any more! Just fight with all your heart!"

"Shadow Slayer!" I shouted at the top of my lungs and created my second blade staff. However, to my surprise, Black Alice did the same thing! "Ah, it's been so long since I've fought this way!" Black Alice exclaimed as she relentlessly launched an assault of Phantom Blow, which I tried to counter with my own. However, she suddenly stopped and sank into the floor, reappearing behind me to execute Sonic Slash, striking my rear and sending me tumbling forward. "Shadow Snare!" Black Alice shouted as she put her hand on the ground, causing shadows to entrap me! She didn't hesitate to rush toward me and smack me down with a Bloody Tornado, greatly injuring me. "Ugh..." I groaned, but I knew Black Alice's oppression was far from over. "Demon Cutter!" Black Alice continued by firing four curved waves of dark energy toward me simultaneously, traveling at incredibly high speeds and curved towards me as if they were homing in, making yet another direct impact on my body. "Shadow Storm!" Black Alice then threw her blades and they slashed me across my shoulder and I saw the blades that struck me vanish but then struck me from behind; they slashed through me as if the weapon Shadow Melded to attack from another direction, before pushing me back to Black Alice, who then grabbed her blades and stabbed my chest using Assassinate. "Abyssal Blade!" Just as I tried to Shadow Meld, Black Alice summoned a black hole that vacuumed me towards its center before making four heavy slashes onto my body which caused the black hole to create a huge explosion, sending me flying and dropping my body down to the ground!

I struggled to get back onto my feet. "*Pant... Pant...*" Black Alice approached me and pointed her blades up under my throat. "Shadow Slayer... Was a lost Cursed Sword art created by the 8th Monster Lord: Black Alice. Attacking at impossible speeds, all the enemies that stood in her path died in the blink of an eye." Black Alice said, smirking. "There were mostly no survivors to this technique. But this style was lost since her downfall. However, you... are its inheritor. And that line became very true once you used it. You see now why I'm so interested in you, Shadow? You may be part monster, but don't forget you're also human as well." Black Alice looked down on me coldly, ready to kill me any time. "I'm... human...? That's right... even if humans seem frail and weak... Heinrich, Luka... and I aren't like typical humans..." I said softly; Black Alice tried to slash my throat, but my body reflexively leaned backward, causing the attack to go over my head. "They had help... from another source... But it was still their human body that allowed them... Gave them determination... To defeat their opposition! I won't... lose to you!" I shouted to Black Alice as I reengaged my battle stance.

Black Alice smirked as she used Black Reaper; I charged toward her as she slashed me with her two quadrupled lengthened blades, but I moved out of their striking area and used my leg to trip Black Alice. She quickly used Shadow Meld and went a distance to use Sonic Slash, but I countered by throwing my blades in front of me, resulting Black Alice using her attack on them. "I fought my doppelganger... twice! You're only different... with a whole new set abilities!" I shouted at Black Alice just as she used Demon Cutter; I retaliated by destroying the blade waves with my own Black Reaper. She then tried using Shadow Snare again, but a Ghost Stab to her face interrupted the attack, allowing me to rush in and use my own Sonic Slash, but Black Alice blocked the attack. Black Alice then used Shadow Storm, in which I countered with Bloody Tornado. However, my opponent wasn't phased; her smirk got bigger as we fought.

Our epic battle continued to rage on, and I could sense Black Alice beginning to tire, however that also meant I was tiring as well. "Abyssal Blade!" Black Alice shouted as she used the black hole technique again; I was sucked in, but just as she tried to strike me, I quickly used Black Reaper, its length was long enough to strike Black Alice from afar and hit her cheek, causing her to flinch and release the black hole on me! While she was stunned, I took the opportunity to use Phantom Blow, but she quickly recovered and used the same technique against me. However, I stopped and Shadow Melded behind her to use Assassinate; she turned around but it was too late when my blades entered her body again. "That's... my trick...!" She coughed up blood as I pulled my blades out, causing her to collapse! I was surprised at being able to counter her!

With Black Alice finally down for the count and her aura and swords fading, I too was on my knee and my dark aura also faded. As I panted, Black Alice slowly got back up, though I could tell she wasn't able to fight me anymore. She shambled over to me and pulled me into a tight hug. "Guess I'm really rusty for not having used that in 500 years... But it's been so long... since I felt like this." Black Alice said, with a smile on her face. I saw tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I'm... proud of you... my dark child."

Chapter 11: Black Alice's Gift
"'My dark child'...?" those words left me shocked; I'm the descendant of Alice the Eighth herself? "... Yes. Shadow Slayer should have been enough to tell you that. It's very long story. Lilith and Lilim were right, I used to be so kind back then..." Alice the Eighth went on, gently petting my head. Her personality has completely changed at this point, from a playful but murderous villain to a... caring figure? She then took off her dress and laid on her back. "Please, enjoy my loving embrace, you deserve it~" she giggled as she spread her legs. I smirked; as soon as my thing entered her, she let out a loud cute moan.

Once we finished, we both put clothes back on. "W-wonderful... Just like Heinrich was~ It's been so long since I've felt so giddy inside~" she giggled. Just like Heinrich...? "Everyone says I was a tyrant, but that was... only half true. 500 years ago, I wanted to travel the world and see it. I met Heinrich... and I fell madly in-love with him. We went on our journey together, just like Alice the Sixteenth and Luka did. We fought... and got married. But then... It's all Ilias's fault we were split! She possessed Heinrich to kill me! She wouldn't let him go... until she offered me a position in her ranks. She wanted me to control the darkness in the world so that Alice the First couldn't escape the counter to her seal. I... had no choice..." Alice the Eighth began to tear up at this point. "I love Heinrich, I still do... I'm certain he still loves me, since Seraph Lucifina gave him the Angel Halo and he tried to fight back against Ilias... When he lost, it was then I decided... to have revenge. I split my soul in half, containing almost all my good side and my swordsmanship, and fused it with Heinrich's seed, then sealed it away... That soul would draw in Heinrich's essence and incubate over time into your current form whilst sealed. You're technically half of me, but also my child. One day you would awake, and I knew you would rise your blade against Ilias, the good part of me fighting against her and making sure she's defeated."

"... I watched over your seal, waiting until the day it would be time to release you..." another voice rang out; out from the shadows stepped in... Tamamo! "M-mistress...?" I was shocked; not only was she here, but she also assisted Alice the Eighth a long time ago?! "Yes, Shadow. T-thank you for watching over him for me, Tamamo." Alice the Eighth said as she turned to the nine-tailed Kitsune, who smiled happily. "Of course, it's always my duty to look after the Monster Lords and her wishes!" Tamamo exclaimed. "... But seventeen years ago your seal broke and you were found in Noah by rogue humans. Fortunately your darkness erased them, and then Tamamo picked you up. And then you know the rest after that." Alice the Eighth continued. "... It must have been hard on you, Alipheese the Eighth, to do all this... But you didn't have any other options." Tamamo replied. "... It's Ilias's fault. I made a choice, I followed my own fate and this is what my destiny became. But I'm happy that Shadow was able to prosper and live for me." Alice the Eighth continued, still tearing up; me and Tamamo held her tightly. "M-mother...? I'll do everything I can to stop Ilias." I told them. Alice the Eighth smiled and held me tightly. "My son... Thank you. I know you'll do everything you can to defeat all that's evil. You've proven so much; we couldn't be more proud."

Alice the Eighth then got back on her feet. "... I can't stray from my path now, otherwise Ilias would notice something off. But, I have a gift for you; this will help you in your battle to defeat her." Alice said as she closed her eyes and focused magic. A stream of darkness began to flow from her body and attached itself to me; as she did that I could feel the darkness within me getting stronger. "A part of your power...?" I asked. "Yes, the remaining bits of my swordsmanship; you're the true heir of the Shadow Slayer Cursed Sword arts, use it well." she said, smiling as she handed me her stuffed teddy bear. I held it tightly to my chest. "Please take care of Beary too, my child." I nodded and Alice the Eighth kissed my forehead before taking a step back from me and Tamamo and waved. "Ilias will launch a second wave onto the world again; I'm sure you know what to do, Tamamo. I'm going to fight Luka and Alice the Sixteenth... and I know they'll beat me, even with Promestein's White Rabbit... It doesn't matter; what's left of me will be carried on by Shadow, and that's all I want. Thank you again, Shadow, and be happy with the peace you will obtain. I was Shadow's mother and Heinrich's wife... but now... I am... Black Alice..." were her final words to us before she snapped her fingers, distorting the dimensional space and sending me and Tamamo back into Tamamo's room in the castle.

Tamamo simply nodded to me; it was totally unexpected that she and Alice the Eighth were in cahoots, even up until now. As I set down Beary, I saw traces of magic suddenly flow out of her. The flow immediately went into the unconscious Rose. "Ngh..." Rose began to move and let out small noises! Me and Tamamo happily rushed toward her and held her tightly, happy that she was awake. "What... h-happened...?" she asked, and we began to explain what happened up until now, minus Alice the Eighth's assistance. "F-fifth Heavenly Knight...? Demon Assassin? I'm so happy, Shadow." Rose said and kissed my lips. "All thanks to you, Rose. I love you." I told her and kissed her back before taking her on the bed and proclaiming marriage.

Alice the Eighth... Not only did she empower me for the future, but she also broke Rose's coma! She sided with evil, but was always a good person in the end. Thank you... mother...

Chapter 12: Half-Human Tag Team
Tamamo finally called in a strategy meeting, involving the half-human half-angel Luka, the Monster Lord, and all the Five Heavenly Knights, including the half-human half-monster demon assassin. As Rose brought me tea, Alma Elma and Granberia began to bicker about the succubus queen triumphantly defeating the cursed sword master; remembering what happened four years ago and judging by their opposite personalities, it was pretty obvious how that happened. Tamamo quickly shut them up before instructing the original Four Heavenly Knights to attack the Ivory Towers to divert their holy energies and restore Luka to his full power. Alice would head alone to the Biolabs to wait for the holy energy to be diverted and then destroy the seal on her body before going after Ilias. As for Luka and I, Tamamo told us we would be working together at the Navel of the World. "Eh...?" Luka wondered. "Hm, a half-human tag team... How interesting." I quietly muttered. "The first human tag team I was with was Sara. I'll be looking forward to our teamwork together." Luka said as he walked over to me and offered a handshake, but I waved it off. "Sorry, but I'm not fond of handshakes. Though, the power of light combined with the power of darkness... Quite a dynamic duo." I told him. Luka smiled as he returned to his seat and I continued sipping my tea.

Just then, Tamamo said there was a second meeting; many human and monster figures began appearing in the hall via summoning magic. Amongst them was Shirohebi, Grand Noah Queen, and Succubus, who recognized me. "It's been a while, 'Mighty Assassin.' Are you well?" Shirohebi asked me. "I was hoping you would appear at the Colosseum again, but being under Tamamo's hand you seemed far too busy." the Grand Noah Queen said. "Yes, I'd love to have you around again~ We should play~" Succubus said with a blush on her face. "...When I'm off duty, maybe I'll come visit." I quietly said. As the two sat down, a muscular human figure with battle scars approached me, gazing at me. "You... Even though you look human I sense a monster power within you..." he said. "Yes that's correct. I am Shadow, the Fifth Heavenly Knight and their Demon Assassin. And you must be the current Sabasa King; even though you look human, that monster blood and sensing ability is impressive." I replied. The King smiled at me as he took his seat. "Fifth Heavenly Knight? For a human... that's impressive!" voices from the group complimented my status. The second meeting began when Luka made a rallying speech, then Tamamo mentioned Ilias's second wave from Alice the Eighth's info leak, telling everyone to defend their hometowns. The meeting was then adjourned and we all retired.

I went back to my room. Tamamo came in shortly after and started writing several letters, but refused my help; I wasn't good at writing anyway. Luka also came in and begun chatting with Tamamo, asking about her role the Monster Lord's Coronation, how she will beat Tsukuyomi, her plans after coexistence, and the story of Heinrich's demise. Luka then turned towards me and asked me my story, and I told him everything up until now, minus Alice the Eighth's flirting and the truth behind her past. Impressed, Luka then asked me about how I will defeat Raven, and I told him that she was merely an inferior copy and my shadow was stronger than hers. "Hm, what will I do after coexistence? Keep following Mistress Tamamo's orders and make sure the world stays that way." was my response to what I would do after coexisting. He then asked me the plan for our tag team. "... You should know I'm not oriented for defense, but my offense is supreme. Just create a distraction and an opening." I replied. Luka simply nodded, and with no more questions Tamamo finally kicked him out. I laid down on the bed and went to sleep.

As I rested, my body appeared in a black empty space; the same one made by Alice the Eighth. I expected her to show up again, but to my surprise a spectral figure came out, a figure greatly resembling Luka! "Y-you... In this space... H-Heinrich, isn't it...?" I asked the figure. He nodded before putting my hand on my shoulder. "You've grown so fine, in Alice's good image. It's been so long since I've last seen her and stepped out of the prison, but I can see her figure shining in you, son." Heinrich's ghost said. "... It's my fault she turned 'Black'; I let Ilias distort my mind and that made Alice turn herself over to Ilias. When I received the Angel Halo, I had a chance at redemption, but even in the end I was powerless to stop her..." Heinrich let out a soft sigh. "... It was neither you or mother's fault, only Ilias can be blamed for that. But despite your failure, your redemption is still there; you have me and Luka!" I told Heinrich. He smiled at me and patted my back. "Shadow, you really are your good mother's successor, just like Luka's become my successor. I'm so proud of you both." Heinrich then took a step back. "... My time has come; my soul's been weakened over the years I was sealed, and I've only had enough power to see my two descendants. You both have grown so much, and I'm pleased to have fine children. Thank you for doing everything in your power to help us. Be happy... with the peace you'll obtain." Heinrich waved farewell as his spectral body vanished.

The space around me distorted as I found myself back in Tamamo's room? "Hey, Shadow? You've look like you seen a ghost." Rose said as she hugged me. "Ah... Mistress Tamamo's waiting? Thank you." I quickly got ready and rushed out to the main hall where everyone was getting ready to leave. Rose left with Shirohebi to defend Yamatai while I jumped on Luka's Garuda Girl, Galda, and we flew towards the Navel of the World. When we landed, Galda took off and Luka and I moved on. The entrance looked like a valley, lined with numerous naked angel statues, most with stone humans clinging onto them. A voice suddenly came out from the statue and ordered us to leave, but we drew our swords. I used Sonic Slash on the statue, but it suddenly released a gas, spraying itself over me! "Sylph!" Luka shouted, creating a gust of wind that blew the gas away. "*Cough* Thanks. *Cough*" I coughed a few times to make sure the aphrodisiac gas was dispelled out of my system, and just as I did that Luka shouted "Cutting through time, space and reason! Flash Kill!" and his flashing blade slashed the creature, cutting it in half. "T-that cut through Kraken's Aqua Pentagon didn't it...?" I muttered, witnessing Luka's angelic powers in action. Luka offered a hand, but I once again turned it down and got back up on my own.

Luka and I pressed on and we encountered another statue sitting in the middle of the road; a gargoyle. Suddenly her eyes lit up and her body unpetrified. "Hehe... so the Hero and the Assassin's come all the way here?" the statue said with a sinister grin. Luka mentioned that he couldn't sense her presence. "... Idiot, a statue in the middle of the path is obviously not noteworthy." I sarcastically said as we engaged a fighting stance. The monster explained her previous role and her new role when recruited by Black Alice. Luka quickly applied Gnome as Gargoyle Girl went after him using her giant breasts; while guarding against her attack, I Shadow Melded behind her to attack her wings using Bloody Tornado. Bits of her body parts were chipped off as she angrily turned toward me and tried to grab me. "All life returns to the nature from whence it came! Heavenly Demon Revival!" Luka shouted as he fired a magical blast at Gargoyle Girl, hitting her rear. "Pests!" she angrily shouted and tackled Luka, pinning him. As I attacked the creature, Gargoyle Girl's body slowly reverted back to stone, but Luka eventually managed to escape. As Gargoyle Girl's body was petrified, her eyes briefly opened and shined brightly, but I obstructed Luka's vision and quickly shielded my eyes. "The jaws of the Rakshasa come to make the wicked pay! Ninefold Rakshasa!" Luka shouted as he slashed the petrified monster with nine rapid slashes. "Death's Door awaits you! Phantom Blow!" I shouted in unison with Luka, slashing Gargoyle Girl with him ten times with my dark power.

"Grr...!" Gargoyle Girl recovered from her petrified state and angrily stared us down. "Devil's Fang!" a female voice rang out; it didn't come from Gargoyle Girl. "T-that... Luka!" I shouted toward my comrade and pushed him out of the way as seven waves of energy impacted me and pushed me towards Gargoyle Girl, allowing her to pin me. "Hehe, to receive help like that. Now to play with you!" Gargoyle Girl triumphantly laughed as her body turned to stone. However, as it neared me, I quickly Shadow Melded into her pedestal and leaped away. "C-curses! Not again!" As Gargoyle Girl petrified herself again, Luka and I turned towards a new attacker. A completely naked angel, with blonde spiky hair and an Ilias tattoo engraved on her body, armed with a curved sword. "Hehe, it's been so long, Shadow!" the angel said to me. "Y-you're... But I killed you seven years ago!" I cried out to the angel. "Oh no, that was just a familiar, fool. I am Principality Venom, I was implanted into Ilias Kreuz in order to keep you under watch!" the angel laughed sinisterly as she took a swig of beer and swiss cheese. "And I'm a f**king angel; you can't hurt me now!" Venom triumphantly exclaimed as six snakes appeared and cloned their master.

I was at a complete disadvantage; I couldn't harm angels at all. As the clones moved in to attack me, Luka jumped in front of me and used Ninefold Rakshasa, knocking the clones away. "I'll be your opponent! Shadow, I'll take care of the angel, just watch my back and deal with the monster, will you?" Luka requested. I nodded and redirected my attention back to Gargoyle Girl, who was freed from petrification. "You're really, really, really getting annoying!" Gargoyle Girl angrily glared at me. "Enveloping Darkness." As I used that, she charged at me, which I evaded and slashed her side. Despite being a powerful enemy, she was actually very slow, as expected for a statue, though her body was quite difficult to penetrate. A few of Venom's clones ran past Luka and aimed their attacks toward me, but Luka took them down with Ninefold Rakshasa, sending one of the clones tumbling into Gargoyle Girl. After recovering, the monster glared at the angel before resuming her attack on me.

"Ugh... How are humans so strong...?" Gargoyle Girl was getting extremely exhausted after taking an Assassinate. Just as she was panting, an attack Venom made and deflected by Luka struck the monster. "What the hell you stupid serpent?! Stop getting in my way!" Gargoyle Girl angrily shouted and attacked the angel, to no avail. "Me?! It's your fault for not dodging!" Venom replied and swung her sword down at the monster, who angrily groaned in pain. "Hah! And you deserved that!" The angel laughed and taunted. "You ass! I knew teaming up with you was a bad idea from the beginning!" The two women quickly got into a cat fight with each other, completely forgetting about me and Luka's existence. "My mother is the Star of Morning, the child of dawn. The star thrown to the Earth shall obtain victory! Daystar!" Luka shouted as a humongous meteor was dropped onto the two creatures; they were both completely annihilated, nowhere found in the crater that was made. "W-was that Lucifina's signature skill...?" I muttered, impressed. "What a tough battle..." Luka and I wiped our sweat as we put away our weapons and moved forward.

The two of us finally made it to the core of the Navel of the World. There was another figure... that resembled Luka! The figure suddenly turned from male to female and revealed itself to be Luka's doppelganger before attacking. As I tried to assist, I sensed an attack aimed for me and prepared to block. "Flash Kill!" Luka shouted as he slashed behind me, but the attack phased through my body and hit another figure in front of me: the Shadow Chimera, Raven! "Ugh, you're supposed to keep him occupied!" Raven angrily shouted towards Doppel Luka before returning her attention to me. "You've come this far at last, but I'll end you here and now!" Raven shouted as she and I engaged a battle stance.

Chapter 13: Shadow Slayer+
"Enveloping Darkness! Zylphe, come!" Raven shouted, generating a black aura around her and summoning the artificial spirit of wind to aid her, combining the power of darkness and wind. I held off from using Enveloping Darkness, needing to conserve my energy. "Promestein suggested that I let you watch Luka's downfall back at the Monster Lord's Castle and let you suffer from that..." Raven said as she attacked me with her blade staff, which I tried to parry, but her attack was incredibly swift that I could only stop her after a graze to the cheek. "But I see that was a grave error. I should have made your death quick and swift, and I'll do it here and now!" She quickly jumped back and tried to attack again; Luka tried to intercept with another Flash Kill, but Doppel Luka also jumped behind Raven and attacked with her own Flash Kill, striking through us and impacting each other, offsetting them. Luka was shocked as Raven suddenly slipped past me and went in between me and Luka; we both tried to strike her body. "Gnomaren! Bloody Tornado!" her body used the power of earth to block our blows before striking us down with a fierce attack with the earth's weight behind it; my attempt to retaliate with my own Bloody Tornado failed due to her added earth power overwhelming and interrupting my attack. "How disappointing..."

Raven took no hesitation to continue her onslaught. I attempted to retaliate with Ghost Stab, but she quickly shouted "Grandine" and effortlessly cut down the attack with the power of water; a Black Reaper also failed to save me when her water attack pierced straight into my chest, causing me to scream in pain. "Get it through your thick head! You have no chance at beating me! Gigamander! Phantom Blow!" As I recoiled, a fiery blaze and dark glow encompassed Raven's blade as she slashed me ten times, sending me tumbling across the ground. As I struggled to get up, I noticed Doppel Luka effortlessly offsetting Luka's own attacks and he too was on his knees. "See now? It's hopeless to resist!" Raven gloated as she slashed me, knocking me down. "It really was a mistake for you to have those powers! Now die!" Raven shouted as she drove her blade down into my body to pierce my heart.

"... What a waste..." Raven said as she coldly looked down at my body, her blade into my chest. However, my body turned into a black puddle that faded away, but Raven was unfazed. "Shadow Meld? Pathetic, are you going to keep resisting death?" she said, turning around to see my body reappearing behind her. I struggled to get back on my feet, eventually managing to stand. "Hmph, I won't die here and not to you... You stupid copy. I made a promise to someone... that I wouldn't die. And I won't!" I shouted at my clone. "How cute, petty words before your death." Raven replied, shaking her head. "Zylphe! Sonic Slash!" With the wind behind her back, Raven made a quick straight dash forward. "Demon Cutter." I muttered as my blade staff emitted a very dark glow as two waves of dark energy came out from it and raced toward Raven at the same speed, striking down her face and stopping her in her tracks. "Gah... What was that...?!" Raven muttered as she got back on her feet.

"What is that skill?! How come I don't know it?!" I heard Doppel Luka complain as Luka infused the power of the four spirits into his right arm, boosting his sword slash and hit his copy with an attack he called "Element Spica". After a brief dialogue exchange between Luka, Doppel Luka put her sword away and took off her clothes. "You're really going to use that? He doesn't look worth raping..." Raven scowled, disliking Doppel Luka's new tactic. "But he is, after all, quite weak to sexual techniques." Doppel Luka replied as she made sexual advances towards Luka. Raven simply ignored that and returned her attention to me and charged. "Shadow Snare." I muttered as the shadows within the ground near Raven suddenly encompassed her and restrained her body; she quickly switched to Gnomaren while bound and broke free of the restraints, but it was too late: I used Shadow Storm and threw my blade staff at her, which slashed her and slipped into the shadows and reappeared in another direction to continue slashing her for a total of six times. Despite her earth body, the attack ravaged her a little, but she was far from defeat. "New skills, I see... And you managed to pierce my earth somehow. Ah? I can see the four elements born out of your inner darkness, though they're all in imperfect forms..." Raven said, gauging my ability.

As Raven carefully eyed me, Doppel Luka was on her knees and accidentally fell into Luka's Daystar, defeating herself. "Incompetent fool..." Raven muttered as Luka turned to her. Shortly after that, a surge of elemental power grew from within him; the Heavenly Knights had accomplished their mission! "Oh dear... It seems I came too late. To think all four of them would lose! Each and every one of them, useless!" someone's voice rang out; the insect Next Doll Rapunzel appeared and flew into the battlefield. She stared intently at Luka before gazing her attention to her Next Doll companion. "Oh good, you're still here Raven." Luka and I knew Rapunzel had no chance, but she insisted on fighting. "They all lost?! Promestein must have made some very grave miscalculations! Very well; Shadow Slayer!" Raven gauged me carefully before a large aura of darkness and a second blade staff appeared; I did the same thing. "It's far from over! I'm still standing!"

"Demon Cutter!" I shouted as I generated four dark blade waves that were aimed towards Raven. However, Raven used Grandine and took very little effort to deflect the attack with a well-timed strike from her blades. My blade waves turned upside-down and homed back into Raven, but she cut them in half with Black Reaper, surprising me. "Hah! Don't think the same trick works twice! Have you forgotten that I'm designed after an assassin? We're made to think and adapt!" Raven explained her high intelligence; I'd almost forgotten she was that smart. "Then... I'll have to use them in a way you can't anticipate them." I replied and closed my eyes. "Stay with me, Grandine. Ghost Stab!" Raven generated two ethereal blades of darkness to my front, but I sensed their approach and dodged them; she used Black Reaper again and approached me, but despite her water I narrowly evaded her lengthened blades using my own version of water. I then used the wind within me to strengthen the speeds of my Demon Cutter and Sonic Slash, comboing Raven. "H-how are your elements stronger than my perfect artificial spirits?!" the chimera shouted, shocked; I could sense her bloodlust rising greatly at this point. "... Except you're not using them right... I fail to see your greater intelligence if you can't understand that." I replied. I've known Luka and the other Heavenly Knights using their elemental powers properly, but Raven is being too heavily dependent on them, not understanding the source of their true power. "That doesn't make any sense at all! How dare you mock me! Gigamander, come!"

My copy scowled as her blade of flame appeared; she recklessly charged at me, but I used Shadow Storm. However, she quickly countered with a Bloody Tornado, but I Shadow Melded behind her and used Phantom Blow and Assassinate, catching her off guard and striking her twenty times with an increased firepower from my own fire before impaling my two swords directly into her chest. "How pathetic, you claim to be an assassin but you're just a lowly clone, always has been, always is and always will be." I taunted. Raven used Shadow Meld out of my attack and tried to retaliate with Assassinate, but I responded with Shadow Snare, stopping her attack midway. She broke out again, this time using Shadow Meld. "It's time I end this. Fall into the abyss; Abyssal Blade!" As Raven appeared overhead, my left hand conjured a dark sphere in front of me, forming into a black hole that sucked Raven into its grasp. A weakened Rapunzel was also sucked in as well. I then slashed into the black hole as Luka dropped a Daystar on the two, mixing the catastrophic power of light and darkness that created a massive explosion that engulfed the two! Once the smoke cleared, both Raven and Rapunzel were left completely shattered and ragged, only their upper body parts remaining. "N-no... I'm-I'm-I'm th-e-e-e ul-ul-ul-ul-timate... S-s-s-shadow c-c-chimera.... R-r-r-ra-v-v-ven! H-h-ow di-d-d I-I-I l-l-o-o-o-s-s-e-e-e-e?!" Raven pondered on her defeat, sputtering and emitting sparks. A final slash from my Assassinate finished off Raven for good, her body deactivating and slumped onto the ground, lifeless. Luka also finished off Rapunzel using Element Spica, sealing her and causing her to vanish completely.

"And that's the end of the Next Dolls..." I panted as my Shadow Slayer was dispelled. Luka was also exhausted from fighting two powerful enemies. "That darkness... It feels stronger than before... Quite impressive." Luka told me as he gauged my strength. "I told you my darkness would outshine my doppelganger's. Now, there's no time to rest; we need to keep pushing forward. We've fought very powerful enemies, but they come nowhere to Ilias." I told Luka. He nodded as the two of us proceeded, coming across a large door in the middle of the field.

Chapter 14: Final Farewell
"So, that's the Gate of Heaven?" Luka asked as he reached out to touch it. "You two have done well to make it this far!" a female voice came out, causing Luka to jump back from the gate and pull out his sword. The gate began to distort and warp itself, transforming into a humongous angelic being. Her angelic body was riding atop a beast creature with many tentacles and angel wings to her sides and had a very large mouth lined with numerous breasts inside and had a very long tongue. "I am the angel that connects the Heavens and the surface world. A gate that serves as her own gatekeeper." the angel introduced herself. "No enemy shall pass. You will be sent to the underworld, not the Heavens. No... Perhaps I'll simply keep your souls forever to play with..."

I materialized my sword; the Heavenly Knights must have finished distorting the world's holy energies so I should be able to harm her. Luka quickly summoned all Four Spirits while I covered him, distracting the gate; her massive tentacles fired at me but her massive body also slowed her down, allowing me to evade. However, attacking directly would just mean getting stuck in her mouth, so I had to wait for Luka to finish. After channeling Undine, he attacked the Gate with Heavenly Demon Revival; the angel turned towards him and attempted to lick his body with her massive tongue, but was suddenly stopped when Salamander's flame blazed brightly on his sword as a Daystar was dropped onto her. As she was taken aback, I jumped onto her beast body and used Phantom Blow on her angelic body, causing her to scream in pain. "Y-you! How did you hit me?!" the Gate roared as she tried to flick me off with her beast tongue, but I jumped off and the tongue licked her angel body.

The Gate then shot tentacles at Luka and I, but I cut them off with Demon Cutter while Luka countered with Flash Kill. "W-what?! How...?! What the hell are you people?!" The gate reared back in shock, trembling already. Luka slashed her with Element Spica, causing the beast body to collapse. "How pathetic, a weak Cherubim..." I muttered as I jumped to attack her angel body with Assassinate, piercing my sword directly into her chest and striking her heart. Her body slumped as I jumped off and Luka took my place to slash her angelic body, defeating her at last. "To think... You could destroy this gate..." were the Heaven's Gate's final words before her particles reformed her body back into a normal gate.

Luka opened the gate and the two of us entered Heaven. The area within was glowing and somehow tranquil, but deep down we both knew it had sinister presences. Shortly afterward, a normal-looking angel appeared. "So you've finally arrived... I am Seraphim Eden. The first and highest among the angels, who serves at Ilias's side." the figure greeted us calmly; a Seraph meant business. "So you're the highest ranking angel? But your heart looks so disturbed..." Luka said. Eden angrily scowled at this. "Son of Lucifina! Even you dare to taunt me!?" "I am the most faithful among Ilias's followers! Both Micaela and Lucifina betrayed her! I am not the Third! I love Ilias! I honor her always!" Enraged, she began to radiate power. Her body then transformed into a colossal appearance; her angel body stood atop a throne with multiple women, with some garden-like fluff and tree growing out of her throne, and below that were large angel wings along with many pairs of breasts and serpent-like tentacles. "Look upon my power! The power of a Seraphim, inferior to neither Micaela nor Lucifina!" Eden boasted as Luka and I stared on. "It has been a long time since I've shown my true form. Not since the Great Monster Wars against the Ancestors... You both are dangerous. There will be no reincarnation for neither of you. You will be weakened, and eliminated. With that in mind, you will be imprisoned for an eternity. Rather than letting those heretic souls free, it will be something much safer. Prepare yourselves for the eternity to come. The humiliation I've endured will be inflicted upon you, thousands of times over..." We could both sense her sheer hatred and rage and we both drew our swords, ready to face the towering menace.

Eden focused her attacks simultaneously on both of us, swarming both of us with her numerous serpent tentacles. I quickly channeled Enveloping Darkness, but there were far too many for me to cut down, and eventually one of them managed to grab me and held me up high in the air, and Luka was also captured. After a bit of caressing, I managed to escape with Shadow Meld while Luka broke free with Gnome. "That annoying power of yours..." Eden muttered as she sent her angels on her body to grab us, but we evaded, however this was Eden's trap to lure us into her massive wings, which she brushed us against; I could feel my strength being sapped away from her overwhelming power. Both of us quickly broke free and started fighting back with Demon Cutter and Heavenly Demon Revival, carefully managing our distance. "Those who were tempted by the serpent were cast out from paradise. I wonder if you can withstand her temptations?" Eden shot out numerous tentacles at us, but Luka and I managed to dodge.

"Haa... Haa..." Luka panted; I too felt exhausted from Eden's violent onslaught. "You're quite skilled, son of Lucifina, half-breed monster. But you're only human. You cannot stand against a Seraphim!" Eden triumphantly shouted as she shot countless tentacles toward us. Suddenly, a vortex of fire surrounded me and Luka, shielding us from the tentacles. "Sorry for the delay, Luka, Shadow." Alice said as she slithered into the fight, back in her original body with fresh powerful magic flowing within her. "But... Is she even an angel? If a hideous figure like that descended, children would just cry." Alice said, mocking Eden's body. "Monster Lord Alipheese... Even if you show up, the outcome won't change. The three diseases that have been plaguing Ilias... I'll eradicate you all at once!" Eden shouted back. "Let's take her down quickly! A more powerful foe awaits us, after all!" Alice told us. With a renewed morale, the three of us charged into the fray!

"Now, I'll invite you to paradise... Surrender to your baser instincts, and indulge in the finest of pleasures." Eden sent her angels to grab Luka and I again, but Alice countered with Frost Ozma, freezing the angels completely, shocking Eden. She then sent her tentacles out at us again, but Alice also countered with Omega Blaze again and Luka aided with the fiery Ninefold Rakshasa while I helped with Phantom Blow while picking up the fire from Omega Blaze, burning them into a crisp completely this time and leaving Eden defenseless. "Curse you, Alipheese! Curse you, son of Lucifina! Curse you, half-breed bitch!" Eden angrily shouted. "See for yourself the power of the Monster Lord! Monster Lord's Cruelty!" Alice shouted as she fired four barrages into Eden's angel body, pushing her back. I followed in after Alice, jumping on Eden's monstrous body and right up her face. "Hidden in the shadows; Shadow Storm!" I threw my blades at her face, which slashed her repeatedly while slipping through he shadows. "My mother is the Star of Morning, the child of dawn. The star thrown to the Earth shall obtain victory! Daystar!" Luka finished Eden off by dropping a giant meteor onto Eden, exploding her with holy energy. "I... Can't lose...! I am not... Inferior... To Lucifina!" Eden cried out in agony as she vanished into nothingness.

While I took deep breaths and my aura faded away, Luka and Alice complimented each other. "And you, Shadow, your darkness seems to have grown a lot over the passing days. You've grown so much into a very powerful half human-monster." Alice said as she complimented me. I simply nodded at her before the three of us advanced deeper into Heaven. "... Everyone is fighting..." Luka muttered. "...If you're sensing it, then it must be so. It looks like their voices are reaching you." Alice replied. "That is correct... Once you're in Seraphim class, you can hear the cry of the soul itself. With that power you hold, it's no wonder." A voice rang out as a human-looking scientist stepped in; Promestein. She said something about loving humans and knowing her fighting forces are losing. "Hehe, it isn't futile! This situation is exactly what we wanted! I've been waiting for these circumstances for so long! Thanks to you, everything has gone perfectly. It means this is all going according to the scenario I laid out. The dispersion of Heavenly forces... Eden being knocked down... And for Black Alice to devour Ilias herself! The power of the Dark God will fuse with Ilias, and create the ultimate existence!" Promestein boasted. This shocked us; Black Alice and Promestein planned Ilias's downfall? Promestein then held out a syringe with sinister power flowing through it; she claimed it contained the cells of the first monster lord before injecting it into herself. Promestein's body suddenly expanded and transformed, ripping off her coat and becoming a giant tree-like figure with many stalks and tentacles near her main body.

Promestein boasted her power, but knows she's nowhere near Black Alice for she had become infused with Ilias's light, and plotted to swallow Luka right here and right now. Her massive tentacles reached out for Luka, trying to suck his groin area, but he used Sylph to dodge. As she attacked Luka, I leaped onto her stalked and aimed for her angelic body, but she grabbed me from behind with her tentacles and threw me into the ground. "Oh, how could I forget you? You looked like a great test subject; I had a lot of fun experimenting with your power to create Raven, yet you crushed her still! Once this is over I'll make you my guinea pig; I'll harvest your darkness some more and experiment with it, then when I'm through with you you'll be my food!" Promestein stared down at me as her tentacles raced around my body and caressed me. Alice quickly came to my support and shoved the tentacles off me; the attack was far more draining than Eden's. "Ugh... My apologizes, my Lord. I don't think I can withstand another attack..." I calmly but ashamedly told Alice. "It's all right, you've done well. We'll handle this!" Alice responded. I took a breather and withdrew to a safe distance while Luka and Alice held off the beast.

"Oh, what a disappointment. The great half monster fleeing at the power of the Dark God, from just a single attack! Come, Gnomaren!" Promestein cried out and tried to restrain Luka, but he dodged with Sylph and Undine's help and continued attacking with a flurry of sword strikes backed with Alice's magic. Promestein quickly switched tactics and summoned Zylphe; this time she managed to restrain Luka, but as her giant swallowing mouth came near, he broke free with Gnome. After a fierce fight, Luka managed to finish her off with a Daystar; Promestein's body disintegrated and worms started pouring out of her flesh. Before she disintegrated into dust, Promestein arrogantly declared humanity as her successor of her insane research. Luka and Alice quietly pondered her last words before moving on, leaving me to rest.

I took a few minutes to rest and regain my strength. Black Alice absorbed Ilias; her power must be stronger than Promestein's. But I'm her descendant, and she wanted me to stop her evil side. "You're almost there, Shadow! Keep pushing forward and let nothing stop you!" I heard a voice in my head; Heinrich's voice. "Shadow, my dear child... You've grown so strong; you don't know how happy I am to see you blossom. Now go, rid the world of the evil that lurks within the light and darkness!" I also heard Alice the Eighth's voice ring in my head. "My mission... is to seek out and destroy all evil. I'll be the one to stop your nefarious ways, Black Alice!" I told myself before rushing out. When I arrived at the center of Heaven, Luka and Alice were fighting a transformed, naked Black Alice attached to a lamia-like tail with many tentacles behind her back. "Feeling better? You're just in time. Black Alice is almost down." Alice said to me as Black Alice's body was trembling and shaking under Luka's might. "This can't be... I cannot lose! I will never lose! I will rule over everything! The power of the Dark God that sleeps in this body... I'll release it all... Even if I'm no longer myself... Even if I can't hold the world in my hand..." Black Alice shouted as her body began to expand like a balloon, releasing overwhelming berserking power. I engaged a stance, ready to deal with the final threat.

Black Alice's flesh expanded rapidly and filled up the area around the three of us. Black Alice emerged, her body fused to the mass behind her containing numerous tentacles, venus flytraps, breasts, suckers, tongues, hands, and so forth. "I am Alipheese... The Monster Lord who will consume everything... I will consume the world itself... Starting with you three..." Black Alice said to us. Her power continued to go berserk, and her flesh continued to expand; Black Alice was no longer herself, not the loving mother or the dark terrorist, but an insane demonic figure with a mouth that of a black hole, consuming everything in its path. "This is insane! At this rate, she really will consume the world!" Alice shouted in surprise. "Then we have to stop her now!" Luka shouted back, readying his sword. "You shouldn't have driven me this far... Your deaths won't be easy now. I'll toy with you until you regret ever being born. Let me see you cry as I digest you alive." Black Alice glared down at us, her body parts ready to attack.

I applied Enveloping Darkness and waited for an opening; any attack could easily finish me. Luka tried to summon the Four Spirits simultaneously, but as he got to the second spirit, Black Alice shouted an incantation that dispelled them instantly, shocking him. He quickly resorted to Undine against the colossal monster, narrowly avoiding her tentacles. She eventually managed to grab him and started squeezing his groin with her tentacle. "Luka!" Alice cried out and used Monster Lord's Cruelty, but Black Alice swung her tentacles at her and knocked her away, sending Alice tumbling and downing her. "Alice!" Luka shouted as he managed to break free with relentless struggling and fired a Daystar onto Black Alice. I quickly rushed in and followed up, but Black Alice appeared unfazed by the Daystar and grabbed me, sticking a venus flytrap near my groin. I quickly attacked it, breaking free from her grab.

Black Alice shouted her spirit dispelling incantation before summoning Zylphe and grabbed Luka who infused with Gnome, then put a tongue on his groin. I quickly ran around Black Alice, keeping my distance as her tentacles proceed to caress me. After a while, Luka eventually escaped, but heavily exhausted. "She's... She's so powerful...!" Luka shouted, using a Heavenly Demon Revival. "Don't give in. We have to keep fighting!" I shouted back as I used Bloody Tornado to blow off the tentacles around me. Black Alice then summoned Gnomaren and chased us around with a large sucker, but we nimbly evaded as Luka used Sylph and Flash Kill and I used Sonic Slash, damaging Black Alice. She scowled as she summoned Grandine and attacked with her flesh hands, but Luka's Salamander and Ninefold Rakshasa in conjunction with my Phantom Blow, blew them off, even though they managed to inflict damage to us, exhausting our strength even more. Black Alice then switched to the final spirit, Gigamander, and popped out breasts from her body, but Luka countered with Undine and him and I evaded her attacks using water and he retaliated with Daystar and I followed up with an Assassinate to her main body with the opening made.

"THAT! IS! IT! I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU TWO!!!" Black Alice angrily roared as she began radiating even more power. "ZYLPHE! GNOMAREN! GRANDINE! GIGAMANDER! ALL OF YOU COME RIGHT NOW!!!" the berserk demon shouted as she somehow managed to channel all four artificial spirits simultaneously! I sensed the artificial spirits being used beyond their normal limits, as if they were going berserk just like Black Alice! "T-they're going berserk too!" Luka shouted as he gripped his sword even more tightly. "THIS ENDS RIGHT NOW!!!" Black Alice used all her arsenal simultaneously, firing every single piece of her body parts at us. The sheer power she just channeled was extremely overwhelming; we couldn't counter it! Black Alice effortlessly grabbed us and stuck us on her body, imprisoning us. Luka was immediately swarmed by tentacles, venus flytrap, suckers, tongues, hands, and breasts, leaving him in complete agony! "And for you... Have a special taste!" Black Alice said to me as she dropped her body down onto me, sticking my thing in the lips between her legs! Luka and I let out a loud moan as Black Alice tortured us; we couldn't endure at all, and both of us soon leaked.

Black Alice had a triumphant smile as Luka, Alice and I were defeated by her. "Hehe, you're both quick to reach your limits. In the end, you couldn't stand against a God!" Black Alice gloated her victory as she continued her movements on the two of us, humiliating and torturing us with her immense body and power; we lost. There wasn't any hope left... "Shadow... you promised me... you wouldn't die..." I heard a woman's voice; I looked at Black Alice but she was still moving toward me. I blinked and saw what was talking to me: a faint silhouette of Alice the Eighth behind Black Alice! "Are you going to fall right here and now, let everyone's hopes and dreams die?" Heinrich's spirit suddenly appeared next to Alice the Eighth. "Are you going to let this colossal beast win and break your promise? You've come so far..." I heard Alice the Eighth say. I closed my eyes for a bit, absorbing their words. "No... I'm an assassin made to defeat all evil! I can't fall here!" I shouted at Black Alice as my body began to summon the darkness within my heart. She looked at me surprised as I managed to summon my swords and attack her body, shocking her and releasing me from her grasp! Luka too was also released and he fell to the ground, slumped but alive!

"W-what is this?! How can you still use Shadow Slayer?! You leaked into me! YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN BROKEN!!" Black Alice roared at me; my body was still fazed and damaged but my spirit wasn't shattered! "I'm not going to lose to you! I'll defeat you and bring peace to the world! My duty is to assassinate all evil creatures, including you!" I shouted back at Black Alice. "Grr... ZYLPHE!!!" Black Alice shouted and tried to summon the spirit of wind. However, nothing happened; her body wasn't emitting any element at all. "WHAT?! GNOMAREN!! GRANDINE!! GIGAMANDER!! COME!!" Black Alice tried to summon the artificial spirits, but once again nothing happened. "WHY AREN'T YOU COMING?! I ORDER YOU TO COME!!" I gauged Black Alice's body and sensed that the artificial four spirits were no longer in her; they must have overloaded and shattered when Black Alice used them all simultaneously. "NO!!" Black Alice was shocked and I took advantage of that to use Demon Cutter on her main body. I could sense her willpower was fading away, Black Alice's mentality and physiology being completely unstable due to her very short-lived victory and my attack. Black Alice's sexual parts raced towards me, but I used Shadow Snare and restrained her entire body using her own shadows, then I used Shadow Storm to continue attacking her from a long range. "WHAT?! HOW?!?" Black Alice was even more shocked as I rushed over to her main body. "The end for you. Fall into the abyss; Abyssal Blade!" I created a black hole on her body, though it couldn't vacuum her due to her monster body's massive side it could still damage her, before slashing her angel body to create a massive dark explosion.

Once the smoke cleared, Black Alice's body began to melt and disintegrate, my attack finished her off for good. "I am... The Monster Lord... I will... Consume the world..." with Black Alice's power sapped, the battle between us was finally over. "We did it! We finally got her!" Luka cheered triumphantly. "You hold nothing now. Now vanish into the darkness of history." Alice got back up and coldly told her ancestor. "My power... Is gone... My... Everything... I... I..." Black Alice was stunned as her body faded into dust that faded into nothingness. While Luka and Alice were cheering, "It's... over at last... Alice the Eighth." As I looked down at the lump of flesh, I saw a figure rising from it, an ethereal one; Alice the Eighth's spirit. It didn't seem like Luka and Alice could see her ghost. Heinrich's spirit appeared next to her and Alice the Eighth rushed into his arms, smiling and crying. "Thank you, Shadow. I knew... I could count on you... I made the right decision to mother you. Please, be happy with the peace you've obtained..." Alice the Eighth smiled at me before vanishing with Heinrich. As they disappeared, I smiled knowing that Alice the Eighth was at peace, something I don't do very often. I turned towards Luka and Alice and shook their hands. "Thank you, Luka, Alice. I couldn't have put Alice the Eighth to rest without your help." I told them. "No, thank you. If it wasn't for you, we couldn't have defeated Black Alice at all! The remaining ounce of your darkness came out and defeated her!" Luka smiled and shook my hand, and the three of us triumphantly exclaimed our victory.

Chapter 15: Final Dance
"Yes... Ilias and Black Alice are both gone..." Alice triumphantly exclaimed. However, no sooner do the words leave her mouth, a powerful feeling of imitation spreads through the air. A remaining piece of flesh from Black Alice suddenly started wiggling and moving. "Her body was destroyed and her spirit's gone. No..." I muttered as a figure emerged from the flesh: Ilias! "Well done, Luka. You've served me well." the goddess smirked as her radiance filled the air around us; all three of us were shocked at her appearance. Ilias proceeded to explain her true master plan of being eaten by Black Alice and then having Luka free her to become the ultimate entity of light and darkness, using everyone whether friend or foe to achieve her goal. Not only we could sense her divine aura, but also some dark magic clinging to her body, the same feeling from when we fought Black Alice. Ilias announced her new plan of restarting the world in her own image and destroying the Dark God once she revived, eliminating every monster in her path. "Hero Luka... Of course you were an important piece in my plan, too. You were my precious servant, who ripped me free from Black Alice's body. You have performed your role beautifully. So... I must reward you."

The three of us were finally fighting Ilias; the final battle at long last! Ilias wished to reward Luka with her body, while planning to send Alice down into hell. "And... That half breed, Shadow. Even though you're part monster if it were not for you Luka could not have released me. How about I reward you as well, once I purge that darkness lurking in you? Or would you rather be sent down to hell, like with Alipheese?" Ilias offered to me. "This is... our first and last meeting. But like Alice said, you're nothing but a petty bitch. I swore I would slay you a long time ago, and I will!" I shouted and charged towards her. She retaliated by firing a bolt of lightning, but I narrowly evaded the attack and slashed Ilias's body, harming her, but she didn't lose composure. Luka and Alice quickly followed up and the three of us teamed her. However, Ilias had a lot of sexual skill and she damaged Luka quite a lot with her hand, mouth, breasts, and wings, but he stood strong and continued attacking her. Ilias also tried to mount me, but Luka shoved her off and I assisted him.

After a few tradeoffs, Ilias took a step back and softly smiled. "I see... Great power, indeed. As expected of the one I entrusted to defeat Black Alice. If you're going to resist this much, then I suppose you don't wish to be rewarded. I shall have to show you my true power, then." Ilias said and begun to radiate with power. Her angelic body slowly broke apart and grew monstrous traits. Luka and Alice were a bit surprised but knew they couldn't falter. Ilias's transformation completed: her main angelic body was attached to a monstrous form possessing a massive tentacle and a giant semen extractor. "Look upon my sacred form. This is the appearance of a true God!" Ilias arrogantly exclaimed. "Sacred form? No matter how you look at it... You don't look like a goddess." Luka commented the figure. "Hmph... Like a primitive monster. If you hate monsters, you should hate yourself." Alice said. "... This is just sad. You look worse than Eden, Promestein or Black Alice..." I quietly muttered. Despite her overwhelming power, the three of us kept standing head on. Luka and Alice quietly prayed for strength from their loved ones; "Rose... the Heavenly Knights... Yamatai and Noah... Alice the Eighth... Heinrich... Without you all I couldn't have been where I am today. This is my fate and my destiny... And I'll continue that path, I'll continue where you all left off and finish this accursed bastard! Mother, father... your strengths have been incorporated into me, and I'll use it just like you both always wanted me to!" I quietly muttered to myself. "Despair! Lament your fate as the ones who would resist a Goddess!" Ilias shouted as the four of us clashed in the epic final battle!

Luka quickly channeled Gnome as Alice attacked. "My inner darkness: Enveloping Darkness!" I shouted, generating my dark aura around me. "Hehe, splendid. The power of the Dark God, who plagued me... In my own hand!" Ilias boasted as her power shook the ground itself. "What power... I know, Gnome. You're protecting me!" Luka shouted, infusing himself with the earth. "Wind, I command you to tear them to pieces!" Ilias shouted and summoned gusts of wind that cut the air around us. "Reaper, cut down all evil surrounding me! Black Reaper!" my blades quadrupled in length and I spun them, slashing down the wind gusts. "Surprise! Ghost Stab!" I then stabbed in front of me, creating two ethereal blades to Ilias's sides and slashing her main body. "That dark power within you... A fragment of Black Alice's power?!" Ilias looked down on me a bit surprised, as did Luka and Alice. "You... You're carrying a part of Black Alice's remains?! That's where your darkness came from?!" Luka looked at me in shock and awe. "Somehow that power felt so familiar to me... I didn't think it actually originated from her!" Alice also said, shocked as well. "... It's true. I'm the son of Alice the Eighth and Heinrich; the remains of what was good in her until you corrupted her! I was her backup plan in stopping you, you evil goddess! You distorted mother's path and made her into an evil pawn! You imprisoned father's spirit! They loved each other so much and all that went sour because of you! I'll send you to hell, Ilias!" I replied, glaring down Ilias. "Black Alice was... good...? I won't forgive you, Ilias!" Alice replied. "Heinrich... and Alice the Eighth...? Their lives were altered and twisted...? Unforgivable, Ilias!" Luka shouted, gripping his sword very tightly. "Hehe... Those two deserved what they got! They deserve to have turned against each other, and their son twisted! I was hoping I could purify you and I'd use your pure human body to rescue me, but you foiled me and let your power grow. Oh well, it was still satisfying to see mother and son fight each other to the death! Hahahaha!" Ilias boasted.

Suddenly a feeling of wind appeared: Alma Elma! "Aha, I'm the second of the Knights to arrive~!" Luka, Alice and I were delighted with her appearance. "The Queen Succubus, is it? What does a weak Succubus think she can do here?" Ilias shot out her massive tentacle towards her, but she caught it and drove her palm into it, damaging it and stopping it in its tracks, surprising us. In a ready stance, Alma Elma and her martial arts style joined the fight! Ilias glared down Alma Elma, saying she hates succubi the most for their pleasure, and cussed at her after Alma Elma replied that disavowing pleasure is what caused conflicts. "Those who defy their God shall vanish." Ilias said as her massive tentacle raged about, but Alma Elma once again countered it with a palm attack, giving the rest of us an opening. "Burn to ashes! Omega Blaze!" Alice started off with a vortex of fire around Ilias. "With the wind behind me! Sonic Slash!" I shouted and dashed into the flame, cutting Ilias's lower body before rushing out. "Cutting through space, time and reason! Flash Kill!" Luka finished and used his space-time slash to cut through me and the fire to hit Ilias. "With my very heart and soul! Palm of Pure Violence!" Alma Elma then flew towards Ilias's main body and struck her shoulder with a palm attack.

"How annoying, Queen Succubus! Vanish!" Ilias shouted and dropped a thunderbolt on Alma Elma, but she used her wind to evade in time. I quickly rushed towards Ilias for my next attack. "Hehe... Even the power of the Dark God is mine now." Ilias summoned a hellfire around her, but I leaped out of the way and onto the flying Alma Elma's back, then jumped off of her for altitude. "Slash through everything! Demon Cutter!" I retaliated by firing blade waves off my sword, homing directly into Ilias's body. "Break! Dragon Knee!" Alma Elma followed up with a knee attack, but Ilias used her massive tentacle to blow her off, which also slammed into Luka, Alice and I. "Guh... She's strong..." Alma Elma said concerned; she's already faltering compared to the three of us, and Ilias still had a lot of health remaining. "Alma, pull back already!" Alice ordered, but Alma Elma shook her head. "No... I can go for more..." Alice shouted again "This is an order from your Monster Lord! I forbid you to die in front of us! Fall back, and live in the peaceful world to come!" Alma didn't take long to think about it and smiled. "If you're going to go that far, then I'll have to comply... Monster Lord, I wish you well in your fight. And Luka, Shadow... I'll give you a reward once you're back safely~" Alma Elma then blew a kiss towards Luka and I, magically revitalizing us as we all turned back to the threat in front of us.

Luka quickly reapplied Salamander as Alice used Omega Blaze again and I again used Sonic Slash. "This fight will end now. Be purified, you evil being." Ilias said as a tsunami was summoned around her and moved in to crash into us. Suddenly a wall of water was formed around us, nullifying Ilias's attack! "So I made it in time. I'll assist now..." Erubetie finally arrived, once again to our delight. I could sense her hatred towards humans had vanished, now that she was fighting alongside Luka and I. "Let's fight together, Erubetie! We'll entrust you with defense!" Alice told her subordinate. "Understood, Monster Lord. No attack of hers will get through me..." Luka, Alice and I attacked as we thought Ilias was stalled with Aqua Pentagon. "Now then... Should I crush this annoying defender of yours?!" Ilias shouted as her holy fire magic was condensed and exploded onto the wall, instantly shattering it with one blow! "It can't be... With a single blow? Then I shall protect you all with my body." Erubetie was shocked but calmly regained her composure as her body of slime appeared in front of us and shielded us. "... What? What are you thinking, Erubetie?!" Alice looked on in surprise. "Repent your sins through pain!" Ilias then dropped another thunderbolt on us, but Erubetie blocked it with her own slime body.

"I am protecting the hope of our world. You won't lay a finger on them while I live!" Erubetie exclaimed. "Erubetie, no! Even though we don't know each other much, I can't bear to see a fellow monster die before me!" I told her, but she ignored me. "The flames of hell Alipheese herself thinks she can use!" Ilias summoned another hellfire, but Erubetie once again blocked it with her own body. "You cannot block my attacks forever. It seems you will be the first to fall into hell." Ilias said as she continued attacking with lightning and fire while Luka, Alice and I kept fighting her, but the two begged Erubetie to withdraw. Her body was collapsing on herself, clearly past her limit! "I said you were dismissed! None of us want your sacrifice! If you wish to protect the hope for the future, you must survive! Don't abandon your responsibility to lead your brethren! You cannot indulge in self sacrifice here!" Alice ordered. "Please... For everyone's sake, retreat! Don't you believe in us?! Then fall back!" Luka shouted as well. "Erubetie, if anyone's going to die here, it's Ilias! You can trust us on that! Please, let us handle the rest! You have my word on this, I swear as the Fifth Heavenly Knight!" I shouted too, requesting Erubetie to flee. After a moment of silence, Erubetie spoke up. "I hate my own lack of power... Please... May the fortune of war be with you..." Erubetie slowly staggered away, and Ilias just laughed. "Oh my... Your shield of slime seems to have vanished. And here I was hoping she would shield you to her death."

I could sense the power of the Four Spirits fading away from Luka, so he reapplied them. My Enveloping Darkness was also reaching its peak as well, but I just had to hold on a bit longer... Alice threw another Omega Blaze at Ilias while she threw a thunderbolt at Luka, who was unable to dodge in time. "This has gone on long enough. After I eliminate you three, I will remake the world..." Ilias muttered as she stared down at us still. "You're breaking our agreement, Ilias!" a voice shouted and a large crimson flame appeared around Ilias, heavily damaging her; out from the flame was an elder-looking Tamamo with immense power greater than the three of us! Ilias was surprised, acknowledging her from the past; she's a Six Ancestor?! "Heh... All our powers have hidden secrets don't they?" I chuckled as Tamamo explained her mission given to her by the Dark God. "Evil shall be purified by fire!" Ilias condensed holy fire magic and released it onto Tamamo, lightly burning one of her tails. Ilias offered Tamamo to join her friends from long ago, but she said she wasn't alone because of the current generation and mocked Ilias for being alone.

"I'll remind you of the pain I can bring. Dance of Death!" Tamamo began spinning around her, clawing Ilias and clearly showing heavy damage from cut marks onto her body. "All life return to the nature from whence it came! Heavenly Demon Revival!" Luka followed up and fired a magic earth blast at Ilias. "I shall crush you like the insect you are." Ilias retaliated, shooting her massive tentacle to crush Tamamo. "Freeze! Frost Ozma!" but Alice countered, stalling the tentacle with ice and giving time for Tamamo to move out of the way. "Spinning death and a fountain of blood; Bloody Tornado!" I slid next to the tentacle and spun rapidly, slashing across it. "It has been a thousand years... But taste the power of my tails! Nine Moons!" Tamamo followed up and smashed the other side of the tentacle with the might of her tails, crushing it. "The apocalpyse awaits." Ilias suddenly radiated a holy wave of destruction, impacting Luka and Alice; it made straight towards me but Tamamo shielded me with her own earth body! "Mistress Tamamo! Are you hurt?!" I shouted to my wounded mistress. "The ultimate darkness of Alice the Eighth! Shadow Slayer!" I shouted and generated my second blade staff and slashed Ilias with it rapidly. "Hidden in the shadows; Shadow Storm!" I quickly followed up and threw my blades which phased through Tamamo by slipping into the shadows and made its way to Ilias's body, striking her numerous times before my blades returned to me.

Tamamo struggled to get back onto her feet. "I'm... all right." she said, but suddenly she shrunk back into her sealed form. "Guh... My time's up! But I won't fall back. I'll settle the score from the war long ago!" Tamamo kept standing up to the plate. "No, fall back! I've always thought of you as my second mother. I don't want to lose another mother before my very eyes." Alice begged her. "That's right... Leave them to me." rushed in the final Heavenly Knight, Granberia! "Then I'll leave it to you young ones. Monster Lord, you aren't allowed to fight to the death either. Shadow, you've grown so strong, but I can't find a replacement husband, so stay alive for me. Luka... You must swear to survive, no matter what. Understood? You must all live, and come back safely!" were Tamamo's final words before leaving. Granberia then stepped up to the plate. "Now then... The Cursed Sword user Granberia challenges you!" the dragonkin shouted while unsheathing her weapon. "Another sword waving barbarian." Ilias scowled. "I won't deny it... I've lived for the sword ever since I was born. I'll show you the results of my lifetime of training!"

"Ha!" the four of us attacked Ilias simultaneously with a basic attack. "I'll show you the power of darkness! Monster Lord's Cruelty!" Alice shouted and fired four blasts of dark magic at Ilias. "I'll pierce you through! Bloody Fissure Thunder Thrust!" Granberia charged forward and slashed Ilias with a piercing thrust. Luka and I quickly followed up with Flash Kill and Sonic Slash. Ilias retaliated by throwing thunder, fire, giant tentacle and holy fire at us all, but we all managed to dodge. "Break! Dragon Butcher Attack!" Granberia cleaved Ilias. "The power of the Four Spirits, in my hand! Element Spica!" Luka channeled elemental power into his right arm and slashed Ilias, using the torrent of magical power against her. "Bleed and die before me! Assassinate!" I jumped onto and off Granberia and Luka and leaped towards Ilias, stabbing my two blades into her angelic body. Ilias immediately fought back with another Ultimate Messiah; none of us were able to dodge and we all took the full force; the attack left me on the ground but I shortly managed to get up. Alice then quietly focused magic. "A speed faster than the gods! Death Sword Chaos Star!" Granberia resumed with a flurry attack. "The jaws of the Rakshasa come to make the wicked pay! Ninefold Rakshasa!" Luka followed with and slashed Ilias nine times. "Death's Door awaits you! Phantom Blow!" and I finished off with my darkness infused blades to strike Ilias twenty times. "See for yourself the power of the Monster Lord!" Alice finished charging up and fired a simultaneous strike of Omega Blaze, Frost Ozma, and Monster Lord's Cruelty. Ilias reared back in pain, but she was still releasing deadly power. "Shall we begin the recreation?" Ilias dropped a huge wave of genesis power onto us, dealing huge damage and leaving me heavily injured.

I was now on the ground, panting. "Shadow, retreat right now! You can't go on like this anymore!" Alice ordered me. "...I made a promise to Alice the Eighth... But I guess even I have limits. I trust you'll take care of everything?" I told my comrades before retreating a safe distance. "Hmph. That good-for-nothing half breed, finally gone." I heard Ilias say. I turned around and saw Ilias trying to beat the crap out of Granberia, who retaliated with Vaporizing Rebellion Sword repeatedly. After many barrages, Granberia finally collapsed, prompting me to run back. "Fall into the abyss; Abyssal Blade!" as Ilias raced her tentacle towards Granberia, I leaped in and vacuumed the tentacle into a black hole in front of Ilias and slashed it, exploding waves of darkness into her face. The attack left me on the ground again, dispelling my dark aura and my energy completely spent. "What are you doing?! I told you to leave!" Alice shouted at me. "I... I'm not going to let my comrades die like that...!" but Ilias just laughed. "Allow me to finish you two off!" the evil goddess moved her tentacle toward me and Granberia. "Come, you face my holy blade!" but Ilias was suddenly stopped by a sword slash that left a huge injury on her; we turned around and saw a seraphim angel flying before Ilias. Luka was surprised as the angel named Micaela said she lied about running out of power before claiming to be out of power now. Ilias towered over us, but Micaela suddenly returned and slashed Ilias again! She claimed to have lied yet again, but now truly out of power, she picked me and Granberia up before taking us away; the rest of the world's shoulders now finally rests on Luka and Alice. I felt my body suddenly slip into unconsciousness as the final battle grew farther and farther...

"Ngh..." my eyes opened and I looked around the surroundings; Tamamo's room in the Monster Lord's Castle. "Was I... dreaming...?" I looked around and saw Tamamo right next to me, wrapped with a few bandages on her body and tails. "Ah, you've woken up! It's been a week since then!" Tamamo exclaimed and hugged me tightly. "Did they... beat Ilias...?" Tamamo nodded and explained that Luka slipped into a coma since the final battle and Alice is staying next to the bedridden hero. "I see..." I leaned onto Tamamo, smiling as she held me tightly. "Welcome back, Shadow!" the citizens of the Monster Lord's Castle stormed into the room and greeting me, Rose included, who all hugged and kissed me and explained how the world was slowly becoming a coexisting world, and they all thanked me for my help. "Ilias, she's gone at last... I couldn't have done it without the great monsters I've been with all my life... Alice the Eighth, Heinrich... I finally fulfilled my promise to you... Luka, I couldn't have done it all without you..."

Epilogue: The New World
I quickly received a report that with the downfall of Ilias, all of her followers immediately surrendered and all the world's leaders and Heavenly Knights are working to keep the peace; so far there has been no serious act of rebellion or revenge. Rose, Imp, and several other monsters in the castle invited me to "sleep" with them as thanks.

Once my body felt better from the fight with the evil goddess, I set off to see the new world myself, leaving to Yamatai Village. The humans were still worshipping the monsters present, though there were still men lusting after monsters. I found a bunch of Akaname and also a Miko Lamia mentioning that humans forgave them for their crimes and now happily coexistence with the village. At the snake shrine, Shirohebi was accompanied by her elder sister, with red eyes; she had trouble apologizing and eventually gave up upon seeing me, glaring down at me. I quickly left after the younger said the elder was being tsundere about apologizing. I also heard Yamata no Orochi made amends and I decided to check it out. "Oh? It's been so many years. Ever since I've been released I made amends; I don't keep villagers captive now. Though, a lot of men happily visit me every now and then, and I'm satisfied with that. Thank you and that other human for helping me see the error of my ways." the creature said as she greeted me. That other human she's referring to must be Luka. "And if you ever want to visit again I'll be glad to keep you company."

I then headed to the cat shrine, where the nekomata was happily eating her food. She quickly noticed me and gently nuzzled my leg while mewling. After a bit of petting, she pushed me over to her nearby friend, a goblin girl. "Oh? If I'm not mistaken you must be the 'Mighty Assassin' and the 'Fifth Heavenly Knight' I've heard so much about. Me and my friends looked up to the Four Heavenly Knights, but news of a fifth never reach our ears until recently. I'm a goblin who used to be a bandit, but ever since that hero taught me from right and wrong the village of Iliasburg accepted me and allowed me to make amends. I now transport heavy objects to and back." The goblin said. The second time I'm hearing Luka's name; he must have done a lot over the world. "Once I'm ready, I plan to travel around the world with my friends back at Iliasburg, and of course with this nekomata." the goblin girl finished. "I see. From your story, you seem to have changed a lot. Just continue the good path you're going down now." I told her. "Yes! Thank you for your kindness, oh great knight!" she said, bowing before me.

At the fox shrine, Nanabi and Yao were relaxing along with a two-tailed Kitsune. The young Kitsune happily hugged my leg while Nanabi and Yao simply greeted me. "It's been a while. Have you rested well?" Nanabi began. I simply nodded. "Yes, your final battle with Ilias must have been rough." Yao said. "Well... dealing with her was a rough fight, yes, but I wouldn't be in any condition to defeat her were it not for everything you have given me as well as the fights before Ilias. I thank you from the bottom of my heart." I replied as the two smiled. "By the way... Mistress Tamamo..." I began to ask, but Yao motioned to say no more and just nodded. "What about her? What is it? Tell me!" the two-tailed Kitsune happily jumped up and down on my leg like a little kid. If she kept that power hidden for so long until absolutely necessary, any leaks of her true identity, even to her own, could spell a lot of trouble. "Oh... She's just happy to have us supporting her back." I said, petting the young Kitsune's head. She looked up at me and smiled. "I'm happy to have a mistress like her~ Be sure to tell her I said hello~"

"The future's changed a lot, hasn't it? All because of you." Rose greeted me outside of the fox shrine. "It's only fair I return the kindness to the monsters who helped me." I replied as she pulled me into a kiss. "I'm... happy that I met you, that you led me out of the light of Ilias Kreuz. You've always been there when I needed it the most. You changed my life so much... I couldn't have fought against the evil or serve the Heavenly Knights and the Monster Lord without you... I'm... grateful." I told her, smiling. "Shadow... You know you're very much welcome. After all, you saved me so many times, even saved me from permanent darkness. I'm very happy to have been the one... who looked after you all those years ago." I could see a tear coming down Rose's cheek; I held her close and took her back to a quiet place, continuing to profess my love for her.

Yamatai Village has evolved so much because of my influence, and I figured most of the world did. I decided to cut my sightseeing for today and make one last stop: Heinrich Hein's "grave". I quietly approached the altar and got on my knees. "Mother, father... It's finally over. I helped stop Ilias, and helped to create the world you both always dreamed of. I know how proud you both are of me, and I couldn't have better parents. I couldn't have done all this without both of you, and the weight of the world behind my back. The monster's darkness, and the human's strength, both gave me the will to push forward and accomplish everything I had done... Thank you... Alice the Eighth, Heinrich..."

"Testing, one... two... three... Still here? I have an assignment for you; return to the castle right away." I heard Tamamo telepathically contact me. I got back on my feet, and knowing that the world still needed my help I rushed back to the castle. "I'm on my way. Whatever target needs to be eliminated, I'll take care of it."