User blog:Newuser2572/Monster Girl Quest – Story Highlights Pt. 2

Monster Girl Quest' – S'tory Highlights Pt. 2



Preface:

About myself:

I’m currently studying video game development on my own and I’m always looking to improve my skill set by playing and analyzing existing works to find out how they work, extract their principles and implement them in my own future developments.

I had heard on the internet about this game and many people were praising its interesting story line, which is why in 2020 I looked up this game, came for the story and stayed for the story.

Overall I have to say that the game’s story line has impressed me, not compared to “a decent story considering that it’s a sex game”, but compared to some video game story lines I found in western AAA titles.



Monster Girl Quest’s story tackles many deep and meaningful real world issues that are embedded in the backstory of its characters.

Its overall well timed story elements and mechanics have also proven to be a great compliment to it.

For this reason I decided to create a short analysis of some of my highlights in the story, explain their background and why I thought that these parts were particularly well executed.



I originally intended this work to be for my own use only, but later decided to publish parts of it for other people to potentially make use of it as well.

Please forgive me if some of the story elements that I recalled below are slightly inaccurate as I was doing this as a project in my spare time while working full-time.

This may have caused my memories to be less precise than I would like them to be.



<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%" lang="en-US">I’ve published Chapter 1 already, and this is the continuation, picking up where I left off previously.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%">    Let’s c   ontinue   :  

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Chapter 2:

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%">The war:

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">After completing his business in the desert (section 2 of the main continent) Luka moved onwards to the third section of the main continent.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Making a quick stop at a castle in the area and completing two further quests, Luka marches onward to the “Plansect Village” which he had heard about while spending time in the castle.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> As soon as he arrives he is confronted with a group of insect monsters a   ttacking   a group of plant monsters.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Luka thinks that the plant monsters are being bullied by the insect monsters and decides to intervene.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">He manages to fight off the insects and is informed that a war is raging between the insects and the plants.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">The plants take him to the queen of the plant monsters who explains the injustice that the plants have been suffering as a result of the behaviour of the insects.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Luka believes that as a hero he should intervene to help the oppressed and agrees to part take in a strike mission against the insects in an attempt to disable their leadership, force a surrender and end the war.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">He works on a plan with the plant monsters, moves into position at the agreed time and attacks the insects from behind.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Defeating one enemy after the other, he moves toward the queen bee's hive.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">He finally confronts the queen bee and defeats her in battle.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">The plant monsters catch up to him shortly after and much to his shock and horror, tell Luka that they're now going to devour the insects and commit a genocide against them.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> H   e   fiercely objects and asks them to accept the insect's surrender and end the war, but the plants feel justified in their actions in order to prevent an insect insurgence later on.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Luka has had enough and starts attacking the plant monsters in an effort to stop them from committing genocide against the insects.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> The plant monsters are surprised by what they consider to be a sudden change of heart and   start fighting against Luka.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> H   owever he manages to fight them off and walks back to the p   l   ant kingdom to disable their leadership as well.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">He finally succeeds, which ends in most, if not all insects as well as plants being in a “sealed” state in which the cannot move as normal, until they regain their power later on.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Luka turns to Alice and tells her that he is confused by this whole situation.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">He doesn't understand why the plant monsters acted in the way they did after they won the war.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Alice shows her sincere side again and calmly explains to Luka that nobody enters a war thinking that they're wrong.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">They're entering a war believing that they had experienced a major injustice, which makes it easy for them to shrug off their own brutality.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">She goes on to say that Luka failed to listen to both sides, and acted impulsively based on what he thought a hero should do.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> She encourages him to think about this next time, and do what he thinks is right in this   situation.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">The victory once again appears to be bittersweet, with Luka acknowledging that he made some major mistakes that lead to suffering on both sides, but Alice sincerely congratulating him on stopping the war.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Until suddenly lots of plant and insect monsters move in from a nearby forest.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">They explain that they opposed the war from the beginning which is why they went into hiding, and they're now treating the wounded on the battlefield.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">In the end, the war has ended and Luka managed to bring peace to the area, in spite of the mistakes that he made.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Comments: Once again we have a deep topic, this time the topic of war.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Alice once again teaches Luka an important lesson about people’s thoughts and motivations, that they will easily make excuses for their own immoral behaviour by having suffered injustice in the past, much like Lily did in the Witch Hunt Village previously.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Alice also encourages Luka to think about his actions, to avoid acting impulsively, and avoid acting based on assumptions rather than evidence.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Context: Luka finishes his dealings in the third as well as fourth major section of the main continent and obtains all 4 spirits which he can now utilize in combat.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">After he obtained the 4th spirit, he was challenged to a fight by the heavenly knight Granberia in which he was heavily wounded and fell unconscious.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Alice carried him to Goldport, the northernmost port on the continent, where she cared for him for a day while he was injured.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">As he was unconscious, he had a dream in which he saw Alice's mother sacrificing herself by letting herself be killed by a human hero in an attempt to foster peace between humans and monsters.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Alice being a child at the time witnessed her mother's death and fell into a rage in which she killed 2 of the 4 humans that had arrived to defeat her mother who was the current monster lord at the time.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Luka then awoke from his sleep and noticed that his injuries had healed.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Alice was impressed by his healing ability, as healing from this kind of injury would usually take around 15 days rather than the 1 day Luka took.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">He is now ready to make his way to the Monster Lord's Castle, where he will confront the four heavenly knights in order to get them to stop attacking / interfering with humans and work towards coexistence between monsters and humans.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">However upon investigating the northernmost port of the main continent, Luka is told by local sailors that the final continent, Hellgondo, is inaccessible via the sea due to it's steep slopes that cannot be climbed by humans.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">The sailors reveal that prior to the last major conflict between humans and monsters, a bird monster would carry the humans from a ship at the coast of Hellgondo onto the continent by flying over the tall mountains surrounding it, but this monster no longer exists.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">''Alice informs Luka that he can hatch another bird monster (called Galda) by obtaining 6 special orbs, 3 of which are already in his possession. ''

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">A local information monger tells them that two of the remaining orbs can be found in the first section of the main continent and the final one can be found by contacting a woman Luka met earlier at the port, who seems to know something about it.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Later on Luka is also told by a soldier from Sabasa that the princess has been kidnapped again, this time for real.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%">Strategic backtracking:

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Comments: Before being able to advance to the next and seemingly final area of the game, Luka needs to head back to areas he has already visited previously to get the “equipment” he needs in order to make it to Hellgondo.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%"> Backtracking in video games is a double edged sword.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">It can lead to a feeling of connection to the characters that the player has bonded with over the course of the game, even if only briefly.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">But it can also be a source of frustration, as the player feels that he isn't accomplishing much due to there being no exploration as the areas are already known to the player.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> I   n this section of the game, this is done very well however.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Luka briefly visits a woman called Meia, whom he had helped previously when he arrived at the main continent for the first time.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Meia agrees to give him a magical item which he requires to obtain 2 of the 3 orbs.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> As Luka is walking down the same beach he walked along i   n the first chapter  , he acknowledges his feeling of nostalgia as he remembers that he didn’t have any of the 4 spirits   back then   or the combat experience that he has now.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Since the backtracking is limited to 2 areas of the game, which only appear very briefly, the familiar environments are just enough to feel connected to them again, but not too much to cause the player to get frustrated.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Overall I think this has been very well executed.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Context: As soon as Luka manages to obtain the required orbs and rescues the princess a second time, he marches onward to the shrine where the bird monster's egg is located in an attempt to hatch it.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">He finds out however that the egg has fallen into the hands of Ilias Kreuz who have relocated it to their headquarters in Goldport.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%">Confronting a terrorist:

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Luka makes his way to the headquarters of Ilias Kreuz in order to hatch the egg of the bird monster and make his way to Hellgondo.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">At first the guards in front of the building refuse to let him pass, but when he mentions that he is the son of Marcellus, one of the founders of Ilias Kreuz, Luka is granted entry.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> A   t the end of a large hallway he is greeted by Lazarus, who first asks Luka whether he knows how to destroy the bird monster egg that they had stolen.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">The conversation eventually shifts when Lazarus asks Luka whether he has come for revenge.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Luka is visibly confused. Revenge? What for?

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">He was told that his father was killed by monsters.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Lazarus reveals that it wasn't monsters that had killed Marcellus, but Lazarus himself.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> He explains that Marcellus had betrayed Ilias Kreuz by informing the monsters a   head of   attacks that the organization had planned on them,   causing Lazarus to discipline Marcellus by ending his life.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> L   azarus believed that Marcellus had gone crazy and ended his leadership quickly.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Luka and Lazarus get into an argument as to why he believes that Marcellus' ideas were so wrong.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Lazarus remembers back to the incident they had at the Monster Lord's Castle.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Luka is again confused, as he was told that his father never reached the Monster Lord's Castle, but failed somewhere along the way.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> Lazarus reveals that this story is also incorrect, and Marcellus, Lazarus, as well as 2 o   f their close friends   manage   d   to get into the castle and challenge the current monster lord, Alipheese XV   (Alice's mother)  , to a fight.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">They ended up defeating Alipheese XV and as she was dying she told them that she had died intentionally, in an attempt to foster peace between monsters and humans.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">In her mind, people needed a story that is easy to believe, the evil Monster Lord being defeated by brave heroes, restoring peace across the world…

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> The 4 heroes were deeply touched by her intentions and wanted to continue her will and work t   owards   coexistence between monsters and humans….

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> But it shouldn't end like that as t   he monster lord's child   managed to break free from her room and saw her mother being slain…

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> T   he child fell into a rage, instantly killed   their 2 close friends and severely injured Marcellus and Lazarus, with Lazarus having been unable to move his left arm ever since.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> L   uka remembers the dream that he had about this exact situation when he was injured earlier, and notices that the events are an exact match, leading him to believe that one of Alice's memories was transmitted to him   while he was unconscious.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Lazarus continues to explain:

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> A   fter their crushing defeat at the hands of Alipheese XV's child, the surviving heroes Marcellus and Lazarus   were convinced that monsters were hell-bent on their destruction,   but   believed monsters to be far too powerful to fight head on and founded the terrorist organization Ilias Kreuz in an attempt to perform strategic attacks on monsters, giving them the upper hand in combat in spit   e   of t   heir relative weakness.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">At the end of his story Lazarus concludes that monsters and humans cannot coexist due to their inherent differences and the power imbalance between the two groups.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> He argues that it's easy for Luka to continue preaching about coexistence because he is   very   powerful.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">At this point in the story Luka has become so powerful that he can tackle any enemy that he faces, including the four heavenly knights.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Lazarus argues that because of this Luka can't put himself into the shoes of an average human of average strength that can't defend himself against a monster that may attack at any time.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> Alice interjects and agrees that his thoughts hold some merit, while informing Lazarus   however   that she and Luka have seen numerous villages during their travels where humans and monsters get along,   which is why   s   he believes his reasoning to be flawed.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> L   azarus now recognizes Alice as the child that had killed his friends and injured him and Marcellus and is outraged   while recalling the details of his friends being torn apart like paper right in front of his eyes...

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> A   lice appears to be visibly remorseful for what she had done as a child.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> I   n response to the argument about other villages getting along with monsters L   azarus   replies that it is just a matter of time until they will face the devastating consequences of their actions,   with monsters attacking an   d   oppressing them eventually.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> L   uka had been held back by his shock about the sudden truth that Lazarus revealed to him, but now started regaining his senses.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">He fell into a rage, grabbed his sword and pointed it at Lazarus' chest.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> However Alice   grabbed   Luka's hand and gently pull   ed   it back.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Lazarus is adamant that he will not stop what he's doing, regardless of whether Luka decides to spare him.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">He also turns to Alice and asks her whether she wished to kill him once and for all…

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> Alice however uses her power to turn Lazarus into stone,   disabling him for now, but making it possible to bring him back later on.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> C   omments:

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> In this confrontation the game   does something quite refreshing:

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> It   is NOT making the mistake so many   games   make of turning Lazarus into a two-dimensional   villain that does evil things because he just really likes being evil,   or   because   he is just obviously insane.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">It does the opposite by explaining his backstory, the way that a traumatic event in his past swayed his opinion, and even giving him some solid arguments to defend his position.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">This in no way excuses his violent actions as a terrorist, but it makes him seem human.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">And the game actually goes even further:

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">The confrontation between Luka/Alice and Lazarus brings up two major arguments.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Lazarus argues that there is an inherent power imbalance between monsters and humans, making coexistence impossible.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> Alice argues   that   she and Luka have seen areas where humans and monsters are living together in peace,   without any major conflict   occurring.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> I   t is extremely interesting that there is evidence for both sides of the argument.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> Luka has had a lot of experience with encountering powerful monsters on his q   uest   that he only narrowly managed to defeat himself in spite of his skills.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">He has also experienced that almost every monster he came across either tried to rape him or hinted towards it, including Alice.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">So Luka knows that monsters are powerful and that they can be quite aggressive when they are not getting what they want.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> When it comes to Alice's argument, Luka has seen numerous villages where monster's were preying on humans, including the Happiness Village, the Lady's Village, the Succubus Village, and he has also seen an example of humans doing it to monsters a   t   Grangold.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">All of these details are backing Lazarus's side of the argument.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">However Luka has also seen humans and monsters living in almost complete peace at Grand Noah, with only very little incidents.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">So in the end, there is evidence for both sides of the argument.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> The only thing that isn't there is a comprehensive analysis   as to   whether human-monster relations are successful (!) in general (!) or whether it only works in a few isolated instances.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">This makes the outcome of the confrontation with Lazarus very interesting and leaves you with the question: Was Lazarus right?

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> T he connection: 

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> A   s Lazarus had been dealt with, Luka wanted to go ahead straight away and finally hatch the bird monster egg.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> B   ut Alice asks Luka to take a break   as he seemed to be significantly emotionally affected   b   y   to the situation t   hey   had just experienced.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> Luka is confused as he hadn't fought any enemies, so why would he n   eed a break   ?

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">He insists to go ahead with the plan of hatching the egg.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Alice however takes Luka by the hand and leads him out of the building.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> They move to a q   uiet   area, away from the turmoil.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">As Luka catches his breath, he confesses to Alice that he is doubting himself at the moment due to his confrontation with Lazarus.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">He is asking himself: If me and Lazarus, a fellow human, can't get along, then how will humans and monsters get along with each other?

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> He then moves deep into his personal history,   explaining where he came from…

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> H   is mother always wanted him to become a hero, so he just went down that path, regardless of what others were saying about him.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">He had this belief that he wanted humans and monsters to coexist while he didn't even know what coexistence meant…

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">So he just lived his life wearing this mask of what he thought a hero should be, rather than following his own convictions…

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Alice intervenes in Luka's thought patterns and tells him that he is not being honest with himself.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">She tells him that he is a true hero as even though he made a lot of mistakes along the way and put himself and into bad situations, he still followed his own will.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">She tells him:

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">He never liked it when people were pushed around or bullied, as he experienced social ostracism himself growing up.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">He always rushed in when he saw something that he perceived to be unjust and tried to help people.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> She finishes her thought by saying:   This isn't a mask you were wearing, but this was the real you.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> A   lice then addresses Luka's point about Lazarus:

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">She tells Luka that she believes that Luka and her understand each other, and asks him rhetorically whether she got it wrong.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> Luka doesn't question the accuracy of her statement and she goes on to say that while she and the heavenly knights understand each other, there are still lots of monsters that don't understand her,   even   as the Monster Lord.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> She further points out that humans and monster are currently afraid of each other and that this won't suddenly stop because of the   ir   actions, but rather it is a long term process that needs to be worked on.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Luka is starting to agree with her reasoning and reiterates the knowledge he just gained from Lazarus, that his father was a hero that fought for the coexistence between humans and monsters and Luka vows to inherit his will and continue the fight!

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> After Alice managed to cheer Luka up, L   uka     addresses something he noticed about   Alice…

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> He noticed during their confrontation with Lazarus that Alice seemed quite negatively impacted by Lazarus description about what happened at the Monster Lord's Castle,   so he asks her about it…

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Alice tells Luka that she had been feeling remorseful about the situation ever since it happened so many years ago…

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">She tells Luka in more detail what happened, explaining that her mother attempted to lock Alice in her room using magical powers while she sacrificed herself to the hero for the goal of peace between monsters and humans.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> However her mother seems to have underestimated Alice's powers and she manage   d   to break out of her room, causing her to witness her mother's death…

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">This event caused her rage and ended in the death of 2 people.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Alice is very much aware of this and blames herself to this day for ruining what her mother had worked for.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Luka tells Alice that it is not her fault as she was merely a child who wasn't even aware of her own power.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Alice tells Luka that she is now trying to atone for what happened back then and make human and monster coexistence possible.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Luka replies that she isn't atoning for it, but rather inheriting her mother's will, just as he is inheriting his fathers will.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> A   lice smiles and leans her head against Luka's chest for a moment, before snapping back into her usual demeanour.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">She plays it cool and tells Luka that the Monster Lord can't be cheered up by a hero, to which Luka replies that a hero can't be cheered up by the Monster Lord either.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Both of them realize at this point that they're more like each other than they thought.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> They both carried their   own   emotional baggage from the past and tried to make up for past mistakes…

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">During this conversation Alice tells Luka something she's never said before: “I believe in you.”.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Comments:

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> The first thing that strikes me here is that Alice picks up on Luka’s negative emotional state after the confrontation with Lazarus, she expresses concern and wants to help him,   so she leads him away from this situation to allow him to process his emotions.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> T   his shows the amount of affection that Alice has developed for Luka over the course of their travels, and shows us how far the two of them have come since the time when they were just starting out and Alice was constantly chastising Luka for everything he did, and when she had   absolutely   no concern for his well-being or even survival.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Once Luka manages to catch a breath and process the situation, he self-reflects intensely.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> H   e starts to realize that almost his entire life is based around his desire to atone for his fathers deeds   and   his mother’s wish for him to become a hero,   that his life is just a mask, or a shadow cast by the actions and desires of his parents.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> S   o now he is starting to think for himself and wants to decide his own path in life for the first time in his life, and he is lost…

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> A   lice interjects by telling Luka that it   wasn’t just his parents actions and desires that got him this far, but his own spirit, his desire to help the little guy, and let nobody be bullied around…

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> S   he also reasons with Luka regarding his doubts about coexistence following the confrontation with Lazarus, and reassures him that he’s following the right path.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Alice then proceeds to tell Luka about her deeply personal history, how she blames herself for the animosity that is now present between humans and monsters as a result of her actions.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> Luka corrects her by telling her that this wasn’t her fault (it really was her mother's fault for not taking the necessary precautions   to prevent this from happening   ).

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Luka finishes by telling her that she is not atoning for the past but rather inheriting her parent’s will, just as he is, making them both realize how close they are to each other.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">In conclusion:

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">Alice and Luka are sharing a deep connection here, wherein both of them can reflect on their past, the things that influenced them and express the emotional burden that they’re dealing with.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> I   n this moment, they are doing their best to help each other out and offer new perspectives to deal with their emotional baggage.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> The way they’re talking about it appears to indicate that they have never really talked about their past with other people, as the only perspective that they shared with each other was   only   their own,   further indicating that they are very special to one another.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> A   ddendum: What is  also   interesting in what Alice tells Luka as he begins to doubt his life goals is that she is on thin ice here.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> A   s Luka argues that he is merely wearing a mask that was put on him by his parents,   Alice’s response is that in what he was doing he was still following his own conviction, but she also mentioned that this conviction came from the fact the he himself was bullied and ostracised in his childhood, which would affirm Luka’s point about him wearing a mask.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%"> It is possible that Alice, while being physically extremely powerful, is actually fairly weak mentally in this situation, leading her to use weak arguments (possibly grasping at straws) to convince Luka to not abandon his views, which would leave her alone on this journey   for coexistence, with powerful enemies to face.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">This perfectly wraps up the second continent as Luka and Alice move onwards to the final battle on Hellgondo.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%">End of Chapter 2.