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Luka's Story-Paradox	By : Ditmag Category: +M through R > Monster Girl Quest Views: 2709 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Monster Girl Quest Paradox is the intellectual property of Tortorro Restistance. I make no money from this.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
Iliasport was about a day and a half away. Once again, our group was rather large, which I enjoyed, because it made attacks unlikely, and I got to chat with and get to know my companions better. My favorite thing to watch on that first day of travel was Flippy teaching Rami proper flying technique. It didn’t get Rami off the ground, as magic would probably be needed for her to actually fly. Still, Rami seemed to enjoy the lessons, Remi and Rumi seemed to enjoy watching her constantly try and fail.
Promestein was also enjoying herself, taking samples of the local plant life. I had to remind her that it was rude to stick other people with needles without asking. The Promestein I knew would have disregarded my instruction, as well as the complaints of those she stuck. The younger version was less willing to simply ignore the concerns of her companions, so she asked permission to take various samples, most of which were denied. Especially the ones that were extra invasive, such as requests for biopsies.
The day went smoothly and we made good time. We placed the Pocket Castle in a nice grove only a few hours away from Iliasport. We’d reach Iliasport the next day and hopefully have no issues getting a boat to Sentora. That was assuming no Alma Elma trouble. As eager as I had been to meet Granberia in Iliasburg, I wanted no part of Alma Elma. I’d grown to love the mischevious succubus and didn’t want to face her in a situation where she would be willing to kill me. That first encounter had haunted me for years afterwards.
After dinner, I decided to go find Promestein in the lab. One reason for my doing so was to bring her food. I knew angels didn’t need to eat much, but I also knew that given Promestein’s workaholic nature that she could use the energy. When I finally found the lab, I was surprised to find Ilias there, sitting in a chair, conversing with the angel scientist.
“Oh, Luka!” Ilias greeted me. “Promestein and I were just discussing the differences between her world and mine. Did you know that she comes from a world where I won the Great Monster Wars?”
“I did not,” I admitted. “That would mean that I’ve never encountered her world either. I’ve never seen one where the Great Monster Wars ended in a clearcut victory for heaven.”
“Hey, Luka,” Promestein said. “Do you think I might be able to meet my older self here?”
“Just to be clear, you know the Promestein here isn’t you, right?”
“I know. But I still regard her as me, or at least a version of me. I would assume that I would turn out the same way she did, so it would be interesting to get a glimpse of my future.”
“Your future?” Ilias chuckled. “You don’t want to meet this world’s Promestein. You seem like a good little angel. I’d like you to stay that way.”
“Here, I brought you some food, Promestein,” I said, handing her an apple along with a baked potato wrapped in foil. “I’m assuming I’ll rarely see you in the dining room, but that’s okay, because I provide delivery service.”
“Oh, thanks,” Promestein replied gratefully. “I guess it has been a couple of days.”
Promestein unwrapped the foil around the baked potato and began digging in. I’d added some butter for flavor. Promestein ate without comment on the quality of the food. That was fine. I had been praised enough for my cooking that I didn’t have to be told it was excellent every time.
“Well, I’ve got better things to do than watch Promestein eat,” Ilias said, getting up and stretching. “So I guess I’ll turn in.”
Ilias left, while I continued to watch Promestein eat. I enjoyed it when others enjoyed my food, and although Promestein didn’t say anything, I knew from experience with my Promestein that she did love my cooking, even if she didn’t feel the need to compliment me for it every time. I waited for her to finish before speaking again.
“Have you been sleeping at all?” I asked, knowing the answer was no.
“There’s so much to do! I spent two hundred years sleeping four hours a day! Why would I indulge in so much time wasting activity now when there’s a whole new world to discover! Besides, you need me. You said so yourself.”
“I do. But I also need you well rested. I’ve talked to your counterpart on my world many times about this. Once she got to know me well enough, she admitted that angels do indeed get tired and that their thinking and reasoning abilities decline significantly without rest. So please, find yourself a vacant guest room if you haven’t already and use it tonight.”
“You obviously knew my counterpart well,” Promestein said with a grin. “You know just how to talk to me. All right, I’ll go to bed soon. I assume you are as well?”
“Oh yeah,” I replied. “I need sleep badly.”
“Before you go, could I ask you a few questions?”
“Sure.”
“Ilias tells me that you have an alien power that’s neither holy nor dark magic nor elemental. I know you can’t demonstrate it for me. The goddess explained the reasons. But could you tell me how you got it, what it can do, anything about its nature?”
I quickly went over what I knew about my power, which didn’t take long. The Promestein from my world had researched my power thoroughly but could never figure out exactly what it was. She eventually threw up her hands and began calling it “order energy”. As far as I knew, she was the only one who ever used that term. She called it “order energy” to distinguish it from chaos. Normally, holy and dark energy mixing would cause chaos, but my energy was able to mix them and keep them stable. That was how I recreated Ilias and Alipheese so that they could interact, which had brought about peace between the two.
“Fascinating,” Promestein breathed. “May I have a semen sample?”
“What for?”
“Your semen might provide clues as to the nature of your power. I know you said that my older self studied it for decades and only learned so much, but maybe I can build on what she knew. If only you had access to her journals. Still, you’ve pointed me in the right direction with your very simplistic summary of her findings.”
“Well then, let me help you out further,” I said. “My Promestein didn’t need to get semen samples. Well, occasionally she did, but she had developed a way to extract my power directly using a syringe.”
“Magical force can’t be extracted from a mortal body using a mere syringe, Luka,” Promestein said, shaking her head. “She must have developed a custom spell to enchant syringes for that purpose. Thank you for that information. I’ll work on creating one of my own. But in the meantime, how about just a standard semen sample?”
“Oh. Okay, that’s fine, I guess.”
“Great!” Promestein said happily, handing me a cup. “There’s a bathroom over there.”
“Um….. that’s going to be a problem.”
“How is that a problem?”
“You see, I’ve been stimulated by so many powerful monsters, that I can’t actually bring myself to orgasm anymore.”
“Fascinating!” Promestein exclaimed. “I’ve heard of that phenomenon. I really should coin a name for it. That does pose a problem. I guess I’ll have to wait until tomorrow night and ask one of the monsters to get a sample from you before they go to sleep. I’ll design a draining machine for you as well. I should be able to have it ready in a few days. I’ll need a few ounces per week.”
“A draining machine?” I asked skeptically. “I’d really prefer it if you didn’t do that. Your counterpart had designed draining machines. It was not a pleasant experience.”
“It’s science, it doesn’t have to be pleasant. How else am I to get sufficient semen?”
“You could consider getting it from me yourself.”
I assumed that Promestein would either be shocked and kick me out of her lab, or extremely clinical about it. Her response was not what I expected.
“Luka, was there something between us in that other world?” she asked.
“I… I really don’t know,” I responded helplessly. “She was… difficult to read. I’d like to think we were friends.”
“Did she take your semen personally?” Promestein asked pointedly.
“Actually, for the first ten years she rarely asked, and when she did she’d flag down a monster in the hallway to do the job. But then something…. Happened between us and she became much more interested in doing it herself.”
“Huh,” Promestein thought, then made her decision. “Please remove your pants. I think I will actually take it myself.”
While I got undressed, Promestein put down the cup and reached into a drawer, pulling out some latex gloves and placing them over her hands. She then grabbed a tube of some kind of lube and squirted a generous amount into one hand.
“Is that really necessary, Promestein?” I asked.
“The gloves? It’s sensible to make this as sanitary as possible.”
“You’re an angel,” I pointed out. “Anything you do is automatically sanitary.”
Boy, didn’t I know that! My Promestein had engaged in all sorts of perverted activities with me that even monsters hesitated to do. At least the ones who weren’t succubi.
“I suppose you’re right,” Promestein admitted, removing the gloves. “Very well, sit back and I’ll use my bare hands to get a semen sample from you.”
Promestein knelt down between my legs and grasped my penis with her warm hand. She watched me carefully, observing my reaction.
“You seem to have reacted positively to just my touch,” she observed. “Let’s add some lubrication.”
She produced the tube of lube again and squirted some into her hand, then began using that hand to lightly stroke me. She continued to watch me intently.
“How long does this take?” she asked. “I really do have work to do. Please come quickly.”
I moaned in pleasure and didn’t respond. I knew that she wouldn’t have to wait long. Still, she was impatient. After only two more minutes, she added a second lubed up hand. That doubled my pleasure.
“Interesting,” she said. “Two hands seem to be better than one. I wonder if three hands would be even better? Please recruit a monster with multiple hands so that I may do an experiment.”
The only monster I’d ever known with more than two hands was Cindy. Ah, Cindy! I started imagining her handjobs. They had produced some incredibly intense orgasms, what with her multiple hands, her expert technique, and her naturally produced soap. Fantasizing about Cindy brought me to the edge even faster.
“Something’s happening,” Promestein observed. “Are you getting-“
Just as she said that, my semen started shooting out. Promestein quickly switched to one hand and brought the cup to my penis in order to collect as much semen as she could.
“Darn it!” she exclaimed. “About half of it ended up on the floor and on my clothes! I’ll try to work with the sample I have, but I’ll definitely need more. Please come back tomorrow so that I can take another sample.”
I promised her I would, assuming I had time.

We arrived in Iliasport around noon. I saw right away that the situation wasn’t good. Sonya noticed it as well.
“So this is supposed to be the big port town?” Sonya asked. “Why is it so deserted? There are only a few shops here and half of them are closed. Why aren’t the markets teeming with people like in Iliasburg?”
“Maybe Granberia is here instead?” Alice wondered.
“No, it’s much worse than that,” I groused. “But let’s be sure. We’ll have to ask around.”
The news wasn’t good. The first person we talked to had lost their business because a monster wasn’t letting any ships get through. The various shops told a similar story. Their inventory was depleted due to shipments not coming in from Sentora.
“What’s going on, Luka?” Alice asked. “You seem to know what’s happening here.”
“I think I do,” I replied. “Alma Elma has a rather loose interpretation of your orders to only act in self defense against the humans. So she’s preventing heroes from being baptized in the Ilias Temple and then making their way to Sentora.”
“I suspected Alma Elma was behind this. But it doesn’t make sense! Humans and monsters are getting along already.”
“And the Ilias Temple hasn’t baptized real heroes in thirty years!” Sonya added. “Sure, a blockade would stop unbaptized heroes from getting to Sentora to kill monsters, but they could just do it here on Ilias Continent! And the ones on Sentora weren’t getting baptized anyway!”
“Well, she’s doing it for whatever reason,” I sighed. “So we’re stuck here for the day.”
“Just the day?” Ilias asked. “Why just the day? I would think that a powerful yoma preventing ships from crossing the southern sea would trap us here for the forseeable future. It’s not as if we have the magical ability to get past the storm.”
“Maybe we do,” Alice said thoughtfully. “Alma Elma would be whipping these storms up with wind magic. I understand the spells she’d be using pretty thoroughly. We could join hands and counter them pretty easily. Isn’t that why Nero did what he did? Luka himself probably doesn’t understand wind magic well enough to counter Alma Elma, but I do.”
“Nero may have meant well,” I said. “But if there’s one thing you told me about Heavenly Knights, Alice, it’s that they are remarkably adaptable. The three of us countering her spells with our own while holding hands is a pretty simple problem for her to solve.”
“True. Simply prevent us from holding hands.”
“She’s your subordinate!” Ilias yelled. “If this was one of my angels I’d just order them to let us through! Why can’t you do that? What kind of Monster Lord are you?!”
“One Monster Lord of four. Which side is Alma Elma on? One can never know with her.”
“I think we can eliminate two possibilities,” I said. “She wouldn’t side with Black Alice and no one has apparently sided with Alipheese the 17^th yet.”
“Are you really sure that a succubus wouldn’t side with Black Alice?” Ilias argued. “Black Alice is revered by succubi everywhere. They had everything they wanted under her rule.”
“I have to agree, Luka,” Alice said. “What makes you think Alma Elma wouldn’t side with Black Alice?”
“Because I know her heart,” I said. “She’d probably be mad if I revealed too much about who she really is, because she keeps everyone at an emotional distance. From what I know of her, there are only three possibilities. One is that she’s pledged allegiance to your mother. You’ve been gone, your mother came back. The Heavenly Knights have no reason to NOT side with her under those circumstances.”
“Makes sense,” Alice admitted. “What are the other two possibilities?”
“The second is that she’s only aligned with your mother because you’re gone. Your reappearance may cause her to switch her loyalties to you. You are after all, the legitimate Monster Lord.”
“That’s questionable,” Ilias said. “Both the 15^th and 16^th Monster Lords have disappeared and as a result been removed from the throne. Her mother has just as much claim to the throne as Alice does. Arguably, Black Alice has a similar claim. Thought dead, but not, and now she’s back.”
“Under our laws, we’d settle things with a coronation battle,” Alice said. “That may be why the 17^th isn’t bothering to gather followers. She sounds as if she would easily defeat all of us.”
“Unless the other two are dispensing with tradition and simply going to for a military takeover,” Ilias said.
“Argh. I don’t even want to think about what a war between monsters would mean. That’s why we have coronation battles, so that we don’t have wars between monster factions over who should rule! We can’t do anything about that now. Luka, what’s the third possibility?”
“The third is that she’s loyal only to her own plans,” I replied. “I think that’s also the most likely possibility.”
“Alma Elma loyal only to herself?” Alice mused. “I agree. That sounds like the Alma Elma I know.”
“I didn’t say loyal to herself. Loyal to her vision of what needs to be done. Alma Elma cares more than you think. If she’s doing this, she has her reasons. She wasn’t following orders the last time this happened to me. So it’s reasonable to assume she’s doing her own thing now.”
“That still leaves the question of what we do about it,” Sonya said.
“There is a way,” Nero said out of nowhere.
“Wah!” Alice cried. “Don’t sneak up on people like that!”
“Oh, sorry,” Nero apologized. “I just wanted to let you know that there is a way for you to cross that doesn’t involve you having to hold hands.”
“I already know about it,” I said. “Poseidon’s Bell. In the Treasure Cave.”
“Oh. Duh. It was in your book. Sorry, I only skimmed it. I’ve been busy. I’ll read it more thoroughly when I have time. But if you’re all right, I’ve got things to do. Good luck in the cave!”
Nero disappeared. “Who is that guy?” Ilias breathed. “And what is Poseidon’s Bell? It seems that I should know that reference. My damn floppy disk brain makes it so hard to access my vast stores of knowledge!”
“Such a thing in human possession is surprising,” Alice said. “I ordered Tamamo to gather all the powerful magical items and keep them safe from humans and bad monsters. She must have missed that one.”
“Yeah, which is why we need to leave right now,” I said. “In my world, she somehow found out that the bell was in that cave and went looking for it. It’s important that we find it before she does.”
“How far away is this cave?” Sonya asked. “I’m not familiar with the area.”
“Unfortunately, we won’t make it before tomorrow. We just have to hope that Tamamo won’t have retrieved it.”
I bought what meager supplies I could in Iliasport, as we had a lot of people in the castle to feed, which required constant stocking up. We then started off for the Treasure Cave. On that day, our group consisted of Alice, myself, Ilias, Sonya, and Promestein. The monsters remained in the castle. If Tamamo was heading for the Treasure Cave as well, we didn’t want a small army marching towards the cave announcing our presence. Although I wasn’t sure we could prevent Tamamo from being aware in any case.
“You’re going to have to explain the part where we fight two Heavenly Knights, Luka,” Alice said as we walked. “I guess we might get lucky and beat Tamamo to the bell, but I see no way around a confrontation with Alma Elma. Are we just hoping that she’ll be loyal to me?”
“If we assume you’re going to order her to stand down, that is actually my hope,” I replied.
“And if she doesn’t? How did it go when this happened to you?”
“Not well,” I admitted. “Your counterpart wouldn’t order her to stand down. Alma Elma asked for permission to execute ma and that permission was granted.”
“What!?” Alice exclaimed, shocked. “Are you sure people are the same from world to world? I would never do that! Even if I didn’t know you! Heavenly Knights can’t just go around executing humans!”
“The context of how it happened and why turned out to be more complicated than I thought at the time. Remember that in that world, monsters and humans weren’t getting along at all. Alma Elma had set up the blockade to prevent baptized heroes from getting to Sentora continent. She wasn’t killing sailors who tried to cross. She was simply making it impossible. But I had the bell. That meant the storm wasn’t a deterrent, so she had to deal with me personally. She had also heard that I was attacking monsters.”
“Were you?” Alice asked.
“They were attacking me!” I said defensively. I was still sore about that incident after all these centuries. I had been certain that I was going to die and Alice was just going to watch impassively. “She knew that, of course. Plus I hadn’t actually caused serious injury to any of them. You’d given me Angel Halo so they were sealed. She had a different agenda in mind.”
“That agenda must not have involved actually killing you, because you survived the encounter. How?”
“I think that incident was more about you than about me or her blockade. She thought you might be fond of me and wanted to ascertain if that was true. Threatening my death seemed like a good way to find out.”
“Ah,” Alice said, understanding. “So I bluffed her. I told her she could kill you and acted as if I didn’t care. My counterpart must have been terrified that she would actually do it.”
“She would have, if I’d lost her little game. She fought with one hand behind her back, figuratively speaking. She said she would fight me using only her tail. No hands, no feet, no magic. That alone nearly ended me. I survived only because you helped me.”
“I intervened?” Alice asked.
“Excuse me,” Promestein interrupted. “This is a fascinating story, but would it be possible to keep our references consistent? You keep switching between referring to your counterpart as yourself or as a distinct person who is not you. It’s very confusing.”
“You did it too!” I laughed.
“What? No I didn’t!”
“You asked if there had been something between us back in my world. You specifically said ‘us’, not ‘between me and your counterpart.”
“How strange,” Promestein said. “But now that I think back on it, I did say that, didn’t I? Perhaps I just identify with my counterparts.”
“Hello!? Did my counterpart intervene?” Alice prompted.
“Oh, sorry, Alice,” I said. “Not directly. She’d taught me a cursed sword technique just minutes before and signaled me to use it. The technique didn’t actually hit Alma Elma, but it required her to use her hands to block it, thus ending the game with a victory for me.”
“Is that what we’re counting on happening this time?” Alice asked. “Because I can foresee a lot of possibilities here that end in your death. Perhaps all our deaths. Alma Elma may have a good heart, as you seem to believe, but she’s a stone cold killer. If she believes she has any reason to kill us, she’ll do it with a song in her heart.”
“I know,” I admitted. “This mission was never going to be a sure thing, guys. We haven’t really had a moment yet where we were staring death in the face. There was always a chance, but the odds of survival were good. Once we get on that ship with the bell, our survival is going to depend entirely on Alma Elma’s state of mind. There’s not going to be much we can do.”
“Wow, such brave words from my protector,” Ilias grumped.
“I’ll do my best. I know her strengths and weaknesses. I also know that she’s persuadable.”
“I do as well,” Alice said. “If it comes to a fight, we may die, but that walking obscenity will know she’s been in a fight. But we can’t ask the monsters with us to sacrifice themselves. When we board, they should all remain in the castle.”
I agreed with that wholeheartedly. The discussion had taken a very dark turn. Everyone was mostly silent for the remainder of the day. The mood was lifted, however, by a suggestion from Sonya to camp instead of using the castle. The problem with that was that the small army I’d been trying to avoid became a very real thing, as most of the monsters were excited at the idea of camping out and sleeping under the stars. Many of them normally slept under the stars, so they were especially enthusiastic about the idea.
The monsters took turns telling scary stories by the campfire. Ilias had no patience for any of that, choosing to go back into the castle and sleep in her comfortable quarters rather than participate in any such ridiculousness. Alice, despite her royal airs, had never cared where she slept, finding just as much comfort wrapped around a tree as laid out in a soft bed. She too, chose to make herself scarce when the scary campfire tales started to be told. Alice was not about to sleep well after hearing ghost stories. Since we all had to go to bed early so that we could resume our travels at first light, I ordered everyone into bed. Flappy flagged me down before I entered my tent.
“Luka, I’ve heard that you may be drawn into combat with Heavenly Knights tomorrow?” Flappy asked, concern in her voice.
“It’s possible, yes,” I said.
“Then I shall stand by your side!”
“I know better than to try to order you to stay in the castle, but it’s best if you don’t tangle with Heavenly Knights. My goal is to to prevent a battle, not wage one. If a fight starts, we’re probably already doomed. Your presence won’t change things.”
“Your argument is persuasive,” Flappy admitted. “My warrior heart yearns to join you in battle, no matter how futile, and yet I am a harpy. We are taught from birth to avoid fighting if we cannot win. Is that not why the Dark God gave us wings, so that we could flee as well as we could fight? Perhaps I was born into the wrong race.”
“I doubt it. Honestly, I’ve never seen anyone who looked more like the ideal version of a harpy than you.”
“You… you mean that?” Flappy asked, shocked. “You aren’t just trying to mollify me? I have never been regarded as particularly beautiful among my people.”
“Maybe I’m just biased. You remind me of Granberia. Chiseled body, that warrior spirit.”
“You honor me with such comparisons. Perhaps I may sleep with you tonight? You will need good rest given the challenges you will face on the morrow. My wings are very comfortable.”
“As long as we’re only talking about a cuddle, I’ll take you up on that,” I replied. “Best not to suck out my energy the day before I’m going to have to face Heavenly Knights.”
“Agreed. Very well then, a cuddle it is.”
Looking at her again, she really was selling herself short in the looks department. It wasn’t just me being biased, I was sure of that. Much like Granberia, she didn’t expend much effort to make herself lovely. She kept her hair shorter than normal for a harpy and wore battle gear rather than dresses or skirts, as the queen’s daughter did. So she would not be everyone’s type. In a long ago, almost forgotten age when I knew nothing of monster girls or fantasy worlds other than what I’d read in books, she wouldn’t have been my type either. But living in such a diverse world, with its endless “types” and endless pleasures(not to mention endless ways to die), I’d learned to see the beauty in almost any being. I didn’t have to look hard to see Flappy’s beauty. She had a lovely smile and a fit body. She flashed that lovely smile at me as we entered my tent to settle in for the night. Her wings proved to be just as comfortable as advertised. I fell asleep within minutes and didn’t stir for the entire night.

We reached the Treasure Cave at mid-morning. Before we entered, I briefly explained what I expected to find inside.
“We’re either going to encounter kitsunes in there, or traps,” I warned. “Alice, do you think you can detect any traps so that we don’t blunder into them?”
“I’m going to be better at it than you,” Alice replied. “But I can already tell you that the cave is infested with kitsunes. I can smell them from out here. The traps will probably already be disarmed or triggered. I’m more worried about how you plan to get the bell from Tamamo. She’s really good at finding things. If she’s in there already, we’re not likely to beat her to it.”
“Same plan as with Alma Elma,” I shrugged. “You’re the Monster Lord. Order her to give it to us.”
“It sure would be nice if it would be that easy.”
Without any further discussion, we rushed in. I added Lime to the group just in case we had to open any locked doors or chests. The first time I’d done this, I’d been on my own, with Alice just observing. I was confident that no one short of Nanabi or Tamamo herself would be able to stop us. But once we ran into one of them, things would get difficult. I also remembered that I’d gotten the bell last time only because Tamamo owed me for saving one of her little subordinates. Would such an opportunity present itself again?
History did repeat in at least one sense. I encountered a two tailed kitsune. It did not go down the same way, however. That first time, the poor little fox had been surprised to run into me. Despite the fact that I wasn’t alone this time, the fox girl expressed no surprise at running into our group. The reason why became apparent. She wasn’t alone either. Four more kitsunes, ranging from one to three tailed, emerged from the darkness.
“No one is allowed to pass!” the two tailed kitsune declared. “Tamamo is taking care of a very important mission given to her by the Monster Lord.”
“I am the Monster Lord,” Alice said grandly. “And I know exactly why she’s here. I have need of the item she is seeking. Please have her come to us and deliver it if she has found it.”
“You’re the Monster Lord?” the kitsune laughed. “Hahaha, you’re so cute! As if the Monster Lord would be traveling with angels and humans!”
“Even if you were the Monster Lord,” a three tailed kitsune in a kimono said. “we answer directly to Tamamo, not the Monster Lord. If you have any orders to give, you may give them to Tamamo when she comes out of the treasure room.”
“So she’s already found the bell,” I said. “Lovely.”
“As of yet, no,” the three tailed kitsune replied. “She has been in there for some time, looking, but to no avail.”
“Really?”I asked, wondering if this side mission had been a dead end. If the bell wasn’t here….
“I think I’ll go help her look, then,” Alice said. “So let your liege pass. Or don’t. I really enjoy bullying kitsunes.”
“We have been ordered not to let anyone pass,” the kistune replied. “You may attempt to force your way through, but I assure you, it will not be easy for you.”
The two tailed kistune we encountered first whistled and five more kitsunes emerged. We were outnumbered. Alice didn’t seem troubled in the slightest. In fact, she gleefully cracked her knuckles, her tail quivering with anticipation. I could see Ilias powering up her holy magic.
That’s when Promestein decided to simply walk up to the two kitsunes in front. She silently pulled out a small device and showed it to them.
“Do you know what this is?” Promestein asked.
The kitsune frowned. “It looks a little like a mascara case.”
“Yes, it’s a mascara case. Do any of you kitsunes like to wear makeup?”
“I do!” a one tailed kitsune said several feet back.
“Excellent,” Promestein said with a thin smile. “Then enjoy.”
The angel lightly tossed the object to the kitsune who had requested it. The fox reached out her hand to catch it, but another kitsune shouted a warning. “No, you idiot! Why would an angel just give you free makeup!”
The fox’s reactions were quick. She pulled her hand away and let the case fall to the ground. It clattered and bounced and settled at another kitsune’s feet. She stared at it for a moment.
“Kitsu, why is there a light blinking?”
I heard a low boom as a mild shockwave raced through the cave with its epicenter right in the middle of the ten kitsunes. All ten fell unconscious. I looked around. Despite the fact that we’d all felt the shockwave, none of us were harmed.
“Promestein, what the hell was that!?” I asked. “Why did it only knock them out?”
“Anti-beast device,” Promestein said with satisfaction, retrieving the device and putting it back in her pocket. “I’d heard you don’t like killing, so it was on its lowest setting. Good thing too, because apparently it wouldn’t have had enough power for a kill setting. I’m afraid I won’t be able to use it again. Unless you could provide some semen? Could someone here milk it out of him? Anyone?”
“We need him in fighting shape,” Ilias said. “So save the milking for back in the castle!”
“Unless that thing would take down Tamamo,” Alice said. “If it can, that device is more valuable than Luka. Lime could extract some from him and then we can make off with the bell without a fight.”
“I’m afraid that even on the highest setting it wouldn’t take down a nine tailed kitsune,” Promestein said. “I doubt she’d even be stunned by it.”
“How long before those girls come to?” I asked, remembering that there were predators in the cave that might take advantage of unconscious little fox girls laying about helplessly.
“A few minutes at most,” Promestein said. “So we should really be moving on.”
“We can’t,” I said. “There are predators in this cave. We can’t just leave them here in their current state.”
“I’ll watch them, then,” Sonya volunteered. “Go on ahead. I’ll catch up to you once they’ve regained consciousness. Assuming they’ll let me.”
“They won’t hurt you if you just stay where you are, Sonya,” I said. “Don’t try to fight them. There’s no need. They’ll probably be touched that we thought to keep them safe.”
“I’ll stay as well,” Promestein said. “I want to collect fur samples.”
“That’s a great idea!” Alice exclaimed. “Please feel free to pull on their tails hard. Rip out as much fur as you can.”
“Don’t bully the kitsunes!” Sonya yelled.
“Oh, and search them for tofu,” Alice added. “To the victors go the spoils.”

Apparently, that had been Tamamo’s entire contingent. As I remembered, the cave wasn’t difficult to navigate. There was an obvious path. What had deterred treasure hunters for years were the cave dwelling monsters. We encountered none, probably due to our numbers and the fact kitsunes were about. While kitsunes were delicious, they were also formidable. A spider or roper was no match for even a one tailed kitsune unless she was in a weakened state.
As we rounded the corner to the door leading to the treasure room, I saw Nanabi up ahead. My heart swelled. She had been my work spouse for many years, as well as a sparring partner and occasional lover. My emotion got the better of me. I shouted her name and ran towards her, arms outstretched.
“Luka, you idiot! No!” Alice shouted, to no avail. All I could focus on were Nanabi’s kind face, her lovely seven tails, and her always naked upper body.
I said that she had a kind face, but at that moment her face looked more confused than kind. And those lovely tails were starting to take on a threatening posture. I’d learned to recognize kitsune body language a long time ago. It was obvious she viewed me as a threat, albeit a weak and stupid threat. Nevertheless, I would not be stopped. Except by a whipping tail that clotheslined me and put me flat on my back, knocking the wind out of me. Nanabi stared down at my prone body, her head turning to the side in confusion.
“Who are you, human?” Nanabi asked. “You seemed to recognize me, but I don’t remember ever having met you. I apologize for the violence, but I have been posted here to prevent entry into this room. I had to take you down in case you were trying to trick me.”
“Ack,” I replied.
“This idiot probably recognized you, but do you recognize me, Nanabi?” Alice asked, coming forward.
“You look a little like the Monster Lord,” Nanabi replied.
“I am she,” Alice confirmed. “I have been sealed. But I am still your ruler and I order you to let me into that room at once.”
“Tamamo gave me specific orders. You may speak to her when she comes out.”
I began to stagger back up. Another tail from Nanabi struck me down.
“Would you kindly stop beating up my human companion?” Alice asked sweetly. “Or will I have to beat you up?”
“You are four, and I have seven tails,” Nanabi replied with a grin. “Feel free to try your luck. It is you who are outnumbered.”
“Alice,” I croaked. “She can’t use all of her tails effectively. You have a chance.”
I knew this from having trained with her. She was powerful, but neither her magic nor combat skills were at the level of what a seven tailed kitsune should have been. In sparring she had been able to use four tails with lethal accuracy, but if she attempted to use all seven they tended to flail wildly. She had simply not developed the control to use them all in unison. Tamamo, on the other hand, could employ nine tails, magic, and earthpower with ease, all at the same time. Then again, she was an ancestor and had had millennia to practice. Nanabi at that point was only twenty years old.
Ilias decided to open up hostilities with a blast of holy energy directed right at Nanabi’s face. A tail took the blast, singing her hair. Lime and Alice attacked more directly. Tails intercepted them. Alice dodged and tried to get closer, drawing her rapier. Lime grabbed a tail and held on, pieces of slime flying everywhere as she was whipped about. Ilias switched to her bow, attempting to force Nanabi’s concentration towards her. Ilias was so quick firing arrows that Nanabi had to dedicate three tails alone to batting them away.
I reached for my sword and attempted to rise again. A tail came for me, but I rolled out of the way. Focused as Nanabi was on more dangerous opponents, she had apparently deprioritized me. I resolved to make her pay for that. Even with sword skills alone and no spirits, I had often been able to defeat her. With her distracted, I was confident that I could do it.
Dodging two more tails, I struck at Nanabi with Angel Halo, opening up a cut on her side. Nanabi yelped and a tail struck me hard in the forehead in retaliation, staggering me back, but not taking me off my feet. Two arrows pierced Nanabi’s chest. Alice’s rapier drew real blood a second later. As dangerous as Nanabi was in a one on one battle, her boasts had been empty. She was outnumbered and facing skilled opponents. I knew she could take the punishment, so I wasn’t worried about her life. It still hurt me to see her actually injured.
I needn’t have worried about her continuing to sustain injury. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her eyes flash. Alice and Ilias instantly went down, rendered unconscious. I’d forgotten about Nanabi’s proficiency with eye magic, since such magic had never worked on me due to the mind block Ilias had placed on me. In their weakened forms, Alice and Ilias’ resistance was insufficient. Nanabi had evened the odds with one spell.
Lime was still holding onto a tail. That tail slammed against the wall of the cave twice, causing Lime to drop off of her, little more than an incoherent ball of slime. Nanabi turned to face me, rage in her eyes due to the pain of her wounds. She grimly yanked the two arrows from her chest.
“You could have walked away, or simply waited for Tamamo,” Nanabi said angrily. “For the offense you and your friends have committed upon my person, I shall milk you dry and leave you for the cave monsters to eat!”
I knew the latter was an idle threat, although in her anger she may have meant it for just a moment. Still, I was in the same situation I found myself in the first time we’d fought. Just me against those seven tails, armed with nothing but Angel Halo. And no Alice to dispel her special spell that had almost defeated me twice, before the battle had ended with a blunder on Nanabi’s part. If only I could induce her to use that eye magic on me. But would it even get a response? Would my power still trigger involuntarily, even with the restriction Nero had placed on it?
I had to focus on the immediate problem, the tails whipping towards me, seeking to bludgeon me into submission. Her attack patterns were predictable, just as I remembered from sparring with her so long ago. And in her anger, she was not trying to defeat me with pleasure. I knew that would come after she beat me down. But first she wanted the pleasure of inflicting pain on me.
My skills had improved markedly since that first battle, however. I deftly waded through those tails despite not having Undine’s flow to guide me. I tagged her several times with my sword, to the point where I could tell that she was growing weaker. If I could just avoid getting knocked down again….
“No! I will not be beaten by a mere human!” Nanabi yelled in frustration. Her eyes flashed. Everything seemed to stop as I waited for my brain to experience that uncomfortable sensation I’d felt so many times.
Except the sensation never came. I found myself standing there, unmoving. My sword clattered to the ground. I couldn’t move a muscle. I began to teeter. One of Nanabi’s tails wrapped around me, preventing me from falling.
“I must give you credit, human,” Nanabi said, gleeful in her victory. “Had I been the honorable type and continued to engage you in physical combat, you probably would have bested me. But Tamamo gave me orders to guard this door. I had to use any means necessary to defeat you. I think that I’d like to make you my mate. A warrior such as you must have strong genes.”
“Urp,” I replied. How had the mind block not protected me? Then I remembered. Micaela had removed it just before my death. Why had she done that? Something about needing to make me forget something. That was going to be a problem. I’d grown used to my mind being immune to magical manipulation.
“Wow, you’re pretty good at the swordplay,” a voice said from behind me. “I would have hoped you wouldn’t fall so easily to such low level magic. You obviously have some work to do.”
“That face-!” Nanabi exclaimed in shock. “No way! Alipheese the 17^th!?”
I desperately wanted to turn and see who Nanabi was talking to. Ilias and Alice had just regained consciousness.
“You’re Alipheese the 17^th?!” Alice exclaimed. “What the hell are you doing here?!”
“I should be asking you that,” the voice behind me laughed. I recognized the voice just then. Neris! Neris was Alipheese the 17^th?! “Aren’t you supposed to be beating Nanabi? It looks to me like you got stomped. That’s not what happened in the stories I was told.”
“What kind of nonsense is that!?” Nanabi yelled. “Alipheese the 17^th, I shall take your life as well!”
“Sigh, I guess I’ll have to straighten things out myself,” Neris said, drawing a huge sword from a scabbard on her back. I only saw it because Nanabi dropped me in order to face the more immediate threat and I fell in such a way that I could see Neris.
What I saw was not what I expected. Neris had been a cute lady, but a very human lady. My genes had been mostly dominant. I’d always kidded her that she had succubus-like features, but those features hadn’t included wings or horns or those long succubus ears. The Neris that stood in front of me with her sword drawn looked like my Neris only if Neris had been transformed. Was that her true form, or had something been done to her?
“Be purified in an explosion of crimson fire!” Neris shouted. “Vaporizing Rebellion Sword!”
Nanabi’s tails instinctively rose in self defense, but not one blow was stopped. I looked on, horrified, as Neris’ sword cut through Nanabi countless times. I remembered that Neris had not killed anyone, but I knew that pain well. Nanabi had to be in unspeakable agony. Nanabi went down with a thud.
“Guh!” Nanabi gasped. “Such power!”
If she was in that much pain, she was a lot braver about it than I’d been. Clearly she was hurting, but her face remained resolute as she tried to rise. It was futile. Her spine must have been severed in many places. She settled back down with a sigh, defeated.
“There, Nanabi down,” Neris said with satisfaction. “Come on, don’t keep me waiting all day! Isn’t it time for you to show yourself?”
The door to the treasure room opened and Tamamo stepped out. As emotional as I’d been at seeing Nanabi, seeing Tamamo again brought tears to my eyes. She may have been in her sealed form, which I had not seen in centuries, but she was still one of the loves of my life. The only reason I didn’t run to her and risk getting pounded down again was because I was still too weak to stand.
“Sorry, you two,” Tamamo said. “You became like that as I moved onto the treasury.”
“You know about the seal placed on us?” Alice asked.
“Give up, you two,” Neris laughed. “She’s not really speaking to anyone. She’s just an image being replayed.”
“I’ll give you a tiny bit of my power,” Tamamo said, reaching down. I remembered just then. She had restored the kitsune I’d sealed. This was a hologram of some sort. “Nanabi, it will take me a little longer to return you. Sorry, but I’ll have to do it later.”
“What are you saying, Tamamo?” Nanabi replied weakly. “I wasn’t sealed. I’m paralyzed.”
“Hmmmm,” Tamamo said, facing me. “So you’re Luka? Defeating Nanabi… You must have some skill.”
“He didn’t beat me!” Nanabi said with more strength.
“Like I said,” Neris interrupted. “There’s no point in talking to her. Everything this Tamamo says was copy pasted from another source. She can do nothing more than reenact a scene from the parallel world she was copied from. And the one pulling the strings is-“
“Ta da!”
The white rabbit exited the treasure room behind Tamamo. “I guess I’ve been found out. She’s a copy from the same situation and was doing such an excellent job for awhile there.”
“You!” Alice raged.
“I can’t believe it!” Nanabi exclaimed, beginning to painfully rise to her feet. How? I’d been laid low for days by that technique. Was Nanabi that physically strong? “So the Tamamo who brought me here was a fake!?”
“Yes and no,” Neris explained. “She’s physically real enough, but lacking a life force. She’s an automaton that can only act out a script. Her job was to bring Nanabi here and prevent Luka from getting Poseidon’s Bell. Since she was copied from a very similar situation, it worked quite well. The white rabbit has that kind of power.”
“I see, so you’re Alice too,” the white rabbit said. “It’s a real pain having so many Alices around.”
“Why on earth did you project a fake Tamamo here?” Ilias asked. “What are you plotting?!”
“History needs to be as close to its original form as possible, you see. And certain someones have been turning it into a huge mess as of late.”
“History?” I asked. “Which history?”
“I already told you that I’m a guide. My role is to guide Alice to the correct history.”
“So… the history that I lived?”
“No, the correct, original history,” the white rabbit replied. “it’s close to yours, possibly close enough to get us where we need to be. It would have been a lot easier if you weren’t aware, though. Your knowledge is dangerous. It makes you want to do things differently, in the understandable desire to make things better than they were in the original timeline. That might make it impossible for you to do the things that need to be done. That’s why I’m guiding Alice and not you. It’s her decisions that will make or break my plan, not yours.”
“I don’t understand,” Alice said. “Does my lack of knowledge make this better, somehow? Why don’t you just guide me by telling me everything I need to know?”
“Uh uh uh, little Monster Lord! You of all people know how dangerous a little knowledge can be. I’ll give you hints and guide you as needed, but this only works if you react to events as you did the first time.”
“The first time? I’ve lived this before?”
“Not technically,” the white rabbit replied. “But there are ripples in the time stream that are making your memories appear out of sequence. That’s probably why you thought you recognized Luka. Because he was already in your memory, if only vaguely.”
“So we just have to recreate history roughly as it happened, and this all gets fixed?” I asked. “This problem that threatens multiple worlds?”
“That’s the idea, Luka-boy!” the white rabbit said cheerfully. “Obviously it won’t be perfect. Things are already different. It’s a bit like trying to put a wine glass back together after it’s shattered. We can get close enough that the multiverse can survive. But there’s a big problem.”
The white rabbit turned to Neris. “You aren’t needed in this world,” the rabbit said. “Shall I erase you right here?”
“You’re going to act personally, adjuster?” Neris scoffed. “Isn’t the role of the white rabbit to merely guide?”
“Getting rid of you is risk free,” the rabbit replied. “There’s no danger of creating a paradox if you’re gone. You’ll just be reborn again anyway! So with that in mind… Time, stop!”
Everyone around me froze except for the white rabbit. Even the air stopped moving. I looked around in wonder. I’d seen Nero stop time, but I’d never taken the time to really observe what that meant.
“Oh, you are annoying, human!” the white rabbit exclaimed. “No fair being outside time! You just continue to be a problem!”
“What are you going to do, rabbit?” I asked. “I won’t let you eliminate my daughter!”
“You don’t have the power to stop me!” the white rabbit laughed. “And yet…. You probably should. That would be consistent with the correct timeline. Tell ya what, after I’ve erased your daughter, I’ll remove that pesky restriction from your power. You’re going to conceive her again anyway. Just be sure to raise her to not mess around with parallel worlds.”
“No!” I cried. “That’s my daughter!”
I stumbled trying to stop the white rabbit, but I was saved by the sudden appearance of Nero.
“What!? Why can’t everyone just freeze like they’re supposed to when I stop time!?” the white rabbit yelled in annoyance.
“Did you think you were the only one who could manipulate time?” Nero replied. “Sorry, but tonight you dance with me!”
“I’m a lover, not a fighter,” the white rabbit laughed. “All right then, she continues to exist for now.”
With that, the white rabbit vanished and time resumed. Everyone turned to stare at Nero.
“What… What just happened?” Nanabi asked.
“Oh, just a time stop,” Neris laughed. “So, where were we? Hey, Luka. Wanna go out on a date?”
“A date?!” I asked, alarmed at this sudden turn in the conversation. “How can you ask me on date?! I’m your-“
Nero stopped time again.
“Shhhh…..” Neris said, placing her finger on my lips. “You talk too much. In any case, we’re not blood. Your DNA is very different from my actual father’s. So how about it? I can teleport you anyplace you want. Sabasa’s oasis? The Grandeur theater? I know you like plays. Maybe the colosseum, take in some contests? Or if you like we could just skip to the good part. I’m okay with that If you are.”
“Neris!” I scolded. “I’ve never put you over my knee before, but I’m sorely tempted right now!”
“Oh, so you do want to skip to the fun part!” she teased.
“Enough, you two,” Nero ordered. “Neris, we’re done here.”
“Fine,” Neris pouted. “But next time I won’t take no for an answer.”
“What is wrong with you?!” Nero exclaimed. “He may not be our father, but he looks exactly like him! That’s… really gross!”
“Whatever. Bye, Luka!”
With that, the two disappeared, and time resumed.
“What is happening here!?” Ilias yelled. “I really wish they would stop doing that! I am a master of time! I should be the only master of time in my world!”
“They're all gone now,” I said. “Let’s go get that bell.”
Time stopped again. What the hell!? I thought.
The white rabbit appeared and kissed me on the cheek. I immediately felt my power again.
“Almost forgot to restore you,” she said with a wink. “Bye now. Use it wisely.”
Time resumed. “I really wish whoever was doing that would stop!” Alice yelled. Sonya and Promestein, accompanied by the kitsunes, entered the room.
“Did we miss anything?” Sonya asked.
Time stopped again. Nero appeared and placed his hand on my chest. I couldn’t feel my power anymore.
“That power is too dangerous to be used by you alone!” Nero scolded. “You’re not supposed to have full access to power on that level until much later!”
“Oh, stop being such a stick in the mud!” the white rabbit said playfully, reappearing and hugging me from behind while putting her lips on my cheek again, restoring my access to my power.
“Is that really what you want?” Nero asked. “Fine, then. Maybe it was a bad idea to put a limiter on him.”
“Oh, I assure you it was the worst idea you’ve ever had,” the rabbit laughed. “he’s dangerous, I agree, but there’s opportunity here. Let me have my way on this one and perhaps I’ll owe you a favor.”
“I want no favors from you,” Nero said. “But all we can do by casting the same spell over and over on Luka is do him harm. That serves neither of our purposes. So until we meet again…”
Nero vanished. The white rabbit giggled and kissed me again. “That one was just because I’m starting to like you,” she said. “Be seeing you around!”
Time resumed again.
“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Ilias yelled.
Lime was beginning to put herself back together again. Wonderful thing about slimes, they are quite hard to hurt, at least physically. The tradeoff is that they are unusually vulnerable to magic and poisons.
“Leave my tails alone!” Nanabi yelled at Promestein, who had snuck up on her and clipped a few hairs with a small pair of scissors.
“Luka?” Alice asked. “Who was that? Did you recognize her?”
“I did,” I answered. “But we’ll have to discuss that another time.”
“I agree,” Ilias said, relieving me of the need to have to lie. “Correct history? I’m beginning to see the big picture here.”
“Me too,” Promestein said. “Parallel worlds, correcting history, alternative timelines. Coming with you here was useful, Luka. I may not have the answers, but at least now I have some of the questions.”
“Excellent,” I said. “Well, now that we have a vague idea of what we have to do, let’s find the bell and get to Sentora. There’s a lot of history to reenact there. Nanabi, are you okay?”
“I’m… confused, understandably. And I’m not okay, but I think I can walk. So if that wasn’t the real Tamamo, where is she?”
“She’s probably in Yamatai where she usually is,” Alice suggested. “Or at the castle. The real one. Has she spoken to you about which Monster Lord contender she is following?”
“I haven’t seen her since Alipheese the 15^th reclaimed the throne,” Nanabi answered. “I want to find her, but I don’t think I could face her after I demonstrated such incompetence. Could I travel with you? You seem to be on a mission to save the world. I can’t imagine a more important quest. I’m sure we’ll run into Tamamo at some point.”
“Nanabi, I would be so honored if you would come with us,” I said. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“It sounds like there’s quite a story there…. Luka?”
“Yes, my name is Luka. And I’d love to tell you about it when I get a chance. I can’t tell you how much better I feel about our chances with you as our ally.”
“Is that how it went in this original timeline the white rabbit was talking about?”
“Not really,” I admitted. “That’s one of the things that concerns me. I didn’t have a lot of friends backing me up at this stage. So it might be best to keep you in reserve and only call on you when I absolutely need you. Assuming that we're trying to do things as close as possible to the original timeline.”
“I’m carrying my pocket castle with me, Nanabi,” Alice said helpfully. “Feel free to enjoy all it has to offer until you are called upon.”
“I thank you, your majesty,” Nanabi replied, bowing slightly. “I hope there are no hard feelings.”
“I assure you there are, and I will take my revenge upon you when you least expect it. But you’re safe for now. I’m too weak to get back at you the way I’d like to, and we have more pressing matters.”
“Very well, your majesty,” Nanabi said. “You may all go into the treasure room. I’ll head outside with my kitsunes where you can activate the pocket castle.”
“Wait, ALL of you are coming?!” Alice asked. “I can’t have eleven kitsunes in my castle! The food requirements alone…!”
“We’ll be fine, Alice,” I said. “I mean, it’s your castle, but I don’t think I’ll have any problem feeding all of them.”
“Of course you wouldn’t, pervert!” Sonya exclaimed.
“I meant with tofu!” I explained quickly. “I’ve gotten really good at making thin fried tofu!”
“I look forward to it,” Nanabi said, winking at me. I knew she would expect the other kind of feeding as well. Fortunately the other kitsunes could satisfy most of their needs with the men we’d rescued from the mines who were still with us. But Nanabi, her I would look forward to feeding.
I brought Ilias, Alice, and Promestein into the treasure room with me. I knew some items were cursed, but I also knew that Alice and Ilias were very good at detecting magic. We found the bell after a few minutes of rummaging around, with Alice warning me away from certain items that shouldn’t be touched. Ilias slapped Promestein’s hand when the angel scientist attempted to pick up a small circlet that caught her eye.
Alas, no chests, not even a mimic, so Lime had nothing to do. But we’d been successful in getting the bell, and that was what mattered. Next came the hard part.
- 14
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- 16
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Luka's Story-Paradox