Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

Luka's Story 3-Traipsing around the Multiverse	By : Ditmag Category: +M through R > Monster Girl Quest Views: 1078 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Monster Girl Quest is owned by Tortorro. I do not profit from this work.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
Despite the fact that Ariana wasn’t going to use me like a thermos that day, she carried me instead of having me walk. She wanted to reach Sabasa, and Justin, as soon as possible. It was weird traveling with such a different version of Alice, one who had little magic and could only get around by propelling herself in that trademark lamia fashion. It made me admire my Alice all the more, knowing that if she had grown up a common monster instead of royalty, she still would have been the person that I had fallen in love with.
Ariana had made good time carrying me on Ilias Continent, but once she hit the sands of the desert in the region of Safina, she really poured on the speed. It was as if the sand made it easier for her to move given the nature of her anatomy. I’d seen videos on Animal Planet of snakes zipping through desert sand. I’d never imagined that I’d be carried by one of them.
At night we could camp and she’d have me practice using my pretend spirits. What she was most interested in, for her own edification, was me flying. I tried something really nuts but fun, trying to take off like Superman. I’d tried this many times before, but it was one of those cases where Gabriella had explained that I needed to have some understanding of how one would leave the ground that way. Humans don’t just leave the ground at high speed because they want to. But with me commanding the power of the wind even without Sylph, I had a plan. I summoned the gale to give me lift, then I invoked it to give me speed. The results were very satisfying, and safer than doing it in the city, since there were no buildings for me to hit. I shot up into the clear desert air like a rocket. Between one aspect of the power of wind supporting my weight, and another aspect granting me speed, I really did fly like Superman! We did other experiments, with the other elements. Since I had Superman on the brain, I tried to do all of his powers. I got some decent strength, crushing rocks in my hands with the power of earth, but it was probably not on Superman’s level. Heat vision and x-ray vision just didn’t happen. I had no reference point for how such things would be done. How does Superman shoot heat beams out of his eyes? Does he flex them? That hurt after only a couple of tries.
Thinking about snakes speeding through the desert earlier had been quite appropriate, as a rather powerful looking desert lamia approached our camp that night. Ariana pulled her knife out and stood at the ready, having sniffed the lamia’s presence long before I could. Somehow my virtual Sylph didn’t include the increased awareness that came with the real spirit.
She was beautiful, as most lamias are, and arrogant. She had blonde hair and a tanned, reddish body. “What’s an echidna doing out here in the desert with a human?” the strange lamia asked.
“Just traveling to Sabasa,” Ariana answered. “I know that look in your eyes. The human is mine.”
“We desert creatures don’t get to eat much,” the lamia replied. “Have a heart, cousin. I promise I won’t swallow him whole or try to keep him.”
“Up to you, Luka,” Ariana said. “You want to feed this lamia?”
Normally I would have said yes, but something about the strange lamia’s body language made me uneasy.
“Um,” I said, unsure. “I don’t know. I don’t really know you. Besides, I’m disgusting right now.”
“Oh, I won’t actually taste you if I use this mouth,” the lamia said evilly, exposing her second, larger mouth in her torso.
“Yeah, as if I’d let you use THAT mouth on him!” Ariana said. “If you want his semen, you’ll have to get it by sucking on his sweaty balls. You’ll have to get your nose into the worst of his body odor, get a good whiff of it.”
“Or I could just take him from you and eat him however I want,” the lamia threatened.
“Go ahead and try,” Ariana said, sitting back down. “Go ahead, I could use the entertainment.”
“Ariana,” I said. “I’m not sure provoking her is a good idea. She looks pretty strong.”
“Nothing you can’t handle,” Ariana said, idly checking her nails. She reached into her bag for a file.
“So that’s how it is, human,” the lamia said haughtily, her lower mouth opening again, her tail reaching out for me.
She did manage to catch me with that tail, but I broke out quickly using my virtual Gnome. Then I took to the air.
“Oh, so the human has tricks!” the lamia said. “I do too!”
She took to the air herself, with far more agility than I had, whipping me with her tail when she reached me. My earth power protected me from serious damage, both from her tail and the fall, but I was sprawled on the ground. She landed on top of me, knocking the wind out of me, and wrapped me up tightly in her tail, in a way that denied me any leverage whatsoever.
Ariana continued to sit down, filing her nails, looking incredibly bored. She looked up and shook her head a couple of times as I wrestled with the red lamia. Finally, seeing no way out other than to use my power, I began to glow. I could have exploded in an instant, but didn’t want to kill her. The glow was a warning. It worked. She released me and backed away.
. “What are you?” she asked in fear and wonder.
“That’s the hero, idiot,” Ariana said, putting away her file and drawing her knife. “So why don’t you be on your way.”
“The hero?!” the lamia exclaimed. “Black Alice will make me a duchess if I bring you in!”
She tried to wrap me in her tail once again, but a small blast of my power knocked her out clean. Ariana bent down to finish her.
“NO!” I shouted. “Heroes do not kill!”
“You idiot!” Ariana objected. “She’s got magic, didn’t you see? She’s going to let Black Alice know that you’re here!”
“She’ll know I’m here soon enough anyway,” I argued. “She’s unconscious. It’s not honorable to kill someone while they are helpless.”
“Well, you’re the hero,” Ariana said, putting her knife away. “not a very smart one, but a hero nonetheless. C’mon, let’s go.”

It had taken Alice and I nearly a month of wandering the desert to find Sabasa. If I’d known where we were going, it probably could have been done in ten days. Ariana knew where she was going, and she was fast, which meant that our entire travel time from Port Natalia to Sabasa was only six days. Given Ariana’s speed, she must have been thinking the same thing. My persistence in this world made me wonder if fate really was controlling my destiny. Of all the worlds I’d been to, all the things I’d seen, this place seemed to need me more than any other. They’d even prophesied my coming! Well, maybe. If I jumped before facing Black Alice, that would be awkward for the believers here. I’d offered to try flying us there, but Ariana didn’t think I had the control to make that safe.
She wanted to get to Sabasa before the culling, and at her own speed we would arrive a couple of days early. As she explained to me during our days long journey, the cullings were once a month, rotating among the various regions, so that every region was subjected to one annual culling. Sabasa was due to be culled two days after our arrival. Ariana had high hopes that resistance could be organized to prevent it. There had been plans to do so even if I hadn’t been present. All four of Justin’s commanders were in the city gathering their veterans, as well as volunteers. Commanders often tried to be in places experiencing cullings, but had never organized enough resistance before to truly take a chance on stopping the event. Ariana hoped that my presence would rally the people.
Sabasa was a city on edge. From what Ariana had explained to me, the cullings were about one in one hundred males, chosen based on two criteria: genetic suitability and how much trouble they were suspected to be. The prime genetic candidates would be breeding stock for the most powerful monsters. The troublemakers and dissenters would be food. The latter criteria applied to both males and females. There was no need for networks of informers. With the power of the five rings, Black Alice knew who her opposition was, and their general location. That’s when I found out what this world’s version of baptism was. Instead of protection from the pleasure attacks of monsters, all followers of Ilias’ new covenant were shielded from Black Alice’s scrying. There was no ceremony as with the heroes on most worlds. It simply was a fact, as long as the believer in question truly accepted Ilias’ new covenant in his or her heart. That told me that the Ilias of this world might be quite different from the Ilias I had experienced on Alice’s world.
Ariana took me to a small church on the outskirts of the city. Inside the church, conferring with a white-robed older man, were some familiar faces. The man seemed to be offering encouragement to the three women. I recognized them immediately as three of the four Heavenly Knights. Tamamo was not among them. Were these Justin’s three other commanders? Where was Tamamo?
Ariana approached the group. “This is Luka,” she said. “And Luka, this is Justin, along with his three other commanders-“
“Granberia, Alma Elma, and Erubetie,” I interrupted. “I know these women. They were good friends where I came from.”
“He’s the Hero!” Ariana blurted with excitement, trying to dispel the commanders’ confusion. “It’s really him!”
The three women seemed skeptical, but Justin looked serene. “I’ve been expecting you,” Justin said, as if my appearance before him was scheduled. “Everything you have ever done in your life has led you to this place. With your help, another world will be saved.”
“I sure hope that I can help,” I said, shaking his hand. “What do you want me to do?”
“Oh, I’m just a spiritual leader,” he replied, laughing. “I leave the rest to the commanders. They aren’t really my commanders. They chose to follow the path of resistance all on their own. All I do is teach them how to follow the covenant.”
“As much as I would hate to disbelieve that this man is the Hero given Justin’s complete acceptance,” Granberia said. “I cannot plan operations around an unknown quantity.”
“Operations?” Justin replied, laughing. “Operations? Why would you plan operations?”
“Aren’t we going to resist the culling now that the Hero is here?” Ariana asked. “Isn’t that the whole point of the hero, to stop the cullings and defeat the Monster Lord?”
“It certainly is,” Justin replied. “but the resistance has never stopped a culling. One cannot defeat Black Alice with swords and arrows. It requires faith. Our faith has been rewarded. The Hero has come!”
“Justin,” Ariana urged. “Luka is powerful, but he has his weaknesses. He’s not going to be able to defeat the Monster Lord without our help.”
“No, he will not,” Justin agreed, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Not without our spiritual help. In combat, you can be no help to one such as him. He needs to find his faith. Faith in Ilias. Faith in Ilias’ plan for him. And most of all, faith in himself.”
“I don’t know what any of that means,” Alma Elma said. “I presume, Ariana, that when you refer to his weaknesses, you mean pleasure attacks. Leave him to me. I’ll give him the best training he’s ever had.”
This was interesting. I’d thought that Justin would be a charismatic cult-type figure, but if anything, he was a bit wooden and awkward. The monsters clearly believed in his message, but did not defer to him on everything, especially the details of how to carry out what they believed to be Ilias’ will outside the spiritual realm.
“There is no need for any of that,” Justin said. “Do not seek excuses to violate the commandments. Ilias is with him. Luka, go to the king tomorrow, when the representative of Black Alice will come to announce the culling. Tell him that Ilias’ prophecy is about to be fulfilled. Urge him to resist. Keep your faith, no matter what happens. Ilias will take care of the rest.”
“I was thinking about doing that, anyway,” I said. Justin smiled at that. “If the king of Sabasa is like he is nearly everywhere else, he’s been itching to finally tell Black Alice where to shove her culling.”
“The king has long been friendly to me,” Justin said. “but he is a practical man. You will have to show him your power.”
“That power had better be enough to defeat an ant army,” Erubetie said bitterly. “because should the king openly defy the Monster Lord, that is what Sabasa will face within days. No army mobilizes faster than the Queen Ant’s. If this was the plan, alleged Hero, you should have arrived sooner. Sabasa’s military is not prepared for war.”
“Ilias will provide,” Justin said serenely. I sincerely hoped that he was right.

I slept fitfully. I was very uneasy about what I was going to do tomorrow, and felt like I was being pushed into something before I could fully understand what it was that I was getting into. During one of my awake periods, I saw Justin sitting at my bedside. I nearly jumped out of my sheets.
“Don’t worry, I’m a friend,” Justin assured me. “I just wanted to see how you were doing. I know how hard this is going to be for you.”
I sat up in the bed. Justin was just sitting there in a chair, as if he’d been there for a long time, just serenely watching me, waiting for me to awaken.
“How come you’re not sleeping?” I asked.
“I don’t sleep much,” Justin replied. “It’s hard to sleep knowing that hundreds of Ilias’ beloved followers will be taken tomorrow, many of them sent to their deaths.”
“Do you really think I can put an end to it?”
“I have total faith that you will,” Justin replied with a smile.
“Then why aren’t you sleeping like a baby?” I asked.
“Because of how difficult it’s going to be for you,” he said softly. “I have complete faith that Ilias will shortly bring the tyranny of Black Alice to an end. I have no guarantees about your own life. Are you to be a hero? A martyr? Both? The future is unclear. Is it fair for me to place you in this position, when this world isn’t even yours? Why are you doing this, Luka?”
“I guess….” I thought about it for a moment. “I guess it’s a few things. I’m doing it because Ariana has faith in me. I’m doing it because I can never just abandon people in need.”
“What about the reason you’re not telling me about?” he prodded.
“Look,” I said. “I don’t know how much you know, how much you’re assuming, or if you’re even on the level.”
“Then I’ll help you out,” Justin said, smiling. “The biggest reason you’re doing this is because Ariana reminds you of someone you love. The one you’re trying to get back to.”
Ariana probably told him that. This was a classic scam, making oneself appear more knowledgeable than they were by gleaning information from a wide variety of sources, and then amazing the mark with the scammer’s prescience. I decided that I just wanted to go back to sleep.
“Have you wondered why you are still here?” Justin asked.
“I’ve been in one place for longer than this,” I informed him. “I’m worried about being pulled from here before the job is done, but no, it’s not terribly surprising that I’m still here.”
“Don’t you think that Ilias could keep you here if she wanted to?” Justin asked. “at least until the ‘job is done’, as you put it?”
“I guess she could,” I conceded. “A goddess put the spell on me that causes me to bounce around, I’m sure a goddess could alter it.”
That was a worrying thought. What if this version of Ilias wanted me to stay here? What would I do then?
“Of your success, I have no doubt,” Justin said. “What you need to ask yourself if you want to succeed in your ultimate goal, is ‘why am I doing all this?’ and ‘why do I think I can do it?’ Do you think you can achieve all of your goals, Luka? Save this world, find your Alice?”
“I don’t know,” I replied. “I only know that I have to try.”
“Luka,” Justin said, now looking at me intently. “How do you think gods achieve their goals? Do they just… try? Or do they decide, and then do? Your heart is clearly in the right place, but your mind has to be as well. You have so much potential within you. Someone, perhaps the god of your world, perhaps the god who created all of these worlds, chose you to hold this mighty power! Why do you think he or she did that?”
“I really don’t know,” I answered. “I’ve never been particularly religious.”
Justin sighed. “Religion… religion has one big advantage. You don’t have to think about the why, you just have to think about the what. If you were a follower of the goddess Ilias, you’d just march into that castle, and if it was Ilias’ will, you’d succeed. You’d be stupid, of course.”
“That doesn’t sound like a prophet of Ilias talking,” I said.
“Do you think a real goddess would just want followers to believe in her, unquestioningly, and throw themselves against impossible odds because she said so?”
“Um…. Yes, that’s exactly what a god does,” I answered.
“No,” Justin corrected. “That’s what people who don’t know real gods think. They create a god in their minds that’s just like a human, only with power. But gods are not human. They don’t think like humans. Some gods don’t even really understand humans any better than humans understand them. To be the true hand of a god, there must be a paradox. You must believe in what the god wants you to do, but you must also believe that the god cannot or will not protect you. You’re just a tool to gods. It’s up to you to decide whether to be broken while serving your purpose, or transcending that purpose. Ilias doesn’t know who you are, or where you came from. She doesn’t even know who I am. But she’s wise enough to know that unquestioning followers just die. You need to believe in yourself, and do this for your own reasons. You have within you the power of a god, and while you may not have the omniscience of a god, you have unique insights. The kind of insights that change whole worlds. You need to marry those insights, to that power, and then you’ll have your answers. Stop being a tool of gods, and start being your own man.”
“You are a really strange prophet,” I observed.
“Good night, Luka,” Justin said, rising. “Think about it. Let this be the last time that a god borrows you for her own plans. Start making your own.”
“What an odd thing for a follower of a goddess to say,” I observed as he opened the door to leave.
He paused and turned around, and left me with one last message. “Who says I follow Ilias? I’m a prophet relaying a message, that’s all.”

The king of Sabasa was, at least in appearances, the same formidable man whom I had met originally, as well as a couple of times in alternative worlds. Justin had sent word to him that I was coming. The king was also expecting an envoy of the Monster Lord. As much as I’m sure he hated the cullings, he had no chance of resisting, what with an ant army to his north. Justin was confident that the presence of the prophesied hero would strengthen his resolve.
Ariana accompanied me, since she had decided that she was my keeper. The other commanders came as well, skeptical of the so-called hero and wanting to see how things went. It went even worse than I expected.
“As much as I believe in the new covenant and the prophesy,” the king told me. “I cannot bet my people’s lives on someone claiming to be the Hero.”
“But he has power!” Ariana objected. “Show him your power, Luka!”
“I am uninterested in displays of power,” the king said, cutting her off. “I want nothing more than to lead my armies into battle against the Monster Lord. All of the kings and queens of Sentora feel the same way. Even united, we cannot defeat the forces of the Monster Lord. I’m sorry, Luka. I will not risk the subjugation of all of humanity. Black Alice only tolerates our independence as long as we pay tribute.”
This world seemed very similar to the one that Alipheese had envisioned. The human kingdoms were nominally independent, but had to surrender thousands of their own people every year in order to stay that way. The will of the people to resist was being continually broken by Black Alice’s ability to find and make a point of selecting troublemakers, a new wrinkle to Alipheese’s goals that I’m sure she would have appreciated.
“Your highness, the envoy is here!” a royal page announced, entering the throne room.
“I’m sorry Luka, you and your friends must go,” the king said sorrowfully. “I would prefer to endure this humiliation alone.”
“Your majesty,” the page interjected apologetically. “the envoy requests that your guests remain.”
“Oh?” the king said, confused. “that is irregular. These women are under my protection as long as they are in this castle.”
The page gestured helplessly. He was just telling the king what had been relayed to him.
“Fine,” the King of Sabasa said, “send her in.”
As the envoy of the Monster Lord entered the throne room, a chill went down my spine, followed by a wave of sorrow. I recognized the lovely face of Tamamo, in her full power. Was this a world in which the Six Ancestors had never been sealed? If so, not only would I have an unreformed Tamamo to deal with, but her five sisters as well!
Tamamo looked at me with disdain as she strode into the throne room carrying a piece of paper.
“Tamamo?” the king said, surprised. “This is highly unusual. Why has the Monster Lord sent us such a high ranking emissary?”
“Because the Monster Lord noticed your guests,” Tamamo replied. “They seem to want to stop the culling. If so, they can make their cases to me.”
“You are aware of our treaties with the Monster Lord, are you not?” the king asked. “As long as these people are in my castle, they cannot be touched.”
“The Monster Lord has no interest in Justin’s pathetic commanders,” Tamamo replied curtly, then looked in my direction. “but the so-called Hero intrigues her. Perhaps the Hero would like to persuade us to stop the culling?”
“Tamamo, I know you!” I pleaded. She raised an eyebrow at that, but didn’t seem terribly surprised. “This isn’t something you could ever tolerate!”
“Not only do I tolerate it, I enjoy it!” Tamamo laughed. She pulled some sheets of paper from her fur and handed them to the king. “This is the list for this year. Since the Hero wouldn’t know the full details, let me explain them. Over the next three days, the king will order the names on this list rounded up and brought to the city square three days from now. They will be collected by a team of teleporting monsters and brought to the Monster Lord’s castle, whereupon they will be distributed among her subjects as she sees fit. But since you’re here, maybe we’ll do things a little bit differently.”
“You’re damn right you’ll do things differently!” Ariana shouted. “The Hero will see to that! Won’t you, Luka?”
“Um…. Yes, definitely,” I agreed.
“The agreement we have with the kingdom of Sabasa says that we can’t harm any of you while you are in this castle,” Tamamo continued. “Fair enough. But the ancient common law still applies. I challenge you to single combat, hero!”
“Yes!” Ariana exulted. “and if he beats you, the culling is canceled!”
“Done,” Tamamo said. “if the Hero defeats me, there will be no culling. If he loses, he will join the culled.”
Normally I’d be thrilled to take someone on one on one to save others. But this was Tamamo. Even though she wasn’t my Tamamo, I wasn’t sure that I could give my all in battling her. People were depending on me, though! I had to try. I nodded. Granberia, Alma Elma, and Erubetie backed away to give us room. Ariana was reluctant, but eventually joined them.
I had fought all four Heavenly Knights, at a time when I was much weaker than I was facing this Tamamo. But I had never faced Tamamo at her full power. But I’d beaten Ancestors before. I could do it again.
Tamamo began with a traditional kitsune offense, utilizing all nine tails to try to batter me and pierce me while keeping me away from her. I called my imaginary spirits, dodged past all of her tails, and connected with a powerful punch to her gut. She didn’t even move.
“Was that supposed to hurt?” she said, her face inches from mine. “Let me show you how to punch.”
She delivered a punch to my own gut that put me on the ground. In the next moment, my pants were off. She held the remains of my pants up and smiled wickedly.
“You’ll have to fight me without these,” she taunted. “I have big plans for you. If I can’t kill the commanders of the resistance right here and now, I’ll have to settle for killing their hopes. In humiliating fashion. I’m not a patient fox. So if you’ve got better than what you just showed me, I suggest you show it now.”
I went to my most reliable use of my power, a simple blast of raw force. I should have used more. I was holding back. I couldn’t seriously hurt Tamamo. Nevertheless, it did knock her down. I heard Granberia whisper something that sounded like, “Is it true?”
Tamamo picked herself back up. “Not bad,” she said. “I can tell you have more. Give me more, human!”
Deciding that she could handle a little more without being seriously injured, I gave her a double dose. It never hit her. Ready for it, she dodged, spun, and a fireball erupted from her tails. My reflexes were as reliable as usual. I got a shield up. The shield could only stop energy, however. The fireball was harmlessly absorbed, but the three tailed strike that followed went right through it, causing me to fly backwards, hitting my head on a wall.
Tamamo quickly followed up her attack by wrapping me in all nine of her tails. I summoned my imaginary Gnome once again and tried to break out. But she was too strong. Too many tails, too strong a kitsune. She was an Ancestor. I was giving my all, but too little, too late. I had held out hope that she wouldn’t really hurt me. I had believed that Tamamo could never truly have been evil, that the goodness that came out later wouldn’t have simply sprung from nowhere. I had miscalculated. I was about to pay for that error in judgment.
Her tails squeezed me painfully, crushing my chest and cutting off my air flow. She wouldn’t let me pass out, however. When she was satisfied that my resistance had been broken, she set me down on the ground, still wrapped in some of her tails, and proceeded to rape me in front of my friends.
Tamamo had once claimed that men had given their souls for her pussy. Plunged inside her, I could see why. It didn’t have the overwhelming intensity and power of the Dark God’s, nor did it give the kind of pleasure that Minagi’s had, the kind that could result in instant, endless orgasms and destroy a man’s mind. Tamamo’s body, and the way she used it, simply gave a man unending, unbelievable, yet comfortable, pleasure. Despite the stakes and my condition, I wanted nothing more than for her to just keep on doing what she was doing forever. She wasn’t looking at me while she raped me. She was looking at my friends. I looked over to them. Ariana was in tears. The others simply looked disgusted and disappointed. I was in a world of pleasure, one that never seemed to peak. Tamamo was taking her time, enjoying my humiliation and more importantly, the disappointment of those who had counted on me. I tried one last gambit. I mimicked her sexual magic. It had worked on Minagi.
Her expression changed, but she never took her eyes off of my friends. “Mmmmm, that’s good,” Tamamo said. “The Hero likes it so much he wants to make it as good for me as it is for him. I think he’s already grown attached to me.”
Despite her skill at keeping me from finishing too soon, eventually I did, which caused her to sigh contentedly and lick her lips in an exaggerated fashion while still looking at my friends. She made sure to squeeze out the last bit from me, then moved off of me, still holding me in her tails. She finally deigned to look at me.
“That was just the beginning, Hero,” she said wickedly. “A lot more of that awaits you at the castle.”
“Tamamo, I know you’re better than this. Please,,,,,” I mumbled.
“Don’t worry, Hero,” she replied. “I’m a nice girl. I just want to give you pleasure all the rest of the days of your life. My sisters might not be as gentle as I’ve been. But I won’t let them kill you, because I’m such a nice girl.”
I lost consciousness as she teleported me away.

I awakened in a comfortable bed. I wasn’t sure where I was. I found out all too soon. Standing around the bed I was in were six familiar and frightening figures.
“He smells delicious,” Minagi said. “I can’t wait to break him.”
“Black Alice wants his power,” Saja cautioned. “She does not need his mind, but she does need his life.”
“You do not need to lecture us, Saja,” Kanon shot back. “we have been draining men without wasting them for as long as you have.”
“We’ve waited long enough,” Hiruko added. “He is now awake. Let us begin.”
The next thing I saw was a haze of hair, tentacles, tails, tongues, slime, hands, and breasts. I never knew who I was inside or who was doing what to me. Only the pleasure had any reality for me as the six women attacked me for what seemed to be an eternity. I would orgasm several times and pass out, only to wake up and find that I was still being attacked. That cycle must have gone on for hours. Days, for all I knew. This must have been what Alice had told me about, monsters keeping men in critical ecstasy for extended periods of time to break them. When I finally awakened to find them gone, I knew what it meant to be broken. I couldn’t form coherent thoughts. There was no mission, no quest to get back to Alice, no friends to let down. I simply stared at the ceiling, nearly catatonic, waiting for them to return and begin again. They did that night, removing me from the bed and passing me around. I was constantly wrapped in tails and tentacles, sucked nearly dry. When I was roughly dropped back into my bed, I simply went back to staring at the ceiling. Occasionally I would pass out and wake up, not knowing how long I had slept.

“Luka!”
I heard a voice calling someone’s name. Who was Luka?
“Luka! Wake up!”
I was being slapped. It was annoying. I opened my eyes and looked at my latest attacker. The face looked familiar somehow but I couldn’t place it.
“Luka! I know you can hear me! You have to get up! We have to go!”
She seemed to think that this “going” thing was important. I didn’t see why. Things were great. I was sure those wonderful ladies were going to come back and party with me some more. What were their names again? It didn’t matter. I sighed as I remembered the feeling of being inside one of them. Which one had that been? Was it the one with the wings? I thought there was more than one with wings. I liked them both a lot. I hoped they’d come back soon.
Whoever was bothering me had stopped trying to talk to me. That was good. I wanted to go back to sleep until something good woke me up. I wasn’t into being slapped. So many better uses for the hands than that. I sighed as I remembered all the hands. So many hands. Furry hands, slimy hands, hands that dripped with sap, silky hands….
I was lifted out of bed and was being carried. Did this person want to take me somewhere else to give me pleasure? I kinda liked the bed. Maybe she’d take me to a better bed. A bigger bed. That bed had been small. No one could lie next to me and cuddle me on that bed. They could only get on top of me. Maybe this time I’d get a cuddle afterwards. I liked cuddles.
I was carried out into a hallway. We were going fast. Too fast. I was getting woozy.
“Slow down,” I mumbled. “I’m gonna barf.”
She ignored me and stopped. “Shit,” she breathed.
“Whas wrong?” I asked. “When are we going back to bed?”
I heard voices. I was being carried back in the other direction much faster. I thought I was going to throw up, but instead I passed out again.
No sooner had I passed out then I was being slapped again. Whoever was doing it was frantic.
“Luka! Dammit Luka, get up! I know your mind is broken! I know you’re in the most critical ecstasy anyone has ever experienced and not died! That doesn’t matter! You’re the Hero! You have your power! You know what it’s like to not be in critical ecstasy! You know what it’s like to think clearly! You know what it’s like to fucking stand up! Stand up, Luka! Stand up! Do it for Alice!”
Alice?!! I snapped to my senses, at least enough to look at who was berating me. Alice? No, this wasn’t Alice, the hair was shorter. Ariana! She saw that my eyes were becoming clearer.
“Yes, yes!” she said excitedly. “You’re understanding me! Shake it off! Imagine that you’re fine and you’ll be fine! You have that power! Just think of this as a dream that you’re in control of! For all I know, that’s exactly what this is! Maybe you created this world in your mind. Whether that’s true or not, you have the power to make reality what you want it to be! So stand up!”
She was right. Why had I never seen it before? My power could do what I wanted. If I didn’t want to be in critical ecstasy I didn’t have to be. If I didn’t want my mind to be fogged, it didn’t have to be. I knew how to stand up! I knew how to think clearly! I may not have been the smartest guy, but there was no reason that I had to be in this state! The thought became the deed. In an instant I was on my feet, looking at Ariana.
“Ariana!” I exclaimed. “You came to rescue me! How?”
“Alma Elma flew me here!” Arian explained. “She’s waiting outside! But we’ve got problems!”
Indeed we did. We were in the great hall. Standing before me, as Four Heavenly Knights once had, were Six Ancestors. Beyond them was the throne room. Ariana wanted me to escape. I had no intention of escaping. They had brought me right to their lair. I was going to finish it here. I summoned up all of my elemental powers and prepared for battle.
“Luka, what are you doing?” Ariana said. “You can’t fight them all! We have to run!”
“We can’t run, Ariana,” I said calmly. “They can teleport. I’m pretty sure I can as well, but I’m not doing it. This is why I’m here. It ends now, one way or another.”
“You want another match against me?” Tamamo asked derisively. “I already found out your limits. That was a very cute recovery, but I’m not terribly impressed.”
“It just means I get to break your mind again,” Minagi said.
“Fools!” Saja exclaimed. “We have miscalculated. Do not take him lightly!”
“He’s not even armed,” Hiruko said.
“And he doesn’t have the guts to use his power to kill us,” Tamamo added. “C’mon Luka, why fight? Didn’t you enjoy last night? Don’t you want that every single night for the rest of your life? Few humans receive the honor of being pleasured by an Ancestor. No one has ever been so honored by all six of us at once.”
“You’re right that I’m not a killer,” I said. “but it’s not true that I’m unarmed.”
A sword, Angel Halo, appeared in my hands, called from my memory and will. No weapon felt as comfortable or as familiar to me as that one. If I wanted Angel Halo, why couldn’t I have it? My power could do anything! Even my physical conditioning rose to the peak it had been when I’d faced the Four Heavenly Knights, my body hardened by months of hard travel and combat. What remaining flab I had disappeared. My shirt stretched as my muscles threatened to tear it in many places. I had everything I had ever had: The power of the spirits, my reflexes, my physical conditioning, and Angel Halo. If that wasn’t enough, I could find more. They didn’t know it yet, but they had no chance.
I didn’t know if they intended to challenge me one on one or not. I didn’t care. With unbelievable speed I rushed into their midst slashing, my power being used to level up my abilities even more than they had been at their peaks. My Angel Halo was no longer a sword that slowly leeched out energy so that strong monsters could take dozens of hits to be sealed. This was my sword, a reflection of my will, an imitation of the original yet a vast improvement. My speed, my power, my awareness through the flow, were all increased dramatically, beyond even Heinrich’s mastery of the spirits. I still considered the spirits my dear friends and would welcome them into my heart again if I ever returned to them. But I had moved beyond them.
Despite their power, despite their own elemental mastery, they were all moving in slow motion. My sword danced among them, cutting them and stealing their energy. Instead of their energy leaking out, it flooded out of them. I wanted it, so it was. Ariana and Gabriella had been right. I was the only thing holding me back.
I still needed to avoid getting cocky, however. I was human, if only because I couldn’t imagine not being human. I could be hurt, if they could touch me. I was also not the brilliant tactician they were. I had been outsmarted many times in battle. Unfortunately, imagining oneself smart does not make one smart. My power still had limits. Not self-imposed limits, but real limits that only gods could overcome. I was a man controlling a god’s power without a god’s omniscience. These were beings that were countless millenia old. I had to defeat them before they could figure out a way to overcome me. As fast as I was moving, as dangerous as my enhanced Angel Halo was, that would not be a problem. In less than a minute, five of the Six Ancestors were crawling, oozing, or flapping around the grand hall, in sealed forms. They wouldn’t stay that way long if I didn’t deal with Black Alice.
Ariana was leaping up and down. “Yes! Yes! I knew it! It was all me!”
I laughed. Alipheese had been right that only little things changed from world to world, although those little changes could have huge effects.
Tamamo stood in the center of the grand hall. I had deliberately chosen not to touch her. I wanted to give her one last chance to show me that the person I knew and loved was in there.
“Incredible!” the kitsune said with admiration. “Justin wasn’t just spouting nonsense! A human, sealing ancestors in mere seconds! Why spare me?”
“Where I come from, Tamamo is the most decent person I know,” I explained. “I probably could have defeated you in Sabasa. I just couldn’t bring myself to use my full power on you. Now I’m even more powerful than I was when we first fought. I wanted to see if there was any trace of my Tamamo in you.”
“Are you… my counterpart’s husband?” Tamamo asked softly.
“No, but she is a dear friend, a confidant, and someone whose advice I take more seriously than anyone’s, even my wife’s. You see, I’m married to the Monster Lord of that world, Alipheese the Sixteenth.”
“Then take my advice now,” Tamamo replied. “Don’t go into the throne room. I won’t try to stop you. I know better than that. But if you do set foot into that throne room, the Monster Lord will kill you and take your power from you. Like you, she has a power that is beyond anything on this planet. Unlike you, she didn’t just figure out how to take advantage of its potential five minutes ago.”
“The five rings I keep hearing about?” I asked.
“Yes,” Tamamo confirmed. “they give her power that exceeds your own. She will consume you without mercy.”
“I’ll take my chances,” I said. “It’s why I’m here.”
“If you do win,” Tamamo said. “I will assist the next Monster Lord to the best of my ability, however she decides to rule. I have had my reservations, but I am loyal. I live to serve the Dark God and the Monster Lord. If it is her destiny to fall today and a new Monster Lord takes her place, I will serve her as well.”
“It’s not what I hoped for,” I said. “But I understand, because my Tamamo was the same way. She became kinder in part by serving kinder Monster Lords, and she passed that kindness and wisdom down to many Monster Lords that followed. I hope that you’ll do the same. The next Monster Lord will need a wise counselor.”
Tamamo nodded to me, and I began another long walk down the hall to the throne room.
Black Alice was of course waiting for me. Despite being one of the worst enemies I’d ever had, possibly the worst, seeing her reminded me of how short our encounters had been. She’d dropped in on a battle between Promestein, Alice, and I for about two seconds, dropped in again just to stab Eden, then one more time to stick me with a needle. Then came the battle in heaven, where she used a concoction that included my “special sauce” as Promestein called it, which changed her into something entirely different. I had never really imprinted her face in my mind. So in a way, this was almost new to me.
She was beautiful, as all Monster Lords are, but there was insanity in those eyes. This was the Monster Lord that Ilias followers had envisioned them all to be, at least inside. Outwardly, she appeared human. The form she chose to wear most frequently was that of a young blonde girl. Unlike the version I’d encountered first, this Black Alice did not have a teddy bear. She did have a hand full of rings with brightly colored gemstones. Obviously the five rings everyone kept referring to. The gems were big. They almost looked like marbles. The gears started to slowly turn in my head. If Black Alice hadn’t been so busy giving an evil speech, she might have heard them and realized the danger.
“Welcome, Hero!” Black Alice said gleefully. “I’ve waited a long time for a worthy adversary to enter my throne room! It’s too bad this battle will be so short! I hold the Five Rings of-“
I stretched out my hand and shot five small bolts from my fingers. Each one was unerring, impacting each gemstone, on each ring, on each finger of her hand. The gemstones shattered, cutting off her speech.
“What?!” she cried out. “What have you done to my rings?!”
“Everyone kept on warning me how powerful those rings are, so I took them away from you,” I explained, eternally grateful that Gabriella had trained me with those marbles.
Black Alice was changing. I braced myself, fearing a version of the change she made when my friends and I fought her in heaven. As her change progressed, I saw that it wasn’t that at all. She was aging. Even lamias don’t live five hundred years. Their lifespan was normally two hundred or so. I had no idea what each ring did, but obviously one of them kept her alive long past her natural lifespan. With the rings destroyed, she was rapidly aging.
As her body hit the ground and turned mostly into dust, I heard Ariana give a loud cheer behind me. She rushed forward and began stomping the brittle bones with her tail. It was over. Hopefully. I expected that I might get a visit from Ilias, as that always seemed to happen when a Luka killed, or didn’t kill, a Monster Lord.
Ariana, satisfied that she had turned whatever parts of Black Alice’s body that weren’t already dust into a fine powder, rushed to me and hugged me.
“I knew you could do it,” she whispered. “I knew it all along.”
“It was just as much you,” I said. “I never even considered that it could be that easy. I was thinking too much, rather than doing.”
“We make a great team,” she replied. “It’s too bad you can’t stay. This world still needs you.”
“No, Ariana,” I said. “The world needs you. That throne is empty. My destiny may have been to end the tyranny of one Monster Lord, but leading the world into a new era? That’s yours.”
“Me?!” she asked in disbelief. “I know that my counterparts are mostly Monster Lords, but… but they’re powerful! They had years of education in magic, and how to be royalty! I don’t even know what spoon to use at the dinner table.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” I laughed. “I have yet to be on a world where an Alice has good table manners. But I’ll tell you what else they all have in common. They are all brilliant, powerful, great leaders, and have good hearts. I’m not gonna lie, it’s going to be bumpy for you for the first few years. But you’ll come into your own. I know it. Tamamo will support you and help you. What you saw, I don’t believe that’s really her either. Or at least I know the seeds of change are in her. As for the other Ancestors… you might want to keep them sealed in those weak forms for a while. They’ll need time to reflect on their actions.”
“Yeah, like fifty years!” Ariana scoffed.

“The decision is yours,” Tamamo said, entering the throne room. “But we Six are sworn to serve the Monster Lord. I have communed with the Dark God. She is pleased with you, Ariana. From this day forth you will be known as Alipheese the Ninth, Monster Lord. The Dark God has recognized you.”
“The Dark God?” Ariana scoffed. “I follow the goddess of light, Ilias!”
“You were driven to Ilias by the ill considered actions of the previous Monster Lord,” Tamamo explained. “But do you really think her fall was only due to Ilias? One of many questions you’ll have to ponder during what I hope will be a long reign.”
Perhaps this was destiny. I began to feel myself fading away. Ariana noticed it as well. She reached out to embrace me again.
“I’ll never forget you, Luka,” she said softly as her arms went from holding me to holding air.

I found myself floating in space. No, not space, I didn’t need to breathe. Subspace! How did I end up here? I thought. The answer was standing right next to me.
“You did good, Luka,” Justin said.
“Justin?!” I exclaimed. “are you a prophet or was this whole thing part of your plan?”
“Which whole thing?”
“The thing about the Hero,” I clarified.
“Oh, yes, that was me,” Justin replied. “You were in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d borrow you. It’s not every day that you see a human skipping from universe to universe. Couldn’t pass up that opportunity.”
“Are you the god of this world?”
“God? Me?” Justin laughed. “maybe I am. I don’t really know, which I guess means I’m not really much of a god. I’m as far above Ilias and the Dark God as they are above humans, and I’m aware of things your mind can’t even begin to comprehend. But I don’t know everything and I make a lot of mistakes, so hopefully there’s someone above even me who has a plan. Someone who created all of…. This.”
He gestured all around him, at all of the worlds, all of the universes. Within my view were only a fraction of the universes that existed.
“Why use me? If you’re above even Ilias, you could have done something yourself!”
“Luka, on your world, there’s a song by a Christian songwriter,” Justin said. “I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, but in the lyrics the singer prays about all the problems in the world. Hunger, oppression, hate, and he asks God, ‘Why don’t you do something?’ Do you know what God told him? I did do something. I created you..”
“Were you the reason I didn’t randomly jump, but stayed until the job was done?”
“Yep,” Justin answered. “That spell on you is no longer active. I removed it. No more random jumping around for you. Since you did me a solid, I’m going to do you one. I’m sending you home.”
“Home?” I asked. “To Alice? My Alice?”
“Well, I’m not going to deposit you in her lap, if that’s what you’re thinking, but yes. You’re finally going to the place you’ve been trying to get to all this time. That world needs you too, Luka. You’ll see why as soon as you get there. Are you ready to go home, Luka?”
“There’s nothing I want more in the entire… multiverse,” I responded.
“Then off you go,” Justin said with a smile. “Oh wait, you’ll want this.”
Justin handed me a backpack. My backpack with my electronics! I was sure I’d never see it again! Then, with a smile, he waved his hands and I was somewhere else.
- 4
- 5
- 6
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Luka's Story 3-Traipsing around the Multiverse