Deep.

Deep.

Then deeper still. 

That was {The Deep} where she slept away from the world. Sealed away willingly from prying eyes in a slumber that wouldn’t stir even if the blood of an entire kingdom was offered to her as was intended. If it were so easy to call upon her power as a summoner the world would have already been plunged into madness. 

Yet she was bored. Only gambling with fate using her incarnation brought the monstrous being to exert any energy.  Though for this being it was the same as just using a single brain cell thus no reason to use it’s true form. 

So instead she was to remain here in {The Deep} to the end of time; nothing that she couldn’t work around with her incarnation. 

That is where the {Sovereign of Storms} currently found herself standing upon the head of her [Mythical Ancient Divine Tribulation Storm Dragon - Stormbringer]. It came from a race she had enslaved at the apex of the first great war - revenge for what they had put her mother through - only to have thusly served her loyally since. Strange how the ones she hated so much could redeem themselves into her trusted companion. 

Maybe she doesn’t trust every [Storm Dragon] as much as her {God-Hunters} but Stormbringer has been her partner for a long time now. Perhaps she wouldn’t trust it as much as Photon yet she would certainly say it was a more convenient mount than the Lion was. Stormbringer just gazed towards the endless abyss in front of them where only three black lights glowed in the distance. 

Yet they also seemed so close they could touch them.. 

Both massive but small. 

Constantly changed in shape as if someone kept zooming in on what seemed like a sphere only to find more and more sides the closer they got; it kept unfocusing as they focused on it making the different ‘stages’ appear at random times. Even just looking at that… Monster made the proud dragon feel their sanity slowly slipping. From the corners of it’s eyes it could see sense writhing tendrils in the blackness only for nothing to be there when it looked. It even felt slithering across its tail making it trash it only to hit nothing. It even felt the gentle breath of a dying girl upon its scaled sensory organs. 

This was her true form afterall. Something beyond comprehension. Only ever pretending to be nothing more than a writhing ‘mess’ on the edge of sanity and insanity. The only thing that kept it from escaping from the depths of the {Spirit World} was the cool mental gauntlet gently running through the fathered mane around it’s back and neck. The other dragons behind it - each with an obscured/cloaked armoured figure with a skull like helm on their back - were in a similar position… No, they were in a far worse situation. 

She couldn’t tremble like them though as what she had learned from {The Queen} in all these years had told her one thing over these aeons - a leader must stand strong or the nation will topple.

“You lied to me Munzumira… Choose your next words carefully or I may need to call off our long standing alliance for good.” <Sovereign of Storms>

The black lights seemed to explode into thousands of separate colours before it settled to appear like a caged night sky. It didn’t end there as the world around them began to tremble as if some unspoken ancient had awoken from their endless slumber at long last. Perhaps it was more metaphor than synonym as it may be true that this body has not been awoken in awhile due to the limits that had been placed on her years ago. This was the core of the being called Munzumira. Well, it was ‘a’ core of the monster called Munzumira.

Around them thousands- no they couldn’t even be claimed to be millions or billions. An uncountable number of dull black eyes opened up on ‘something’ that seemed to be writhing on the edge of reality itself. Rather, with the living nightmare called Munzumira, that was exactly the case as she was something beyond the dimensions one normally saw. A being who had reached the apex of the realms then went far, far, far beyond.

A familiar voice called out in the very depths of their mind; if all the individuals here weren’t the stout protectors of the {Mortal Realms} thus the apex of all life… Well to put it simply they could only keep their sanity through each being considered ‘strongest’. A motley band of female knights nobody would look down on as a joke - not even Mother treated them lightly when above the sea…

Except the being in front of them.

|So this is the reason you called me out my slumber Sohn-Tochter? A threat Muhuhuhahaha! Truly you are the knight I raised to the apex along with my foolish brother… Very well what have I done to lie to you?| <Munzumira of Insight>

The {Sovereign of Storms} was mightiest of them all as she didn’t even shudder as the voice probed the very depths of her sanity. Rather she couldn’t be calmer as Munzumira was once the very person who brought her from her pitiful life; it was true she felt endless gratitude. However, there was one thing that trumped all of that.

“She had the indigo flames of destruction, something I wouldn’t have known about if it wasn’t for running into Scaleless. I also noticed your incarnation lurking around the village to scare Jeeves off from chasing her and her friends further… You tried to get me to kill my niece Munzumira. I don’t like being tricked.” <Sohn-Tochter>

Despite that emotionless and toneless voice being the exact same as always, the armoured Sovereign seemed to be feeling something. Rage. This could be told as her entire body as well as that of the infamous steed under her sparked with the feared indigo tribulation lightning causing the darkness surrounding them to creep away. Just feeling the power of judgement flowing through its body comforted Stormbringer and allowed her to glare at those ‘lights’ that refused to conform to any one shape. 

Despite that, the one in front of them didn’t seem to mind this at all.

|Muhuhuhahaha I wasn’t aware the hatchling was a demon until you discovered that she was a vampire else I would have also informed you of that. Would have certainly made it far quicker to end this whole farce before it began… If I didn’t know that, how would I know any more than that?| <Munzumira of Insight>

The Sovereign didn’t seem convinced over this point as she knew fine well the being in front of her always knew far more than it let one. Not to mention it had far more reason to keep paying attention to the demons than anyone else. While every Toppler may fear the existence of the [Void Beasts]; the {Ancient Faux Gods} were more wary of the demons who could threaten their existence. 

An absolute existence is a terrifying thing to a creature of constant change & chance.

“I find you not keeping track of the top demonic families a laughable joke; funny though I always considered Jeeves the joke. I also am well aware you aren’t a huge fan of Violet. Do you truly take me for a fool? Also how can you explain your lurking?” <Sohn-Tochter> 

Despite that unchanging voice one could easily feel the accusation between it. How could Munzumira of all people not know what was happening in the world? Sure, there were things even she couldn’t initially see, but she had long figured out ways around it. This also wasn’t a simple match against the Scaleless like she initially thought. Instead it appeared to be giving rise to a new generation of Topplers.

|Indeed; that should be the case.| <Munzumira of Insight>

The loyal knights behind Sohn-Tochter all had their lances drawn at this point - ready to go to battle against the beasts of {The Deep}  

Yet, despite all those points against her, Munzumira had nothing to say to defend herself. This only made her more suspicious as usually she would try to explain it away. She was a creature with a far greater intellect so why out herself in such a manner? It wasn’t her style… She was a gambler not a brute.

If she wasn’t the one with the cards in her hands then who was?

“Explain.” <Sohn-Tochter>

So it did just that.

|Me and Alice had no clue things would go the way they would. As I said; I wanted that hatchling to be forcibly reincarnated into the cradle of the one she calls ‘Leaf’ while she intended for the adopted child to raise the battletorn hatchling. In that way my own descendent would only need to launch their attack from the mountain range. 

With the overwhelming number of strong unkillable beasts at her disposal and the hero having cheated in gaining their dragon core they would have a good fight. I had confidence the little hero would be too inexperienced to deal with my spawn though. As such, I would win the gamble and the Hero would be stuck waiting for the cradle to gain enough energy to bring her to life once more. Even if young, a new cradle can’t easily accrue the necessary energy to resummon a high-dragon which is the numbile state of a ‘Child’... The possible future inheritors of the name ‘Mother’.

Yet as you know… You failed me. 

On top of that my own Chaos helped to prevent my backup with Artemis in order to get the time needed to summon our Mantis. Even though I’m destined to fall in love with her I know I can’t expect her help with her personality from before - I’m sure you know all about that though. So having her also be a demon on top of that is just a list to the unexpected situations. Based on what happened I have only one conclusion…

There is a new player on this board in the form of that Imp. It all comes back to that Imp; I’ll be honest I did have plans for Violet. Yet they also fell through as she didn’t reincarnate where my incarnation had planned. Instead here we are with nothing going right and that Imp has also vanished from my sight once more…

Just like Jeeves yet not at the same time.| <Munzumira of Insight>

“What is that meant to mean?” <Sohn-Tochter>

|It means things are finally getting interesting Muhuhuhahaha~!| <Munzumira of Insight>

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The motley crew of girls had made it to the village at last.

Despite the impending unleashing of whatever hid beyond the old church or just the no doubt countless goblins roaming around causing hunters no end of harm… They seemed just too casual for a village on the cusp of its end. Maybe it hadn’t sunk in yet that the barrier could go down (maybe it wasn’t even public knowledge) the goblins were no doubt present.

If there was no goblin tribe nearby they wouldn’t have been called in by the lazy church. On top of that the goblin tribe was large enough to kick out quite a few ogre’s which both teams had actually run into; though it ended with a single slash from Eel on her side. There was no way they didn’t have a lot of goblins wandering around doing as goblins did. 

Some women had to have been kidnapped in the night.

Some hunters must have been attacked while doing their job.

Some crops must have been stolen.

Some pack animals must have been eaten alive…

Unlike a possible goblin parade/raid that would destroy a village like this or the eventual doom through whatever was sealed; these things were all immediate in effect. These kinds of situations always gave the village a dreary atmosphere; often people refused to even exit their house. 

Eel had expected this to be the situation if this were even a fraction of the problem the church made things out to be… Yet the villagers were almost just as relaxed as in the previous village. 

This actually meant they were actually more cheerful than villagers usually were within {Orrid Empire}!

“Oh look at you dear, you're all skin and bones! Here I have a fresh slice of bread from this batch I just finished up. Your friend can have one as well.” <Nice Lady>

“T-thank you miss…?” <Emily>

The dragoness really couldn’t understand how inconsistent humans were in the face of terrible situations. She was under the impression they were cowardly and took it out on everyone around them yet as she walked through the village some nice woman even came up and gave the drowsy looking girl hanging off her left arm (as well as herself) some bread. Emily who was equally confused was even more confused upon having bread thrust at her so accepted it without question.

As a succubus she didn’t even eat physical food most of the time!

Eel instead took this opportunity to gain some information for the team… According to the suggestion by the aggressive glaring her paladin was doing while also grinding her metal knuckle into the crevice of her back. As one can expect from her she didn’t particularly care about such matters.

“Thank you very much mam, do you know where the village chief's house may be?” <Eel>

Of course, Eel was showing her princely charms with a confident smirk on her face that screamed of her regality. Despite the confidence she didn’t seem overconfident but rather just made one feel she could be relied upon. Obviously the middle-aged village woman couldn’t resist the charms given to her from her bloodlines.

“Y-yes if you just continue on into the village you’ll find it in the centre of the village sweetheart.” <Nice Lady>

“Ah, I see, you have any worries about the way this nice place is going? I would hate it if when I came again it was run to the ground by some fools… I may need to dirty my hands if there was something bullying you good folk fufufu~.” <Eel>

“You are good at that fat chest…” <Promicarus>

Just as the salty tanned girl said, with arms crossed under her chest, Elizabeth Jr Bloodleaf was very good at using her charms. Her training with Lisa had clearly paid off. Most of the arts of seduction were using a mixture of understanding; understanding both of your own positivesnegatives and understanding of the target. That was difficult for Eel though… 

The only thing she could understand was what moved when a certain muscle tensed - in truth it seemed irrelevant to her to understand the indepth feelings of prey. Anything more than surface level feelings seemed waste to the hunter. However, in a way, this arrogant nature of her brought its own appeal. She did have that ‘regal’ appearance which mixed with an overbearing pride could easily make people melt. 

It didn’t work on everyone though. 

Brutish types didn’t tend to fall for it due to the nature of the beast. Another alpha lion see’s nothing but an enemy if a lion tries to join it’s pride. However, those types were people Eel didn’t mind using her favourite tactic. Violence. For non-prissy ladies it worked great though so she didn’t need to worry about much else than being herself with slight adjustments.

Knowing that the dumb barbie girl couldn’t do the same filled her with even more pride~!

“W-well I think we’re fine. A lot of adventurer types travelin’ back and forth lately so we get some goods but they’re not always the friendliest types…” <Nice Lady>

To his Eel just offered ‘that’ smug smile brimming with her overwhelming confidence. It made full use of royal charm on that face that perfectly mixed handsome with beauty; although it still had a bit of immaturity wasting some of that charm. Even still her charm really couldn’t be underestimated.

“Well I’ll make sure to keep an eye out if any of them seem to need a ‘talking to’ for you and we’ll probably be around for a day or two while we figure out our next move. Please feel free to tell me if anyone is bothering you mam.” <Eel>

While she was mentioning ‘talking’ she tapped her right shoulder where she was resting it making it clear to her party she was just itching for another fight. Seeing this Fuka could only just sigh as she should’ve expected this to be the only part of information gathering their leader cared for. One way or another she got useful information for them so she couldn’t complain either as they walked away while Emily stuck some bread into Elizabeth Jr.’s mouth.

“Surprisingly more leader like than usual of ya… I didn’t even expect ya to ask about the village chief but instead go straight to the old church.” <Fuka>

“Hrm?” <Eel>

With a mouthful of bread Eel turned to look towards the judgemental half-gob with a raised brow; quickly swallowing she spoke with a ‘is it not it obvious’ look as she explained her actions.

“Well yea, of course I did so we can go there quickly. We need to make sure they can’t deny we went. If we don’t they would probably use the same trick as last time we took one of these jobs; I did get in trouble for beating the shit out of that crooked old fool last time.” <Eel>

Of course, she ended that with a snort while her head held high, as if she wasn’t just talking about beating up an old man. The dragoness didn’t seem to mind that though as she continued being fed by her succubus. Fuka really didn’t know what to say about this little dragon so just had a look of unwilling acceptance. She was used to it since wouldn’t attacking an old creature may as well be seen as a mercy to a full blown hunter like Eel? Someone else was curious though.

“Wait, thine hero of justice beat up an old man at some point?” <Promicarus>

“No.” <Lyada>

“Huh! I, mineself, dost suppo-” <Promicarus>

“Beaten up many if include drunkards at home or mercs.” <Lyada>

“... Would thou mind beguiling thine tales unto mineself?” <Promicarus>

Nobody really stopped Lyada since Fuka was over the whole thing and was instead focusing on the upcoming fight. The mini-lovers meanwhile didn’t exactly care about the small details of a story like that being shared. As such Lyada began doing just as asked.

“Cleared mole beasts out from village. Chief claimed that someone else could’ve done it if they had no proof; refused to sign quest as done. Eel not a patient person when not hunting so removed nails one by one. In end guild agreed we in right but Lisa gave earful since Guild wouldn’t due to Eel’s position.” <Lyada>

“Hold thou’s horses! Thy crazed heffer tortured an old man for a few bronze coins?” <Promicarus>

“As well as wife.” <Lyada>

“Jeeveses cross-” <Promicarus>

“This should be it Beth…” <Emily>

Just as story time ended Emily announced their arrival to the village elders house which caused a surprising sigh of relief from Fuka. Confused for obvious reasons, everyone looked towards Fuka to see why she had such a reaction. As everyone turned to look at her she just shrugged her shoulders with a wry smile exposed from her open helm.

“I have a feelin’ things won’t be going well.” <Fuka>

“They never have-” <Eel>

“But didn’t everything go fine in the previous village..?” <Emily>

“No, it couldn't have gone worse.” <Eel> 

Eel puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms.

“Eh, what did ya do?” <Fuka> 

“Why do you assume I did something wrong!” <Eel>

“Experience.” <Fuka>

The dragoness’ left hand lifted up - finger fully erect - as if she wanted to point something out. Nevertheless, as she was about to speak her finger curled up then she proceeded to shut her mouth. As a hunter she knew how to choose a vantage point and this hill wasn’t one she felt she stood a chance on.

“Well I upset Emily, had to pay for damages to the village and to top it all off I’m stuck with a walking doll in the party.” <Eel>

“Wasn’t half of that yer fault?” <Fuka>

“No, first part be 100% fault. Other parts 50% her fault, 50% the new girls it comes to a total of 66% her fault.” <Lyada>

“Wait… You know maths?” <Eel>

“Bunnies good at multiplying.” <Lyada>

With that the squad knocked on the supposed village chiefs door.