***The Crystal City***

***Angrod***

“Angrod, do you even have an idea of where to search!? Why did you kill that guy?” Miruliru nags while following behind me as I walk back towards the administration tower.

“Give the man some space,” Carne interjects. “He just learned that his son and daughter in law were abducted and it’s doubtful that the Calamity’s fiends can be interrogated anyway.”

Miruliru frowns, clearly displeased, but she has to concede that Carne might have a point. “You are most likely right about that. Though, it doesn’t change the point that we should have tried at the very least! I kind of like Sharid, so I want her back if there is even the slightest chance.”

“I will find them, no problem. I just need a few strong guys to go in and out without giving the Calamity time to act.” I wave at a guard who overheard the conversation and he nods, vanishing immediately to gather the best of my people. “And there is no point in interrogating the fiends since they are all linked to the Calamity. Even the former Council members didn’t know anything of value and their souls were only partly taken over.”

Miruliru shudders. “I keep forgetting that you are apparently unaware of the existence of more subtle methods of interrogation. Like tricking the enemy into telling you something of value.”

“I would never know whether the other party is telling the truth!” I complain and wave my hand in a dismissive gesture. “Anyway, if my wife finds out that something happened to Aengus, I am dead meat!” I chuckle, feeling like I am about to lose it. “No, worse! She will gut me!”

“You should try to calm yourself,” Miruliru suggests. “The worst thing you can do right now is to make rash decisions. I am sure that Celes can be calmed down once she hears about this… maybe…”

“I wish I could have those times as an evil scientist back!” I grumble. “Less power, but nobody to care about! Everyone is just a resource for the next experiment. Those were good times!”

Nowadays, I am stuck with having to worry about the fate of the whole multiverse because I happen to live in it! “Let's continue this conversation in the conference room.” I teleport back to our previous location in the conference room.

The needed fighters should arrive shortly, so it is time to gather some information.

I activate a big screen at the wall and enter a security code. “Warden, I need a secure connection with our special spy, Enyo. The codeword is ‘Spank’!”

While I am at it, the rest of the ambassadors arrives to observe the further proceedings.

“Excuse me?” Warden’s voice sounds insecure. “Didn’t you want this project to remain a secret?”

“You heard me, Warden. Connect us now!” Come on. My order wasn’t that hard to understand. “I am sure that you listened in on everything and are aware of the situation. These are extraordinary circumstances.”

“As you wish. Though, you should choose another codeword later on. It's inappropriate and you had listeners,” the AI points out and displays a hologram at the wall which is supposed to show our spy’s condition and its general surroundings.

I sigh. “Thanks, Warden. Now the connection.”

It's annoying, but the positioning signal of my spy is very weak. It's almost not there, as if something is blocking the signal. “Warden, give me a quick replay of the last twenty-four hours while you are trying to contact Enyo.”

The hologram instantly lights up with Sharid and Aengus walking down a cobbled street.

“~Uwah!~ Everyone is looking at us!” Sharid clings to Aengus' arm while my son is smiling like an idiot.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you. Are demons somehow shunned on this world?” Aengus takes an interested look around, but the people who meet his gaze quickly avert their eyes.

“Not to my knowledge. On this world demon-kin, unlike real demons, are a rare species without a country of their own. There are no ill feelings towards them according to my knowledge,” Sharid informs him.

“We should have disguised ourselves as I suggested.” Aengus shoots another glare at a few thugs and they disperse into a sidestreet.

“Maybe you should do something about those menacing eyes?” She looks up and him and smiles. “Actually, they are pretty. The problem is your expression.”

“I don't want to. Those perverted leechers who are looking at you can shudder in fear under some stone for all I care.” Aengus throws another annoyed glance at a shopkeeper.

They continue down the street in shared silence and Warden speeds up the recording until the brothel of Sharid’s mother comes into view. Nothing has changed as far as I can remember.

They stop at the door to take a look at the statue above it and Aengus grins as he recognizes the figure.

A lightly dressed receptionist freezes at their sight. Then she turns and runs away while screaming, “He is here! The demon is back! To your arms! Hide the dresses and the goods!”

“What was that about?” Aengus asks with a frown.

“Haah... I forgot that Mother personally trains all the employees to instantly take up arms in case that the ~Thief~ returns. I never thought that their indoctrination would run this deep.” Sharid’s tail twitches a little, showing her annoyance.

Suddenly, all the doors to the entrance room burst open and dozens of scantily clad women storm the room – including a few men in spandex. Each of them is armed to the teeth with deadly weaponry.

I scoff, wondering how my son could ever lose to these people. Was one of them a hidden servant of the Calamity?

“Sharid, are you sure your mother manages a brothel?” Aengus asks and gestures at the crowd. “Looks more like an Amazonian mercenary guild. Though, I admit that has its own appeal.”

“They are just alarmed because you look very similar to your father,” Sharid whispers back. “Someone who hasn't seen him in person could easily mistake the two of you.”

An older woman walks past the armed employees and takes a look at the interlopers. Very slowly, an expression of recognition comes over her face. “You look like him, but you are not. In any case, this time around we are prepared for your ilk. There is nothing for you to steal here!”

“Mom, don't you recognize me!?” Sharid complains, stepping up between Aengus and her mother.

“Sh- Sharid!?” Her mother's eyes bug out in surprise. “What happened to you?”

“~Hi, Mom.~”

The mother's eyes roll over in her head and she swoons, falling backwards only to be caught by one of her employees in the nick of time.

Sharid quickly runs over to her mother's side to pat her cheek, turning her into the centre of focus. “Mom? Mom? Wake up!”

Miruliru starts chuckling right next to me, causing me to turn around just to find that most of the ambassadors are grinning like fools. Naturally, they immediately steel their expressions when they notice me.

The little goddess also clears her throat, trying hard to calm herself. “Watching your family is like some soap opera.”

“Extended family,” I grumble, knowing that the inner circle is much, much worse, and return my attention to the surveillance footage.

A new player enters the scene. “Sis?”

Sharid looks up and jumps the young woman who stepped out of the crowd of employees, hugging her and lifting her up. “~Soel!~ So nice to see you again! You got so big. It isn't even possible to cuddle you anymore.”

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“Mmmhtommbigmmm.”

“Big Sis can't understand you if you talk like that. ~Nyhaha!~” Sharid twirls around, spinning her sister like a flail and forcing the onlookers back.

Then Sharid spots the other sister hiding behind a wall, dropping Soel and charging for her instead.

The girl tries to bail but is obviously too slow to escape the goddess.

“Too ~slow~!”

“Kyaaaaa!”

The employees just keep watching with shocked faces as the scene plays out, giving me no doubt that all their weapons are just for show.

Then the footage is sped up once more as the characters move on to a more private setting in a living room.

The mother is stretched out on the couch with a cold towel on her forehead, lamenting what brought this fate upon her daughter. “How could this happen... how... my daughter got possessed by a demon.”

“Mom, I am not possessed. And I have to introduce my fiance. This is Aengus, the first prince of Chimera. His father may be better known to you as ~The Thief~.” Sharid takes Aengus' hand while dropping the bomb of all bombs on her mother, using the opportunity as the woman is already stretched out in a horizontal position.

Her mother shoots up and looks at them with big eyes. “F... Fiance? Prince? The Thief's son? No! Not even if he is the king of a fucking country! I never even heard of Chimera! Have you forgotten everything I taught you about marriage? It's bad for income!”

Niel's eyes turn round and she starts searching for something in mother's documents. “Mom! Look! Look!” The girl shoves some old status plate into her mother's face. “Angrod, King of gods. Divine ruler of the Realm of Chimera!”

“Actually, I am not the prince of a puny country. I am the prince of a realm of gods. And this whole dirtball you are living on is under my father's jurisdiction. So, please accept that I love your daughter. You can visit the marriage ceremony. Or not. It's up to you. I don't care.” Aengus gives Sharid's mother a sadistic smile.

“Uhm... What does a god want with my mortal daughter! Have mercy! I need her as an heir!” Sharid's mother doesn't want to give up.

“I am a goddess now, Mom! And I won't take the job! Having a family with Aengus is much better. The additions are already on the way anyway. And we want to go on a long journey together to have some fun before it's time!” Sharid is truly merciless to her mother.

The woman lies down once more and puts the wet towel back onto her forehead, trying hard not to hyperventilate.

Then Niel jumps out from behind the couch and grabs Sharid's hand. “How did you become a demon, Sharid? What do I have to do to get out of here?”

“~Nyhahaha!~ Nothing big! You just have to learn everything you can and travel the world. Then you need to get the favour of a god. Then you climb the highest mountain and pray there until you almost die of hunger and cold. Afterwards, you need a god as your trainer. And then you have to almost die to ascend to godhood! When you managed that, you are almost done. The last thing left to do is to fuck a demon prince and fall in ~love~ with him! Surviving the introduction to his family is just a piece of cake from there.”

The screen goes dark, causing me to suspect a malfunction, but then Enyo's slithering voice assures me that Warden managed to establish a connection with our perfect spy. “Sss... Massster! Why do wake me up at sssuch a time?”

“Where are you? Do you have a trail on Aengus and Sharid?” I have no time for this.

“I am inssside Sssharid'sss magical bag. Ssshould I get outssside?” Enyo answers immediately.

“Get out and find them!” Simple minds are surely a bother, but I didn’t have the time to fix up Enyo properly. Given her current state, that might even be a blessing.

I hear a fizzling sound and then the screen finally shows a first-person view of Enyo's vision. It looks like she is in a dark cave. The viewpoint changes as Enyo slithers out of the bag, showing her new form.

Miruliru gasps. “What is she? Fur? Snake?”

“I am outsside. Sshould I ssearch with active sensors?” Eyno takes another look around, but there is nobody in the cave.

“No, don't risk detection. Find Aengus and Sharid first!” I hope Enyo wasn't discarded in the wrong place.

Enyo starts to sidle along the ground, seemingly choosing a direction at random, but I know that it isn't the case. I equipped Enyo's new body with the latest technology before I gave it to Aengus. Vision, sound, smell, Enyo is the perfect spy.

I suddenly realize that the room around me is completely silent, so I turn around to find out the reason. Everyone's eyes are stuck on me. Some expressions show fear, some disgust, and a few curiosity.

“What?”

“Is that really Enyo?” Miruliru points at the hologram.

“Yes?” I don't get the problem. “I was so nice to repair her broken soul and give her an honourable occupation until I find the time to fix her completely.”

“And her body...” Gwalonna doesn't dare to speak the words.

“Is a tail for a cat-suit with an anal plug.” I still don't get the problem. “It's the perfect cover. Nobody would suspect a high-end spying device in such a disguise.

“Fascinating!” Chiffre comments.

“T- That's worse than I thought! Sharid! And now Enyo! You are forbidden to choose any divine punishments from now on! You are the worst!” Miruliru explodes in my face.

The majority of the ambassadors seem to share her opinion.

I shrug my shoulders and turn back around, not wanting to deal with them right now. “Enyo should be thankful. If I hadn't repaired her soul, she would still be sitting in her cell, staring into a wall for another few million years. I shortened her path back to reincarnation considerably,” I mumble to myself while I observe Enyo's progress.

After having searched a long tunnel, Enyo suddenly slides into a crack in the wall of the cave and becomes silent. A few fiends pass her without taking notice and after a few seconds, Enyo moves on.

She reaches a big cavern and there it is! A Sphere.

Fiends are sacrificing people to the accursed thing and a slightly bigger variant is in a praying position in front of it.

It looks just like the monster I slew at the plaza, but bigger and meaner!

There are people waiting in rows to be sacrificed and on an altar slightly elevated above the others are Sharid and Aengus. They are unconscious and displayed like trophies, their clothes torn.

Enyo sneaks forward and I summon my armour and staff in anticipation. Even if my people aren't ready, I would go there alone if the situation demanded it. Thankfully, Nix, Tanja and Samuel arrived some time ago with some members of the royal guard, ensuring that I have at least some backup.

I turn towards them. “You all know what to do? Enyo has an emitter which is able to force open a pathway to my location. She will place herself right next to Aengus and Sharid and as soon as she activates, we go in. Taking Aengus and Sharid is our first priority. No heroic deeds.”

“I will go with you,” Miruliru announces confidently, followed by a nod from Carne.

“You are not armed!” I won't take responsibility if something happens to her.

“I don't need to be! I will just crush that Sphere. It's a golden opportunity.” Miruliru draws two crystal daggers, causing me to raise an eyebrow. The weapons look eerily familiar, like something I left for Seria's use in the royal armoury.

Carne draws my attention away from the little goddess. “I will join in too! I can't allow a young maiden onto a battlefield without protection.”

The little goddess purses her lips in disgust. “Tch! Creep!”

“If it's like that, I have to lend a hand,” Chiffre announces with a confident smile.

Suspicious. If the ambassadors enter the lion's den then…

But my thoughts are interrupted by Enyo. “Massster! I am under the altar. Ssshould I sssend the sssignal?”

I turn towards the group. “Everyone, line up and touch me to follow onto the pathway.”

After a few seconds, everyone is ready and I turn towards the screen. “Send the signal Enyo.”

Then I concentrate and a few seconds later I recognize the right pattern on a pathway in the direction of Sharid's homeworld, so I enter the pathway and from one moment to the next, I am next to Aengus and Sharid inside the cavern with a whole group of deities at my side.

I lose no time and detach the blades from my armour, fanning them out around our group.

The closest fiend suffers a quick death as one of the blades separates the top half of its head from the rest of the body. The creature drops without a sound, proving that the latest adjustment I made to my crystal weapons works like a peach. Funnily enough, it was the Council's light-weapons with their anti-healing qualities which inspired the idea.

Mwahaha! No more instant healing! The new effect on my weapons drains the targets' mana and disrupts their mana channels, leaving them unable to recover from even the slightest injury!

“We can't use the pathways! There must be some sort of dampening field!” one of the guards who immediately went for the prisoners alerts us with Aengus over his shoulder.

“It's a trap!” Carne kicks a rock into the maw of an approaching fiend, causing it to have a coughing fit. He summons a two-handed battle axe and splits the creature down the middle.

“The Sphere has to be the source of the dampening field! There are no other possible sources here!” Chiffre points at the Sphere and starts charging in its direction.

I send two of my blades at the sphere, but they get blocked by the bigger fiend while a flood of the smaller ones pours into the cavern from a smaller tunnel.

The big monster must be some updated version. It smacked my blades out of the air like nothing.

Two of my guards start attacking the access to the cavern under Nix's lead. They must know that they can't hold the fiends forever, but killing them wasn't their intention. With a rumble, the entrance caves in and stops the flood of fiends.

Chiffre reaches the big one who is guarding the Sphere and deals out a thundering blow with his mechanical arm which transformed into a steam-puffing hammer.

Again, the monster is unimpressed and sends Chiffre flying with a swipe of its claw.

The situation turns chaotic as the rest of the fiends rushes us, leaving everyone occupied with at least five enemies.

I deal with the normal ones who enter the protective sphere of my blades by intercepting them with my whirling weapons. Thrusting out a hand, I form a spell, but instead of attacking the incredibly resistant creatures directly with magic, I compress the air in front of the closest one.

With the relaxation of the spell, my opponent is sent flying through the cave, the shock wave downing the rest of their group. Once stunned, it is easy to finish them with my blades.

We have to deal with the Sphere and escape fast. Sealing the exits can be only a temporary solution. Once the fiends dig through the rubble we will be overrun.

And there is still the possibility of a cave-in. Why do those creatures always build their warrens underground?

The thought causes me to stop in my tracks. It's not like... yeaaah... why not? I look up towards the stalactites at the ceiling which I previously simply dismissed as a part of the scenery.

The big fiend is still busy with Chiffre who turned out to be like one of those bop bags. No matter how often you beat them down, they always get back up. Up until now, the fiend wasted its time trying to beat the ambassador into submission, but now it realized that it can also ignore the ambassador. Flinging the man right into our group, it charges towards our centre; going for the unconscious prisoners.

I reach up and give a little telekinetic push.

With a 'Crack!' one of the stalactites comes free and crushes the largest fiend, forcing the surrounding lesser ones to scatter.

Now that the Sphere's defender is gone, Miruliru makes an appearance, fading in and out of existence right above the Sphere only to deal a crushing blow.

“It's gone! Get out of here,” I scream through the cavern.

My people vanish one by one as they take the pathways, the guards with Aengus and Sharid being the first while the others grab every mortal in reach who survived the chaos.

“You won't be so lucky forever! We will eat you!!!” The crushed fiend beneath the stalactite croaks a few nice parting words.

“Sorry. Maybe some other time.” I send one of my blades between its eyes, ending its physical existence.

One survey of the room confirms that nobody living is left behind, so I take a pathway back towards the Crystal City.