Contents
Prologue: Dawn
The original Demon Assassin, the Phantom, was a fable legend 500 years ago. Undoubtedly, Ilias removed all traces of her existence. But even so, the Phantom still had a grand tale...
The sounds of a baby crying filled the vision. The white cleared and revealed the Monster Lord's throne room. Several figures stood in the room as a motherly figure in the center was cradling her child. "Congratulations on your child, Your Majesty." one of the figures, a Kitsune, had said. "Teeheehee, she's quite beautiful isn't she, sister?" another figure, a big breasted succubus, said. "Why yes, she is. I'm quite excited to see the new era of Monster Lords prosper. Again, congratulations, Your Majesty." the taller, smaller breasted succubus said.
"Thank you..." the Monster Lord said as she held her child. "The Dark God will always watch over you and see you prosper. I'm proud to be your mother... Alice the Eighth."
Chapter 1: Ascendancy
Chapter 2: Cursed Sword - Prelude
Chapter 3: Throne
In Insect Village in the center of Noah region, a Butterfly Girl stood atop one of the high trees. A large beetle flew from the horizon and latched itself onto the Butterfly Girl's arm. "Uhuh. I see." the insect said as if she communicated with the beetle. "So you've seen her... And you saw what she's truly like? The Eighth Monster Lord..." the Butterfly Girl smirked as she began to flutter her wings. "I want to see it for myself. I have no desire to take a seat on her throne, but I want to meet her. It'll be fun... hehe." the monster giggled as she flew off into the sky.
Chapter 4: Tranquility Blade
Chapter 5: The Ancient Wonders
In Ilias Continent's Harpy Village, a black Dragonkin flew in and entered the hut belonging to the Queen Harpy. Her royal elegance appeared to be a facade, as numerous battle scars covered her body. "Well well, if it isn't Lightning Bruiser / The Destroyer: Abbadon, from the Great Monster Wars. I've heard of your stories. To what do I owe the pleasure?" the Queen Harpy snarled. "Don't give me that. Just as I lost my opportunity to become Monster Lord, you lost your child as well. We have something in common." Abbadon replied. "Hmph. I could care less about my dead child. Besides, you grew careless when challenging Alipheese. Oh, how the mighty have fallen." Queen Harpy replied sarcastically.
"I'm just going to get to the point." Abbadon muttered. "You want to see the world burn, don't you? To bring the world into everlasting warfare like the Great Monster Wars. Let's join forces together, we'll bring everything back to zero!" Abbadon offered. "Fuhuhu... You're really desperate for my help aren't you? Honestly, I find my general far more capable than your rabble." Queen Harpy said slyly, wearing down Abbadon's patience. "Still, perhaps an alliance might help our cause. You see, my spies reported multiple powerful warriors scattered across the world, powerful enough to decimate my armies and rival my power. Seeing you fall to the Monster Lord I don't have high hopes of you lasting in single combat against one of these warriors either. As long as all those other warriors are gone, there won't be anything stopping the wildfire from spreading."
Abbadon growled under her breath. "So we have an agreement, then? I want to kill the one who abandoned me. I want to overthrow the Monster Lord and have her watch her world be destroyed right before her eyes..."
Also in Harpy Village was a large Behemoth about twice the size of an adult Harpy soldier, armed with a large sword and shield befitting her size, but was completely armorless. "NGAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the Behemoth shouted a war-like cry as she suplexed a giant boulder in her own training quarters. The creature panted and was covered in sweat as she looked down on the mounds of rubble in the area. "Damn it... That accursed assassin..." The Behemoth muttered as she clenched her fist and shook it. "I couldn't save Her Highness's royal kin..." The Behemoth fell on her knees and cried "Damn it!" over and over as she repeatedly pounded the ground, causing a small earthquake.
"Still moping about?" A voice said from behind. It was the Queen Harpy, accompanied by Abbadon. "Even if it's just my child, she was weak. Such poor skills wouldn't suit the crown." The Behemoth got up and bowed to the Queen Harpy. "Still... I'm fully accountable for all your troops. I vowed to serve you and ensure success in your army." she said, but the Queen Harpy raised her wing. "Enough. We can still make our losses into a gain."
Abbadon then stepped in. "So this Behemoth is your general? Heh... Don't cling onto those petty emotions." she said. "... This is the Abbadon you had spoken of, your Highness?" the Behemoth said. "Yes... a new addition, who lost a chance at the Monster Lord's throne. Nevertheless, more powerful warriors will greatly help our conquest. Now, I'll leave her in your care." the Queen Harpy replied before leaving.
"Understood." the Behemoth bowed to its leader before turning to Abbadon. "Great warrior... Would you like to spar?" she asked. Abbadon raised an eyebrow before drawing her weapon. "Hah! Praise? Interesting! Let's see how mighty this general is!" the Behemoth then nodded and cracked her knuckles.
In Gold Volcano, a Cerberus battled off a Basilisk and continued scaling the volcano. "Phew... This is harder than I imagined... Getting to Salamander and having her train me... The trial to just reach her is just overwhelming..." the Cerberus's three heads spoke as she continued upward. The Cerberus finally reached the top of the volcano. "Huh... Is this the end? ... Salamander! I've come to be your disciple!" There was no response. "Salamander!" Again, no response. But suddenly, loud footsteps were heard as the volcano felt like shaking as if it were about to erupt. A large figure then crashed in from the ceiling, landing several feet away from the Cerberus.
It was a large bipedal Dragon with muscular hind legs but tiny arms, armored with dark red scales and bony planes running along its entire back and a sturdy plating covering its face and mandibles. Its most distinguishing feature was its gigantic sword-like tail. Although a monster, the Cerberus noted that there was no human female part within the Dragon's mouth. The creature swept its tail along the ground and briefly formed a blazing flame along the tail's sword edge as the creature unleashed a fierce roar that shook the entire volcano, forcing the Cerberus to cover her ears.
The Dragon charged at the Cerberus, who drew her sword ready to fight back. The Dragon suddenly spun and dragged its tail along the ground, generating a flame along its entire edge, and struck the Cerberus's sword with a powerful blow. The sword instantly shattered, and the Cerberus was sent flying with a mighty force. "W-what is this...?! T-too powerful...!" the Cerberus panicked and quickly fled down the mountain. As the Dragon quietly watched, a flame spirit appeared next to it. "... That's another one running away after the first attack. It's happened so many times that I've lost count." Salamander said to herself as she gently patted the Dragon's sides, who quietly growled. "You've long surpassed me... But if no one can hold out against you for even a moment, they aren't worthy of my tutelage."
Somewhere near Yamatai, a human was patrolling the outskirts. "Nyan." a Nekomata hopped out of the nearby bush and noticed the human. "Nya? Nya~!" the Nekomata quickly went to the human and nuzzled his leg, purring affectionately. The human angrily kicked the Nekomata away. "Stupid monster." The Nekomata angrily hissed and pounced the human, but he drew a dagger and slashed at the monster, injuring it. The injured Nekomata hissed and backed away slowly as the human approached it, with the intent to kill. "Stupid monster... Leave me alone and die!"
"heya." A voice said behind the attacker. The human turned around and spotted what appeared to be a short, big-boned skeleton, wearing a blue unzipped jacket with a white turtleneck shirt underneath, along with blue slippers. The Nekomata fled as the human turned away from her. "so, i've got a question for ya. do you think even the worst person can change...? that everyone can be a good person, if they just try?" the human ignored the skeleton's words. "How annoying... Getting in the way of my prey... Die!" the human shouted and approached the skeleton and slashed at him with the dagger, but he dodged. "what? you think i'm just gonna stand there and take it?" the skeleton said as his left eye socket suddenly gained a glowing eye that flashed blue and yellow. "heh heh heh heh... all right. well, here's a better question. do you wanna have a bad time?"
In a hidden entrance-less cavern, a lone female humanoid was curled up in a transparent sphere. The figure opened her eyes and burst out of the sphere, dropping the girl on her feet. She was dressed in a black sleeveless outfit with a red tie and a belt sporting a silver ring in the middle and several large red cloth and a couple of small half-rings of red knitted pattern attached to her right, thick black leggings, black leather boots, and black metal fingerless gloves. Her most distinguishing features was her twintail hair with red ribbons that curled into knots at their ends; the entire left half was colored black, while the entire right half was colored white.
"Ah... so good to be awake again!" the girl stretched before scanning around the room. "Hm? This tingly feeling... Scanning... Ah? Seven other powerful creatures roam the world... One of them is undoubtedly Her Majesty, the dark heir, yet her power signature feels different than her predecessors... Oh my, the Lightning Bruiser's still around, too... Such an interesting cast, how inviting!"
Just then, the girl sensed another presence nearby. "Oh! It's you! My mistress!" she giggled as she spotted another figure that had just appeared in the cavern.
A soft light shone above a human. "Where am I...? ...Is this a dream?" the human said. "Oh brave hero..." a female voice said. The next moment, an angel had appeared. "Oh brave hero... can you hear my voice?" the angel had said. "I can hear you!" the human replied. The angel had softly smiled.
"Soon, you'll be coming of age for Ilias's baptism." the angel said. "However, I bear a gift before the occasion." the angel closed her eyes and channeled magic. A gray-colored sword was then materialized, hovering before the human. "As you know, Ilias's baptism will send you on a journey to defeat the monsters that will defile the land. This is a special weapon I have prepared for you, the Angel Halo. A sword with the added benefit of weakening and sealing away all those that are cut by this blade; they won't perish, should you desire."
The human stared at the weapon a bit before picking it up. "Thank you, miss angel! I'll put it to good use!" the human said. The angel softly smiled at the human again. "Thank you. I have faith you will succeed in your journey... Heinrich Hein."