Entropy's Servant

Chapter 11 - Lilith's reasons

Hello everyone, Astaroth here. There exist people in the world who are neither human nor Monster- or, more accurately, they are both. These people are known as 'Halfs'- they are part human, part Monster. They come from various sources- some, like me, Evyna and Richard, are created through a ritual which converts a human into a Demon. In such a case, they keep their Goddess's blessing, in addition to the blessing of the Goddess they become a Monster of, if any. It's also possible to be converted by an existing Monster, for some species- for example, higher-level Vampires have the ability to convert humans into Thralls, or more Vampires if they're a higher species, such as a Vampire Baron or such. It's also possible to be born a Half if one parent is a human and the other is a Monster- though whether or not this works depends on the species. Goblinoid species such as Goblins and Orcs, for example, are notorious for kidnapping and raping human females, the pregnancy of which always results in a Monster- the reason this is necessary in the first place is that Lady Gnome neglected to give the races any females- whereas many lower Devils, both male and female, also enjoy producing children with humans, but these children will often come out as Halfs. Even though there are several ways for a Half to be created, they're surprisingly scarce- I suppose that's simply because Lady Luciel's got an iron grip on the world.

I stretched out my arms as I felt my consciousness return to my body. Stepping out of the magic circle, I looked over at Evyna only to find her frozen in place and undergoing a transformation, much the same way Richard had. The time we had spent in Lady Entropy's Godly Realm was only equivalent to a few seconds in the real world, so it could just as well be said no time had passed at all.

Different to the previous transformation ritual, in which the Ice Queen, too, had been locked in place, there was no need for me to act as a proxy for a Goddess, since this castle belonged to Lady Entropy. As such, I was free to leave and do as I please.

"Defending a Goblin village, huh...", I muttered to myself, prompting Charlotte, who was still in the room, just as the other Demon Generals, to look over.

"Is something the matter, Master?", she asked, peering into my eyes from below with a piercing gaze, as if she saw right through me.

"What? A Goblin village?", Davna asked, tilting her head. Her hearing was several times sharper than even Charlotte, who was a Vampire Princess, so she'd heard me perfectly.

"We've received a request from Lady Gnome", I explained, before laying out the contents of said request.

"Ah~ How troublesome, and I'm already tired", Lilith sighed upon receiving an explanation.

"Now now, Lilith, we cannot simply neglect this request. It is a request directly from a Goddess, after all", Charlotte admonished her.

"To think Master would receive an oracle in those few seconds... Like I thought, Master is truly a magical anomaly", Tempest concluded after a few moments of thought, nodding to herself in satisfaction.

"Can't we just beat up the Heroes? That'd be easy, right?", Davna asked, looking rather excited, like a young child who had just been given a new toy. Well, in a way, that wasn't inaccurate.

"Certainly, it would be simple enough to fend off the Heroes", I replied, "but chances are that that won't cut it. Even if we defeat this wave of Heroes, Lady Luciel will simply send more, and if the Heroes are doing so much better than they were before, then I find it rather likely they're being reinforced."

"Reinforced? Made stronger? Then, beat up reinforcer!", Navillus exclaimed, raising her 'arms' into the air enthusiastically.

"Someone who could reinforce an entire group of Heroes, is it? Could it be the Saint of Holy Blessings?", Charlotte theorised, placing a hand on her chin.