Harbingers of Change

Epilogue

These rare moments of temporary peace were the ones she truly cherished, ever-rarer as their new duties demanded ever more work. With all the chaos of preparing for the inevitable war against humanity, she considered it a small miracle to have all of her beloved children in the same room for even a half hour, like they were now. All of them were usually out and about for their expertise in intelligence gathering, or in her case, intelligence collection and handling.

The small branch of rooms they had been given within Nazarick's castle floor was small and cozy, yet more luxurious than she could have comprehended since her return to the material realm. Once as Demon Lord Kazareem, she enjoyed this level of luxury as a given, but that was long ago and little more than hazy memories at this point.

In a small guest area, she sat on a soft chair with a cup of tea in her hands, as she should have as the matriarch of her small, tight-knit family. On the sofa to her right lay Clayman and Laplace, and on her left in plopped Footman moments later. Tear was standing in the corner of the room, her arms frozen in rigid, crossed posture, shivering.

Kagali glanced at the girl who had shown her pretty face to the world ever since their common master broke her. The lack of a mask set her apart from her siblings, as even Clayman occasionally wore his mask while in battle - he just never went out enough to need to wear it. She motioned at the empty spot on the sofa, and stated with a tired sigh, "Just come sit down." She knew why Tear refused to sit with them, and it tore her inside to know her daughter felt that way. She was sure the rest of them felt it as well.

"I don't belong there," Tear replied softly, failing to meet her creator's gaze as her eyes stared holes into the floor and she fidgeted in place.

"That is for us to decide. Tear, come sit down." Kagali's voice grew harsher, disappointed in her creation. She even placed down her cup of tea, motioning once again for Tear to take her place.

"Boss's right, ye know. Yer actions saved our butts, even if the former boss's plans went sideways. Ye scrapped what you could and we're out here alive and well," Laplace voiced his opinion as well, cheerfully waving Tear down.

Yet in a strange twist, it was Clayman who found the right order to get through to her, much to the surprise of everyone within the room. "Now now Tear, even if you are our new master's favorite, that doesn't mean you're too good to sit with your old friends. Or are you?"

Tear's eyes widened, and her lip quivered at the accusation that she thought of herself as superior to them by standing while they sat, but she knew better than to take those words at face value. Clayman had always been good at manipulating others, and this verbal attempt was no different, even if it was clear as Jistav's nonexistent no-clouds day what he tried to accomplish.

She timidly walked over and settled down next to Footman, barely making an indent compared to her brother. The massive man raised his bear-sized hand and patted her head, deep chuckling the way he usually did.

"Hey, what's the big idea!" she screeched back, earning a round of snickering from her peers as she attempted to shake his hand away. Even Kagali slightly grinned, knowing their Tear was back.

"That's better," Kagali remarked in her usual, rather cold, tone, taking a slow sip of her tea.

"So boss, what's the plan? Ye didn't just call for tea and cookies, right?" Laplace pushed his mask up to get a nice big gulp of tea and shoved an entire cookie in his mouth, before voicing everyone's concerns. The others reached for cookies too, with Footman even offering one to Tear which she reluctantly accepted

"We have a lot of planning to do. First things first, I convinced Lord Demiurge to only deploy you three together, citing team chemistry and centuries of teamwork. Laplace, you'll be in charge so those two don't do something too foolish, and Clayman, you'll rarely be called in unless the scouting is being done in Eurazania," Kagali explained, gesturing toward Tear and Footman. The three were the ones doing mostly field work, so it was obvious that Demiurge planned to use them to kidnap the Unique skill owners from the incoming army. Clayman, she knew, would remain as their hidden card.

"We cannot afford to make mistakes right now, so you'll have to be extra careful and keep all your stealth skills active at all times. Especially if our old client is lurking somewhere in the shadows near the army. The human, Hinata, was also noted to have magical senses exceeding even that of my own, particularly against shadow-related magic," she continued after taking a draught of tea, moving to refill her cup when Footman spoke up.

"We should go after that smug bastard! He's earned my fist up his arse for what he did to Tear!" Footman exclaimed, threateningly raising and shaking his fist.

"Yuuki is hiding, deeply so and beyond our reach. Even our current masters cannot find him with all of their resources. But rest assured, I will ensure he pays for what he did to Tear."

"Boss, but I-" Tear spoke up, hesitantly at first but rapidly gaining confidence.

"You got betrayed by that bastard! I told him again and again that what he planned was too risky, and he left you for dead," Kagali spat, interrupting Tear.

"Maybe we should place a trap for him within Nazarick. There's a chance he would try to get some of us to switch sides, particularly Kagali and I. Being instrumental in his capture may increase our standing within the ranks of Nazarick while simultaneously reducing the troubles we face," Clayman suggested while picking up a cup in a refined manner. Being the politician he was, keeping up his appearances came naturally to him, even in front of his friends.

Kagali, however, was having none of it as her demeanor flipped on its head. "That is out of the question! None of you are allowed to do anything without approval from either me or the leaders of Nazarick regarding Yuuki. Is that clear?!" Her expression deviated from her usual neutral expression, into that of a fearful snarl.

'Those idiots are still not getting that we are being constantly watched, and that it would only take one misunderstanding to end the current freedoms we have. Even Clayman's regular developments within his nation came under scrutiny.'

Clayman, instantly understanding what mistake he had made, hastily apologized. "My apologies, I didn't think this through."

"Things have changed. We are not on top of the game anymore. Until our positions are absolutely assured, there will be no independent actions even if they would benefit Nazarick. Given their lack of trust in us, it would take one slip up to burn down the positions Tear and I negotiated for."

Kagali could only hope that she managed to drill her intentions into her children, that they were constantly skating on thin ice, and that they couldn't do anything stupid for the time being. All her life, she had relied on her wits and gut instinct to persevere. When she didn't, she paid the price dearly, and she didn't wish for her beloved creations to pay the same.

Not understanding the changes in her father and fleeing from her home was the first major mistake of her life, as she was promptly captured and turned into the monster's favorite test subject. She gently traced her now soft and beautiful face, dragging two fingers over her right cheek. For two thousand years, she wore a dried-up and ugly face, courtesy of her accursed father. For two millennia, she was stuck in a horrid male body, only finding joy in intellectual activities such as scheming and politics.

Simple and formerly pleasant activities such as taking baths and being tended to by maids had filled her with disgust, forcing her to face the reality of what she was turned into against her will. Oh, how she loathed her father for the mental and physical damage he had done through his twisted mind, and herself for having to endure the consequences.

The next major mistake she made was to target the upstart Demon Lord Leon; a former hero armed with unreal beauty for a majin man. With his soft features, he was often mistaken for a woman, even by her. Driven by her unquenchable envy and hatred towards the man, she couldn't bring herself to let him be. In her short-sighted hatred, she challenged the man and paid the price, being sent to drift into the spiritual realm.

Spending three centuries as a bodiless spirit, she remained only thanks to deep-seated hatred and a burning desire for vengeance toward the hero. In this desperation, she had summoned Yuuki to the Cardinal World, trying to possess him, but the boy proved too much for her thanks to his Anti-Skill.

Her latest and greatest mistake was to put complete trust in Yuuki, and this time it was Tear who paid the price in her stead. In fact, her entire family did, and as the mother and head of the group, she felt she was ultimately responsible. The changes to them all were likely permanent, stripping them of their freedom for so long as they existed.

'That bastard will pay one day!' Her anger towards her former friend and ally rose, reaching new levels of hatred she felt towards him. Her creations felt her rage, quickly leaving the room, as mother knew best.

{ Still worked up I see. } A sudden voice interrupted her internal venting, a voice she despised almost on par with her father.

'Yuuki!? How the hell did he… Shit! Shit! We are still connected.' Panic seeped in, hastily pumping magic into her skills.

{ What the hell do you want? } She spat back while simultaneously opening the conversation to Demiurge and Momonga, shooting the latter a private message. { Lord Momonga, Yuuki is contacting me. I have failed to notice a link connecting him and me. }

{ Keep talking with him. We will attempt to exploit this connection to find Yuuki. } Momonga sent back an order, hidden from Yuuki's view.

{ I just wanted to offer you one last chance to come to your senses. There's still a place by my side for you for my eventual victory and world domination. } Yuuki spoke, sounding as cheerful as ever.

{ And why would I do that? You betrayed Tear. }

{ That is uncalled for, you know. Sure, I did make a mistake, but we can still turn it around. You're in Nazarick, right? }

{ I am. }

{ Great, you're in the perfect position to spy on Momonga. My Goddess will reward you as well for his downfall. }

{ Your Goddess? Since when were you religious? } She inquired out of genuine curiosity and fear, knowing she was on the right track.

{ A man can become religious with age, you know. But that's beside the point. Your new position is perfect to realize our plans and get rid of Momonga and his ilk. Hinata will kill them all for us, and if she fails, you could. }

{ You ignored all my warnings, why would I crawl back to you? To be discarded again once your plans are realized? I trusted you and you almost robbed me of Tear. Deny all you want, but you betrayed my trust and you betrayed the Moderate Harlequin Alliance! } Kagali replied in her tone of cold fury.

There was a prolonged moment of silence.

{ So you've fully switched sides? They won't find me through the link. Now go get your good-bitch points by telling to your owner about our exchange tonight to get rewarded with belly rubs. } Yuuki's tone changed, likely picking up that she was stalling. { I guess, this is goodbye then. I did like you and the clowns though. You know what, as thanks for your past service, I'll make sure you perish last so you can live with the guilt of losing your family before I put you out of your misery, Kazareem. }

She suddenly felt a light stab in her chest region. 'He severed the connection.' { Lord Momonga, did- }

{ He is hiding within one of the human nations, but he caught on to what we were doing. }

{ I'm sorry I- }

{ You did what you could. If he ever tries to contact you or your children, be sure to notify me or Demiurge immediately. } Momonga replied, cutting her off.

{ I will. }

Another failure, one that she knew would haunt her. Kagali leaned back into her chair and closed her eyes, going over the short conversation again and again as she poured over its subtleties and implied messages. Yuuki was far too smart for her to easily trick him, too cunning for her to place a similar trap. Even if he didn't know about the ultimate skills, he still exercised enough caution to cause trouble whenever he could, and since most of them held unique skills he was troublesome for anyone besides her Lords.

There was another thing that bothered her, an unknown from even her centuries of violent lifespan and the cumulative knowledge of thousands of total years. Who was the Goddess he referred to? 'Could he be working for another True Dragon?' That seemed like the only logical explanation of what was going on. No one besides a True Dragon would know how to kill their own, if the legends were anything. But then why use "Goddess" in particular when it could have been just as intimidating with "True Dragon," and why did Chloe, that half-True-Hero friend of Buku, never mention that a True Dragon would eventually be their opponent if it was the case?

'I'll just put my worries and suspicions down in the next report and let Lord Demiurge worry about what Yuuki was up to. This is above my pay grade, plus I've got another report due in three days.'

Now that she was part of something bigger than herself and the Alliance, for once, could put the burden of planning on someone else, and it was something she was relieved to hand off. Goddess or True Dragon, they weren't her problems to worry over.

X

Nobody was telling her anything about the supposed war that was about to start, nobody was supposed to. All the information she had came from overhearing people talking about it when she toured the city, or from peering into the minds of her attendants.

Milim sat upon a futon in her quarters, pretending to read her new 'favorite' manga as a maid stood by her side, holding up a plate of chocolate chip cookies. Crunchy and chewy at the same time, they had rapidly become her favorite snack over her former favorite snack, processed honey.

Mare also was busier of late, apparently having a role to play on the war which he couldn't disclose by Momonga's orders. He had even taken time out of his reading time to practice his offensive magic, something he almost never did these days.

With Buku trying to talk about her past, she had to steer away from her while simultaneously trying not to do anything that would cause Mare trouble or upset her boyfriend. In truth, she had been the picture of good behavior once she tasted Momonga's wrath, fearing his rage despite her prowess. To her memory, it was Clayman who had once warned her, quoting an otherworlder he had once enslaved, 'There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night without a moon, and the anger of a gentle man.'

And Momonga was the embodiment of that final clause. He rarely raised his voice or scolded people, even letting off mistakes where others would execute their servants, but that one instance where he drove Buku close to tears in mere seconds was enough to make her reconsider her approach towards Tempest's greatest leadership figure and the underlings who worked under him.

Everyone was doing their best to pull their weight around here, and she was still a guest who lazed around and ate cookies. Even Ramiris, after being aged up, happily joined Nazarick as a research servant, and Uncle Veldora had thrown himself into magitech research alongside her. Her friend was avoiding talking about her duties, citing military secrets, but at least now she didn't try to get between her and Mare anymore. Ramiris even apologized for her behavior and wished her and Mare a happy life together, secretly installing a state-of-the-art bed only people like Momonga had as a redemption gift.

Helping Tempest win a war would be a perfect opportunity to prove her usefulness to Momonga and Buku, and once again push for the chance to join the Nazarick guild as a member. Being a servant wasn't something she would accept, even if her friend Ramiris did. But no one was letting her participate in preparations or even letting her be an official ally, depriving her of her chances to offer support.

In frustration, Milim glanced up and straight up questioned the maid. "Say, do you know anything about the war?"

"Only what is told to the public, Lady Milim. You should ask such questions to the Lords," the maid replied cautiously, pushing the cookie plate closer to Milim's nose and wafting with a hand.

"No one told you anything either," Milim shrugged, ignoring the maid's frightened demeanor. All she could blame was her fearsome reputation, which she had been specifically trying to break since dating Mare. At no point during her stay had she hurt anyone on purpose. Sure, there had been a few minor accidents, but any injuries were caused by collateral damage she had no control over.

'I'll just go talk with Mare. I can pretend I forgot that he's busy with his training.' Milim formed a clever plan and jumped out of her seat, her manga folding itself away into her shelves.

"Pack the cookies. I have urgent business to attend to," she announced and stepped forward to the middle of the room.

There was something she wanted to surprise Mare with, and there was no better time to attempt it than now. For days she had practiced teleportation in secret, with mixed results. The teleportation itself was not the hardest part, it was just controlling magicules properly. Most of the difficulties came from arriving in the right location and in the right position.

Determined to not surprise Mare by teleporting under the ground or upside down, Milim took a deep breath and imagined the location she needed to arrive. A single thought later she was staring down at Mare, slamming targets with barbed vines.

'Not the worst attempt.' Milim straightened out and landed right beside him in the field he was practicing in, just outside the capital.

His direct servants, the dryads, were rapidly creating targets and providing other assistance as well.

"Milim?"

"Sorry for interrupting you. I completely forgot you were training. Can I help?" Milim blinked her eyes innocently.

"Lord Momonga didn't let you get involved." Mare dismissed the vines and spoke apologetically.

"Come on, I could at least help you train. I want to help at least in some way." Milim hugged him from the side, pressing her petite figure against his.

While she didn't have any direct teacher to show her the tricks a girl could use in a relationship, there were enough examples to follow from among Pero's and Momonga's consorts when they showed affection in public.

Judging by Mare's flustered expression, it was easy to see that her attempts worked, or at least started to work. To avoid losing her momentum, she leaned closer and gave her boyfriend a quick peck on cheek, imitating the many times she had seen Pero's concubines doing it.

"Lord Momonga allowed us to train together, but you cannot help with the war directly," Mare responded after a brief pause, half from communication with his superior and half from the shock of his girlfriend kissing him out of nowhere.

"Did he say why?"

{ Milim, I would appreciate it if you didn't use such underhanded methods. And before you ask, I will give you both a privacy in a few moments. } Momonga's voice invaded her mind, something she had heard about but only ever had gotten from Buku.

{ I just want to help. }

{ I know, but things are not as clear-cut as they seem. I have noticed your efforts, and I am happy that you want to help, but I will have to ask you to sit this one out and join Veldora and Ramiris inside Nazarick when the time comes. For now, you can help Mare train so you can spend more time together. }

Momonga at least didn't sound angry.

{ But if Tempest is in danger, I want to help you defend it! All my new friends live here and I don't want to be just a spoiled guest. }

{ Milim, let me ask something. What will happen if you get seriously injured? The enemy we face might be able to do that. }

{ I regenerate fast. I can control myself, you know. } She responded defensively, almost angry that Momonga assumed she couldn't fight a fight.

{ Are you absolutely sure about that? I am not telling you to sit aside because I think you will get in the way. My job is to ensure everyone's safety, and that includes you. We have a plan how to deal with our enemy that minimizes risk for everyone, even after considering your capabilities. }

Unlike many Demon Lords, in the past and in the present, Momonga at least didn't treat her like a child and spoke in equal terms.

{ I… but I will stand with you all if things get bad right? I won't stand aside if people I care for are in danger. Can you at least tell me who is attacking? }

There was a small pause.

{ If it comes to that then yes, you can defend Nazarick with us. We are facing the humans led by saints from the Church of Luminism. Their leader possesses dangerous weapons capable of ending immortal lives, and I will only permit Rubedo to fight the enemy in close combat. This information should not be told to anyone outside Nazarick. Do we have an understanding? }

'Luminous!? That vampire will pay for targeting my friends. But it seems Momonga trusts me enough to tell me the truth. I must not let him down.' Him telling her directly was a massive breach of the information seal she had been trying to crack for days, meaning Momonga had shown a lot more trust in her than she expected and that it was paramount she didn't break this trust.

{ Yes, we have. I will sit aside and help when asked. Thank you, Momonga. }

Happy with the outcome, she flashed Mare a smile and declared. "It's time to train. You'll be able to smash Aura in the ground with one hand behind your back after I'm done with you."

Mare and the dryads could only nervously gulp in response as Milim's created thousands of magic circles in the air.

Edited by aidan_lo

Proofreading by aidan_lo, Cakeeight, Aurodium, x4x , and FantasyTroll.