Luckily, the former-succubus got her illusion just about right so that she didn’t look all the different when exiting from the cleansing ritual.

  Alex also checked her phone and noticed the ck of a line of text talking about demonic corruption. The whole winter she had felt the pressure of that slowly going up and not being able to do anything about it. Demons were scary if they were not imps or arrogant young master types.

  “Meru!” Merumeru cried, putting her whole arm in a drain line on the floor outside the main gates.

  “Merumeru.” Alex chided. “I don’t think you should go in these pipes. There is all kinds of strange magic in this pce and if there is something for removing slime from pipes to keep them from getting clogged that might be dangerous to you.”

  The two female priests headed out of the ritual chamber as well. “By the goddess Catalina you two have been purified.” They said in unison.

  Being creeped out enough times, Alex said. “We should get going. I don’t want to accidentally wake up any other apocalyptic entities slumbering in the catacombs of this pce.”

  Alex picked up Merumeru when she noticed some strange pipes seeping into her slimy flesh. “You are so much trouble sometimes. You shouldn’t eat strange pipes. You don’t know where they’ve been. They could have germs that would make you sick.”

  “Ruuuu.” Merumeru pouted and tried to expin that germs can’t make a slime sick because of biology.

  “We are going back.” Alex pointed to the exit of the temple. “Grace, I’d like to trust you but you’ve got to prove yourself and I only know one way to do that.”

  “Pray tell, how will that be accomplished?" The now-human magical girl smiled.

  “We could go to the shrine of Luna and if she accepts you then that is enough for me.” The bck-haired magical girl continued walking in the direction of the carriage.

  “Meru!” Merumeru nodded.

  Fufi added. “Maybe we could find your familiar.”

  “Are there still shrines to Luna left in human nds?” Grace sounded surprised and slightly sultry. “I figured no new ones would have been built and the only ones left would be in disrepair. In the kingdoms they were all quarantined and only the best built ones are left.”

  “Can people just go in?” Alex asked.

  “Only for remote ones,” Grace purred, her voice low, suggestive. “The ones in settlements are kept under guard to keep people out, but those lonely, forbidden paths? Ah, those few shrines along the merchant routes... they're accessible. Though most convoys have demons watching their every move, it just takes a tiny, daring slip away to visit a shrine, doesn't it?”

  They couldn’t get out right away. The temple was so isoted and news was non-existent that the new maids were struggling with the quiet. So they quizzed them about everything. They told them about their travels, the new isnd, stealing a ship and the second hand account of the angel attacking the Jass capitol.

  “Tell us about the capital?” One of the maids asked. “I only knew the Yvne Barony and I imagine that it was amazing.”

  “The capitol is much, much bigger than that little town you called home, darling.” Grace purred, stepping closer. “But oh, the dangers there… they are so much stronger. Powerful demons, yes, and the decadent nobility they guard. Here, you are safe, protected. Cherish this freedom, my dears. Don't be too eager to lose it.”

  “If it isn’t Lady Yvne.” Another maid compined. “It would be another noble. Hopefully one of these days we’ll get a good leader.”

  “Don’t be too hard on them.” Grace spoke softly. “Not even the hero could resist temptation. Unless you have a [noble] css then you really can’t understand. And who is to say that there are not good leaders already, they are just being controlled by demons?”

  The maids were left pondering this revetion. Many held onto bitterness because of how their lives were uprooted by Lady Yvne. But the noble herself had been possessed by a demon so their anger remained mispced.

  As if things were not chaotic enough, what looks like stars in the sky lit up like pricks. Then a swirling portal of bck and simir specs descended from the heavens.

  From the heart of this swirling stelr maw, a figure stepped forth with impossible grace, as casually as one might exit a doorway. It was a magical girl, impossibly cute and radiating an aura that was both potent and frivolous.

  With a dramatic flourish, the girl cd in a frilly, multi-yered outfit dominated by deep blues and bcks and absolutely covered in shimmering, star-themed decorations struck a theatrical pose.

  “It is I The harbinger of starlight and the defender against cosmic gloom!” The girl in a magical girl outfit, blue and bck with star themed decorations all over the frilly outfit struck a pose. “The one and only, Magical girl Cosmos!”

  Everyone in the temple gaped at the sudden arrival of a third magical girl whose magic could breach the temple’s defences without any problems at all. Her presence was a clear demonstration of a power level leagues beyond what they were accustomed to. The temple, supposedly the safest pce Alex had ever known, had someone teleport right in with no problem at all.

  “Wait.” Grace gaped. “What about the accords?! Magical girl Cosmos can’t help other magical girls on Terre.”

  “She really is Cosmos.” Fufi corrected Grace. “I’ve met her on the moon before.”

  “Tee-hee” Cosmos winked at Grace. “Sounds like someone might have spent a little too long being transformed into a demon.”

  Grace blinked in disbelief, a bead of sweat formed on her brow.

  “Give her a break.” Fufi pleaded on behalf of the former succubus. “She’s only regained her humanity today.”

  “Meru!” Merumeru waved at the overpowered magical girl.

  Magical Girl Cosmos waved a hand. “Don’t worry, I’m not here for you Grace. I am here to find a representative for Catalina on this world.”

  One of the Ekta’s stopped gaping at that. “You have heard from our goddess?”

  Cosmos shook her head. “No, the closest is clergy on other pnets. But bringing someone that is not from Terre to represent it wouldn’t be nice and would probably cause more trouble. But the deities upstairs want someone to answer for bringing an angel so strong that it breaks the accords. So, I need someone to volunteer to come with me.”

  “Will we learn more of our goddess?” A Yuti raised her head.

  “Maybe, but not from the goddess directly.” Cosmos downpyed the importance. “The champions of various gods of the accords will bring representatives, at least the ones that want to. . . can’t make them do anything they don’t want to. I expect it to be a whole lot of the evil team ranting about how it is not fair that 10s of thousands of demons got a one way ticket back to hell by an opponent purposely equipped to do so. The most important thing is to not attack anyone there. It is not a deity rule, but if I get dragged into one of these gatherings the location will always be on the pne of limbo.”

  “What’s the pne of limbo?” Another male priest asked.

  “Good question.” Cosmos waves her wand around, the star on the end shining bright. “The pne of limbo is what happens when deities csh directly. It is an area where time and space are fractured.”

  “I have no idea what that means.” Alex whispered to Fufi.

  The fmingo started to answer but Cosmos cut her off.

  “It means that exploring that pce is insanely dangerous to anyone that can die of old age.” Cosmos nodded. “Back when I still had a team, we went treasure hunting there and got some esoteric materials but after spending a week and portaling back we showed up back on terre about 10 minutes from the time we left.”

  Alex blinked a few times. “Some kind of time dition?”

  “You are smarter than you look.” Cosmos winked, smiling cutely. “Yes, but it can go both ways. Like a demon king decided to disrespect all the gods and I left it behind st time we met. My guess is that it’s either in stasis or an ancient mummified corpse somewhere.”

  Everyone looked a little unnerved about both the pne of limbo and how the magical girl made disposing of a demon likely more powerful than anything on terre like it was something mundane.

  After an uncomfortable pause Cosmos asked again. “Who wants to go attend a very unpleasant meeting? Preferably someone with a cool head that won’t get provoked.”

  The clergy huddled together and took a few minutes to discuss what should be done about Cosmos’s proposal. The consensus was that the older librarian Ekta would be the one that everyone thought was the most stable.

  After taking a bit of time to get the older man dressed up nicely in formal attire that would best present him as a priest of good standing, the girl and older man turned to leave.

  “Hopefully this will only take a little bit.” Cosmos addressed the group. “I’d like to get your priest back within a day. As long as he doesn’t get provoked everything will be okay.”

  “Okay,” The priest said. “I’m ready. Do we need to do anything?”

  Cosmos waved her wand and a starlight themed portal appeared. “No, just stay calm, and if anyone does something violent I’ll take care of them. Also, avoid bsphemy, offend a majority and they will look the other way for acts of violence.”

  “Ruuuu!” Merumeru waved again.

  When they collected the priest from the library and prepared to depart, Cosmos turned back and added. “Grace, you should go to Alex’s isnd. Might be someone there you want to meet.”

  She winked, and a transparent star appeared.

  “This way?” The clone took a step towards the portal.

  “Yes.” Cosmos held his hand and led him, which was a little weird considering he was much bigger than her. “Just stay behind me and I’ll protect you.”