"Demon Lord, we've come to do battle!"
On the hundredth floor of a dark cathedral, a group of humans burst through a pair of doors in heroic fashion.
Adorned in resplendent armor and fine robes, the party of adventurers were clearly very high-ranking.
In front, a blonde-haired man who was clearly the party's main damage-dealer pointed a shining gold sword at a throne across the room.
"Your tyranny ends today, Demon Lord Merk! Humanity will no longer suffer underneath your kind's threat when this battle is done!"
Finally, the man across the room rose from his seat.
He revealed a traditional bad-guy esque appearance. Long raven hair, burning red eyes and dark demonic horns curling out of his head.
Naturally he was quite handsome, so much so that the party's priestess and cleric blushed at the sight of him.
Maybe being captured here wouldn't have been quite so bad after all...
"So... The hero and his party have come into the great jaws of the beast of their own accord... You've spared me the trouble of having to find you myself."
"Of course we did. We're generous like that." The hero quipped.
The Demon Lord began floating off the ground as dark feathery wings burst from his back.
"Hear me, one chosen by the beyond. Being the bastard son of the god of severance will not save you today."
"Ha! Mentioning that old deadbeat is a low blow, Merk! But what else should I expect from a demon? Let's do this!"
The flaring auras of the individuals inside produced a larger reaction than expected.
For some reason, the entire ceiling suddenly came down.
With dust billowing in the air, the hero's mages erected a barrier to protect them all from surprise attacks.
But they were slightly surprised when no attack at all came from their enemy.
When the dust finally started to settle, the humans were finally able to see the reason why the ceiling had collapsed.
A new player had joined into the fray.
One that left both the hero's party, and the demon lord, stunned.
The woman was indescribably captivating, even before one saw her face.
Pale white skin like freshly fallen snow; and long hair that fell past her large butt to match.
Her only clothing was something the inhabitants of this world were unable to recognize as a sports bra and dark leggings.
She possessed a body that looked like it was chiseled from marble; bearing a set of the most perfect abs and toned arms one could possibly lay eyes on. And yet, her body oozed with femininity and gracefulness.
When she lifted her head, she revealed an expression so angelic, so pure, so incomparably beautiful that the men in the room felt their knees wobble.
Her glowing eyes were distinctly bright and vibrant, almost like two red lightbulbs.
Did it make any sense for one person to be this attractive or magnetic?
To look at her was to want her. From the depths of ones bones to the follicles of hair on their heads.
She finally parted her full pink lips to speak and graced their ears with her soft and serene voice. They barely noticed the twinge of sadness fraying at the ends of her words.
"I've come for the strongest among you. None else draw my interest on this day..."
The mysterious goddess who caught everyone's attention seemed not to be talking to anyone in particular.
This gave the golden-clad hero a chance to hopefully strike up a conversation with the beauty.
"Well, if you're looking for the strongest then I can certainly-"
A wet explosive sound filled the air as the hero burst into a bloody mist.
Six more popping noises followed in quick succession as the rest of the hero's party were eliminated except for one.
The only hero who she had left alive was the one standing all the way in the back, and appeared to be of the thief or assassin class.
"W-What is this.. H-How did you-"
"No point in hiding among them ... I'm neither naive nor blind."
"Have they ever asked you to be better? Have they ever made you feel like who you were was not enough for them?"
"I SAID STOP!"
Seras' unrestrained roar may have only been enough to cause minor damage to her bedroom, but for any lands outside of Tehom, it was powerful enough to reduce the surroundings to grains of sand.
Asherah was the only thing that seemed not to have suffered in the slightest.
Though she did seem a bit sadder than before.
"Is this where we've come now..? After the history our family has shared?"
Seras realized the gravity of what she'd done and the shame on her face was immense.
"I-I'm sorry, I just... I can't leave yet."
Asherah crossed the distance between the two of them and placed her hands on her cheeks like a reassuring mother.
"They are worried sick about you, dear. Can't you feel it..? Their desire to see you at home and whole?"
Because of Asherah's coaxing, Seras accidentally let herself slip into a habit that she had been trying to avoid.
She let herself feel them.
The sensation was worse than the first time she tried this.
Immediately, it was as if the echoes of their hands along her body came rushing back into the forefront of her being.
It felt so much better after going without it for so long; so much so that her legs gave out from underneath her and her breathing became heavier.
But she could also feel how her actions had affected them.
And her husband was the worst of all.
She felt just for a moment the amount of anguish she caused him, and her body involuntarily let out a terrible scream.
Even after she pulled herself back, she was still drowning in guilt, her mind threatening to fracture once again.
As tears fell from her eyes, she reached for her head.
Seras broke off one of her own horns as easy as if it were a piece of styrofoam.
But her madness didn't subside until she drug the sharp end of her horn down her face and over her eye.
Her panting and heavy breathing slowly began to subside, making room for her clarity to return in it's place.
"Can you see why I can't go home now..?" She asked hoarsely. "I can't let them see me like this. They won't see me the same anymore... everything about our relationship will change."
Asherah kneeled in front of Seras and took her face into her hands.
The wound she had given herself was already healing. However the blood she spilled remained.
"I need you to honestly ask yourself something, Seras. Is this easier than telling the people you share your life with what is really going on with you?"
Seras shook her head, already knowing the answer.
"It isn't. In fact it's the hardest thing I've ever done. I want nothing more than to run home to them and apologize for everything I've done and be bathed in their affection..
But I also don't want them to see this ugliness inside of me. I want them to know me as the woman, warrior, wife, and mother who I've turned myself into being. Not the helpless child who still can't..."
"Can't what, Seras..?" Asherah gently pushed. "You need to say it out loud."
Much to her credit, Seras did open her mouth to try and get the words out, but she inevitably choked up and faltered in the end.
"I can't... please just give me more time and tell them nothing of what you have seen this day... I beg you." Seras prostrated in front of Asherah in a full bow.
Underneath her veil, the mother goddess was making the most troubled expression that she had since they started trying to reincarnate Tathamet.
She knew that the black dragon held a lot of faith in her.
If he learned that Asherah knew of Seras' condition and did not tell him, their relationship might suffer irreparable damage.
Seras was placing her in a very unfair position.
"...72 Hours, Seras. If you overstay your excursion any longer than that I must tell your family what I know."
"I understand... Thank you for-"
"Spare me your thanks, child. You may yet take them back."