The same day when Cleo died and was reborn...

At night, above Feathergard City, a Great Barrier Of Vysanke bloomed. A hoard of well-armed and organized monster girls emerged from within the city, crushing all resistance within hours before ransacking the city and taking all the population and valuables.

In front of the Adventurer's guild...

"G-Guild master..." The adventurers muttered in despair.

"E-Even the Ravenblade..." A female adventurer started tearing up.

"Three veteran B-rank adventurers... to a single opponent... We are doomed..." A third adventurer winced as he looked at the situation in front.

"Ugh..." The guild leader, the B-Rank Heavy Shield Warrior, Robin The Sentinel, was held up by an armored hand as if he were a child. On the floor were two other bloodied figures, not dead but out of commission.

"I-I think I did it?" A meek female voice sounded from within a black bull helmet.

"Young Mistress Synpia, good work." Another black-armored lieutenant walked over and saluted.

"E-Eh? I-I didn't do much..." Synpia innocently scratched her helmet. "After all, they are so weak..."

"Weak, she said..." The adventurers muttered.

That word echoed in the adventurers' ears and hearts, shattering their morale.

"Synpia, don't go comparing yourself with Rif-Raf." A mature female voice echoed as a giant armored figure walked over.

"General!" The lieutenant saluted.

"G-Great granny!" Synpia tossed the poor Guild Leader. "I-I subdued the guild." She reported in a stuttering voice.

"Mhm. Good work." General Phidea nodded and turned to the adventurers.

"Since you have lost, we are taking you to the Monster Girl World. You may choose to resist... But your ending would be the same as them." Phidea said, pointing at the collapsed B-rankers.

"What will happen then?!" A somewhat brave adventurer stood out and asked.

"You will be apprehended, judged, and treated according to your past misdeeds, like everyone else in this city. If you have a clear conscience and don't do anything too horrible, you have nothing to worry about and might even find your new life more fun, and you can continue being adventurers. Of course, if you did inhumane acts, you will be accordingly judged and punished. My lieutenant will explain the details, so please cooperate and don't cause any trouble... Or else." Phidea gave a warning with a hint of bloodlust, making the adventurers cower, and walked away, Synpia following her.

"G-Great granny... Did you find w-what you were looking f-for?" Synpia asked.

"... Someone already took Duke Nicolas's life, leaving little to no clues," Phidea said, vexed. "Even worse, his soul was taken away, and his advisor is away. All I know is that some girl named Cleo, his bodyguard, allegedly assassinated him under someone's orders. This whole mess reeks of a conspiracy... I hate conspiracies." Phidea complained.

"M-Maybe c-consult with g-general Ciriphise or Mistress F-Feriae..." Synpia suggested.

"Ol' snakey would indeed like the challenge... But I don't want to rely on her." Phidea shook her head. "As for Fary... Don't even think about it. That bookworm has her head filled with magic research."

Just then, a shadow silently manifested in front. Phidea immediately used her body to shield Synpia as she warily stared at the shadow as if staring at a deadly foe.

They were now in the Great Barrier Of Vysanke, and spatial magic and similar spells should be restricted, yet the shadow bypassed it so effortlessly. It could only mean the shadow was overwhelmingly powerful, at least as strong as her, if not more.

"W-What's that?!" Synpia said in her stuttering voice.

"Identify yourself," Phidea demanded, ready to fight the shadow to the death if she had to.

"Can't you recognize me? Hehehe..." An old voice cackled.

Immediately, Phidea kneeled, surprising Synpia even more as she likewise kneeled. Anyone her great-grandmother willingly knelt to was a monstrous existence, and she didn't kneel to even the empress.

"Madam Roberta. It has been over a hundred and fifty years, but I never forgot your saving grace." Phidea respectfully said.

"Hehehe... Are you sure you're not calling me 'Shitty Old Hag' behind my back all the time?" Roberta said in an amused voice.

Phidea flinched and decided to change the subject. "What business do you have of me?"

"Oh, no worries. Some lost lamb reached my haven, and she carried quite the tragic story... I suppose you are after Duke Nicolas, right?" Roberta said as a bottle emerged from the shadows.

"This is...!" Phidea widened her eyes under her helmet, taking the bottle.

"Yes, this is his soul, trapped in a bottle. And before you ask, no, it wasn't Cleo, the assassin girl, or me. It was some shithead named Iguisor who manipulated everything... Quite a nasty piece of work." Roberta said.

"Is this Cleo alive? What about Iguisor?" Phidea asked.

"Poor little Cleo found life too hard, so she reincarnated. As for Iguisor... He is both a manipulator and a pawn himself. I gave him three curses for his sins and as a warning to his superiors for shitting on my lawn." Roberta said.

Phidea understood what Roberta meant. Cleo reincarnated and had her memories wiped, so even if she found her, it wouldn't matter anymore.

As for Iguisor... Hearing he received three curses was enough to send chills down her spine. "I can forget about finding this Iguisor..." She thought, knowing that Iguisor was horrifyingly and painfully deleted.

"Can you please tell me who is his employer?" Phidea asked.

"No. Find it yourself." Roberta said, denying her the information. "However, you can have the duke's soul... Although it has been tampered with. Let it return to the great cycle once you are done. He is but a victim and scapegoat."

"Yes, thank you." Phidea nodded. And then, a thought crossed her mind and asked something else. "By the way... Is a girl named Cornelia Duskgrove and her familiar, Tenta, in your haven?"

"Oh? Do you know the little girly and her gentlemanly familiar? What business do you have with them?" Roberta curiously asked.

Hearing this, Phidea felt relieved, knowing Cornelia and Tenta were safe.

"I have business with her familiar. He might be the key to a breakthrough in our population control." Phidea said.

"Ah, the 50% birth ratio. It would likely work, considering he is related to the Tentacle Monster race. And with how intelligent, gentle, and lustful his Consentacle species is, they are a perfect match for monster girls and can solve your population problem while providing a productive workforce." Roberta acknowledged.

"Then—" Phidea wanted to continue speaking but was cut in the middle of her words.

"No, you can't have them. They are in my haven, under my rules. Besides, I took the little girly as my disciple." Roberta refused.

Shock flashed in Phidea's eyes, but she swallowed whatever else she wanted to say. "I see. Thank you for the information."

"No problem. Say hi to everyone. Bye." Roberta said, and the shadow disappeared.

Once Synpia saw the shadow was gone, she felt relieved. "Great granny, who was that?"

"Roberta the Black," Phidea solemnly said. "The one existence I am more afraid of offending than the gods themselves."

"E-Even the gods?!" Synpia widened her eyes.

"Yes... And they share my sentiments... I am unsure about the details, but she lived for at least 5,000 years. Her first record was the slaughter of several gods, including the Dark God of Monsters, Transformation, and Strife. It is hinted that Vysanke was Roberta's disciple, and she absorbed his divinity and changed it, ascending into the Goddess of Monster Girls, Transformation, and Co-existence. She also took over his hellish realm, making it into a verdant paradise, and created us using herself as the basis." Phidea told. "And it is also hinted that Ruvara was her disciple at some point even before that. Of course, I can't confirm the authenticity of it since the records are too old, and the gods and Roberta herself would not speak about it."

"S-Shouldn't we w-worship her as a g-goddess, then?" Synpia asked, her eyes revealing a worshipful look.

"No. Don't waste your prayers on her. She is a secluded power who stays in her haven, minding her business, and all the gods and major powers give her a wide berth. Sometimes, she takes in lost young girls, raising them into powerhouses as a hobby before letting them loose in the world, causing the power balance to shift." Phidea said.

"W-Why w-won't powers t-try to s-stop girls f-from entering, t-then?" Synpia quickly thought of a problem.

"They tried... Oh, they tried. But every time they did, their luck began to plummet to the point they started dying like flies. And even if they managed to do it, Roberta could summon a girl fitting her requirements. Hence, everyone stopped trying, instead lowering the awareness about her until she was almost forgotten in the annals of time... Just like she wanted." Phidea said and got up.

"W-Would she a-accept me i-if I go t-there?" Synpia hopefully asked and stood up.

"She won't. She only accepts troubled girls who don't actively look for her. We once tried finding her a hundred years ago, but no matter how hard we tried, it was as if her haven was gone." Phidea helplessly said and started walking.

"T-Then how d-did you m-meet her?" Synpia curiously asked while following her.

"I... Died in that forest." Phidea shook her head. "I was a berserker who got abandoned by my party, and I fought the King of the Forest one-on-one, killed it by a fluke, and died from my injuries. Luckily, she took pity on me and reincarnated me as a calf to serve as a party member to Fary, her new disciple, to explore a dungeon at the time, and I later received the Great Matron's gift. That is also how I met the other legion generals." Phidea recalled.

"T-Then... W- What about that C-Cornelia?" Synpia asked.

"She got lucky... Or unlucky enough to find her. If someone has poor enough luck, they would also be drawn to her... It has something to do with fate manipulation far beyond my comprehension, so I leave it at that. In any case, Cornelia and her familiar, Tenta, would become new players soon. I shall inform Kary about it when we get back." Phidea said.

"Y-Yes..." Synpia nodded.

.

.

.

And so, the sacking of Feathergard continued throughout the night, becoming a ghost city like Guiding City.

With the loss of Feathergard City and Duke Nicolas, the frontier soon collapsed as soldiers deserted en-mass, retreating to the Xanid Kingdom's new borders.

Taking this opportunity, the Dyweath kingdom leisurely took over the Dukedom, sending in some of its excess population to inhabit the relatively undamaged infrastructure, bringing the area under its domain. Any refugees who were unable to escape in time, especially rural villages, were interrogated before being absorbed into the Dyweath kingdom. However, strangely enough, they didn't continue their advance, conquering only the Feathergard Dukedom and signing a ceasefire with the Xanid Kingdom, baffling the other nations, watching like vultures.

Little did they know that the Dyweath Kingdom, under the threat of the Monster Girls, didn't dare continue the onslaught. They were satisfied enough to get such a large piece of territory, with pre-built and relatively intact buildings, without spilling much blood, even if most of the valuables were taken already.

And so, the Feathergard Dukedom changed hands, and the Magic Forest was now part of the Dyweath Kingdom's territory.