CH88 Magical girl Cosmos Transform!
High above, on a floating island, a pair of girls playfully constructed a castle. Their blueprint was Merumeru's doll castle. They were currently focused on the first floor's walls and a subterranean level, which, apparently, would be submerged.
“Merumeru, ru” Merumeru marked the line on the stone walls of the basement.
“Is that the water line?” Magical girl Cosmos asked.
Merumeru nodded.
“You want the basement to be submerged? That is going to be really rough on the foundation. Though the height seems about right. So long as the dam stays filled to the same level then it should be right about this height.” The cross-dressing woman wore Alex’s old clothes that didn’t fit her at all. “I see you got a drain down there.” Cosmos gestured to a raised grate. It had a slot a block of stone was slotted to fit in and block the drain. The little slime girl had put a lot of thought into the plumbing of this place.
Merumeru and Cosmos excavated a ten-foot-deep, several-thousand-square-foot rectangle, lining it with rocks. This massive undertaking was made easy by Cosmos's mastery of spatial magic; conjuring a portal to precisely move the earth was a simple task. An unusual detail was the stone pipe Merumeru crafted; it was wider than a human's shoulder, despite Merumeru's ability to fit through pipes just inches in diameter. Cosmos questioned the choice, but Merumeru's explanation remained unclear because of language barriers.
The valves presented a challenge to the odd construction team. Merumeru's initial attempt, a stone slab, effectively blocked the water, but the dam's pressure sealed it in place. Through trial and error, the slime girl was learning plumbing. Cosmos, however, decided to "cheat" and procured a suitable, multi-ton, inch-thick stainless steel valve from Alex's world. To avoid merchants, she simply swapped it for a largely gold asteroid, assuming a 1:1 exchange rate as a safe, generous estimate. No one, she reasoned, would complain about overpayment. The valve's clever design included a counterweight, allowing Merumeru to operate it despite her low strength, though it opened and closed very slowly. The ultimate goal was for the basement to fill to a specific line and maintain that level; excess water would drain, and no more would enter, as it would be flush with the dam's normal water level. Even if the dam's level rose, any extra water in the basement would simply drain away.
"Ru ru ru me." Merumeru surveyed the stone floor and its levels. For days, she had painstakingly worked with the massive cement blocks Cosmos had transported via her portals, meticulously sealing them to be watertight. Throughout the basement, countless stacks of these enormous blocks, each adorned with metal rings protruding from their tops, were arranged. The ultimate goal was to construct a perfectly level floor, without any unevenness.
"Should we try opening the valve to see if it works?" Cosmos asked. She was playing with a laser level she found in Alex's garage, using it to project a light line that indicated the future top of the basement. She aligned it on the central wall, observing everything fall neatly into place. "I can assist you with the valves," she offered. There were two valves that needed to be opened to fill the basement: one at the dam and another at the castle.
It took some effort to get the large valves open but they opened with the sound of creaking metal. The pair celebrated loudly when the water filled up the basement to the fill line and stayed there.
At that moment something wicked approached. The sky darkened, birds flew away (along with some ducks) and a gray blob bumbled up out of the drain grate.
“Someone makes their ominous entrance.” Cosmos put her hands on her hips. “Oh great deity of grudges, wherefore art thou gracing us with thine presence?”
“Meru?” The slime girl looked a little scared and turned to look to Cosmos for answers.
“Your grayness, please tone it down a little. You are scaring the children.” The flannel wearing magical girl chided.
The rather ominous looking blob made an angry face but the atmosphere became more normal. “Fine.” The blob harrumphed.
“Again, what brings you here?” Cosmos pressed.
The blob replied, “I have some information I thought you’d like to know. Two individuals in my domain have discovered information strongly suggesting the demons are about to violate the accords. Not that I care, or anything.”
Cosmos smiled and whispered into Merumeru’s ear. “Mister blob is a bit of a tsundere. But don’t tell him I said that.”
“Hey, I heard that!” The blob gave another angry face. “This is serious. I thought you would like a heads up and a chance to gear up to make a dramatic entrance.”
“What happened? Did the demon queen order the hunting down of flamingos? If so, I think I should pay her a visit that ends with her hurtling through space into the sun.” The cargo-pants clad magical girl grinned evilly.
“Sadly no, the demon queen has been sleeping for years, playing house with her captured prince that she keeps trapped in a dream. The demons that come from hell only have their contract that keeps them in this world.” the god of grudges explained. “It looks like they are going to attack Fufi in ignorance, not knowing what she is.”
“Meru!” The slime girl exclaimed. She worried for her friends.
“Don’t worry little one. Breaking the accords will only bring overwhelming consequences on those that do so.” The blob gestured a slimy appendage to Cosmos. “She’d been making planar dismissal enchantments for decades. There are enough to purge the whole world of extraplanar beings.”
“Hey, everyone needs a hobby.” Cosmos protested.
“Hmm, how can we twist this to cause the most damage to demon-kind?” Cosmos considered the situation. “I don’t think I can wake up the demon queen. That would also be a violation but maybe I can provoke one of her generals?”
“Merumeru me me ru?” Merumeru asked.
“The demon queen is abusing a loophole in the system.” The blob of gray answered Merumeru’s question. “She was a royal before she gave up her humanity. Demons don’t have classes. But someone who turns into a demon keeps their class. Normally, summoning demons is draining, they can only keep so many in the prime material plane for so long but if they swear loyalty and become a noble’s vassal then rather than draining the caster it drains the land they own. This way, she can bring as many demons into their world that are willing to accept her terms. That is why the war was so unfair. The number of low level demons in hell is functionally limitless compared to the population of Terre. Their home plane is a giant battlefield on a blasted wasteland. The most common cultivation resource there are other demons. Anyway, the point is that the demon empire is a hydra. Cutting off one head will not make a meaningful impact on their numbers.”
“That’s enough. We don’t need to share such heavy things with children.” Cosmos pointed a finger at the blob. “I know you’ve got many grudges against the demons to fulfill. You even offered me a way out of the accords to join the battle against the demon queen. I saw how well that went for that one member of the hero’s party though.”
“Meru?” Merumeru’s head spun at all the information.
“The first time I met mister grudge was when the hero’s party failed. He offered me a way out of the accords but it would require me dying and becoming a revenant. He’s not a bad blob but he’s not a good blob either.” Cosmos sounded a bit annoyed. “When the last member of the hero’s party fell he took the deal that his soul would not rest until the grudge against the demons was fulfilled. I forgot the guy's name, something with a K.”
“He still fights till this day.” The blob interjected.
Cosmos continued. “He’s died so many times. I watched him for a while hoping he’d be able to do what the hero could not. For decades he slaughtered demons every day up to tier 3 but he met his match when he interrupted a tier 4 kaiju’s cultivation. The kaiju squished him.”
“You are not telling the whole story. The only thing that can end a revenant is the fulfillment of their grudge.” The blob emoted angrily.
“Yes, but they still lose levels when they die. That blow was one he couldn’t recover from. All of his gear was lost and he came back for a rematch but it went even worse. The former knight died again and lost another level. Without his gear he could only handle tier 2 and tier 1 demons.” Cosmos explained to the slime girl. “Eventually, he lost all of his levels getting repeatedly killed when they figured out how revenants work. The demons sealed him in a coffin the latest time he was defeated. They have used him to be a thorn in the side of their rivals in the past.”
Merumeru shuddered. “Ruuu.” What a horrible fate, to be betrayed by two members of your party, go on fighting and not do more but be a drop in the ocean. She looked a little sad.
“Don’t be sad. Revenants are undead. They tend to be incredibly mentally resilient.” The blob paused. “There are thousands of them pulling out the nails that hold the demon empire up. They don’t do much but they don’t give up.”
“Can we take a look? Can I use your pool?” The blob gestured to the water. Merumeru nodded in agreement. The grudge deity spread out a sheen on top of the water his body. It displayed like a projector. A pink flame could be seen floating in the blackness. A pair of white flames burned in the background. “Looks like he’s still in the coffin. Only the life sense is working.”
From a distance, numerous white flames flickered, accompanied by the sounds of shouting, talking, and stomping. Soon, a much larger, combined black and white flame emerged, dwarfing the others.
“The pink flame is a magical girl. The white flames are normal people. The black flame is a demon. You can tell it is possessing someone because it is smothering the white flame.” Cosmos explained what was going on to Merumeru.
The distinct sound of shoveling cut through the air. In the distance, two white flames and a pink flame flickered. Soon, the rhythmic drag of something being pulled and the dull thump of it falling into a hole echoed from the scene. Then, a multitude of new flames appeared, drawing closer. A cluster of small black flames converged on one side, while a group of small red flames approached from the other, led by a large red flame.
“The red ones are fire demons.” Cosmos explained to Merumeru. “The bigger one is a tier two demon.”
The image shifted to the inside of a carriage. Stuffed animals and dolls lined the compartment. As threats to destroy the carriage came out, the corners of vision kept getting redder.
“I’m surprised Alex didn’t open the coffin. I wonder why she didn’t let him loose.” Cosmos patted the slime girl on the head. “I’m not sure what that other thing is. A cursed object perhaps?”
The blob nodded. “Yes, that is a hero doll. The amount of resentment directed at it turned it into a cursed doll.” Grudge dismissed the image and continued. “As to why the coffin wasn’t opened. It is because of the cursed clothing. It forces the wearer to obey the commands of her mistress.”
“That’s silly, any magical girl could get out of that easily.” Cosmos scoffed. “The only thing she’d need is a cute pair of scissors. If the clothing is less cute then the cuter thing will prevail. This is basic magical girl training. Cuteness is the most important thing for us.” Cosmos reached into empty space and her arm disappeared into a portal that she fished around it. She pulled out a pair of scissors that had gems attached to them and ribbons wrapped around the handles. “See, cute scissors!”
The blob frowned. “Anway, this is just a professional courtesy. It is not like I care or anything.” Grudge formed his hands and touched his two pointed fingers together nervously. He lowered his head a bit and got quiet.
“Thank you.” Cosmos pulled out a wand with a star floating unattached on the end. “Anyway I’ve got a king to trick into attacking me.”
“Magical girl Cosmo, Transform!” The flannel clad magical girl held up her wand and floated into the air, magical starlight swirling around her and obstructing her from view.
The blob with ‘hmph’ then drained down into the sewer grate, leaving the area.
Merumeru watched with wide eyes.