The Mother of Monsters, now renamed Mother of Shadows. Echidna, Eleanore Windsor.

  The Prophet, the woman closest to [God].

  And finally...The Warlock, the man closest to the [Devil].

  Elizabeth hadn't found too much about them, she of course knew how Echidna looked since she had worked under her for some time... Elizabeth had some knowledge about her and her powers. At least some implied knowledge anyway.

  She had no way of knowing how the [Advent] had changed her.

  "Well, first of all... All of the [Nine Stars] had some degree of changes after the [Advent]." Agatha started with that, "This can be explained by the access to [Jobs] and [Skills], some took this one step further to increase their power...While others increased their scope of power."

  That was...understandable?

  Elizabeth and Rossie hadn't changed that much, mostly because Elizabeth already was working with the [System] and Rossie...well, she was Rossie.

  Perhaps they did as Rena and further refined their power? Rena had started to tap more and more on the skills that Elizabeth had shared with them, and even was the first to personalize and use the [Shadow Step] even!

  Really, Rena (Like Rossie), was cute when she frowned and focused to achieve her goals.

  "So? Care to give examples instead of just speaking of things we had already thought?" Rossie said from the side as she crossed her arms and frowned at Agatha.

  That, was also cute.

  "Let's go with an easy one then," Agatha said summoning an image of [The BeastMaster], why one of those that they weren't supposed to worry about? "This one is the easiest to explain, [The BeastMaster]."

  Agatha said, summoning a picture of a man wearing full body armor with animalistic motifs, Elizabeth didn't remember seeing him at any of her birthday parties, so perhaps he had never gone?

  "He rarely leaves his spot on the ocean and is in charge of defending our plane against otherworldy invasion, only he deals with giant monsters called Kaijuu," Agatha said, bringing pictures of giant creatures that seemed to boggle the mind; how could a living organism grow to such sizes? It didn't seem, possible.

  "How does he even fight those? Even with a great degree of strength, wouldn't his punches be akin to insect bites?" Elizabeth asked, she just couldn't see it. If it was her she could probably increase the area she damaged with her Magic...or her shadows, by creating a larger area of impact.

  It was like how a gunshot had great kinetic force, but since the area of impact was so small, the damage rarely spread beyond the radius of the bullet.

  "Easy, while it is possible for some people to achieve it. And he did indeed used to fight them with his fists. He found an alternative way to fight." Agatha said, showing the next image on her presentation.

  There stood [The Beast Master] looking at the horizon, the image started to zoom out and then Elizabeth saw the head of one of those Kaijus.

  Was the image after the defeat of the Kaiju? The image continued zooming out and soon Elizabeth noticed that the Kaiju's eyes still had life in them. Elizabeth wondered how had they managed to take that picture...

  Only for the image to continue zooming out, soon the Kaiju's whole body was visible, with no wounds on him...

  And at the distance coming out of the water was another Kaiju.

  It was at that moment that the image turned into a video and the Kaiju that [The Beast Master] was standing atop growled. The sound was mighty and powerful, beast that made Elizabeth's skin shiver unconsciously.

  The video then showed the Kaiju start fighting against the other Kaiju, it was...quite honestly, an epic fight between two giant monsters. At the end of it, the creature that [The Beast Master] had been riding managed to pin down the other.

  "What? Why isn't it finishing it out?" Elizabeth voiced her confusion.

  "Because this is the second reason why you should be thankful that he probably will not be your opponent." Agatha said as the image zoomed to [The Beast Master] placing his armored hand against the creature's head. An azure light enveloped the Kaiju that was on the floor, and then, as if it had never been there, the creature disappeared. As if...

  "...he...absorbed the Kaiju?" Elizabeth asked with just a little bit of fear in her voice.

  "So that's why he is called [The Beast Master] instead of [The Defender] or [The Hunter]." Rena said from the side, "He dominates these creatures and uses them to fight against others...I assume he gets some kind of symbiotic relationship going?"

  "He probably also needs some degree of strength to keep them in the piece; I don't think they would settle down under his command if all he did was use other critters to defeat them." Rossie added from the side.

  "Full marks on the assessment girls." Agatha said, nodding her head, "That is indeed as far as we can guess. [The Beast Master] needs to have the strength to defeat them personally, or his [Skill] doesn't work. Also the creatures keep some degree of free will. AS far as we can guess he is feeding his Mana to keep them tame."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  ...He was what?!?!?!?

  "How...how many does he have?" Elizabeth asked turning to Agatha, hoping that the number was not as big as she thought... This... this man was one of the very few that her Papa ever talked about after all, and...that was not a good thing.

  "We don't know, he usually carries or uses that Lizard-like creature, a giant Moth and sometimes he brings a huge Gorilla." Agatha said with a shrug, "We don't know if he has more or not, there are some unconfirmed sightings of a dragon-like creature with multiple heads though."

  "He has a fricking Hydra?!?!?" Elizabeth couldn't help but raise her voice, "How...how do they let him get away with those?!?"

  "...Elizabeth, that man is the second most strongest person in the world as of now." Agatha said with a shrug, "Who is going to stop him? The only one that is probably more strong than him is [The Juggernaut]. Do you see that one worrying about what kind of pets the [Beast Master] keeps?"

  ...

  "No, I doubt she would bother." Elizabeth said with a sigh, "The people at the top are mad."

  And Elizabeth meant that, she had never worried too much about what her parents did, since even on their weirdest days she doubted that she was ever in danger.

  But knowing there was a man who could summon giant monsters born from...whatever that portal led to, and that he could summon...

  "Oh..." Elizabeth suddenly realized it, "...that is how people think about me too, don't they?"

  "What do you mean?" Agatha asked confused.

  "Probably? The ones that know at least." Rena said with a nod, "It isn't that much of a problem since you haven't summoned something that big...can you summon something that big?"

  "If Eli-Eli wants it, I'm sure she could bring something like that." Rossie said from the side, her trust in her, as always, was too high!

  "I mean..." Elizabeth said, closing her eyes for a second and doing a quick scan; there was nothing that big on her Shadow Haven, nor on the areas of her Soul that she could perceive.

  But...

  "Probably Nyx? If I summoned him at the peak of his power...not that I can do that often, but I could probably squeeze another one?" Elizabeth said.

  "...Ah right, you had that thing...No wait, that wasn't a gift from your parents?" Agatha said summoning the picture of Nyx on his full dragon form, "People assumed you had signed a contract with one of the seven hells, or that you were secretly the daughter of [The Beast Master]. But since he didn't come forward to protect you...most assumed it was an illusion. Not the people that remained, of course."

  Oh, right, "What happened to those mages that stayed around?" Elizabeth said remembering the sight of the people who bleed from all their orifices, "The one that...you know..."

  "They are on sick leave," Agatha said, dismissing the pictures (And video) of [The Beast Master], "Officially at least, most of them turned mad from mana poisoning or started a cult; they seem to think that there is another world that must be linked to this to serve better their...[Shadow Mistress]."

  "I will not deal with that," Elizabeth said decisively, she didn't want, nor wished to deal with cultists like those quite yet, "They are harmless right?"

  "Mostly harmless, they don't interact with people and are mostly staying on their properties, there haven't been any ritual sacrifices be it of animals or people. And they mostly throw their Mana into magic circles that seem to connect to nowhere, so we leave them be. As soon as they start summoning demons we are ready to act though." Agatha said to quell her fears.

  "Good, so that is for the [Beast Master] what about the others you said?" Elizabeth said, if the [Beast Master] wasn't an issue then who would be next? "[The Traveler], [Sniper] and [Tinkerer]?"

  "[The Traveler]...nothing I can tell you, he stopped showing around after [Advent]." Agatha said summoning articles of him, the oldest started almost 200 years ago, and the more recent was just a day before [Advent]. "[The Nine Stars] still have him on their ledger, but we aren't sure if that is because they know something or because they want to keep their image, with [The Prophet] anything is possible."

  "That is two of nine then," Elizabeth said nodding her head, if she didn't had to dealt with him that was good.

  "[The Sniper] however..." Agatha said summoning the image of a girl wearing a hood to hide her face and a huge sniper rifle on her back, "If she becomes your enemy you will have only one chance."

  "One chance to convince her to get on my side?" Elizabeth asked confused.

  "One chance to survive." Agatha said, summoning pictures of...dead people. Some had half their body missing, and some didn't have a head to begin with. But one thing they all had in common was the fact that they all only had one wound.

  Even if said wound was...quite notable.

  "She is not known to have missed her first shot, and most of her shots always aim at vitals. No matter if you moved them using Magic or skills, she always hits them." Agatha said, summoning the image of a man on the ground, he had no visible wounds, "Even if the said organ is no longer in your body."

  At the side of the image was the photograph of a broken jar.

  "A lich?" Rossie said from the side.

  "What's that?" Rena asked.

  "Correct Rossaline," Agatha said nodding her head, "This one used dark Magic to separate his Soul from his body and then created a link between this Phylacteral and his former body. [The Sniper] aimed at the Phylacteral and killed him without having to worry about collateral damage."

  "How did she know?" Elizabeth asked, surely if it was that easy to find then the Lich wouldn't have become a target for [The Nine Stars].

  "We don't know, the fact is...No one has ever seen her fight, since she rarely needs to. All that is known is that she uses that rifle to kill her targets...And even that we know because she told the world that." Agatha said shaking her head, "Is she using Magic? Is she using Skills? The consensus was that she was a Powered that either had a [Unique Skill] that allowed her shoots to always hit or a skill that allowed her bullets to jump through space."

  "That seems...unfair," Elizabeth said looking at the pictures, how was someone supposed to dodge a bullet that would never fail?

  "And that is why it's good that she is already on your side." Agatha said bringing the form with [The Sniper] and Rossie's name, "I don't know how you did it, but managing to get Rossaline a sidekick with her means that she is probably on your side."

  Oh, right, they had that...

  "Even if Rossaline learns nothing from her, the fact that she is taking one of you under her wing means that you don't have to worry about her." Agatha said dismissing the picture.

  They had learned very little of her, but at least since she was not an enemy it meant that Elizabeth didn't need to worry about dodging impossible bullets.

  Actually, where would she get shot? Her body...was not quite...normal anymore. But then would the bullet head straight to her [Core]? To the [Heart] of [Terra Nexus]?

  "Next on the list would be [The Tinkerer]." Agatha said bringing the image of yet another girl, this one was wearing...a power armor, one similar enough with the one Elizabeth used as [Stardust Weaver]. "She has more data spread, but also less."

  That was...confusing.

  "We know more about her since she is keeping our networks and most of our technology working, but we know less about her since she is also away from the public. Like [The Traveler] we haven't seen her since [Advent], but unlike [The Traveler] she has kept her socials active." Agatha said, showing pictures and links to social networks.

  Elizabeth recognized one of those handles and looking on her phone, sure enough, it was one of her followers.

  How does one react to knowing [The Tinkerer] follows one of your online personas?

  "And like [The Sniper], since she has accepted to take one of you under her wing, it means that she is not an enemy." Agatha said bringing yet another form, this one had the name of Rena and [The Tinkerer] on it. "Good job on managing that."

  "It is thanks to Eli," Rena said, nodding proudly and hugging Elizabeth's arm. "Wouldn't manage without her."

  "Right..." Agatha said turning to Elizabeth as the pictures got dismissed, "Speaking of Elizabeth...Might as well get this over."

  Agatha sighed and summoned...The image of an armored person, the image seemed to imply that the one there was almost five meters tall, a hulking set of armor that seemed to imply the one wearing it was a giant.

  Someone that Elizabeth had thought was a hulking man like her Papa.

  "[The Juggernaut], no longer a member of [The Nine Stars]...Or more like he never joined them." Agatha said summoning more pictures of Jenna, "He has been fighting all over the world, crushing both Heroes and Villains. Monsters and spirits, and in some instances...[Gods]."

  The pictures showed gruesome scenes of destruction and, in one instance, showed the hulking armor of Jenna with her fist on an eldritch entity with white wings on its back, and golden ichor on the ground.

  "And...I fear even saying this." Agatha said turning to look at Elizabeth, "Are you sure you want to work under him? He is more dangerous than [The Beast Master], and unless your father descends...Unless [Framework] incarnates in the human world. There isn't anyone who could protect you from him."

  "She is quite cute under the armor and trust me, she is a cutie pie and sweet as a cinnamon bun." Elizabeth said, bringing her phone out and getting one of the pictures they took with Jenna. "See? She is more normal than you would think."

  "...that is...your legal guardian." Agatha said as her eyes turned wide from surprise and her face turned pale by the second, "...and....the person that is...waiting for you....with....[The Sniper]....in the other....room."

  Oh, Jenna was already here?

  "Then we better get this one over, so who is next?" Elizabeth said, turning to Agatha, who seemed to be internally screaming.

  She knew that face, it was the same she used to do when something didn't go as she had planned. OR when something surprised her.

  "...I'm summoning your Mother next time that woman is in the room with me." Agatha said shaking her head, "Fine. Next let's go with the one that could be dangerous if you manage to turn into an enemy then."

  Agatha dismissed the pictures and summoned a new photograph.

  "[The Elementalist]." Was all Agatha said while summoning the picture of the Izanami mage that had tried to recruit Chloe and Alice, the same that they had spoken briefly with after dealing with [The Shadow Tide].