Game of Monsters - 192

Here’s to a Moment of Life

Joshua’s last step down the stairs was already letting him know that things would be different this time.

Every single time, whenever he went to visit Yasaka’s dungeon to “check” on their prisoners from Khaos Brigade, he was welcomed with something. Maybe Cao Cao or the devils felt like insulting him. Or maybe Kokabiel or Georg were feeling particularly chatty. Now though, they were all silent, but there was some kind of tension filling the air, like they were waiting for him to say something.

He didn’t though, simply walking to the middle of the space between cells. There, he took his seat as he usually did and brought out his notebook. Not only was he never there to talk, but he wasn’t feeling particularly extroverted either, considering how he was still recovering from his last bout against Khaos. His soul was solidly fine, well in its way to recovery. He’d even made some nice bits of progress on his spells too, but he still felt his soul weary, his mind sluggish and his body heavy.

At least his attention wasn’t all over the place and his body didn’t feel like giving up at random times either.

All in all, he’d felt good enough to go back to his routine, sort of. He wasn’t going to be participating in anything too strenuous for the moment. Khaos Brigade would just have to deal with his allies for the time being. Everything else though? It was all fair game, as far as he was concerned.

And he was especially motivated to tackle his prisoners once more.

“Finally deigned to visit,” Grendel said, what remained of his body – if it could be called that – slumped against the wall. He was recovering, Joshua could see, but dragon or not, it was difficult to heal from the damage he’d withstood. Especially since that damage had been delivered by a dragon slaying element. “I thought I’d just been dropped in with the broken toys to be forgotten,” the dragon commented, trying to appear casual, but there was an underlying angry growl in his voice that Joshua picked up immediately.

“I’d never do that,” he replied with the slightest of smiles, not really mocking but certainly not friendly either. “You’re much too good a source of information, after all,” he added, leaning back on his chair and considering what to check first. He had so many ideas, so many things to test on Grendel…

“You think I’ll tell you anything?” the Evil Dragon replied, equal parts insulted and amused. “You must be out of your mind.”

“As if he needs you to talk,” Kokabiel was the one that said that, actually laughing out loud, much to the dragon’s annoyance and affront. The Cadre didn’t seem to mind overly much though. “Oh no, prepare yourself to have your entire being poked and prodded and likely torn under his spells even more than they were during your fight. You thought he was something before? You’ll have a ridiculously different opinion by the end of the day.”

“Are you mocking me, crow?” Grendel hissed, but that only made the fallen laugh harder.

Whatever else they were going to say after that, Joshua didn’t care enough to find out. It was amusing, in a way, a part of him acknowledged. However, most of his mind just wanted to get things over with so that he could leave as soon as possible. He didn’t like going there to torture the poor bastards for knowledge. He didn’t like himself during the time he spent there, and the things he had to do he liked even less.

He needed that information though, especially then and there.

Getting to know more about Grendel, dragons and Evil Dragons was likely going to help a lot. He didn’t have any other sources of information in that regard. There was Issei with the Boosted Gear and Ddraig, for sure, but they barely counted, considering the nature of it all being bound by a Sacred Gear. There was only so much he could pick up with that in the way, unfortunately.

Grendel though? He was right there, free for him to poke at. There was the fact that he was a resurrected dragon, he supposed, but even then it’d be useful stuff to know. Khaos was likely to bring back some other Evil Dragons the same way if they could. Even if that weren’t the case, it would have still been better than nothing.

“There he goes,” Kokabiel commented idly when Grendel groaned. “Have fun, Grendel. Was nice talking to you.”

Joshua side-eyed the fallen for a moment, pondering the idea of punishing the guy, but then… Did he really care to do that? Why would he? It was a little annoying, but that was about it. It wasn’t like he cared that Grendel was being mocked. Hell, he didn’t know why Kokabiel was mocking the dragon, considering he’d gotten that treatment a lot more and he was likely to get it once more at some point.

Ultimately, he decided it wasn’t worth his time for the moment.

Grendel was too fascinating to turn away anyway.

A true dragon was, indeed, a lot different than whatever the Boosted Gear situation was. He figured that out in less than a minute after he started. Everything had something for him to look at, from the blood, to the bones, to the magic. Especially the magic, with its special draconic nature. He’d never gotten a close enough look at a deity, but he wondered if they’d be anything like that.

‘Wonder if I can get some draconic spells going…’ he thought to himself, poking at every part of Grendel he could see. There was definitely a lot he could use there, and that wasn’t even counting for improving his demon slayer hexes and wards. Yes, getting the Evil Dragon in his grasp might have been the best capture they had gotten, even more so than Cao Cao and his True Longinus.

‘So much to check here…’ he thought absently, ignoring the hisses, groans and sometimes outright cries coming from the dragon.

[}-o-{]

[Penemue]

As Davis and Phenex appeared in front of her, she found herself a little on edge.

First, because she couldn’t help but see them – especially the supposed human – differently in light of recent events. The supernatural world was whispering about their latest deed. Not only had they staged a coup within another faction, but they had been resoundingly successful and Davis had faced an Evil Dragon while he was at it. The fact that the man could drop by to their place and give one of them another set of wings after all that felt like a statement, one that said he was getting stronger by the second.

The coup part was also, admittedly, very concerning by itself, Penemue would admit.

Concerning, but also interesting.

Second of all, she was taken aback by the look on the two. She had expected Davis to look worn out, even if he could still go. However, he looked… not the same as usual, but he didn’t look worse for wear, really. His expression was more muted, his movements slow, but other than that, he looked normal.

And that was terrifying.

What kind of human went through what he did and came out looking like he’d only exhausted himself a little bit?

“Penemue,” he greeted, his voice even, almost disinterested. “It’s good to see you.”

‘Is it?’ she almost blurted out, but her better judgement prevailed. Meeting the two of them had been a nerve wracking experience every single time, even after she’d offered them an olive branch. After all, Azazel was always there and Penemue had to stand between the two as the tension racked up. Even when none of it was directed at her, she couldn’t help but find herself very much affected by the atmosphere.

It was like standing between the points of two blades.

“To business then,” the man added, apparently taking her silence as an answer. Fortunately, he didn’t seem offended by that, but the Phenex girl definitely was on his behalf. If anything though, despite how harmless the girl looked, that was more scary than the human himself being angry. After all, Penemue knew more or less what Davis’ anger looked like and it was… manageable.

The devil’s though? That was a lot less so.

“I trust everything has gone well on your end?” she asked, putting as much genuine curiosity as she could in her voice. If one was friendly, Davis would be friendly. It was a simple matter, really, Penemue knew. Fortunately for her, she didn’t need to try too hard, since the man hardly did much to get on people’s bad side other than what his bizarre existence brought.

“Yeah,” the man replied and the excited glint in his eyes caused a shiver to travel down her spine. That could never be good. She’d learned as much from working so closely with Azazel. “I’ve gotten my hands on so much. I’ll be busy for quite a while.”

Terrifying.

Absolutely terrifying.

“Anything I should know about what goes on here? Or can know, for that matter,” he asked back and Penemue wondered if he genuinely wanted an answer or if he was just asking to be polite. Anyone else, and she’d have thought they were fishing for information on her faction. However, if she knew anything about Davis, it was that he didn’t care for politics.

Alas, the same couldn’t be said about the Phenex.

“... Right, I shouldn’t even have asked,” Davis replied as if realizing that the question was very much not easy to answer for her. If anything, it made his honest and open answer to hers all the more odd. Truly, she hadn’t expected to get one at all, even if it’d been fairly vague. Then again, he might be more out of sorts than he looked.

She wondered if that was good or bad for her at that very moment.

“Mr. Davis did answer your question,” the devil on the man’s shoulder chimed in, eyes almost shining as she gazed upon Penemue like a hungry little demon. “It’d only be right for you to answer his, don’t you think?”

“Don’t put Penemue on the spot, Ravel,” Davis said, shaking his head and chuckling lightly. “I shouldn’t have answered to begin with and I didn’t even say that much anyway. It’s fine,” he added and Penemue could have hugged him. He really was the best to deal with out of the two. Maybe out of everyone she had to deal with in any sort of regular manner. “Reserve that for Azazel.”

“Of course, Mr. Davis.”

Well, that was unfortunate, but Penemue found herself caring less and less about Azazel and his foot-in-mouth syndrome those days. Her stubborn boss might not be doing himself any favors with his stubborn antics, but at least he wasn’t sabotaging his own faction. She didn’t know what it was that caused his stupidity, but she was beginning to think the Vali situation was a lot more delicate than she’d initially thought.

And that was troublesome, because if Azazel really couldn’t let go of that and the Lucifer brat poked at the barely healing wound between Grigori and Davis, then…

Then things would get all the more complicated.

Penemue didn’t know what she’d do if it came to that. Grigori was her first priority, after all. Not Azazel and certainly not the devil spawn that had caused so many headaches for her. Grigori was her baby as much as it was Azazel’s. As such…

“Things are a little tense,” she said, taking both of her guests aback. “Azazel is trying really hard to make Vali’s infiltration bear fruits.”

“And it’s not working, I take it,” Davis replied after a moment and her silence was answer enough. “I see.”

“Joshua!” Azazel greeted once they walked through the door, jovial and friendly as he irritatingly persisted in being. As if that alone would get him in Davis’ good graces. That only worked when you weren’t actively being a thorn on the man’s side, which the Governor definitely was. Most of all because he refused to see sense, apologize meaningfully or anything else that might be considered sensible. “So good to see you! How have you been?”

“Good,” was the curt answer and Penemue could almost see Davis’ mood freezing like the icicles that were his eyes all of a sudden. “Now, I guess this is the latest promotion subject?” he asked, almost flatly, as he turned towards the third fallen in the room, who squirmed under his gaze.

“Yep, this here is-”

“I don’t need his name,” Joshua said, interrupting and waving Azazel off. Penemue and her fellow fallen both looked between the two men for a moment. She almost wanted to get back into the conversation, but she imagined that’d only cause bad things for her. “I think I’ll be trying a six winged ascension soon, by the way,” he dropped casually, causing three sets of eyes to widen. “So, look for someone appropriate, would you kindly?” he asked, and the question was directed towards her not Azazel.

“... I will,” she answered as calmly as she could, resolutely ignoring the look her “boss” was sending her.

[}-o-{]

[Joshua Davis]

Dealing with Azazel was always draining.

The man was infuriating in his deliberate obliviousness to their situation. Every time Joshua felt like maybe he was too angry or too unreasonable, the fallen would act like nothing was wrong and he’d remember that the Governor had acted that way right after endangering his family. Even Kalawarna had regretted her choices, even if only because of how badly they had backfired on her.

Azazel? Azazel didn’t seem to care.

That was what angered Joshua the most.

“I shouldn’t have let you and Ravel schedule this right after a Grigori visit,” he commented, his voice almost a sigh as he brought his cup of tea to his lips. Idly, he glanced to the side and saw many a devil staring in their direction. Some of them curious, some of them obviously bothered by the sight and others… awed? Those were the oddest of the bunch, Joshua thought.

“That bad, huh?” Serafall asked, idly stirring her own drink with a spoon as she leaned forward onto the table at the cafe they were sitting at.

“Azazel was feeling particularly chatty, that’s all,” he commented and that time the sigh escaped his lips before he could stop it. “The man is determined to annoy me, apparently,” he thought out loud, running his hand through his hair.

“He refuses to see that he’s not right. Or maybe he can’t. He needs it to work,” Serafall said, some seriousness bleeding into her typically laid-back tone. Then again, her more childish persona seemed to show less and less as time went by. He liked to think that was because she was more comfortable being herself, or at least showing him a side of her that she didn’t get to do so very often. “He cares about that half-devil a whole lot, it seems. More than we initially thought. ”

“Mhm, it’s not like I don’t get that, but still…” he started saying, because he did get it. He wouldn’t be such a hypocrite to criticize that adoption situation when he had his own going. However, there was a difference there and it was that Kunou hadn’t joined Khaos Brigade and endangered the family of a faction leader, arguably two.

“Serafall, Joshua, so good to see you again,” a new voice greeted and Joshua turned to see the friendly smile of one Sirzechs Lucifer. “Feels like a lifetime since we last talked. Things have been going well though, from what Serafall tells me,” the Satan said, offering him his hand, which he shook… and he wasn’t even feeling that antisocial about the whole thing.

Maybe he was getting better at the whole socializing thing?

That’d be neat.

“I’m not complaining much,” he replied jokingly, a somewhat nervous smile on his face. When had been the last time he actually tried to have a friendly interaction with someone he didn’t know well? He couldn’t even remember. “And on your side?”

“Still dealing with the aftermath of your actions,” Sirzechs replied dryly. Fortunately though, he sounded more amused than annoyed, which was very reassuring. “Between your Phoenix Spell and you waking up the Sleep Disease patients, there’s plenty to do all over the place. Thankfully, it’s the good kind of busy. Much better than most everything I have to deal with.”

“Helps that Millicas loves Josh though, doesn’t it?” Serafall asked, putting on her best innocent look, which fooled precisely no one.

“There’s that,” Sirzechs acknowledged with a laugh. “Speaking of, he’s been complaining about a lack of Domino in the last few chapters.”

“He does know it’s my show, right?” the female Satan asked with a pout and Joshua almost laughed. She’d been complaining about comments like that in the forums already. People apparently had liked Domino a little too much. So, whenever they were reminded that it was actually just Levia’s and not Levia and Domino’s show… Well, some of them had opinions.

Joshua found the whole thing hilarious.

“Of course you’re talking about your show,” a bored voice joined, and Joshua almost jumped. When had Ajuka even made his appearance? He was already sitting beside him, so… Huh, he’d teleported straight to his seat, hadn’t he? That’s what Joshua could put together through the spells he had around the place.

Call him paranoid, but he didn’t like being somewhere without at least some of his spells around.

“What else would we talk about?” Serafall asked, looking thoroughly offended. “My show’s the best!”

Joshua and Sirzechs wisely left Ajuka to his fate while turning towards each other.

“Speaking of Millicas, he’s been asking to meet you again. I don’t suppose I could ask you…?”

“Worry not,” he replied with a grin. “I love meeting fans. The kids are adorable. Tell you what, how about you and your family join us to watch the next episode? We always get together for that and it’s always fun,” he offered before realizing that maybe that was a little too friendly? He knew Serafall had organized the whole get together for his sake. She’d taken his comment about needing more male friends too seriously, apparently. However, that didn’t mean they were friends just because they were there, so-

“Sounds like a plan. I could use something in my schedule that’s not work and I know Grayfia will appreciate that too,” the redhaired Satan replied, almost looking relieved.

‘Holy shit, I actually am better at the socializing thing.’

[}-o-{]

“Hello, everyone,” he greeted walking through the door into his classroom in House of Water. While his condition was getting better and better, apparently he’d woken up feeling thoroughly dead inside that day. Nothing seemed to have gotten worse in his condition, but maybe he was feeling the repercussions of having to deal with Azazel and socializing one right after the other.

“Good morning, Professor Davis,” the students all but chorused back at him and he nodded absently, watching Ravel move to her own desk.

“I hope you all enjoyed your little break… and that you remembered to do your homework. Anyone that doesn’t have it and has done a decent effort will have a bad time, let me tell you,” he told them and immediately after the last part he saw several faces pale. Well, too bad if they had actually slacked off. “So, who wants to be the first?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at them.

He’d decided to get straight to the point that day. That way he could get the homework part out of the way and tell them to do something else and he could get a little break while at it. That approach would also ensure that those people that’d cause issues had second thoughts on the matter. He didn’t have the energy to deal with bullshit that day.

If someone tempted fate, he’d kick them out for the day, simple as that.

“You, over there,” Joshua decided, when nobody offered. He knew the Stars would have, if he hadn’t specifically told them not to volunteer first for anything in his non-Star exclusive classes. The man he’d chosen froze, paling even further and looking like he was weighting his chances of pretending Joshua wasn’t calling him.

He was one of his problem students and yes, he’d been picked for that specific reason. Call him petty, but Joshua felt like choosing him first to present his work wasn’t that bad. He knew Ravel, Agnes and Elizabeth would have thought him perfectly in his right to do a lot worse. He wasn’t that much of an asshole though.

“Of course, sir,” the man replied respectfully for once, when it was evident that he wouldn’t be escaping his face. Thus, Joshua went on a bit of a quest, picking students in order of those that annoyed him the most to the ones he liked the most. The Stars probably weren’t very happy to be left for last, but they’d survive.

As it turned out, surprisingly – in different ways, depending on how one looked at it –, there were two students that managed to fail the assignment.

“You two have an extra assignment for next class,” he told them, unimpressed. “You have to analyze and write an essay about Levi’s project,” he explained, watching their expressions twitch. Continuing his streak of pettiness, Joshua had made that decision in light of how both students seemed to look down on Levi’s casting ability. As if his mind alone didn’t more than make up for that. “As for everyone else, I want you to come up with five ways you could improve on your own projects,” he told the entire classroom then.

He’d pick one of the options they came up with and assign it as homework for the next class, he’d decided. And if they failed to come up with something good, then he’d come up with something himself. He was almost looking forward to one of them forcing his hand on that matter. He knew he could think up something hard for those that failed.

‘Hm, maybe I woke up extra sadistic today, on top of weary?’ he mused idly as he went to take his seat behind his desk.

“The Stars have been doing well,” Ravel told him, eyes locked on the notes in front of her. “Meredith seems to have gained what she wanted. Her job offers are better.”

“Happy to hear that,” he replied with a smile and he really was happy. With any luck, the poor girl would be able to stop stressing over that. If worse came to worst though, Joshua would find her jobs himself. “How are the Carmilla though?” he asked, because he’d kind of left that alone for Ravel to deal with after the fight was done.

Maybe it was time to check in himself.

“The vampires are trying to get their feet under themselves as of now. Carmilla herself is managing well enough though, but there are some sharks circling them. Your defenses and the Queen herself should be enough to deal with those though,” Ravel explained and he nodded absently. Good to know he wouldn’t need to step in for the moment. He would if he had to, but he’d rather not. “There was a-”

Whatever there was, Joshua wouldn’t learn about it just yet, because the door to the classroom opened.

That alone told him that things were serious, because nobody ever interrupted his classes. Sure enough, his hunch was proven right when the person peeking in turned out to be Elizabeth. She looked the picture of seriousness too. ‘What now?’ Joshua thought with a mental sigh.

“Joshua, could you come? Agnes requires your presence.”

“... Sure. Levi is in charge of the class,” he said, turning towards the classroom before standing up. “Ravel, let’s go. Meredith-”

“We’ll look out for Levi, don’t worry,” his first Star reassured and he nodded.

“... What’s going on?” he asked, somewhat tense, once he stepped outside the room with Ravel and Elizabeth.

“The Norse are here to talk to you.”

To that, Joshua could only blink.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Some more aftermath and then we move to the next point. Huh? Almost could be fooled into thinking the pace of this story is reasonable, right? Crazy that.

Sometimes things don’t take forever in my fics though, believe it or not.

All the same, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Any guesses as to what the Norse want or who even “the Norse” are?

See you.