Game of Monsters - 188

-Beat Down-

[Joshua Davis]

At least one part of his draconic half-forgotten memories related to the vampires was correct, evidently.

‘Which Evil Dragon is that?’ he wondered as he walked towards the creature. For a dragon, it was surprisingly humanoid, despite what Joshua had seen regarding the creatures in his research. It was like someone had taken a regular Western dragon and made it bipedal, for the most part, but there were some other humanoid-like details here and there.

He took in the black scales and the silver eyes, trying to pull on the information he had in regards to Evil Dragons. And he was sure that it was an Evil Dragon. It was difficult to misunderstand the aura, the presence of absolute miasma that it exuded. Evil Dragons weren’t called that just because someone felt like it. They were corrupted, twisted, wrong. Just looking at the thing made him feel sick, sending dread down his spine and unnerving his mind.

“You,” the creature growled, turning towards Joshua when he tweaked all his spells. Some of the inactive ones, those that he’d designed for this specific eventuality, were now about to see some use. “You’re the one that made them bring me back. Thank you,” despite his words, the dragon very clearly had less than benign intentions. The grin on his lizard face was far from kind, after all.

“Grendel,” Joshua commented, giving name to the dragon, who seemed pleased to be recognized. Immediately, he ran through the information he could recall on that particular dragon other than how to recognize him. That wouldn’t help much in a fight, if he didn’t know what he was capable of. ‘Endurance, it’s all endurance. If he can fight, he will, no matter what.’

Annoying, but far from the worst that could be thrown at him.

“I don’t know your name, human,” the dragon growled and Joshua was keenly aware that people were moving away from the two of them as they stalked towards one another, walking calmly like two strangers on a street. He also felt his familiars staring from their positions, together with Kuroka and Raynare. They knew not to get involved unless more than one dragon popped up though, or unless he called. “But I figure I can learn your name after I kill you if you’re anyone actually important.”

“Works for me,” Joshua replied and his next step was punctuated by the spells coming alive. Dragon slaying effects were no small thing. Dragons were up there with gods and goddesses, after all. They were the top of the totem pole in the DxD world, even above deities, really, considering Great Red, Ophis and such creatures existed. They weren’t divinity, they weren’t in the same league, but that didn’t mean they were weaker or stronger. No, dragons had their own separate league on the same level, if one were to follow that metaphor. As such, handling energy that was their antithesis wasn’t a small matter, not at all.

He’d worked for that though. Jeanne could make dragon slaying swords, even if they were like the mass produced exorcist light sword equivalent of dragon slaying weapons. Her creations wouldn’t be able to hurt an actual dragon of any kind, but they’d be effective against dragon-related creatures like drakes and wyverns. That had been enough to give Joshua an idea of what he needed to work with though.

Nevermind Ascalon, which Heaven had happily lended to him for research purposes. They’d offered to give it to him entirely, if he thought he could use it against Khaos Brigade, actually. His Sword Mastery skill was lacking, of course, but it’d be a nice last resort if it came to that.

“You’re…” Grendel mumbled, almost speaking without meaning to by the looks of it. He’d noticed the dragon slaying magic in his hexes and it’d given him pause. That was very encouraging for Joshua. He’d had his doubts about how effective those would be, even after some testing against Issei. The guy wasn’t a dragon though, considering he had made no deals to sell pieces of his body to Ddraig. So, results of testing on him were unreliable at best. “Magic has progressed a lot while I was dead, it seems.”

“Not as much as you might think,” Joshua replied lightly with a smile. “You’re just unlucky. So… wanna surrender?”

The dragon barked out a laugh at that.

“You’re funny. That won’t help you, nor will these tricks you seem to have, but you’re still funny” he growled, even harsher and more hatefully. He also crouched, ready to jump at Joshua. ‘Fight’s about to get started, huh?’ he mused to himself, summoning Setan Kober and Carnwennan in his hands.

Both daggers hissed in pleasure, almost itching to cut something. They were especially eager to go against an enemy that was not only strong but also could see them actually being used too. And that was because Joshua planned on giving both daggers all the excitement they could want, he decided. Not only would that ensure they worked at their best, but he also kind of didn’t have magic strong enough to really fight Grendel if he didn’t want the fight to take forever. He was confident his spells would wear him down eventually and the dragon slaying hexes would grow powerful enough with time…

But he didn’t have time.

Every second could be one when Khaos Brigade could get wind of what was going on and try to meddle. Joshua needed to finish this fight with the vampires before that happened. So, no battle of attrition for him this time, evidently. Or, at the very least, he’d have to make the fight as short as he could.

That wasn't precisely his strong suit, admittedly, but Joshua would have to make do.

For one, he had the Egyptian deities ready to give him a hand, and they promptly did, with Set leading the charge. The violent chaos god was more than willing to lend him a hand in a fight against such a creature. For another, well, Joshua had learned fairly early in his magician career that being prepared was the key to success.

And he’d had plenty of time to prepare for that attack.

He had options, and plenty of them.

[}-o-{]

[Meredith Ordinton]

“That’s it for the bodyguard role. Feel free to show off,” Joshua had told her before going off to face a dragon of all things. Easier said than done, if anyone asked her. How was she supposed to just turn away when her master was over there, having a standoff with Grendel, if the exchange the two had just had was to be believed?

That was an Evil Dragon, a supposedly dead Evil Dragon at that.

She didn’t remember more than his name and his title, but Meredith didn’t need more than that to know that the dragon was likely to put up a hell of a fight. Evil Dragons were second only to the Heavenly Dragons and the Dragon Gods. That was a lot of power to face, even if maybe – and that was a big maybe, because Meredith didn’t know if it was the case at all – whatever process had brought the creature back to life had somehow weakened it or something.

“He’ll be fine,” Jeanne commented from beside her and Meredith hoped she could be half as optimistic as the blonde seemed to be. As it was, she could barely take her eyes off of her master and the dragon, to the point where if it wasn’t for her Protection Magic, she’d likely have been injured by a very rude vampire attacking her. As it was, it just took her attention away for a moment before she cut off one of the thing’s arms and then stabbed it.

…

She was getting concerningly used to killing, Meredith noticed.

“Aren’t you supposed to be showing off?” Jeanne asked her and she twitched.

“Professor Davis might need me,” she answered stiffly. She had complete faith in her master, of course, but an Evil Dragon was no small fry. Beyond that, they were surrounded by enemies, much as they were winning the battle. So, she didn’t want to leave-

“Didn’t he bring you here to show off? I think he said something to that effect,” Jeanne pointed out and this time Meredith all but flinched. “Said you needed to show off so people would know your strength and some such.”

She was supposed to be doing that. Professor Davis had brought her to the battle as an opportunity to publicly show her strength on top of making connections with a faction, in this case the Carmilla faction. Not a small one at all, especially if things panned out as her teacher predicted and they became the dominant side of the two factions instead of it being the other way around. So, Meredith would solve plenty of her problems if she did do as she was told.

It was just-

“Joshua can take care of himself,” Jeanne reassured her, smiling in a way that made her think the other girl was reading her mind or something. “I’ll be surprised if he’s tired or injured at all by the time he’s done. Joshua’s strength grows like nobody’s business,” Jeanne explained before giggling behind her hand, still holding one of her swords. “Worry about yourself, do as you’re told and believe Joshua knows what he’s doing,” she cited, as if they were rehearsed words. “That’s what I do and it works wonders. It makes him happy too. The best favor you can do him is to do what’s best for yourself. He wants to see the people he cares about doing well.”

That was…

Meredith couldn’t quite wrap her mind around that.

All her life, she’d been trying to prove herself to people, to her fellow magicians, to her association, to her family, to her friends, to her teacher. Meredith Ordinton had never been quite enough, despite all the work she put into things. That is, until something she hadn’t worked for appeared and suddenly everyone loved her, her blood, her Sacred Gear.

The only thing she had earned, with all her effort and time, was her apprenticeship, the best thing that had ever happened to her. Professor Davis had given her that, and to hear that she didn’t need to do anything to keep that, to keep his attention and his care, felt odd. It confused her, unnerved her even. How in the world was she supposed to not try and do something?

In what world did it make sense for her payment to her benefactor being selfishness?

Yet, that seemed to be what Joshua was asking of her.

“Go for it, girl. I guarantee he’ll be happy to hear about it when you tell him how much you benefited from this. He wants to help you, so he’ll be pleased if he does help you,” Jeanne continued explaining, half amused and half exasperated as she looked at Meredith. “Believe it or not, accepting his kindness is a favor for him. He’s odd like that.”

Somehow, that made perfect sense while also being absolutely ridiculous.

“I guess I have no choice,” she mumbled, finally admitting defeat in the face of Joshua Davis’ absurdity. If that was what her master truly wanted though, no matter how odd and awkward it felt, Meredith would do it. She owed him too much not to.

She’d have to bring it up with her fellow Stars too.

If she had to suffer that headache, then so did they.

Pushing those thoughts aside though, Meredith covered herself in even more Protection Magic, summoned stronger swords and prepared herself to unleash her holy nails on every vampire. Every single Tepes member would get one of her creations through some part of their anatomy or another if she had any say in the matter.

Because even if she would have usually been reluctant to unleash such carnage, she couldn’t afford to hold back. Maybe Professor Davis wanted her to make a name for herself because it’d benefit him, or for some other selfish reason. Even if he didn’t though, and Jeanne was actually right in what she said, then Meredith would do her best all the same.

If that's what she had to do to pay some of the man’s kindness back, then everyone would know her name.

That aligned perfectly with her own goals too, so maybe it was a gift from above.

[}-o-{]

[Carmilla Karnstein]

The moment in which the standoff broke was one that shook the battlefield.

Literally.

For a solid minute since the dragon joined the battlefield, the two had just stood there facing each other. Apparently, the creature hadn’t been at all bothered by the spells Davis had pointed his way. That was either very brave, very stupid, or very prideful. If Carmilla had to guess though, she’d go for a combination of the latter two.

As for everyone else… Well, nobody wanted to get close to those two. Her faction knew what a monster Davis could be, and everyone knew the monster that Grendell was, just by being in his presence. And that was before the human unleashed the full might of who he was instead of playing the weakling. Suddenly, there were two powerhouses, the two strongest beings around, looking at each other, waiting for something to set things off.

And that something was the dragon, kicking off towards Davis in a move that shook the very ground under their feet and made the very battlefield whimper. The thing’s fist connected with nothing but sand though, as the magician’s body seemingly turned into fine grains in the wind… except he seemed to be in control of those, because he reshaped himself around the dragon and then slashed at him with one of his daggers.

That was how the biggest encounter in the whole battlefield began and Carmilla couldn’t help but stare at it, almost forgetting that there were more enemies to deal with and more battles to be had. Almost, but not quite. She turned back to what she’d been doing after a moment, but she never quite could set them aside in her mind, never quite could turn her attention away completely.

Fortunately, she wasn’t the only one.

Whether out of fear or awe or both, everyone in the battlefield seemed to have their attention split between whatever they were doing and the fight between a human and a dragon. Not that Carmilla was surprised. The two were absolute powerhouses even to her. Everyone was, at the very least, wary of the two and becoming collateral damage from that particular duel. 

So, it was no wonder that everyone kept a close eye on how it went there. There was also the fact that it was clear whoever won would have a great impact on the skirmish that they had started. Because if Joshua won, then the Tepes faction would be done for. If Grendel did, then things might even out quite a bit. Davis’ allies were still an advantage, but so would be Grendel for their enemies. So, she imagined the scales might find a very annoying balance…

And that wasn’t something she wanted to happen.

‘You better win, Davis,’ she thought to herself, her hand wrapped around the neck of a Tepes while she looked at the ongoing battle. Davis seemed to be going for a thousand cuts approach, chipping away at Grendel with his daggers, teleporting and transforming into sand to avoid the dragon’s attacks.

However, that hadn’t quite worked when the creature had used his breath against Davis. Now, one of his flannel shirt’s sleeves had been burned and his arm and the side of the man’s face was a rather worrying red hue. There were no signs of slowing down from either of them, however.

No surprises in regards to Grendel, since the Evil Dragon was known for being unrelenting. However, not many people could say they withstood dragon fire and shrugged it off, much less a human. So, Carmilla’s already considerable respect for Davis only grew.

Impressive as that was though, it was also concerning, because as incredibly powerful as the human had turned out to be, she rather doubted he could outlast Grendel in a battle of attrition. Even with all his wards backing him up, she could feel it. The scales weren’t even, much less tipped in his favor.

Davis was going to lose.

‘That can’t happen,’ she thought, decisively if with a tinge of fear running down her spine. She couldn’t let her chance slip through her fingers. She just couldn’t. So, Carmila started scheming. Maybe she could join that fight, help Davis recover some ground. A few nudges here and there and their chances might go back to even. If they didn’t turn in their favor, but she’d leave the optimism for some other time.

It would be risky, of course. She didn’t fancy her chances in a battle against an Evil Dragon, at all. However, when the other option was possible defeat? That changed things.

Alas, before she did anything, someone else beat her to it.

And that someone was a gargantuan snake, slithering behind Davis and fixing the dragon with a glare. She hadn’t been subjected to that particular thing, but Carmilla had seen not at all weak vampires drop dead with a gaze. Still, she’d admit to being surprised when she saw Grendel pause and hiss.

“Gave up on the one on one, did you? It’ll take more than that to take me down, human,” the dragon rumbled, unleashing another breath attack that seemed to scorch even Davis’ sand form, if the way he reformed with charred clothes and more red skin was any indication.

“Good thing I have more, right?” was all the human said, calm as anyone could be despite his injuries. How did he manage to be that calm? Those injuries had to hurt, even if they weren’t deep. That was dragon fire, after all. Carmilla knew it might as well be sunlight when used against vampires, so how was this human acting like nothing was going on?

As for the more that Davis was talking about? It came in the form of a bird singing in the sky and lightning and thunder in feline form. The latter appeared in a split second beside the dragon, unleashing the might of a storm on the creature’s arm and leaving smoking, broken scales all over, not unlike the clothes of her master were on the other side of the battlefield.

“We’re just getting started, Grendel,” Davis said, a grin on his face.

And Carmilla found herself very glad that the man was on her side.

[}-o-{]

[Joshua Davis]

Fighting one on one was all well and good, but there was no need for that. What was Grendel going to do? Call reinforcements? He didn’t have anyone on his side half as strong as Joshua’s. Any vampire that tried to get involved would get deleted by either Cheshire or Nagini, maybe even Jeanne, Meredith, Kuroka or Carmilla.

So, now it was Joshua and three of his familiars versus the dragon.

He liked those chances a lot more than with just himself. The dragon fire could burn him even in his sand form, so that had been troublesome. The only reason he wasn’t rolling on the ground in pain was because he had boons taking care of the damage, but it was a slow thing. Dragon fire was no joke at all, evidently, and not even his research had prepared him for that completely.

He’d need to work on those spells later, he decided.

For the moment, he had a fight to get on with.

At least Setan Kober and Carnwennan were having the time of their lives. The daggers sang when they cut through Grendel’s scales. They rejoiced when he blocked claws and fangs with them. They were revelled all throughout the fight. The demonic kris was boosting him like it never had before and he was barely feeling any difference from the usual tinge of anger in his emotions. The holy dagger hadn’t made a single strike that hadn’t sneaked through Grendel’s defenses, finding holes between scales that Joshua was almost sure didn’t even exist until the weapon went for it.

Great as that was though, it was nice to have back up. Margalo would help him be even faster, stronger and, most importantly, deal better with the burns from the dragon fire, soothing the pain and calming his mind. Cheshire would help him double team Grendel and that’d minimize the danger, since they’d be able to bail each other out of breath attacks… for the most part. Then there was Nagini, eating away at the dragon’s energies with her gaze, especially whenever the creature sent an annoyed look towards the snake. Eye contact was key for the newly evolved basilisk, after all. It made her already terrifying gaze that much worse.

Where Joshua had felt victory slipping through his fingers before, he now was almost assured a victory. Grendel just couldn’t keep up with two opponents that were being buffed while he was being debuffed himself. It was a deadly combination, Joshua knew. He was just lucky that Morag wasn’t there to add insult to injury with poisonous and hindering webs. Or that Friday wasn’t battle ready enough to be more actively shaping spells around him.

Yes, Joshua couldn’t help to be able to unleash the full might of his family on Khaos Brigade, but it wasn’t the time just yet.

Maybe it never would be, but he’d be fine with that if it meant the terrorist organization was dealt with faster than expected.

“Need extra help?” Jeanne offered in his ear through their communication artifacts. Joshua almost instinctively went to tell her no, but then paused, tilted his head and considered that for a moment. Sure, Jeanne wasn’t as strong as his familiars, but she wasn’t weak either. Hell, she could be stronger… for a short moment.

“Do you think you can give a hand without taking yourself out?” he asked, during a moment in which he was more sand than flesh while Cheshire pulled Grendel’s attention away with a well timed lightning enhanced clawing. Just taking a moment to speak could be complicated, after all, so he’d rather play it safe as much as possible. The battle might feel under control, but he was taking no chances when facing an Evil Dragon, of all things.

“Sure thing. Give me an opening,” was all Jeanne replied with and he narrowed his eyes looking for a chance to do just that. Cheshire was in on the plan a moment later after a quick bond communication. Between the two of them, it wasn’t difficult to nudge Grendel a little. A stab in the back, a lightning shot, a teleport… and then he’d turned his back on where Jeanne was.

That’s when the Maiden made an appearance, the gigantic armor made of blades materializing over and around Jeanne. Its just as humongous sword was raised high up… before it was brought down like a guillotine. The dragon almost reacted to it too, bringing his hands up to block the attack with his claws. Joshua wasn’t about to let that happen though.

Cheshire smacked one of the hands away while he stabbed the other one down.

And then the sword cut through the dragon’s shoulder, taking off one of his arms. ‘That’s a good scale tipper if there ever was one,’ he thought with a grin. Grendel was strong, for sure, but his most dangerous aspect was that he’d keep going like a trainwreck. No matter how much damage, he’d keep going.

That’s why he was dangerous in a one on one. However, as things stood, he was just accumulating damage and getting weakened much faster than they were. They had things well enough in hand. Their win was within sight, Joshua knew. They just needed to deliver the finishing touches.

“Great job, Jeanne,” he praised with a grin.

“Don’t mention it,” his sister replied, a little out of breath. “That’s it unless I want to tire myself out though.”

“More than enough,” he reassured her, and he meant it. That single slash had done all that it needed to do and more. Joshua couldn’t have asked for more, truly.

However, before he could celebrate too much though, he paused, eyes narrowing. ‘Now, of all times? When we’re almost done?’ he thought, cursed internally and growing uneasy. Because someone was attacking the outside of his spell perimeter and that could only mean one thing.

Khaos Brigade had decided to drop by.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Well, the battle was going too well, wasn’t it? Also, for some reason it doesn’t quite hit me how insane Joshua – and even other characters – are until I gotta look at them through the eyes of other characters. It’s… interesting. I guess that’s one of the reasons why I enjoy writing different PoVs.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Do you have a favorite arc or plot line in this story so far? If you do, which one is it and why?

See you.