Game of Monsters - 186

Broken Down-

[Joshua Davis]

“They are funny to watch,” Morag commented, clinging to his back with all her legs and wrapping her arms around his neck as she peeked over his shoulder. “Dramatic,” she added, like that was the most amusing thing ever.

And Joshua kind of got it, really. Watching Sona and Rias have a mock Rating Game, one would think they were fighting for their lives. It put into perspective that “Young Devil Tournament” they had gone through. After all, even if they were the future of Devilkind, the younger generation had literal hundreds of years to develop before they even stopped being called young, considering their race.

So, the gathering and all that was involved with that was mostly dramatics and showing off. Nobody actually expected them to do much of a showing, really. Although, this one might have been a special case. Not only because Rias and Sona were siblings of Satans, but also because… Well, the current generation was anything but normal. Rias had quite the peerage even without Issei in it. Sona was developing a Rating Game school that could change devil society. And Sairaorg was a powerhouse nobody wanted to underestimate now. Hell, even the other young devils of their generation were nothing to scoff at, even if they didn’t quite reach those three’s heights.

“Don’t let them hear you say that,” he replied with a smile on his face.

It was nice to see those two have fun in their own way, having a good time. It was better than them having the weight of the world on their shoulders like they did in canon DxD. Instead of worrying about Khaos Brigade, they worried about falling behind each other, they worried about normal devil things, they might even worry about regular girl things.

And Joshua was happy to see that, in all honesty, even if he was the one that ended up with Khaos’ weight on him. It wasn’t like it was their fault, or even like he’d done it for them. He’d ended up where he was for his own reasons, so it was… not fine, but he could hardly blame them or resent them.

It was a nice side effect though, that they had an easier time of things.

“They are very… showy,” Kunou commented, momentarily taking a break from her ice cream to throw that comment in. Joshua got where both her and Morag were coming from, really he did. Every move both of the devils made had its theatrical flare, they waved their arms around to look good, not to better control their spells, they called move names when they clearly didn’t need to for any mnemonic reason, they had unnecessarily flashy techniques, looking like they were trying to dance more than fight.

However…

“Makes for good entertainment, right? And they don’t need to fight the boring way, like we do,” he told them and Kunou hummed and nodded. Morag had a harder time understanding, but that wasn’t surprising. She was one of those included in his “we”, after all.

“I think you guys are a lot cooler when you train,” Kunou declared her very honest – and not at all biased, of course – opinion. “Simple, but more… imposing, is that the word?”

“How am I supposed to know?” he answered with, amused and snorting when the girl huffed and turned back forward. Her attention went back to being split between her ice cream and the spar going on in front of them. Although, he could guess what she meant. There was something more decisive to actual fighting. It was not a game, not a show. What it lacked in flashy moves and artistic techniques, it made up for in sheer power and blunt effectiveness.

With conversation over, for the moment, he tilted his head and checked on Friday. The living piece of magic had moved past the clingy phase she’d started on, it seemed, for the most part. She still had her moments, but she was a lot less intense about it. She liked to watch, which he guessed made sense when there wasn’t much point in her making use of the other parts of what made her other than the sensory spells.

‘Everything alright?’ he asked in his mind, through their bond. She paused what she was doing, which was spectating the spar going on with them, and turned her focus towards him. She didn’t need to give her full attention to him, or anyone or anything, but she always seemed to when it came to him, his familiars and Kunou. Yasaka, Serafall, Gabriel, Jeanne and Asia seemed to be on a lower step in the ladder of her priorities, it seemed.

Then, Joshua’s eyebrows shot up at the response he got. Usually, Friday would just send him some kind of emotion or an impression of something as a response. For example, he expected some excitement if she was having fun with the match or maybe disappointment if she was unimpressed.

However, what he got was something different. It was… a struggle, sort of. It was like she was trying to communicate something to him but all the attempts fell short, fizzled out or broke before they ever reached him. It was like having something almost remembered just out of reach in one’s mind. He was sure he’d catch it if he tried and yet… no matter how much he did and how much Friday pushed, whatever it was that she wanted to do didn’t get across.

‘Everything alright, girl?’ he asked and he received a much more normal response from her, if one filled with disappointment and frustration. ‘I’m sure you’ll get the hang of whatever it is you’re trying soon enough,’ he reassured and the spell bounced back fairly well. She was still a little bummed, but some words were enough for the moment.

Joshua was happy about that, because if it had been more complex or problematic, he might have failed miserably at dealing with her. She was much too… childlike for him. Kunou was a smart girl that had grown too quickly and Morag was too, if differently. Friday though? She was much younger and thus scared him all the more. If he messed up, after all, it could mark her.

So far though, he’d managed well enough though, he supposed.

Especially considering how now Friday was looking at him and nudging him to do something. It reminded him of Kunou asking for a show or to be taught something cool regarding Illusion magic. So, like the absolute pushover he was, he decided to indulge her.

“Morag, can you get off and stay with Kunou?” he asked, cracking his neck and ruffling the spider girl’s hair with a smile. “I’m gonna show that lot how to fight properly,” he added, not really meaning what he said. He could appreciate some dramatics once in a while, after all, hypocritical as that was. If he hadn’t been motivated enough, the excited looks Kunou and Morag gave him certainly did the trick. “Hey!” he called, flexing his magic and the spells around the place to get the devils’ attention. “I’m joining,” he added with a smirk.

And if the lot paled at that announcement, it was just amusing to him.

[}-o-{]

“Joshua is merciless.”

“Thanks.”

“Wasn’t a compliment,” Koneko replied, but he just smiled at her. She didn’t pout per se, but she did her equivalent of such, pursing her lips and resolutely looking away from him. “Meanie.”

“That’s me. Biggest meanie this side of the Japan,” he said exaggeratedly and jokingly, channeling his inner Domino for a second. Then he chuckled and brought his fresh cup of tea to his lips to take a sip. “And you guys really need to train more seriously because that was…”

“Shut up,” Koneko told him dryly while the rest of her fellow peerage members groaned and moaned where they laid on the floor. Koneko was the one that was the most… put together, really. Not only had her Rook piece helped her weather most of the fight, but… Well, Joshua had taken it the smallest bit easier on her.

He was fond of her, sue him.

Besides, Koneko was a great sister figure for Kunou alongside his familiars. Furthermore, she was a more normal one too, which was important. He loved Morag to bits, but she was not what he’d call a well adjusted girl by any means. Evolving from a regular spider to what she was now would do that to someone, he guessed.

So, it was really up to Koneko and Ravel to be good models for the rest of his children to follow. Not that he’d adopted either of them, not really, but still. They’d fallen into a sibling role with Kunou, not him, unlike Jeanne and Asia, so, it was what it was.

“Not their fault they aren’t monsters like you, Joshua,” Kuroka told them, apparently highly amused. She’d arrived halfway through the spar – massacre, more like, but calling it that was more mean than the beating he’d given them – after she was done with her own training with Raynare, Cheshire and Nagini. It seemed that the black-haired youkai had fun watching them.

“They should try harder,” he replied mercilessly. If he was going to be accused of being mean, he might as well act the part. Although, he wasn’t even really being so, not really. Sona and Rias really did need to be stronger. It was unreasonable to expect them to be so, but the world didn’t care for what was reasonable and what wasn’t.

The two needed to be strong if they didn’t want to be eaten alive by supernatural society. He’d do his best to help them, of course, nevermind Serafall and Sirzechs, but they could only do so much. Ultimately, Rias and Sona would only have themselves to rely on. Having straightforward strength wasn’t the only path, or even the most effective one, but it certainly helped, and a lot.

“Harsh,” Kuroka said, but she laughed right after, so he guessed she was more amused than anything. Behind her, walking past, Raynare scoffed. “What’s the matter, Ray-Ray?”

“Don’t call me that,” the fallen hissed. “And they are weaklings, that’s all,” she said flatly. It was somewhat funny, Joshua thought, that Raynare saw them all like weaklings when they’d thoroughly kicked her ass in canon. Yet, there they were, absolutely way below her league. Raynare could probably kick their asses just as much as Joshua could, considering how much he’d held back.

Then again, she trained like her life depended on it every single day while Sona and Rias played regular school girls and did their own things. In fairness though, they probably had to do special classes for their own things, like Kunou’s own ones about politics and all that stuff. Joshua couldn’t care less, but he imagined that was the case. So… yeah…

“Speaking of, how’d it go on your side of things?”

“Ray-Ray is still as intense as usual~” Kuroka answered, skipping around the table towards the fridge to get herself a drink. Her chipper attitude apparently drew a whole lot of annoyance from the Gremory and Sitri peerages that were laid out around them and recovering from their training. Joshua was happy to see that Koneko wasn’t included in that, although it might have been because she wasn’t as beaten up as the rest of them. “It’s so difficult to keep up with those three though, can’t I just not~?” the youkai asked, pouting and giving him her best kitten cat eyes.

Alas, hers wasn’t nearly as effective as Kunou’s or Morag’s, nevermind those two combined.

“No.”

“A meanie, indeed,” Kuroka replied with a huff. She hadn’t really been trying though. She’d earned herself a lot of goodwill with her help during the Kyoto attack, after all, but she stayed, she helped, she trained. She even insisted on that herself from time to time, even if it was rare.

Joshua wouldn’t have cared if she ditched everything and went on to live her life. He’d even help her shrug off whatever issue the devils might still have with her too, considering Serafall and Sirzechs were still keeping her in bureaucratic limbo, as far as the world was concerned. He would have even helped her with Koneko.

He’d also told her as much too.

She’d decided to stay all on her own though. She’d said something playful about the accommodations being too good to pass on and that her vacations around the world had been good enough… And then she’d asked if it was really okay if she stayed, all serious and nervous and unlike herself.

So, there they were, he supposed.

“Stay away from men like him, Shirone. Too serious, no fun at all,” Kuroka “advised” and Koneko just looked up, blinked at her and then went back to her own tea and snacks. “What have they done to you?” the older nekoshou mock-despaired.

“Made her a sensible person?” he asked, getting an agreeing hum from the white-haired girl and making Kuroka slump. “Failed cool older sister attempt aside-”

“Hey!”

“-you feel like joining Kunou and Morag for cards? Morag is having some trouble learning that she has to have some cards that aren’t spider themed, at least until we make more of those,” he commented and Koneko looked up. She took a moment to process the offer, blinking at him, and then she nodded. “Cool.”

“Just as long as the fire chicken isn’t there,” the nekoshou commented and he looked at her once more.

“Good idea. I’ll give Ravel a call,” he replied with a smile that only widened when her eye twitched. That rivalry or whatever the two of them had going was kind of funny. It wasn’t just amusement that pushed him to do that kind of thing though. It was also the fact that he could tell that they didn’t hate each other.

They appreciated each other, but they had their own weird, antagonistic way of doing so. Kind of like Serafall and Gabriel, they competed a lot and they annoyed each other plenty, but they could work well enough together and they “secretly” respected and even liked each other. It was just about the oddest way of having a rivalry Joshua had ever seen, but that was how it was.

People weren’t his thing, so he guessed he shouldn’t try to understand.

“If I must,” Koneko mumbled resignedly.

And Joshua just grinned.

[}-o-{]

[Meredith Ordinton]

“I see you’re doing well,” her teacher commented, flipping Carnwennan between regular grip and reverse grip absentmindedly. She could almost hear the holy dagger singing in his hand, happy to be used, to show what it could do, even in such a limited situation. She couldn’t tell what Setan Kober thought on the matter – she didn’t have any connection with Demonic artifacts, after all –, but it said a lot that Joshua barely did anything with the kris other than use it.

“... Somewhat,” she replied in between laboured breaths.

Doing well wasn’t what Meredith would call how she was at the moment. Her muscles burned and cried. Her bones felt brittle and her joints stiff. Her blood rushed through her veins like it would never be fast enough. Her lungs worked overtime and she still felt like she was suffocating.

But at least Joshua had broken a sweat… probably… she thought he did, at least…

That was a win in her books, or would be, if it actually happened.

She couldn’t quite tell, to be honest.

Meredith knew better than to expect anything else other than maybe that though. She’d take that as progress and be happy with it, truly. Better than the times in which he just played with her and wasn’t even the smallest bit winded. Even still though, she needed to get better. Beyond all else, that’d remain true.

Because she wasn’t all that good as a contract magician, like Dion, or George, or Karin, or even Levi. She was a warrior, and that meant that she couldn’t take as many jobs as those did. After all, she needed to be careful not to get herself on a side or situation that would screw over not only herself, but also her association and her master, or their reputations.

Everything boiled down to her needing to get better, get stronger. Meredith would never be able to make the most of her potential with regular contracts, unlike her fellow stars. No, what she could do was be useful, be another set of hands, another piece of magic and another weapon, ready to be of use when needed. She could be all that for Joshua, her master, in order to repay some of her debt, even if it’d never be enough.

She’d be a soldier, and she had to hope it’d be enough.

“You need to be more positive,” Joshua told her with a chuckle, as if he weren’t perfectly fine while she was on her last legs. “You’ve progressed a lot. It just doesn’t show on me,” he commented, likely noticing her stare. “Hm, maybe I should set you up with different spar partners, people more around your level,” he added, tilting his head as if he were trying to analize her, like she was a spell circle project presented to him.

She held back the urge to try and straighten herself and make herself more presentable.

That’d just look silly.

… Right?

“Yeah, I’ll do that, I think. And I have some pretty good ideas on that front,” Joshua commented idly, sounding like he was talking more to himself than to Meredith. In the meantime, she wondered if what he was saying was true or if he was going to set her up with someone that would kick her ass just as thoroughly. Considering the kind of people that gathered around Joshua, there was a non-zero chance that could happen. “In the meantime, everything alright on you guys’ side?” he asked, waving his hand and making a bottle of water appear at her feet.

She wasted no time at all picking it up and taking a gulp of it.

Then she went to answer.

“Just fine. Everyone’s working to get better and get connections,” she said, feeling a pang of concern for herself. She was falling behind on the latter department, despite likely being the best at the former. Alas… That was the nature of her position.

“Hm.” Joshua seemed like he’d say something else, once more staring at her like a complicated calculation… or like a circle someone had presented with barely any work put into it. “Now, what’s the honest answer?”

“It wasn’t a lie,” Meredith protested, but she folded like a cheap suit when he raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m just… falling behind…” she mumbled, looking away from him.

“That’s more like it,” he commented casually, and she noticed him walking towards her from the corner of her eyes. She didn’t look at him though. She was too ashamed. After all that the man had done for her, she couldn’t even become someone noteworthy. What was the point of having strength, of being a fighter, if she couldn’t fight her way to a good position, to true power.

Her fight against the Satan descendant had been a great boost, but without more of those, her reputation wouldn’t grow that much. People would forget, or attribute it all to Joshua and Agnes, like some were already doing. Meredith also couldn’t really push her luck with jobs unless she wanted to be seen as a mercenary, which she didn’t. It’d taint Joshua’s reputation to do that. She could not allow that to happen.

“What do you need?” he asked and she had a “nothing” at the tip of her tongue. However, she committed the grave mistake of turning to look at him. His blue eyes broke her resolve like few things ever had.

“... I need to show off,” she answered with a slight shrug, looking away once more. “Strength is worth little if nobody knows it’s there.”

“Hm, that can be arranged too,” Joshua said and she tried not to get her hopes up too much. “As it turns out, I’m about to be in the middle of a fairly big fight. You interested?”

“Yes,” she answered immediately, without hesitation. And then, almost like an afterthought, she added: “What’d we be fighting?”

“Vampires and, maybe, dragons.”

“... What?”

[}-o-{]

[Carmilla Karnstein]

“So, we’re ready, it seems,” Davis commented idly, taking a sip of his tea like it was just another Tuesday and he wasn’t about to help her recover her status, her position, her power. He sat there on the couch like he wasn’t organizing a battle for her faction to get out from under the Tepes’ thumb.

“Ready as we’ll ever be, Josh,” the man’s sister commented, a holy sword in her hand, just like the auburn-haired girl that stood stiffly behind Davis, like the most awkward bodyguard Carmilla had ever seen. “When are we doing this?” the girl commented impatiently, a sentiment that Carmilla could admit to agree on, even though she was human. “I have school tomorrow?”

“Yeah, you’ve only told me five times. As if you were a model student or something.”

… They were all mad.

Carmilla was going to go into a battle she’d already lost once in the past with insane people on her side. And she was desperate enough that she couldn’t consider any of it all that bad of an idea, despite how terrible things were looking. She really needed things to work or she’d do something drastic. She couldn’t take much more.

“Whenever you want to go, we go, Joshua~” the nekoshou commented, although her statement was somewhat undermined by the fact that she was positively devouring the snacks that had been presented to her. Beside her, almost as stiff as Davis’ pet human-bodyguard-apprentice? or whatever she was, was the fallen, sitting like a soldier… or a machine. She’d barely moved or done much of anything. She seemed on the wait to pounce though, like a coiled spring.

“Just waiting for a good moment, is all,” Davis told them, waving them off with a roll of his eyes. What was that even supposed to mean though? Carmilla had no idea and she had a feeling that asking would just earn her a very useless cryptic answer.

The most infuriating thing was that she had to keep her people on stand by as they waited. Everyone was ready for a war, short or long. Everyone was standing, reading to jump into a battlefield and likely die. Everyone was waiting for the call, for the order.

And Carmilla was waiting for the same, and she sympathized completely with them.

It was nerve wracking, the wait. She wasn’t afraid, or nervous, but she was… restless. She wanted it all to be over. She wanted things to get underway. She was tired of waiting, of biding her time. It had been one thing while she had no other options than keeping her head down. Now that she could fight back, now that it was a possibility without certain death at the end of it, she wanted to get on with it.

“So impatient,” Davis commented, finishing his cup of tea. Carmilla swore, if he asked for another… She’d get him another, but she’d be very annoyed about it. Fortunately, the man just leaned back, crossed his legs and rested his hands on his knee. “Just gotta wait for the moment where their armor shifts, when we can stab through it. Their people are moving about as normal. They know nothing. So, eventually, there’s gonna be a weakness exposed for us to take advantage of. Patience,” the man explained and it all made sense…

But that didn’t mean Carmilla couldn’t wish it happened sooner. She was old and as such she had learned to be patient. But her pride had been bruised so much after their loss to the Tepes, she’d seen her people be humiliated so much, she’d been mocked so much… She wanted it to end already, now that the possibility was within sight.

“There we are,” Davis said, perking up and grinning, and Carmilla almost jumped. “Let’s go, everyone,” he added as he cracked his neck and shrugged his shoulders.

And then the spells everywhere came to life. The giant automaton leaned down, peering at them like a gigantic microscope. The gargantuan beast snarled at them, ready to take a bite of anyone it felt like. The towering guardian presented its shield, prepared to protect and support.

With that, the battle against the Tepes was on.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Some slice of life, some character development and the end of a plotline finally underway. Joshua got done with his preparations for the vampire thing surprisingly quick, I’ll admit. Then again, this arc came a lot later than I expected, so I guess he was a bit overpowered. Consequences of doing many side-quests, huh?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Speaking of side-quests. Do you do side-quests? I can’t not do them, unless they are so exceedingly annoying in some way that I can’t be bothered. For the most part, I tend to try and complete everything though.

See you.