Game of Monsters - 150 (Patreon)

-Burn With Me-

[Joshua Davis]

‘Things got a little difficult,’ he thought, narrowing his eyes as he kept up the barrier stopping Kokabiel’s attack. He was getting a deja vu feeling from the last time he’d had to deal directly with the fallen angel, quite honestly. An unrelenting attack zapping at his energy reserves incessantly and with little to do other than hold on. Indeed, quite a familiar situation.

Except that this time, it was going quite differently from back then. For one, his spells were holding up much better. His arrays were feeding him plenty of energy to protect himself while drawing not only from Kokabiel himself but also his attack. His hexes and wards were taking all the energy from both and his boons were making sure to hold everything together while also powering him up.

Not only that, but he was also receiving a fair amount of support from the Egyptians. The rush of energy from the deities that were in quite a bit of agreement with his current actions was, he suspected, enough to keep him up by themselves, nevermind with extra support that he provided for himself.

He didn’t have time to sit there and wait for Kokabiel to get tired though.

Thoth had helped him punch through whatever barrier Khaos had set around House of Water to cut off communications once more, but not even with that had he been able to get a hold of Serafall. His best guess was that they either had decided to err on the side of caution with her or she was involved in a third front of the whole mess. Either way, he’d been forced to call on his Plan B.

Not one that he was a fan of, but needs must.

No way he’d leave Yasaka and Kunou to their luck. Defenses around their place were strong, but they’d been broken through once and he hadn’t been able to improve them all that much. Even without knowing who was going there, he’d have made sure to go all out either way. He couldn’t and wouldn’t hold back when trying to protect his family.

He wasn’t going to lose a second one.

So, he pulled on all the contacts he had, which is to say Jeanne, Kuroka, Issei and Raynare. He’d have called for more, like Sairaorg, but even Thoth’s help had its limits and he’d called for those that were the closest to respond to the call. It couldn’t have taken those he was able to call more than a few minutes, and that was because Jeanne and Issei were in school. Kuroka and Raynare likely were ready much faster, even if they had to go through preparations… and maybe have Kuroka help Raynare out with Incinerate Anthem.

Was it dangerous to give the fallen the Longinus gear?...

Joshua didn’t think so. Raynare was reaching ridiculous levels of devotion, for one. For another, no way she’d risk getting on his bad side when he was her key to having more wings. No, he was confident he had her character right. If anything, he felt he might be underestimating her desire for strength and her loyalty to him.

All of them together, with Yasaka and his defenses, should be able to, at least, hold out until he got there.

Not to say that he was going to bet everything on that, no. Joshua was already working on how to get there faster. The fight in front of him was in his favor, he knew. Even with Kokabiel going full power and having powered himself up with Ophis’ boost, Joshua still had the upper hand. The power of his constant training, his system, the Egyptian pantheon and his preparation wasn’t going to be defeated just like that.

He lived working to be ready for situations such as that, because he knew they were all around the corner. No way he would lose so easily with everything that was on the line. ‘Now, how do I cut you down?’ he wondered, his thoughts a little affected by the many presences “around” him. Not only were the deities mixing up with him, but Setan Kober and Carnwennan were thoroughly enjoying themselves too.

The daggers most of all seemed to be the ones tugging at his mind. They were very excited, considering they’d seen a lot more action than they usually did. Good for them, but the pull on his mind wasn’t appreciated at all. Fortunately, it wasn’t bad enough to be more than a mildly annoying mental itch, but still.

Either way, that wasn’t the moment to focus on them.

Joshua needed to deal with Kokabiel faster.

Apparently, it was the fallen that got tired of their stalemate first, however. The Cadre added another target to his massive lightning attack, without even letting up the one that all but bound Joshua where he was, in front of Agnes. The second attack was directed at Meredith and Morag, unsurprisingly.

He was kind of expecting that though, so Joshua pulled on all his blessings and skills. Shed improved his reflexes, allowing him to react on time. Nephthys improved his casting, so that he could cast fast enough. And Set, Set gave him that extra push, wishing to see Kokabiel dead already just as much as Joshua himself did.

The shield was up just in time. Joshua was mildly surprised that Kokabiel just went ahead even though Katerea was there, like she wasn’t his ally. However, it wasn’t like he was shocked by any means. It was unexpected, but not outside of the realm of what he’d have thought the fallen might do.

‘Annoying,’ he thought, expanding the shield he’d cast to cover the devil too. Not because of any sort of sympathy or pity, but because he wanted test subjects. That woman had Ophis’ boost in her. Creseurey probably held an unused one, considering how fast he’d killed him. Shalba probably wouldn’t survive long enough for Joshua to help him… And Kokabiel’s continued state of living wasn’t guaranteed, really.

So, he wanted someone with the boost in themselves so that he could run some tests. He rather doubted he could pull off another Raynare, but Serafall was bound to like it if he handed her the original Leviathan’s descendant. It’d probably help in some political move that he couldn’t care to think through at that very moment.

Besides, the more he blocked, the more Kokabiel wasted energy.

With two attacks barrelling forward, the fallen was getting tired twice as fast, expectedly. Joshua still could keep up, for sure. At least, longer than Kokabiel could, if his readings on the energies were correct. However, he didn’t want to just wait it out. He needed to go to Kyoto to check on Yasaka and Kunou. ‘How do I do that…?’ he wondered, frown in place.

Then an idea appeared in his mind and a grin did so on his face.

He felt Carnwennan sing through their odd connection.

‘Carn first and then you, Kober,’ he thought and both the knightly and the berserker presences of his daggers calmed down… sort of. They were both very eager for what was to come, after all. So, Joshua pulled on Shed’s connection the smallest bit more.

He felt his body strain in the oddest way possible as he did that.

‘Is this what Raynare felt when I gave her the extra wings?’ he wondered, because he felt like his self was straining. Not his muscles, nor his bones, nor his nerves or even his mind. There was something in him that Joshua felt like was being pushed a little too much. It was odd and wrong, but he pushed the smallest bit. He didn’t need much, just a little…

He needed to reach it, the point where he could keep the shields and also do what he planned to do. It was bound to help a lot. ‘Come on,’ he urged himself, grabbing both Carnwennan and Setan Kober and preparing himself. His senses sharpened as his connection made him even more of a hunter and then his hands adjusted as he prepared to hunt.

‘Look,’ he thought, doing just that, not with his eyes but with his other senses. He checked Magic Sense, Life Sense and all his spells. ‘There.’ It didn’t take long to locate Kokabiel in between all the storm of energy that was going on. The fallen was growing more unstable though and that was concerning. Before Joshua could go through with his plan, he had to set up a dome of shields around Kokabiel.

Else, he’d likely have obliterated the entirety of House of Water’s base.

That was a little more taxing energy wise and this time things got a little out of hand. After all, Kokabiel just needed to explode outwards in lightning, there was no finesse or control needed, which meant that while he used more energy to cover more ground, he was spending less in terms of proportion.

Joshua, for his part, was the opposite. He needed to conjure shields all over the place to cover all angles, and that required a measure of control that made it more expensive. Suddenly, the long run wasn’t so certain. Which made the fact that he had a plan very reassuring.

Zeroing in on Kokabiel, he pulled his arm back.

And then he threw Carnwennan right at the fallen.

The Holy Dagger was at its best when going for unexpected attacks. The blade always found a way to sneak through defenses, go unnoticed and overall stab where it was a surprise. Very sneaky for a weapon that seemed so… noble and dutiful. Alas, that was what Carnwennan was, like a knightly assassin, as it were, sneaking through the night.

Carnwennan did just that at that very moment, flying true by its own path and the power of Joshua’s skill, his system, Shed’s Hunter domain and even a little of Set’s Violence. All of those factors combined together to make the dagger find its target through the storm, embedding itself somewhere in Kokabiel’s lower torso. Didn’t seem to do much to stop the fallen, by the looks of things, but that was fine. It was a first step and slowly debilitating enemies was Joshua’s specialty.

Setan Kober almost rebelled against him in the split second that it took Joshua to go for a second attack, but he needed to make sure the attack was good. Otherwise, he was getting rid of his biggest weapons for no good reason. He needed to make both attacks worth it. He had some of Jeanne’s daggers on him, but he knew those wouldn’t survive Kokabiel’s onslaught once they got past his shields. No, Carnwennan and Setan Kober were the only ones that could manage that.

Still, if he waited too long, Kokabiel would be able to manage taking off the dagger from his body and that was also a no-no. Joshua had no doubt that his Holy weapon would make the fallen work for it in its own way. Even in spars they could cling stubbornly to their victims, eroding away at their energies if whoever had been hit was weak to them.

Kokabiel was ridiculously strong at that very moment though, so Joshua wasn’t betting on his weapons holding on for long.

It didn’t need to though, because the demonic kris flew not long after the holy dagger. Joshua could feel Setan Kober’s hunger even after he’d thrown it and while the weapon moved through the lightning. He couldn’t follow it much more than that by himself, but his senses and spells filled in the rest. He knew the exact moment when his weapon stabbed Kokabiel.

He also could pick up the damage his two weapons were doing and it showed in the fallen’s unrelenting attack. Lightning kept exploding outwards but it was contained and it kept being like that. The effect of the attacks showed on the energies though, Kokabiel’s was going down as both daggers ate away at his life and blood.

‘Checkmate.’

[}-o-{]

[Raynare]

“Take Incinerate Anthem and protect my family.”

Short and simple, those were her orders.

Granted, none of that was anywhere near simple.

Being given a Longinus was no simple matter at all. Raynare was still getting used to the fiery presence in her soul, the way it wanted to consume everything at the same time that it wanted to warm those suffering from the cold. She wondered if that feeling would ever not feel absolutely foreign in a similar yet completely different way to how Davis had changed her very self into something different to give her more wings.

Protecting the man’s family wasn’t going to be simple either, she knew. Even finding them had been a bit of a struggle, or it would have been if not for Davis’ sister. Then there was the fact that there were two Longinus on the other side that they had to fight off, hero descendants and overall very important people. Then again, Raynare had a faction leader and another Longinus by her side so…

Either way, none of that mattered.

Why? Because Davis had given her the orders. Thus, Raynare would see them through if it was the last thing she did. There was no way she was failing without dying in the process. That was the part that was simple, really.

Because Raynare might have gotten a new pair of wings and all that implied. She might even have been given a Longinus, which was about as big a deal as anything could be… But she knew, deep down, that she wouldn’t be satisfied with that. Her eyes had been opened to possibilities and now… Now there was no way she could ignore them.

She’d never be able to stray away from Joshua Davis, because he was the only man in existence that could give her what she wanted. Infinite potential, infinite strength, freedom. So, her resolution would hold firm just as infinitely. Her freedom might be a little limited, but what was so bad about being under someone when everyone else was under her anyway?

So… Raynare would follow her orders.

She would follow Davis.

For the sake of her freedom from everyone and everything else.

“Protect my family.”

Oh, was she going to protect them.

Incinerate Anthem poured purple flames out of her, almost with a will of its own. Although, knowing what little she did about it, that sounded about right. She’d need every bit of power she had, however, her four wings, Incinerate Anthem and Yasaka of Kyoto herself on her side.

Because in front of her stood Cao Cao’s descendant, wielding none other than the True Longinus itself.

With Balance Breaker.

‘And he’s fucking annoying,’ she thought to herself. True Longinus was already the stuff of nightmares for everyone, considering its attack power, being able to pierce through literally anything and doing devastating damage. Raynare’s opponent, however, was beyond even that, having reached Balance Breaker.

She’d already forgotten the name of it, some kind of sub-species Balance Breaker, but what she did know was that all seven of the orbs around the bastard did different things. One made things float, another redirected attacks, another teleported things and so on. There was not a single one though – so far, that is – that was more annoying than the one that took away her power and Yasaka’s. Fortunately, it didn’t last long, but the man could essentially take them out of the fight if he wanted to.

And that was absolute bullshit.

Furthermore, Raynare had just gotten Incinerate Anthem and this guy came and canceled her own Longinus with his own. She wanted to burn him to a crisp just because of that. She could also feel, somehow, the displeasure of her own newly obtained gear. It burned brighter whenever the effect ran out, for one, but she could also feel the way the energies of it shifted when she used it. A complete contrast to how it had felt when she’d first taken it back at Davis’ place. From a warm eager puppy to a blazing furious beast, that was the best comparison she could give.

Good thing that most of the other orb powers she’d seen weren’t more than an annoyance. Cao Cao didn’t hold a candle in front of Davis and his familiars when it came to be tricky to fight though. Raynare was happy with her performance so far, when she wasn’t being denied her new Sacred Gear.

‘Fuck!’ she cursed in her mind as the thrice be damned orb took away her flames once more.

Except… it was different this time.

Raynare paused, feeling a shift in her that confused her greatly. Before, she’d felt herself grow weaker as the thing touched her. This time though, she felt the same as usual… The same she’d been… before Incinerate Anthem. A twitch of her energies told her that her lightning was still with her, even if the flames weren’t.

She didn’t understand, but she didn’t need to.

She’d been training up to that point without the Sacred Gear and she was proud of the strength she held at the moment. So what if she didn’t have a Longinus? She extended her hand towards the accursed descendant and unleashed her lighting on him.

“What?!” she heard him exclaim and the surprise in his voice was music to her ears. Sure, maybe the fight would still be a struggle. Maybe she still felt a sliver of fear in her heart at not being full power against such an opponent...

Yet, somehow, Raynare could only find herself excited. Because this was what it was all about. All that grueling training and having her body, mind and soul reshapen, it had all been for the sake of moments like that. So that she could look crazy situations and people like that in the face…

And stand her ground.

This was her freedom.

[}-o-{]

[Jeanne Davis]

Arthur and Le Fay Pendragon – as they had introduced themselves before – were more than a little annoying.

Fighting them, Jeanne was finding out, was just like fighting Joshua, but if he were two people. The physical fighter on one side and the tricky magician on the other, something that made it entirely too bothersome to face them. Good thing Nagini and Margalo were on her side, or Jeanne was sure she’d have lost already.

Something that she couldn’t afford to let happen.

One of her swords blocked Arthur’s own blade and she grimaced as she heard her weapon crack. Blade Blacksmith’s creations were too weak in the face of Excalibur Ruler and Caliburn. Even her best combat sword, Relentless Justice, didn’t seem to stand even a semblance of a chance. Jeanne was finding that entirely too annoying.

Holy Swords were her thing.

“Pendragons,” the voices whispered to her, annoyance clear in their voices. “Powerful, unfair, their blood holds power and it shows,” they warned her. “Rare, for them to be on the side of the unjust, but not unheard of. Fight your best.”

‘I already know that,’ Jeanne thought with a frown. It wasn’t like she was holding back. She was giving it her all, making swords that would counter Le Fay’s magic and doing her best to keep Arthur away. Thank God for Margalo’s enhancement songs, because otherwise she was sure she’d have lost already. Well, that and Nagini keeping the magician entertained often with her relentless assault, her massive body and her energy disturbing gaze.

‘I need to do more,’ Jeanne thought to herself.

Kunou was behind her, and these people were after Yasaka. Her niece and her sister-in-law – if not officially in either case – were in danger. The sweet girl that looked up to her and the woman that made her brother happy. Two members of her quickly growing family, her true family that she’d finally gotten after so long without.

“Auntie Jeanne!” she remembered Kunou calling to her more than once, adorable and excited as always. A stark contrast to the panicked cries she’d hear from time to time coming from behind her.

“Then do more,” the voices told her, as if it were that easy.

However, Jeanne couldn’t falter now, she couldn’t allow herself to. She needed to put more effort into it, which is exactly what she did. She pushed more power into her swords, more emotion and they came out stronger. Joshua and her had worked so much on them ever since she’d unlocked the Sacred Gear, and she wasn’t about to be found lacking when it counted.

Neither of them knew why she couldn’t reach Balance Breaker yet, especially after Hyoudou had done so with but a simple nudge of Joshua’s spells.

“Sacred Gears are about emotion more than anything else, maybe we are doing something wrong,” Joshua had said at the time, but Jeanne knew he meant she was doing something wrong. She didn’t want things hard enough, or maybe she wasn’t feeling the right emotions, for whatever reason. She didn’t know what it was, but it was her fault.

And because of her own mistakes, she was weak.

Because of her own failures, she wasn’t strong enough.

“Then do it right,” the voices told her, as if it were that simple.

Jeanne gritted her teeth as she blocked another slash, only for her sword to crumble yet again. She was getting nowhere. Hell, she was fighting a losing battle. Nagini and Margalo couldn’t make up for her failings. She was the weak link and the Pendragons were noticing, if the way they focused more on her was anything to go by.

She was too weak.

She was useless.

She’d be alone again.

“Sure,” Joshua had told her, all the way back at the beginning of things. “You can come.”

That had been that. It had been that easy and simple for Jeanne to get all that she’d ever dreamed of. She’d gotten acceptance, a family and a life. She had everything now, after so long. She wasn’t going to let things slip through her fingers. She wasn’t going to go back to having nothing.

“Do something about it,” the voices said and she cried out when Caliburn cut through her sword and nicked her arm. “You are us and we are you. You are more than this. We are more than this. Stand tall and strong, Jeanne Davis. This isn’t you nor us.”

She knew that. The voices were just saying things she knew, but they were, like usual, not giving her answers. She needed strength, not useless words. She needed power, so that she could do what she needed to do.

“You and us, Jeanne Davis,” the voices told her, more firmly, more loudly. She felt the words shake her bones. “All of us, we can do much.”

Well, as the fight went on and she kept being pushed around, Jeanne wasn’t feeling like she could do anything, let alone much. She was losing and there was nothing she could do. No matter how much she pushed herself, how much she urged herself. She fell short.

Nothing she did was working.

“Jeanne,” Joshua’s voice said in her mind and she blocked one of Arthur’s swords with two of hers, barely standing her ground for a second before the second blade came at her. Her brother needed her, now more than ever. He was in trouble himself, but he could take care of himself. He needed her there, to protect his family, her family.

She couldn’t just fail.

She…

Couldn’t…

Just…

Fail…

…

Jeanne wouldn’t fail.

“We are Jeanne d’Ay de Domrémy,” the voices declared, almost like a chant.

So, she reached for her energies, just like she’d practiced with her brother. She thought about what it would be like, if she were to actually fail. She imagined what it could mean for Yasaka and Kunou. She imagined what that could do to Joshua. She imagined herself in that future, where she’d lost.

And she refused to let that happen.

“I am Jeanne Davis,” she declared and the voices didn’t reply, but she could feel them responding all the same. Her statement seemed to give pause to both Pendragons and even Nagini and Margalo. It took Jeanne a second to realize that it was not because of what she said, but because of the power rolling off of her and the light shining from her body.

“And we are,” the voices said and this time she followed immediately after.

“And I am…”

Then, the voices and her, they spoke at the same time, the same words and with the same sentiment, for the first time in her life.

“La Pucelle.”

Those two simple words, her name, her self, were punctuated by swords piercing through the floor behind her. In less than a second, those blades were joined by many more, pushing upwards in a particular shape. By the time a full second had gone by, Jeanne felt it, looming behind her.

The swords had formed an armor entity the size of a house, a proportionally gigantic sword in its… in her hands.

She had finally achieved Balance Breaker, Jeanne knew without having to check with anyone. She had the strength, her strength, hers and the voices’. Khaos Brigade would regret everything as they faced it, her…

La Pucelle.

The Maiden.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Well well well… I’m actually quite happy with this chapter. I still think I’m not getting the action parts quite right, which should be worrying considering this is an action arc, but everything else? Everything else I’m happy with, so I’ll take the silver lining, guys, thank you very much.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: I think I’ve asked this before, but I’ll do so again. Do you exercise? Just today I started doing some exercises at home. Hopefully I’ll be able to stick with them because I’m definitely not eating healthy, so I should at least have something to counter that.

See you.