Game of Monsters - 151 (Patreon)

-Alright, I’m Waiting on an Answer

[Issei Hyoudou]

He coughed as a fist hit him right in the gut.

And that was not the worst of it.

[Divide, Divide, Divide,] the white guy’s armor exclaimed, just like his would Boost. What the opposite of his power was and felt like hadn’t been in his list of things to find out, but it had happened all the same. Issei could very firmly say that he wasn’t a fan.

[Boost, Boost, Boost,] his own red armor announced and he relaxed the smallest bit as he felt the lost strength come back to him. The fight was turning out to be very annoying, with the ups and downs. It was also frustrating, because the white bastard was much better than him, he’d reluctantly admit.

“Joshua needs help!” Jeanne had told him and that had been all Issei needed to hear to rush with her. He’d gotten the rest of the story while they got to the place, but most of it had flown over his head. All he knew was that the guy that had quickly become his best friend – although that title didn’t quite fit right in his head – needed help, because some bastard had decided that attacking a child was a good idea.

He hadn’t personally met Kunou, but he’d heard some whispering here and there, especially from Joshua and some of their clients at the cafe.

“She’s the cutest,” he remembered hearing entirely too many times, from a beaming Joshua. He’d seen plenty of photos and now he’d seen her in person too. The guy had reason to be that proud… Although, Issei would have personally included the mother, because hot damn.

[Focus, Partner,] Ddraig told him, almost sighing.

Issei was focusing though. If anything, he was just getting his heart pumping… If he were suicidal, that is, which he wasn’t. Yasaka was pretty fucking hot, but she was Joshua’s girlfriend, and Issei knew first hand that the guy could kick his ass in more ways than he could count. It was a motivating thought though, to remember who he was protecting, who he was fighting for.

Because Joshua truly had changed his life in a number of ways.

He wasn’t a pariah anymore. He had friends that were good for him, he had a girlfriend that was about as crazy and perverted as he was and he had a job where people respected and appreciated him. All that had come to be when Joshua had set him straight and taken him under his wing. He’d become as strong as he was because of him too, so it was only right to use that strength to pay him back some.

[Your host is weak, Ddraig,] the white armor said then and Issei gritted his teeth as he tried to dodge or at least block the blows from his opponent. [I guess this generation is my win.]

Issei would admit that the words annoyed him, but he’d always been that guy. His parents didn’t expect much from him. His classmates had never expected much from him. Hell, even Issei himself hadn’t expected much from himself, really.

Yet…

“Everyone deserves a chance, Hyoudou,” Joshua had told him when he’d been trying his best and things were still not getting better. “It’s up to you what you do with it.”

When nobody thought much of him, Joshua had given him a chance and he’d latched to it like a lifeline. Now, after all that time, Issei could safely say that he was glad he had. ‘I’ll make that chance count, Joshua,’ he thought to himself, getting a punch in through the barrage that the white bastard was throwing at him.

He was fighting a losing battle and he knew it. He’d been on the receiving end of enough beatings that he could see it coming a mile away already. He didn’t need to win though, and everyone had said the same thing before they got teleported there. It had been a little hard to pay attention when everyone around seemed to be hot women, but still.

Joshua would be coming any second, so they just needed to hold on until he got there.

Still, Issei would be quite happy if he could get some solid hits in. It was always nice when he lost but at least could do something. Didn’t happen too often, but it was so very sweet when it did. He didn’t speak, but he could feel Ddraig’s determination together with his.

His partner was rather frustrated with the fight, but he guessed that made sense. They were losing a fight against his rival of a long ass time, so that was understandable. So, that gave them some extra motivation, he supposed. The dragon had been pretty patient with his weak ass and plenty encouraging and supporting… in his own way, at least.

‘There has to be a way to turn this around, or at least even things a little,’ Issei thought to himself. Unfortunately, thinking was more Joshua’s thing than his. There had to be something though. He refused to believe that it was all hopeless. If he hadn’t been hopeless, then neither was this.

The answer came to him rather literally, as it turned out.

Just when he was about to take yet another punch, Issei was saved by a bolt of lightning hitting the white bastard straight in the chest. It was a very familiar one at that and Issei, for a split second, felt some sympathy for the poor guy. He’d been on the receiving end of quite a few of those. At the end of the day though…

‘Ha, fuck you!’ Issei thought, grinning widely. Served him right for trying to attack a house with a child in. ‘And thank the gods for you, Cheshire.’

[Relying on others, Ddraig. You were always a coward,] the white armor said as the tiger walked next to Issei like the proudful beast she was.

[Power is power, Albion. You shouldn’t have been so confident,] Ddraig replied and Issei could hear the matching grin the dragon was sporting wherever he was inside the gear. [Boost, Transfer.]

At that, Cheshire let out the most threatening purr Issei had ever heard.

Once more, he almost felt bad for the white bastard.

Almost.

[}-o-{]

[Kuroka]

The new Monkey King.

Of course she was saddled with a losing match up. Why would she be surprised about that? Then again, she didn’t think she stood a chance against any of the opponents around. Maybe against a single one of the Pendragons, but oh well… It was a complicated battle for everyone, she supposed.

It was a good thing that Joshua had pushed her like she’d never pushed herself before with his training. Furthermore, her accursed Evil Piece was proving useful, even if she’d forever hate it with a burning passion. Both things were more or less the only reasons she hadn’t gotten her ass immediately handed to her. No way she’d have stood a chance against the Monkey King.

She had a slight edge in Youjutsu and Senjutsu, but Bikou had a lot more combat prowess than her. Kuroka knew all that from way back when she was still part of Khaos Brigade with Vali. ‘How the tables have turned,’ she thought to herself. Sure, she knew they weren’t all bad, but…

She had to wonder about that now, because there were lines she’d have been wary about crossing and attacking Yasaka with her daughter right there? It reminded Kuroka of entirely too unhappy things. So, her previous allegiances weren’t interfering much with her duty of helping Joshua’s side.

Still, again, Bikou was much stronger than her.

Fortunately for Kuroka, she didn’t need to beat him, really. She just needed to buy time and she could do that. Having the edge over her opponent in Senjutsu and Youjutsu was all that she needed. Maybe she couldn’t take him out, but she could be the biggest annoyance in the world.

And she’d do that happily.

That’s how Kuroka found herself casting illusions, setting traps and generally making a nuisance of herself. She’d had plenty of practice against stronger opponents than her. It hadn’t been a pleasant experience, but it had certainly been a learning one. It was all proven by the fact that Bikou was not having a good time, at all.

That meant she was doing a good job and Kuroka was very pleased. Not to sound selfish, but she hoped that doing a good job would help her with Joshua. Not in seducing him… she didn’t think she stood a chance there anymore, sadly. However, if she could ingratiate herself with the man, that was an approach to making Shirone like her more.

Then again, it could also be considered repayment for all that Joshua had already done for her. Sure, saying “for her” might be a bit of a stretch, since it had been more for Shirone’s sake than anything. However, the fact stood that it had been the best thing anyone had ever done for her all the same. Kuroka was reluctant not to count it, despite everything.

‘So sorry, everyone, but I’m on the other side now,’ she thought to herself, taking advantage of the extra second she managed to buy herself and targeting Arthur. The man had his hands full ever since little Jeanne decided that she wanted to be a badass too, but if Kuroka could tilt the scales a little extra, maybe Jeanne could pull a win. If she did, then she’d be able to help the other sides – hopefully hers – and maybe Joshua wouldn’t even need to get involved.

There was also the fact that Margalo flew overhead some, since she was the closest to their fight. Kuroka very much appreciated being on the receiving end of the bird’s enhancement songs every so often. It made everything easier and gave her frying nerves a break. Something that she sorely needed.

Because sure, she might have things under control with Bikou, but it didn’t mean she wasn’t extremely on edge. Any mistake could have her smacked and the battle turned on its head. She couldn’t afford to mess up, so having a little extra power on her side certainly didn’t hurt. ‘Now what to do here?’ she wondered as she had so far.

So the dance continued and she could tell that Bikou was quickly growing tired of it. She made sure to be extra annoying though, by cutting off any chance he might see to join one of the other fights. Because she knew that things could get messy if the division they’d pulled off was broken. Sure, maybe it’d work in their favor – since Raynare, Jeanne, the familiars and Kuroka herself knew each other fairly well –, but it could just as easily work against them.

It was better to keep things as they were. Someone would come to help them, be it Joshua or Leviathan or someone else. She rather doubted Khaos had anyone to spare for these guys though, since nobody had shown up before then. If worse came to worst, Kuroka could push a little extra hard… but she’d rather not.

That’d be… unpleasant.

Between Yasaka and her though, they could deal with any less than beneficial surprise Khaos might have in store for them.

Then it happened.

In a single moment, the whole battlefield stopped in place.

No, that wasn’t quite right. It was more accurate to say that something shook them all where they stood. Because the full weight of a new entity seemed to slam over all of them. The killing intent washed over them and the presence of something beyond them all seemed to stare at them, at her, through their senses.

A god had decided to step between them, mere mortals.

Then she grinned, because something else happened. Not even a handful of seconds after that new arrival made its appearance, a new sensation spread all around. One very familiar for her and one that had once terrified her. Now though, the walls felt like a shield instead of a steel trap, the beasts felt like guardians instead of hunters and the knight felt protective instead of threatening.

‘Took your sweet time, Joshua.’

[}-o-{]

[Kunou]

She smiled to herself where she sat, hiding in a corner and trying not to get in the way.

Cheshire had stayed by her side when the fight started, but she’d left after pushing her there and Kunou didn’t dare move from where she was. What if she got her mom hurt? Or Auntie Jeanne? Or Joshua’s familiars? Or the others? She couldn’t do that, she just… couldn’t.

So, she was good and stayed where she was told…

Even if it had been really scary.

Now though, feeling her father’s magic wash over her, it was like the man had draped a warm blanket around her. It felt like when she had a nightmare and he wrapped his arms around her to reassure her. Kunou could almost hear his whispers in her ear, telling her that it would all be ok. So, she relaxed and smiled.

Her dad was there.

“Kunou,” she heard and it sounded from far away but she heard it as clear as if he had spoken from right in front of her. “Kunou, are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” she called, peeking out from where she’d been hiding. She would have been more wary if it weren’t from the spells and the strengthened feeling of Joshua’s familiars, her sisters. “Dad!”

“I see you,” he said, and it was only then that she saw him for the first time. He looked scary, with animal eyes and fangs, dark lines drawn around his eyes and painting patterns all over his skin. The dark long hair got to her a lot more too, because it reminded her of a time before he dyed his hair blonde.

But it was still undeniably her dad.

“It’ll all be okay now.”

“I was scared, dad,” she mumbled, losing the battle she’d fought through the whole thing and sniffing as tears escaped her eyes. Because she’d been so scared.

“I know, but it’ll be okay now,” he repeated reassuringly. “Because I am here,” he said and Kunou wondered if he even knew how right those words were at that very moment. “Yasaka, can you take care of Kunou please? Everyone else step back,” he added and his expression, already quite scary if soft due to whatever changes he had undergone because of the Egyptian gods, shifted into something much more… mean.

“You are all so dead,” the woman from before – the fallen with four wings – said, appearing in front of her almost as fast as her mother did by her side. “And I’m gonna have fun watching.”

And Kunou kind of wanted to see that too, because they had been meanies.

So seeing them get what was coming to them would be neat.

“Can I see?” Her mother gave her an exasperated look at that, but she just looked at her pleadingly. Unfortunately for her mom and fortunately for her, things didn’t stop just because they were talking. There was a shift in the atmosphere once more, with it growing colder and her dad’s spells starting to work, focusing more intently on the trespassers.

“You have no idea how angry I am right now,” Joshua said and he did sound, indeed, absolutely furious. It was more than that though. Not even the bloodlust that even Kunou could pick up on compared to the presence her father held at that very moment. Maybe it was because she wasn’t as good at sensing, but Kunou thought that he felt…

Like the strongest one around, then and there.

“Everyone,” one of the meanies said, Monkey Man, by the looks of it. “I think we might need to… pull a tactical retreat,” he said nervously, shifting into a fighting stance. Even Kunou could see the uncertainty there.

“Cute,” Joshua commented coldly. “The only way you are leaving here is dead,” he sentenced, his body changing yet again as golden feathers seemed to sprout between his now black locks of hair. “I’m not letting any of you bastards get away.”

“Alone?” the Man with the Spear asked, but even though he tried to sound confident, he still failed. “Quite overconfident, aren’t you?”

“The only one overconfident here is you, fake hero,” Joshua told the man, starting to move. He didn’t rush though. Instead, he seemed to just start walking towards the group of meanies. For some reason, this seemed to make them even more nervous… Kunou didn’t quite get it, but she thought it was awesome all the same.

Her dad was just the coolest, she supposed.

“What did you just-?!” the Man with the Spear started asking, answering differently to Joshua’s approach and seemingly getting angry. He stepped forward to meet her dad’s stride, weapon pointing threateningly towards her father.

Before he could finish talking though, Joshua teleported and a cloud of sand appeared right between the group. One of his special daggers, the ones he’d never let her play with, for some reason, was thrusted towards the White Armored One, sticking right between the plates and-

“Mom!” she cried out when a hand covered her eyes.

“Let’s get out of here, Kunou. Your dad’s got this,” her mother told her exasperatedly, but Kunou heard a hint of nervousness there too. Why was she nervous? Her dad got this, as she said. Even if he didn’t, everyone was still around. Surely they could kick the meanies’ asses if they all fought… together…

Except, Kunou chanced a look towards everyone else, and saw them watching the fight that had started with her father in the middle of the Khaos Brigade members. None of them looked away and most of them all stood tall… but she noticed. They all looked tired and injured. There was blood on Jeanne’s clothes and the Red One was no longer armored, instead leaving just a panting boy on the ground.

“Kunou, please,” her mother said and it was only then that she noticed that her mom looked like a mess.

And she never looked like a mess.

So, Kunou nodded meekly and let her mother take her away.

[}-o-{]

[Joshua Davis]

Setan Kober and Carnwennan were having the time of their weapon lives.

True Longinus, Ruyi Jingu Bang, Divine Dividing and even Caliburn and Excalibur Ruler, who were old friends of Carnwennan in particular, all of them were great adversaries. The demonic and holy daggers couldn’t be happier than they were at that moment. Not only were they involved in this fight against such opponents, but they were a huge part of it. Joshua blocked and parried and attacked with them. He needed to, considering his magic couldn’t quite keep up with all the enemies without taking too much of a toll on his focus.

Focus that he was barely keeping.

Setan Kober’s curse of madness, Carnwennan’s blessing of stealth, Shed’s domain of hunting, Nephthys’ domain of magic and Set’s domain of violence… all of them had been tugging at Joshua’s soul for a while already. That was before he’d added Horus’ domain of protection into the mix. It was a strange sensation, to feel like he was barely there, barely conscious and at the same time sense much more than he ever had. Joshua was more than he’d ever been before and it felt great… but at the same time it felt like he was disappearing.

He needed to hold on though, because Yasaka and Kunou weren’t safe yet, despite them moving away. Issei had probably pushed his stamina way past the limit, from what he could pick up. Jeanne was exhausted and injured. Kuroka was standing, but she probably wouldn’t be able to do much even if he called for her.

Raynare was in the best condition, together with his familiars, but they were still not doing great. He could have them assist him, but in the state he was? He couldn’t be sure he would have the presence of mind to keep them safe. No, he was barely keeping it together enough that he could fight Khaos Brigade as it was.

So, there he continued, blocking attacks with shields, parrying others with his daggers, letting some pass through him as his body turned into sand. The fight went on and he could keep up forever, because he’d set a quick array already as soon as he dropped by. If things were like before, then Khaos didn’t have a way to break his defenses a second time. This meant that everyone was under his influence, getting their energy drained and their power weakened by the second.

Energy and power that they didn’t have an infinite source of. Maybe the reinforcements Joshua had called for had exhausted themselves, but that didn’t mean the enemy hadn’t. Vali was injured to boot, with Carnwennan at that. Bikou was sloppy, not tired but clearly frustrated and annoyed. Arthur and Le Fay were barely hanging on with the last of their strength.

And Cao Cao… Cao Cao was the irritating one.

He teleported himself or the others, he redirected attacks away from them and towards Joshua, he flew around and tried to target his weak spots. All in all, he was making a huge nuisance of himself and Joshua couldn’t wait to put a dagger through him, preferably Setan Kober. Alas, he wasn’t the True Longinus wielder for no reason, he supposed. But even he had his limits and his energy was quickly running out. Balance Breaker would do that by itself and that was without the extra “help” from Joshua’s spells.

As for Joshua himself, his spells and his connection to the gods were feeding him all the power he could ever hope to need… Yet, he felt exhausted all the same. His body felt lighter and lighter as the seconds passed by, yet that didn’t feel good. His movements were just as fast, his attacks just as strong… and he still felt like something was off.

He could keep going though, and that was what was important. He could outlast them all. He could take them down and make sure that Yasaka and Kunou would be that much safer. He just needed to keep pushing, keep drawing power.

“How is he doing this?!” Bikou cried out when his staff once more went uselessly through the cloud of sand that was Joshua’s body. He could damage him just fine if he used Senjutsu, but those attacks were blocked by shields and he couldn’t use them every time. Evidently, the Monkey King wasn’t doing so well after facing Kuroka.

Joshua could think of a few reasons why.

“It’s simple, you are-,” Joshua said, turning entirely into a sandstorm that moved around, not only where his body had been, but the entire area. It thinned his presence even more, but he could manage. The gods were supporting him, so he could do it. He could. “-weak,” he finished with a mental grin before forming once more and stabbing Bikou in the back with Setan Kober, the demonic dagger relishing the chance to do as much damage as possible, not only with its blade but with its accursed energy.

Obviously, he couldn’t keep the sandstorm form for long, but he’d done damage and that was more than the Khaos group could say for themselves. If he could keep the fight going as it was, he’d chip away at them and bring them down. Just like he always did, really. Slowly, the scales would tilt in his favor. It was just a matter of-

He paused, letting True Longinus pierce through him as his body turned to sand and left a hole for the spear to go through. He couldn’t risk just turning to sand and calling it a day, else the spear tip might actually damage him anyway. That was the kind of bullshit power such a gear could have.

However, his focus wasn’t on that, but on a new presence away from the battlefield.

‘So, that’s how they did it,’ he thought, picking up on the creature that crawled at the edge of his wards. It was a Sacred Gear creation and if it didn’t come from Annihilation Maker, then he wasn’t Joshua Davis. On top of that, he felt it do its thing, pulling on magic both from itself, from the surroundings and from his wards… And then it blew up, taking his spells with it. ‘Suicide anti-spell bomber creature?’ he thought, narrowing his eyes.

That wasn’t all though, he thought as he blocked one of Vali’s attacks and parried Caliburn. There were more creatures, in a very specific number, flying towards them. ‘I don’t know what you are trying to do, but it’s not gonna be that easy,’  Joshua thought with a snarl.

There were just as many creatures as there were Khaos Brigade members present and Joshua wasn’t about to let them do anything. Or, at least, not without doing something himself. So, pulling all his focus, all his power and all his skills, he moved as fast as he could and struck as decisively as possible.

The gods blessing him poured even more energy into him and Joshua thanked them for it. Carwennan was the first to get a cut in, but that was just the beginning, to distract his target, because Setan Kober found its way into his shoulder before the holy dagger struck again on the other one. ‘Fuck you, in particular, you racist piece of shit,’ Joshua promised to himself.

His target let out a wet, bloody cough at the same time that the flying creatures reached the area and rushed at the others. All of them disappeared as soon as they were touched, but not his target. No, Cheshire was there to catch that one creature, just fast enough and probably having sensed it through her uncanny ability.

“You thought you could attack this place, the woman I love and my daughter and get away with it?” he hissed, twisting Setan Kober and drawing a pained grunt. “You should have known better… Cao Cao.”

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Annihilation Maker is turning out to be the bane of Joshua’s existence, which makes sense, really. Just like Joshua can make spells for anything, AM can make creatures for anything. A battle of adaptation, if you will, which is kind of interesting. I wonder how things will go from here.

Also, it seems like this action arc is finally done… or is it?

We’ll see in the next chapter, I guess.

I hope you enjoyed this one though.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Do you have a favorite between the four "allies" PoV? That is, Raynare, Jeanne, Issei and Kuroka.

See you.