Game of Monsters - 152 (Patreon)

You Had Me Close in Silent Fear

He felt like he was on a cloud as he stood up.

Under him, Cao Cao coughed blood with Carnwennan and Setan Kober still embedded in his body. The poor bastard would be lucky if the daggers decided to let up on their energy, but Joshua wasn’t betting on that. The safe move would be to pull them out so the guy didn’t die and they could put him right beside Georg and Walburga. He didn’t know where Yasaka had put them or what she’d done with them, but he didn’t particularly care so long as they could be useful against Khaos Brigade.

At that moment though, the fight was over. House of Water was being put back together by Agnes and Elizabeth, probably with some help from Dion’s Coven Magic. He wasn’t particularly sure of the specifics, since he’d rushed out of there as soon as Kokabiel was defeated. ‘Speaking off, I gotta pick up that guy and throw him away together with Cao Cao,’ he thought absently.

Then there was Yasaka’s place, where he was at. Glancing around, there was a lot of damage to nearby buildings and the defensive magics around were now full of holes thanks to whatever creature Annihilation Maker had made to break through. There weren’t people… No, there were some dead youkai around, probably Yasaka’s guards… and maybe unfortunate servants.

Other than that, the place looked like ruins of war long abandoned though. There was nobody alive around other than Cao Cao, the people Joshua had called for help and himself. Speaking of…

Looking to the side, he saw them looking at him with various expressions on their faces. There was Raynare’s awe, Jeanne’s concern and Kuroka’s curiosity. Beside them, there were his familiars, moving towards him. Cheshire was the first to reach him, rubbing her head against his side and making his hand move almost on its own to pet her head. Margalo landed on his shoulder a moment later and Nagini approached, twisting her body around to check that he was fine. Morag had stayed at House of Water though, having fun spinning webs to contain Kokabiel, Katerea and Shalba.

“Good job,” he said simply with a slight smile. The words were simple, but Joshua sent waves of gratitude and love through his bond with his familiars. All of them had done marvelously, considering everything, and he would never not be appreciative of that. Even Morag, far, far away could feel the message clearly thanks to Shed’s domain of wild animals taking over for the hunt that he’d been channeling so far.

“You too,” Joshua told Raynare, Kuroka, Jeanne and Issei as he walked towards the ruined building they were standing in. As he did, he searched for Yasaka and Kunou, but they had gone away, it seemed. Surprisingly enough, he found them not anywhere in the youkai territory. Instead, they were… at his place.

Idly, he checked that all the defenses were fine and shifted the emergency teleportation spells to cover them too.

“Of course,” Raynare replied instantly, standing tall despite her exhaustion. Then again, she’d withstood much worse during training. Looking at her, Joshua noticed that Incinerate Anthem was doing well with her, surprisingly. Considering what he’d seen of the Sacred Gear so far, how nice and childish it acted, he’d expected it to dislike the fallen at least a little. To be honest, he’d been betting on it just helping because of him, but the two seemed to have hit it off, which was interesting.

“What else were we supposed to do?” Jeanne asked with a weary smile.

“What she said,” Kuroka agreed with a beaming smile, concealing her own exhaustion rather well. Then again, she wasn’t quite as tired as the others. If he was piecing things well enough with what information he’d gathered as soon as he teleported there, then that made some sense. Bikou wasn’t someone she could just fight, so she’d probably danced around him until Joshua got there.

“You took your sweet time getting here,” Jeanne added, using a sword as a cane to lean on. “Is he dead?” He didn’t even need to ask who “he” was supposed to be. Instead, he just gave her a smile.

“No, but he’ll wish he were,” he answered, receiving a nod from her. “Good job, Issei. Remind me to do something nice for you, yeah?” he said, grinning and approaching the fallen teenager before offering him a hand.

“I’ll take you up on that,” the boy replied, grasping the limb and using it to pull himself up. He seemed to be the one that had dealt with it all the worst, but that made sense. Even with all the training he’d gone through, Vali was just built different. It was just fortunate that Issei hadn’t had to face the half-devil on his own or things might have ended badly.

Still though…

‘Are things different now or is Vali still a good guy of sorts? I don’t know,’ he thought to himself, frowning. Ultimately, he wondered if it was worth it to risk things for possibly faulty information. In that attack, he’d have killed or captured them either way, because fuck them. They’d attacked Yasaka and Kunou, so double agent or not, good guy that had messed up or not, Joshua would deal with them regardless if they dared to do such a thing again.

As it was…

“Let’s all go, yeah? I’m done with this,” he told the gathering of allies.

More than anything though, Joshua was nervous and wanted to get somewhere safer. His house was much better defended than Yasaka’s place after the mess Annihilation Maker had made of her protections. Besides, he could heal everyone and help them recover their energy that way too.

Things weren’t over, after all.

He still hadn’t gotten a Quest screen, and that could mean only one thing.

The attack wasn’t over.

[}-o-{]

Teleporting everyone was a piece of cake, the flow of energy from the Egyptians was plenty enough to keep him going now that he wasn’t spending magic and stamina like crazy. ‘I can’t wait to rest though,’ he thought to himself with a grimace, rubbing his neck. Even then, he felt his heart beating quickly and his body burning up from the effort.

The deities he was still connected to seemed concerned, but hopefully things would be over soon.

“You can all drop wherever,” he told the people behind him without turning, waving his hand towards the living room. There were plenty of couches and seats for them to take and rest. His spells were already reaching to them to refill their energy and heal their wounds, and Jeanne could probably call Asia too, if she wanted to speed things up. The Phoenix Array was set up, of course, but that one needed a lot of energy and he’d rather not spend that on things that didn’t need the overkill. More than one relieved sigh reached his ears from behind him.

Jeanne said something but Kuroka seemed to interrupt her. He ignored them, instead walking through the halls of his house and soon being unable to hear them speaking anymore. It didn’t take him long to reach the door to his room and, as he pushed it open, he came to see Yasaka and Kunou on the bed. Almost a familiar sight, really, with the mother comforting the daughter. He etched the picture of Kunou crying in his mind.

Every time he thought he couldn’t be more motivated or hate Khaos Brigade more, they found a way to push him further.

“Joshua,” Yasaka was the first to notice him, of course, but her greeting quickly earned her daughter’s attention. The child perked up, looking at him with wide teary eyes.

“Dad!” she cried out, rushing out of the bed and throwing herself at him. Considering he was still at full power, it took no effort at all to catch her. Not that it would have normally, but still. “Are the meanies gone?”

“I think so,” he replied, unsure but unwilling to let her know that. Nothing was happening. Why was the screen not appearing? What was going on? Was he missing something? Morag was doing fine in House of Water. He could probably start with the post battle arrangements at that very moment.

If only-

“Joshua,” Yasaka said, appearing in front of him as he continued to hug a trembling Kunou in his arms. She reached with her hand towards him, running her fingers through his changed hair. “Joshua, you can relax now,” she told him and he felt the now familiar sensation of her Senjutsu washing over his being.

Much like she had a number of times in the past, she was soothing his worries, his troubled emotions. He wondered why though. Not to say that he was fine, but he couldn’t relax just yet. If he let go of the Egyptians, he might just drop from exhaustion. Or he might even pass out. He didn’t know what it’d do to him.

He’d mostly stuck to a single deity so far and they were exhausting. What’d four of them for an extended period of time do to him? He didn’t know, and he preferred not to find out until he knew for sure.

“Joshua,” Yasaka insisted, giving him a sad smile when he looked at her. “It’s fine,” she reassured him, closing the distance between them and leaning over Kunou to kiss his cheek. “You can let go now. You can rest,” she whispered, her arms wrapping around Kunou and him, warm and soft. “It’s over, Joshua. We are safe.”

“Is it? Are you?” he asked, but the words escaped his lips too late. Her words had undone him. As soon as she finished speaking, Joshua felt something loosen up inside him. The desperate hold he’d held on the Egyptians’ energies and their domains was released and they slunk back quietly. Through the connection that remained, however, a sense of worry and reassurance washed over him.

As soon as they left, he felt the shift.

His limbs, previously light as feathers, felt like they’d been made of lead all along and someone had cut the wires holding them up. His muscles burned and his bones ached. His mind lost its focus and suddenly the world was blurs of color that he could barely make sense of. There were voices around, but the most he could tell was when it was Yasaka and when it was Kunou.

It was already a feat that he didn’t drop to the floor like a ragdoll.

“... It’s ok,” he heard, his brain finally managing to pull itself together the smallest bit. “He’s just tired,” Yasaka said, probably talking to Kunou. “Why don’t you help me move him to the bed?” she asked and he felt soft hands, small and even smaller, hold him and nudge him on his way.

It took a bit, but he finally was dropped on the mattress.

“... What…?” was all he managed to mutter, clinging to consciousness, if barely.

“Divinity isn’t a joke, Joshua,” Yasaka told him, her slender fingers pushing a lock of his hair away from his eyes. “You are human. Impressive, but a human all the same. You can’t withstand that much divinity. Not easily, at the very least,” she explained to him and… he knew that. He did know that. Why was it…? “Power has a way of blinding us and you had a reason to be blinded to begin with,” Yasaka said, smiling fondly. “We are safe. Everything is fine, Joshua. Rest.”

“Khaos… House of Water… Your place…” he mumbled, trying to string together sentences and failing miserably. Evidently, those disconnected pieces were enough for Yasaka, however.

“I’ll get started on dealing with all this, alright? Or… I’ll reach for Serafall and she will, if she’s not busy on her own side,” she told him.

“You’re… tired too,” he pointed out. He couldn’t tell then and there, but he knew he’d picked up on that before.

“It was a tough fight, but I have enough left in me,” she reassured him with a smile. “Sleep, Josh,” she told him, leaning down to kiss his forehead. “Time for us to take care of you, don’t you think?” she asked, and before he could answer, someone beat him to it.

“I’ll take care of you, dad,” Kunou mumbled, snuggling against his side on the bed.

“I love you,” he told them both.

“Love you too, dad,” his daughter said, hugging his arm.

“Love you,” Yasaka replied with a fond smile before pulling away. “I’ll leave him in your care, Kunou,” she added, but Joshua picked up on the fact that she was actually telling him to look after Kunou. He gave the weakest of nods. He might be feeling weak, but his spells were keeping him conscious and he’d rather not pass out.

Not when the damned screen wasn’t showing up yet.

[}-o-{]

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but it must have been around an hour.

He didn’t have a watch on him or a clock in his room. He could have checked his phone or with a spell, but Kunou was right there, doing her best to “keep him entertained” as a way to take care of him. Joshua felt like checking the time would have hurt her feelings and he couldn’t have that. So, he soldiered on, sure that Yasaka or Serafall would contact him if something was going on.

Asia had come at some point trying to heal him, but he didn’t really need it. At most he had some small cuts that his boons had healed by then. He had taken that visit to ask how the others were, but everyone seemed to be fine and recovering. The nun would keep an eye on them for him, it seemed, even though he hadn’t asked.

She was sweet like that.

“Stop cheating!” Kunou whined and he gave her a slight smile. “Don’t look at me like that. You are cheating,” she grumbled with a pout.

“Sure am,” he replied with a chuckle, looking at the illusion chess board she’d cast to play with him. “You’ve gotten better though,” he added, and that seemed to take some of the wind out of her sails. “Good job,” he told her, patting her head and drawing a reluctant pleased sound.

“You are just saying that,” she mumbled under her breath. “You are tired.”

“I am, but I can still tell,” Joshua replied. Try as he might though, his mind wasn’t on that. Instead, he was trying to read as much as he could from all the spells connected to him. Surely there was something going on. Where was the screen? ‘Maybe…’ Was it possible for some kind of status to mess with the system itself? ‘Altered Status?’ he called.

Then he blinked.

Not at the content of the screen that appeared in front of him though… mainly because he wasn’t sure he could call that a screen. It wasn’t even only the text that was glitched, but the screen itself. It flickered, half formed at parts, with some others sticking out. The colors were all over the place, both for the screen and the text. It almost gave him a headache just looking at it.

‘Of all the times you could break, why now?’ Joshua thought, frustrated.

“Dad?” Kunou called and he blinked his frown away, but it was evidently too late. His daughter was now looking at him, worried. He held back a sigh and instead thought of how to salvage things.

“Sorry. I’m still worried,” he answered honestly, even if it probably wasn’t a good idea. “And not feeling all here,” he added, which was also not a lie.

He felt… weird. Tired and heavy, for sure, but he also felt weirdly… light. It was as if his body was made of lead but resting on a cloud. His mind seemed to flow between being fine and crushing emotions and eerie calm, with no discernible pattern or reason. Just speaking the moves for his chess match with Kunou had been a challenge at times and at others he felt like he was at his absolute best.

It was… very concerning.

‘Have to be careful channeling the Egyptians like that next time,’ he thought to himself. Because there was no way he wouldn’t need to do it once more. If it was that bad though, why hadn’t the system given him a resistance to that though? It’d given him less important skills before so surely…

‘Unless it’s too much,’ Joshua mused to himself. The system had repeatedly had trouble when things got a little… excessive. Maybe divinity was, on its own, too much for the system to help him with. Was that it? ‘I get more and more curious about the system by the day,’ he thought.

Alas, after all that time, he still had no answers and didn’t seem to be anywhere close to finding some. He’d tried, oh had he tried. Plenty of times he’d tried to get some reading on it through spells, but nothing so far had given him anything. It always came back empty… just like Jeanne’s voices, he supposed. He’d never been able to get anything about that.

“Say, how about a show? I have plenty of illusion spells that you can cast for me,” he commented, trying to get his mind back to where it should be. The present and his daughter were more important than idly thoughts, especially at that very moment.

Kunou was scared too, so he’d have to let her take care of him while he looked after her himself. Judging by the excited look she had on her face as she perked up, things would be fine. He just needed to keep himself focused and keep an eye out just in case.

Easier said than done, but such was a father’s duty, he supposed.

[}-o-{]

“I’m not made of glass, you know?” Joshua asked, but he had a smile on his face as Serafall held his arm and helped him walk to the table. His words were ignored anyway, but that was hardly surprising. It took them no time at all to get to their destination, where Joshua took his seat.

“Least I can do~” Serafall said, but even with her playful person at full capacity, Joshua was sure she was hiding something. Hardly surprising. As it turned out, comms had been blocked for her and even for a bunch of other people, like Sairaorg, the Church, and the other Satans. He wasn’t sure how, but at that point, he was more or less just pointing towards Annihilation Maker in his head and calling it a day.

Was that how others felt about him?

Anyway, Serafall seemed to be feeling a little guilty for not being there when they needed help, both Yasaka and him. He didn’t really blame her though, Khaos’ plan had been surprisingly good. It could have ended terribly for them if a bunch of things hadn’t happened. If he didn’t have help at House of Water, if he hadn’t been able to punch through the communication block, if, if, if…

So many things could have gone wrong.

He needed to be better. He needed to be stronger. He needed to be more prepared. He needed to work more.

Joshua couldn’t let up. He wouldn’t… couldn’t relax. Not until every single enemy was wiped from the face of Earth and he was prepared for everything, which would never happen. He needed to-

His cheek was poked with a finger.

“You are spacing out again, Josh~” Serafall said from beside him and he gave her an apologetic smile. “It’s fine. We are all fine and you did great. Relax,” she told him, but she didn’t understand. He couldn’t relax. Something was going on. His game was literally crashing and he didn’t know things were over or not. Was Khaos Brigade really done? Was something else going on?

It was so difficult to tell without a Quest screen.

He hadn’t realized how much he’d come to rely on those until that very moment. How nice it was, to know when things were over, when your trial was over and you could relax. Yet there he was at that moment, with no such reassurance. Instead, he was left to worry and overthink.

“Here,” Yasaka said, her Senjutsu never letting up as it tried to sooth him. It was mostly ineffective, but Joshua would admit that he’d have likely gone crazy if not for her. As if that weren’t enough, the woman placed a plate in front of him with his serving. “Eat something, alright? It’ll help you recover.”

That’s what she said, but he was sure that it was just another way that she was trying to get to him. He appreciated it, he really did. However… Joshua just couldn’t shake off the feeling of danger looming behind him. They had all been at risk. Kunou had been at risk. The thought made him glance towards the girl, who was happily eating from her own plate already.

Taking a deep breath in, he glanced towards Yasaka and Serafall. Well, if he wasn’t safe with those two around… Then when was he supposed to be safe, right? Granted, Issei had been sent away; he couldn’t keep him around forever. Everyone else stayed close by though, from Jeanne to even Raynare. It was a little bit of an odd assortment of people at the dining table, especially for the Fallen, but it did help reassure him.

Slowly, he went to take a bite from the meal he’d been given.

“Amazing as always, Yasaka,” he praised, looking down with a small smile. Maybe things were fine and it was just his system acting up once more? That could be it, he supposed. He was just… so used to it, even now that notification screens were rare to come by…

“Hmmm, maybe I should cook sometime. It’s always you two that do it,” Serafall commented, narrowing her eyes at Yasaka and him before pouting. “I can cook too, you know?”

“... That’s news to me,” he replied, his smile widening the slightest bit.

“That’s mean!” Serafall exclaimed exaggeratedly. “Lies! Lies and slander! I won’t stand for this!”

“What are you gonna do about it, magic girl?” he asked, drawing a whine from the woman and a giggle from Kunou, Jeanne and Kuroka. The latter two earned themselves a glare from the Satan, which quickly cowed them. Poor Asia, for her part, seemed unsure of how to react. “I look forward to trying your cooking though.”

“That’s more like it~!” Serafall exclaimed, doing a one eighty as usual. It made him roll his eyes, if fondly. Between Yasaka’s calming presence and Serafall’s cheerful attitude, Joshua could almost feel his worries being pushed aside. His… divinity poisoning – or whatever it was called, he didn’t know – didn’t help matters much, but he was getting better about that too… Even if it was taking some time.

Things were getting better, despite how much Joshua tried to keep worrying.

“Is it really fine?” he asked and he received two soft and warm smiles in response from both of the women in his life. He tried to return the gesture, but the most he probably managed was a weary grimace instead of a reassuring grin. “I guess it is,” he mumbled, continuing to eat.

As he did, he watched the people around the table. Everyone was doing fine. Everyone seemed mostly recovered already except for him, understandably. He’d have been fine if not for his overuse of divinity, he supposed. He’d have to research that, maybe there was something he could do about that…

As the minutes passed though, he started calming down and feeling a little better.

And then…

[Quest Complete: Fend off Khaos Brigade’s Attack

Rewards:
+ 20 Levels to all Stats

+ 20 Levels to Throwing Weapons Mastery

+ 20 Levels to Dagger Mastery

+ #$%#

+ Hex Magic has been Maxed

+ Boon Magic has been Maxed

#^~

#¿`¡

Further Rewards have been delayed.]

‘... Why am I not surprised anymore?’

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Well, that was a… tense chapter, for Joshua at the very least. I imagine it might not have been everyone’s cup of tea and that last part might be a little odd for some. However, such was what the Muse wanted me to write and I’m just the one that types her whims.

Hopefully you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Any ideas as to what the rest of Joshua’s rewards will be whenever he gets them?

See you.