Game of Monsters - 110 (Patreon)

Disclaimer: I don’t own Highschool DxD.

-Don’t Act the Fool

[Rosar Phenex]

He’d seen a great deal of things in his long, long life as Lord of House Phenex.

And yet, this human, a child by all accounts was… He’d shown them…

… How?

He looked at the human, the magician, for what felt like the first time in the whole meeting. He’d barely given the man a passing glance out of respect for the Satans, even if he wasn’t on great terms with Lucifer and House Gremory. The two were still powerful, if eccentric at times, and the leaders of their society, so they were treated in a way deserving of both things.

That courtesy was all that Rosar had extended towards the human though, because honestly, what could he have that would interest them? At least in the level that it was presented as when they were called for the meeting. Now he knew and he didn’t know what to do with that information.

Was it mockery on the part of the man or destiny having a rotten sense of humor that had the man have blond hair and blue eyes, Rosar wondered. Beyond that, he was dressed… well, he supposed. Formal, if a little too mundane, but there was something to the simplicity, he supposed. What caught his attention was the demeanor though. He looked at ease, as if everything was expected and anything that happened could only be good for him.

After witnessing the spell, Rosar knew that there was power behind that confidence and that was worrying.

His first thought was that the man needed to die, but that plan went out the window quickly. He could try, he supposed, but he’d have to be careful. He’d underestimated the human once and he refused to make the same mistake again.

Which put him in an awkward position, unfortunately.

Trying to keep this spell under wraps was likely to be impossible anyway. The man would have to be an idiot to not have back ups in case of assassination, so that wasn’t likely to work out even if Rosar could still try. The human had mentioned that during his little speech, after all, so he was aware that it was a possibility.

There was a chance of overconfidence that couldn’t be ignored, but also couldn’t be depended on.

Besides, Lucifer, Leviathan and Lucifuge were right there too and they obviously knew of the spell now. Rosar wondered if they knew about this beforehand or if they were also learning about it at that moment. He wasn’t sure he could accurately read them even if either was the case, unfortunately, but he could ponder on it.

Regardless, with them knowing, the biggest of problems was already right in front of Rosar. That problem being that others now knew there was an alternative to Phoenix Tears. That, in turn, meant that if something were to happen to this human now, everyone would turn towards House Phenex, since they were the ones with the most to win from that. If they took away such a resource from the market altogether…

Things could get messy, very much so.

There were a number of other approaches to be considered to take care of this but the main concern at that very moment was… Rosar looked towards his wife, who glanced back. That single look told him all he needed to know. He sighed internally.

“You said something about talking?” he asked, keeping his voice confident despite his inner turmoil. One couldn’t show weakness in negotiations, ever, unless it was part of the strategy. Somehow, by the way the human’s smile seemed to become just the smallest bit more pronounced, Rosar felt like he was doing exactly what the man wanted.

He couldn’t have read him though, could he?

“Something like that,” the man agreed with a slight nod. “You see, I’d rather not have to deal with politics or hostilities with anyone, if I can help it. I’m a magician, a researcher and a teacher, that’s all,” he said, and Rosar had to blink at that. It was… certainly a way to approach life, he supposed, although not one that was seen often.

Everyone wanted to raise up in the world, after all. On top of that, who in their right minds thought they could avoid politics and enemies? Anything you did could get someone to hate you. Anything you did could have political implications. It was especially so in the case of someone like this man, who had seemed to find a way to create a method of healing that seemed to rival the Phoenix Tears.

Granted, there was still a possibility of this spell not being as good as it was presented. The wound had healed just as quick, that much was true, but what of a more serious injury? What of sickness? What of exhaustion, both physical and magical? All that would have to be tested, but Rosar couldn’t afford to bet his House’s future on hopes.

He needed to be careful with this now.

“And I’m assuming you had something in mind?”

“I did,” the man answered with a wider smile, looking very pleased with the question. “I can tweak the spell so it works even more similarly to Phoenix Tears, with fire instead of the dust and sand gathering, for example. It might affect the effect a bit, but it shouldn’t even be noticeable.”

If that was supposed to be reassuring, then it failed spectacularly.

Who was this human?

Joshua Davis. Rosar was pretty sure he’d heard that name somewhere, but for the life of him, he couldn’t place where. That was bad, because that meant he had no information on who this person was, and that meant he was at a disadvantage.

“I say that, because I’m here to offer you a chance to attach your name to this spell,” Davis continued then and Rosar blinked once more. Had he heard right? “I have no interest in making an enemy of House Phenex and I honestly care little for money to actually sell it for that. I admit, the fact that this could be a good trading chip for favors is tempting though.”

And Rosar had no doubt about that. Maybe it was a little bizarre that the man didn’t want the money, but he could understand that. When one had a lot of money, what did it matter if you could make more? There came a point when money was just money, having a little more or a little less made no difference, really.

Power though, that one could never have enough of. Even the most powerful of people had to go to others for something at some point, and it was always good to have more cards to play in that game. It was why the Phenex family was in such a high standing compared to some of the other Pillars. The Phoenix Tears were just that important to the supernatural world at large.

And now that, one of the key parts to the power of Rosar’s House, was about to take a hit.

“So, I thought you’d like to put your name on my spell, we share the benefits of these and everyone comes out winning,” Davis told him simply and Rosar didn’t know what to say for a long moment. The “proposal” sounded simple and, honestly, too good to be true.

And he knew, when something gave that impression, then it was usually the case.

“And the catch is?” he asked, deciding that if he was going to be on the back foot, then he might as well get things over with as quickly as possible. He had no cards and the human had all he could possibly want at the moment. If he delayed things, it was more likely that he’d make things worse than better.

“The catch is that you and I become partners in this “business”, as it were,” the human told him and Rosar almost bristled at the idea. House Phenex, in equal terms with a human of all things, the most mundane of races in the supernatural world. How… humiliating. But at least it was a magician, he told himself. A strong, capable one if he could make a spell like the one he said he had, and Rosar was inclined to give him at least the benefit of the doubt, if only so he wouldn’t be caught flat-footed once more.

A spell that rivaled a devil bloodline, of all things. And a strong one at that, if Rosar did say so himself. Davis was no normal human, he realized then and there, and that meant he needed to be careful. It didn’t make the whole thing sting his pride less, but it made it bearable.

“On top of that, I want you to terminate the marriage contract between your son, Riser, and Rias Gremory,” Davis said, and suddenly everything made sense. Rosar could only turn his eyes towards Sirzechs Lucifer, a baleful expression on his face.

The Satan for his part, remained impassive, as he had through most of the meeting. Rosar had to admit that he wondered about that and, most of all, about Leviathan’s passivity. Lucifer might have been a calmer Satan, but Leviathan? Her personality was well known.

And yet, they’d barely said anything through the meeting so far.

“You’d risk our culture, our society, our power for this?” Rosar asked.

“I wouldn’t be that quick to throw accusations but go ahead if you want,” the human commented calmly, drawing Rosar’s attention back to him again. “I must say, I almost want to thank you, honestly. It was a perfect opportunity for me to get some more pull from your faction. My higher ups were very pleased.”

“What?” Rosar asked, frowning in confusion.

“I mean, thanks to you, I can kill two birds with one stone… Ah, that might be in poor taste, I just realized,” the human commented, his voice still casual and his expression relaxed despite everything. “Anyway, you see, you allowed me to get two things done at the same time. Earn favor from one of your Satans,” Davis commented, nodding towards Sirzechs as if he weren’t one of the strongest people in the world. “And also get a fair bit of power from your House. And I can do that while keeping things relatively friendly by offering you an out in the shape of this deal.”

Rosar wasn’t falling for it. What the man said made sense, and it also was possible, he supposed. However, he refused to believe this all had happened so coincidentally. No, this had Sirzechs written all over it. Did the man think he was getting the better of him with this… This travesty?

No, Rosar wasn’t… Wait…

“You mentioned higher ups?” he asked, frowning the smallest bit.

To that, Davis simply nodded and his hand moved to his belt and then back up. The human then placed a crystal lotus on top of the table. Rosar felt it, but his wife did so even faster, stiffening next to him.

That was no trinket.

“I’m here on behalf of the Egyptian Pantheon,” Davis said, a placid smile still in place as if he weren’t saying anything too important. “My higher ups want to… come back to the game, as it were. So, this is one of their moves, you see. Getting a rather good in with your faction is a nice one, if I do say so myself.”

The revelation gave Rosar pause once more.

This was too much, even for Sirzechs. The New Satans might have made choices that many of the Houses didn’t agree with during their time, but this was way beyond any of that. Rosar glanced between the two leaders, considering them all the same. Leviathan seemed intent on being on good terms with everyone, but this kind of move wasn’t like anything the woman had done, and the same went for Lucifer.

No, this was…

Was this real? Was it really just a convenient coincidence for someone else? Rosar didn’t want to believe that, but the crystal flower… It was overflowing with divine energy. There were deities involved there and there was no faking that. Leviathan wouldn’t pull a favor from some other faction’s gods to do this, even if she probably would have liked to.

No, this was too drastic, too messy. There was no way the two had risked making a move like this for the Gremory girl… Suddenly, the presence of Satan Leviathan made a lot more sense in the meeting. This was just as much a matter of internal politics as it was external ones.

‘This wasn’t how I expected my day to go,’ Rosar thought to himself wryly. ‘Not at all.’

And it had been such a good day too.

Alas…

He traded another look with his wife. This time though, there was a lot more to try and communicate. Fortunately for them, they’d been a team for a long time already. The smallest of things could get their thoughts across to the other without giving the other party so much as a hint to what they were “talking” about.

Ultimately, they came to a decision.

“So… What do your… higher ups… have in mind?” he asked slowly, because he was cornered. If he wasn’t careful, then his family’s business and power would take a hit so huge they would be lucky if they didn’t fall all the way to the middle of the list of Pillar Houses. So, there he was, the mighty Lord Phenex… reduced to listening to the demands of a human.

‘How the mighty have fallen indeed,’ he thought bitterly.

“I’m sure you’ll find the terms we had in mind agreeable,” Davis commented, visibly pleased with himself. Then again, it wasn’t often that someone got the upper hand so readily in a negotiation. If nothing else, Rosar could respect that… That and the feat that the man had apparently accomplished to make this all possible. “As I said, neither me nor my higher ups want to be on bad terms with you or your faction.”

Rosar could only hope that was true, because the future of his House depended on that.

[}-o-{]

[Joshua Davis]

He watched as the Phenex couple left the room and, as soon as the door closed, he sighed loudly, letting himself fall bonelessly on his chair.

“That went really well,” Serafall commented happily, back to her normal self after the meeting. Sirzechs and her had participated on the thing a whole lot more after Lord Phenex had caved and decided to talk business. The heavy lifting of the whole thing had fallen on his shoulders though, because he was supposed to be there on behalf of the Egyptian Pantheon and not on Sirzechs’.

It was lucky that nobody seemed to have noticed or know that he was the guy that worked with Serafall on her show. That was taken into account in their plans too, of course. Even if someone tried to make things difficult for them, they had answers. First of all, Joshua had gone to Kyoto on behalf of the Egyptian Pantheon too, so there was precedent of him working for that faction before others. On top of that, when he’d talked with Nephthys, the goddess had reassured that they’d have his back, provided that he was actually going to let this benefit them.

Fortunately, they only wanted a fairly small cut, which was the payment for using their name, basically. Nephthys had remarked that it was a great deal for them regardless, because using their name could even be considered a favor, even if it’d likely direct some less than desired attention towards them too. Other than that, they acknowledged that they had been an almost non-existent part of the process of the whole thing and were fine letting him and the Satans get the lion’s share.

Joshua would admit that he’d been a little surprised that it was so easy to get that agreement, but at that point he was starting to think that the Egyptian Pantheon was just nice like that.

Nothing else made much sense to him, really.

Back to the point, nobody could really point at Serafall and say that she’d been working on the whole thing without sounding like a conspiracy theorist. Just because he worked with her on something didn’t mean that they were allies or something. Even if they were found out to be friends, accusing parties wouldn’t have much to stand on.

The fact that the Egyptian Pantheon was backing him was just that powerful a card, basically.

On the unfortunate side of things, this would get Joshua’s name out there even more. The events in Kyoto had been mostly kept under wraps, even if there were rumors about what happened with Georg and the Annihilation Maker wielder. Most of Joshua’s reputation had to do with what he taught at House of Water and little else. Then there was the attack at the Church base he’d been part of, but that one had also mostly stayed within that faction’s knowledge. There was his appearance in Serafall’s show, but that wouldn’t mean much by itself to most people. Several basically unknowns worked in that, after all.

Now, he’d be known. Known as a man that had created a spell that worked just as well as a devil bloodline. Known as a man that had the backing of an entire Pantheon almost entirely to himself. Known as the man that was an equal to a powerful Pillar House. Known as the man that had the ear of a Satan, maybe two.

It was a move that Joshua frankly wasn’t a fan of, if he were honest.

It was necessary though. Not only because it’d free Rias, which… he wasn’t particularly close to, but Sairaorg was and that was enough for him. He owed the man a lot, so helping his cousin was the least he could do.

There were other reasons for getting involved in such a situation though. For one, the healing spell by itself was worth it, in his opinion, and dealing with it like he was reduced the chances of it coming back to bite him in the ass whenever the Phenex or someone else took offense to it. Also, while being a more public figure sounded like a headache, Joshua knew that it would be helpful too. Annoying, but helpful.

“Joshua?” Serafall asked, making him blink and return to the present. That meeting had really taken a lot of him. He’d done his best though, his very best, to keep himself calm, relaxed, in control. He was sure that if he slipped even the smallest bit, things would go downhill and never stop. “Josh?”

“That’s the first time you’ve called me Josh, I think,” he pointed out wearily.

“That’s what got you?” the woman asked, looking amused.

“I do believe our friend here is tired from the meeting. I have to say though, you did much better than I expected,” Sirzechs told him, looking very pleased. No reason for him not to be though, Joshua supposed. Things had gone well. Extremely so. He’d have expected a battle, and maybe insults thrown all over the place. Hell, he wouldn’t have been all that surprised if he was challenged to a duel or some shit… Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened…

For the moment, at least.

“I did better than I expected,” Joshua admitted with a slight smile.

“Regardless, you did well, and you managed what most considered an impossible task in a timeframe that would be even more unbelievable,” the Satan Lucifer continued, sounding very adamant. “I owe you a lot, for what you’ve done. What I gave you on magical creatures was only… a partial payment, if you will. If there’s anything I can do for you, Mr. Davis, please let me know.”

“I will,” he accepted. He was too tired to bother denying that and besides… He kind of wanted to make the headache that this would bring be a little more worth it, he supposed. “Don’t think too much of it though. I like Rias. She’s a good kid.”

“She is,” Sirzechs replied with a wide smile, the very picture of a proud sibling. Joshua did notice that Serafall was beaming too, but he had no idea why that was. “Which is why I have to make sure you know how much I appreciate you doing this for her. For the moment, however… There's a lot of work to do. This is only the start of negotiations.”

“Don’t remind me,” Joshua groaned. “I really, really don’t wanna think about that, or what this means to me, politically. I wanna pretend everything is still as it was before.”

“I do believe that’s not gonna last much, Mr. Davis,” Grayfia commented mercilessly, making him deflate. “So, enjoy it while it lasts.”

“Thanks, I think,” he mumbled. Shortly after, both Sirzechs and her left the room. Both had duties to attend to and things to prepare now that things were in motion. And they had to inform Rias and their family of how things had gone too, he supposed. As for Joshua, he just wanted to die already. Keeping his calm throughout the whole meeting had been hell.

“You did really well,” Serafall told him softly and he gave her a grateful smile.

“I did have a lot of time to prepare and help from awesome people,” he pointed out, his grin widening a little as he spoke. “Once this is done, I just have to try and go back to my normal life… sort of. It’ll be nice to not have a deadline for a while.”

“So, what do you want to do for now? You look tired,” she pointed out, far calmer than she usually was. For some reason, she was acting quite out of character, really, but he couldn’t quite place why that could be the case. “How about you go back home and get some tea?”

“You want to come too or are you busy?” he asked, not feeling like being alone. Sure, he was tired, but he felt like he needed to relax more than he needed to rest. It had been nerve wracking to go through that meeting without showing anything but calm and confidence.

“You know I can’t say no, Joshua! Will there be snacks?” she asked, bouncing back to her more excited persona. It made him smile though, because that was the Serafall that he liked the most, the one that he just couldn’t feel bad with.

“All the snacks. I think I can cook without feeling worse,” he commented, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath in to gather strength. As he let the air out, he stood up. “Anything in particular that you want?”

And with that, off Serafall went, starting to ponder what snacks she wanted out loud. Joshua simply listened as he turned and picked up the Charm of Egypt from the table. When his fingers touched the crystal though, he paused and blinked. There were more presences there, which was not new but it was certainly unexpected.

Even more so, however, was the fact that they were a lot more clear, a lot closer, for lack of a better word. They weren’t vague outlines somewhere in the background. They were now right besides Shed, Nephthys and Set. There were many too and all of them showered different emotions on him.

Then he saw the system screen pop up in front of him.

[Quest Complete: Replicate a Devil Bloodline an-]

That was the only legible part, because everything else seemed to be random symbols and corrupted text that he couldn’t make out. Joshua was more than a little unnerved by this, because he knew that things had often seemingly influenced the system, but this was different. This looked like the thing had outright crashed.

Then the screen flickered and glitched for a moment before disappearing before his very eyes.

A second later, a new screen appeared. This time in a more familiar way, if not the usual light blue. Instead, he was greeted by the usual beige with the ankh in the background that symbolized the Egyptian influence in the system.

[Title Acquired: Great Column.

Do you accept?]

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Ok, this was a nightmare to write. I really didn’t wanna mess up this meeting, because it was very important for the sort of closure of an arc that has been a very frustrating part of the story for most people. Personally, I liked going through the journey that was creating the Phoenix Spell.

Now… I’m not sure how well I did, but at least that’s more or less done with, for good or bad. Sure, there’s still gonna be extra negotiations, but I’m not sure I wanna write them all. I’m not a particularly business inclined person, nor a political one, which is why I kind of try to dodge them while still having them be part of the story.

So…

Ugh, anyway, I’ll just leave things there.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Two questions today, one because I need to hear about it and the other because I’m curious. How did you like this chapter? Specifically the thing with the Phenex, obviously. Any theories as to what’s going on with that last part?

See you.