Dungeons and Devils (Chapter 18) (Patreon)

Court is... soul sucking.

All in all, I've gotten my revenge but... it doesn't really feel like I've won?

Like, it feels really lackluster.

He was removed from the lordship of Phenex, that was completely and totally accepted and predicted, but I honestly expected to get... more?

I got a reimbursement from the family, of course, a couple million in assets, but that was about it.

For monetary things.

I let out a long sigh as I rub my forehead.

Many new maids quickly rush around the house, cleaning things with feather dusters.

It's not as if everything was unclean, the unseen servants and Virgo were doing an incredible job, it's just... I need to have more servants now as the manor has gotten slightly bigger.

By slightly, I mean it has doubled in size.

Why?

Well, it's quite simple.

The court has decided that in exchange for the previous lord Phenex's actions, I shall be granted... two concubines of the Phenex family.

Because of course they would. I have an 'uber powerful mutant clan trait' and am 'the last of two bloodlines'. Of course, they would not so subtly tell me to get fucking.

The main problem is who they decided to choose as those concubines... I mean, it's sort of obvious considering that there are only two females in the entire Phenex family.

The first was, of course, my fiancée- the new one I mean, and the other one was the only other female in the Phenex house, my old fiancée.

Of course, the old devils realized their mistake swiftly after my power briefly raged out of control and calmly stated that Ravel was my fiancée, and they perhaps should watch what they say, referring to her like a common whore.

They corrected themselves immediately, possibly shat themselves, and suggested to instead speed up the marriage.

Thus, the new lord Phenex is coming here along with his mother and younger sister. Both of whom will be staying here until future notice.

This is sort of what I wanted, yes, but I've told nobody that, and it is frankly setting in just how much of a headache this will cause.

I rise from my seat slowly and let out an annoyed huff, walking past maids who part to let me through.

I smile and give them a nod as I leave the dining room.

This is happening at not the best of times, yet there's nothing I can do about that. My main issue is that this'll probably eat up most of my time. That's a problem because of the fact that I have several objects I need to yoink.

I still need to grab a shield from the bottom of a well, a knife from a river bed, a spear left in the skull of a dead dragon, and quite a few swords lost over the world.

Shame Arthur's boat is currently sitting in some deity's treasure room.

Why would I want a boat?

To complete the set.

Arthur's Legacy: (Ongoing Quest)
King Arthur, a legendary figure, the king of the Britons, slayer of giants, beasts, and monsters. During his time, he acquired many items of legend, most of which were coveted by every faction, others were lost to time, never to be seen again... at least until you showed up! It would be such a shame to allow these items to fall into obscurity.
Objectives:
Reclaim the lost items of King Arthur: [ ]
Excalibur's Sheathe, Avalon: [x] (Reward: 4000 Electrum)
Excalibur Rapidly: [ ]
Excalibur Nightmare: [ ]
Excalibur Transparency: [ ]
Excalibur Blessing: [ ]
Excalibur Destruction: [ ]
Excalibur Mimic: [ ]
Excalibur Ruler: [ ]
The Sword in the Stone, Caliburn: [ ]
Excalibur Precursor Caledfwlch: [ ]
Excalibur Precursor Chastiefol: [ ]
The Sword of Peace, Clarent: [ ]
Arthur's Knife, Carnwennan: [ ]
Arthur's Spear, Rhongomyniad: [ ]
Arthur's Shield, Wynebgwrthucher: [ ]
Arthur's Ship, The Prydwen: [ ]
Arthur's Helmet, Goswhit: [ ]
Arthur's Cloak, Gwen: [ ]
The Round Table: [ ]
Quest Rewards: ?

Now I have to steal a boat, a table, and several blades from the treasuries of many gods.

There's a couple easy 'ones to obtain, at least, Rhongomyniad, Carnwennan, Wynebgwrthucher, a couple broken blades here and there, then Excalibur Ruler which is what I'll be grabbing first. After that? It's dealing with Churches, gods, and the Pendragon Family.

Then there's the broken blades I need to personally reforge.

'Ugh. Oh well, I'll make the Church shit bricks in a year or two when I reveal that I have like ten of Arthur's holy relics.'

A sudden thought rockets into my mind. 'Oh fuck. I have to go to school next month.'

I'm going to be more or less staying in Kuoh to be close with the plot.

I make my way calmly towards my office and take a seat in my chair, tapping my finger idly on the desk as I quickly pull a map from my storage.

Upon it are the marked locations of every single Arthurian artifact belonging to king Arthur I have located. Ruler is hidden within Britain, apparently within a large boulder that has been blocking its holy aura.

I'll be grabbing that first and foremost.

'Ddraig has been pretty silent.' I note. 'I wonder what he's doing?'

Judging from his lack of response, he probably isn't paying attention. Or napping.

I can respect that.

A screen appears in front of me. "U-Uh, Lord Decarabia- is this- is this working?"

"It is." I answer.

I watch the low class devil maid on the other side of the screen flinch back.

"U-Uh, Lord Phenex is here with his mother and little sister."

"Send them up to my office, please." I slowly nod.

"As you wish, my lord." The maid nods.

I make the map disappear with a wave of my hand, and let out a huff of annoyance

I quietly stretch and cover my mouth as I yawn, then fold my hands in front of myself as I give the door a blank stare and wait.

The door clicks open a moment later, a maid opening the door and allowing a young man to enter, followed shortly by a blonde woman, and a blonde girl.

The man looks infuriated, the older woman looks nervous, and the younger girl looks a little scared.

"Lord Phenex, Rosaline, Ravel. How do you do?" I ask.

"I've been better." Ruval responds with a bitter glare.

I give him a slightly sad smile. "As have I."

I gesture to the sofa and the large comfortable looking seat in front of my desk. "Would you care for a seat."

He marches across the room and sits down before me, his glare lessening slightly. "I would like to apologize for the actions of my father. I had no idea he would go to such... lengths... and I suppose that does explain your wrath as I assume you knew the whole time?"

"I did." I nod, my eyes straying over to Ravel, who breaks eye contact with me immediately.

"Ravel Phenex." I slowly state, causing the girl to flinch. "I would like to deeply apologize to you, I did not think I would have affected you this way when I went to make my displeasure known to your father, scaring you was not my intention, and I hope you eventually find it in yourself to forgive me."

She seems caught off guard by the sincerity, her eyes widening.

I look to Rosaline, she stares into my eyes for a long moment...

I look back to Ruval without even uttering a word, my expression unchanging.

"So, I take it you are here to negotiate?"

"I am."

"My hands are tied." I sigh. "The devil courts have decided that this is my payment. My recompense for your fathers actions."

I let out a quiet irritated scoff. "You know, it's funny. Your father was the one who almost killed me, yet I feel like I'm the one being punished."

"If you dislike it so much, why not simply ignore it?" Ruval asks.

"And give those old bags of bones an opportunity to pester me? No." I rub my temples. "Ugh, it's always, 'make an heir. You are the last remaining member of two clans, if you were to die the underworld would lose out on so much' blah blah blah. They don't seem to realize that I am in fact still a child, and that they should really stay in their lane."

I had dealt with the same thing more or less when I went to have my evil pieces bound to me.

I pause briefly, giving the illusion that I had suddenly gained an idea and hadn't thought of this hours ago. "Hn... how about this... I will allow-"

I gesture to Rosaline Phenex. "Lady... Phenex? Er? Your mother. To do as she wishes if you were to defeat me in a duel."

"A duel?"

"Yep. If you win, she is free to do whatever she wants, but if I win, you have to give me a simple five percent of your family's total wealth."

"Oh?" The man states with a small competitive gleam in his eye. "I accept. When will this duel take place?"

"Eh, I was thinking like... right now." I mutter with a small shrug.

"Wait-" Ruval begins, but I cut him off.

"I give up." I suddenly state.

My statement seems to catch everyone off guard.

"What?" Ruval mutters.

"Ah, what a shame, it was a truly great fight, we were nearly evenly matched, it could have gone either way." I dramatically begin as I place the back of my hand over my forehead. "But alas, it appears that your combat experience helped you swipe victory in the very end."

"…"

"So, you are just going to let her go... just like that?" Ruval mutters with narrowed eyes.

"Whatever do you mean, lord Phenex?" I ask with a small smug smile. "I wouldn't describe the ending of our grand bout as 'just like that'. I certainly didn't Give Rosaline Phenex over to you. My greed just got the better of me. Alas, it wasn't meant to be."

"Would you be opposed to another duel to decide the fate of Ravel?" Ruval asks.

"Hn, no, her situation is a completely different beast. She is my fiancée, not a nicely worded concubine." I state. "Also, considering I just 'lost' a 'duel' to you, I'd be an idiot to leap directly into another one."

"Also, I'd be taking you seriously in our next fight." I state with a grin. "And honestly. Between you and me? I'd say I would have the advantage."

Ravel stares at the floor as I scratch my forehead.

Ruval frowns briefly and looks over his shoulder to Ravel.

"However." I begin slowly. "I'm not a monster. It's not my place to say that she could never see her family again. I wouldn't be opposed to her... visiting her siblings... as much as she wants, say for instance... twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Ravel looks up slowly, from what I can see she isn't looking at me with fear anymore, it's more like... hope... a little reluctance, but also some acceptance, with all this leeway I am giving her, maybe she thinks she could grow to love me?

"You are... surprisingly understanding. I had come here expecting some form of verbal dispute, yet you solved all of the problems simply and efficiently. I must applaud you." Ruval mutters. "A breath of fresh air in our race."

"You're only saying that because it went in your favor." I deadpan. "Also, I'm doing all of this because I don't like being told what to do by people who I respect less than dirt. Not because I want to be in your family's good graces."

"I see." He mutters.

We fall into an awkward silence for roughly thirty seconds to a minute.

"Ah. Yes. I suppose that we should leave if everything is taken care of." Ruval states suddenly

"I was being polite and didn't want to say anything, but yes, I have things to do." I agree with a small nod.

Ruval stands up, followed shortly by Ravel.

"Wait."

Their mother speaks for the first time since they got here.

Her children slowly took to her as she frowns, hands tightly gripping her fancy looking red dress.

"He said that if you won, I was free to do whatever I want... I want to stay here."

My nonchalant smile falls briefly before swiftly returning.

'Ah. Shit I have planned no response for this. I can't be all 'are you suuuure' or something like that.'

"I have made mistakes in the past." The woman continues as she stares at the floor, idly brushing a stray strand of her blonde hair behind an ear. "And I want to start making up for them."

"If you're staying, then I'll stay." The small girl to the woman's left quietly whispers. "I-I don't want to lose you too."

I take a deep breath then exhale deeply a moment later.

"Grand." I eventually state, my voice sounding dry and far less amused that my outward appearance shows. "In that case, I suppose I should show you to your rooms."

'Hn? Is this still going on?'

'Where the hell have you been?'

'I saw where this was going, so I took a nap.'

'Lucky.' I mentally scoff as I stand up and walk around the room.

**Linebreak**

"Gaius..." The woman in front of me slowly begins, she has her long blonde hair tied up behind her head, it cascades down through numerous swirling curls. Her red dress is prim and proper, and her pale skin ignites bad memories for my body.

"Yes?" I deadpan with a half-lidded stare.

"I... never got the chance to apologize like I meant to." She mutters. "I am deeply sorry for what my brother did... I am disgusted that he would have gone to such lengths. He took advantage of my distraught state of mind to get me to agree to marrying him, and that was a mistake. I'm sorry."

The small blonde girl not so subtly observing in the background frowns as she peers around the corner.

I run a hand through my hair and stare down at the table. "Rosaline. I accept your apology, but we will never be the way we were. You've moved on. I moved on. It's best to just leave it in the past and forget anything we once had."

I look up and give her a half lidded stare. "Sound fair?"

"I-" she pauses for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh. "I guess that is true... it is foolish to believe we could just go back to the way we were."

"We have both changed so much." She sighs.

"Correct." I state with an impassive glare.

She gives me a sad smile. "You have really matured. Haven't you, Gaius."

"Of course, I did." I scoff. "Do you know how much pressure I have been under, dragging my family names back from obscurity?"

The woman smiles sadly "You shouldn't be forced to face all of this."

"Damn right." I scoff as I slowly get up. "Anyways, I wasn't kidding when I said I had things to do today, so if you will excuse me."

"Ah, yes, I'm sorry." She whispers while looking down at the table guiltily.

**Linebreak**

I sit before a blonde girl with drill-like curls in her hair, she smiles awkwardly, we both are ignoring her mother peering around a nearby pillar, it is clear to both of us, that Ravel is by far stealthier than the older woman.

She had practically forced Ravel to come and see me, whispering her statements about how adorable I was and that Ravel shouldn't miss the opportunity to be with someone as great as I was. About how understanding, kind, nice, and etcetera, I was to her.

"Uh... Gaius." Ravel weakly states. "Do you... l-like me?"

"Hn." I hum as I scratch my chin. "We have barely even spoken more than ten sentences to each other... that really isn't enough for me to like or dislike you."

I tilt my head slightly. "Well, you're certainly pretty, enough to get me interested in getting to know you better at the very least, I hope things work out between us."

"Y-You think I'm pretty?" The girl mutters with wide eyes, a red blush swiftly crossing her face.

"Of course." I scoff. "Who wouldn't?"

"W-Well- *Ahem* Yes, I too hope things work out between us. I-uh do not believe the underworld nobility would accept the dissolution of our engagement due to your powerful clan trait and because of my own."

"Complete and total nonsense." I scoff.

"B-Be that as it may, I feel that they are sort of right in their statement that is falls to us younger generation devils to secure the future of our race. It's why I believe Rias was foolish to resist her engagement to my brother so fiercely. True love is nice, sure, but sometimes we need to make sacrifices for the betterment of devil kind."

I raise an eyebrow. "Am I one of these sacrifices?"

"O-Of course not!" She gasps with wide eyes, a few seconds of silence pass between us. "I-I don't think so, at least."

She quickly amends that statement after a few more seconds of thought. "I, like you, am not entirely sure what to feel about all of... this. I'll need time to see if there is something between us."

"I suppose a chance is all I can ask for."

The girl across from me nods. "And I ask that you give me one as well."

**Linebreak**

I let out a yawn as I sit next to a blonde girl, she is laying on the tiled stone floor with her eyes closed, a content smile on her face.

"…"

"Soooo." I eventually break the silence. "What are you doing here?"

"Hm?" She hums, cracking open one of her red eyes. "What am I doing?"

"you're lying on the floor. Why?" I elaborate on my question, as she still seemed a little confused moments ago.

"Oh? This?" She asks as she shifts slightly to get more comfortable. "It feels nice. The voices are quieter."

I look around slowly, she is laying in the center of a faded magic circle, roughly ten feet across, arms and legs spread out.

Isn't this the circle that I used to summon Artoria?

The girl's eyes snap open suddenly as she sits up, she scootches towards me, her eyes lock onto my left hand. The illusion I placed over the arrow-shaped seal on the back of my hand fading away as her hands latch around my wrist.

She promptly shoves my hand under her shirt, the back of my palm being nestled in between her bare sizable breasts.

"…"

Her eyes gain clarity suddenly and widen, she flinches back, a crimson blush crossing over her face.

She doesn't say anything for a moment. "I... will not apologize. Your hand is soothing my head."

"You don't need to." I shrug. "I'm enjoying this more than I care to admit."

"I see." She happily smiles. "Alright! In that case I'll keep doing it!"

Peerage:

Queen Piece: Valerie Tepes
Mood: is a little embarrassed by what she did in her haze, also it is sort of dawning on her what her previous actions meant, practically giving her soul to the devil just to see her old friend, but you seem nice, and you haven't taken advantage of her yet when you had NUMEROUS chances to do so, like, she probably would have slept with you if you said it would help her see Gasper in her previous state of mind, so she has no real reason to doubt you. Having clarity, and not having annoyed spirits yell at her for the first time in nearly a decade is certainly surprising, and she is glad to have it, despite the lewd thing she must do to achieve it. Besides... is... it really so bad? You seem nice.

Special Effects:

Holder of the Holy Grail:
Valerie has the sacred gear Sephiroth Grall, a powerful Recovery-Type sacred gear which grants her several abilities. She can heal, she can manipulate the souls of the deceased, drawing them forth from their death and reviving them in new bodies, she can copy information of the souls she sees, empower people, removing weaknesses 'as much as possible.', and can even restore the youth of a target. all of this... in her base sacred gear's non-balance breaker form.

Vampire Phisiology:
Valerie is a Dhampir, which means she has a lot of abilities that vampires have, such as the ability to sustain herself with blood, the ability to turn into a large swarm of bats, the ability to control mist, the minds of small animals, and darkness to an extent, plus she can see perfectly in the dark.

Grail Energy Charged: (Temporary.)
Due to the power of the holy grail coursing through the back of your hand, Valerie has the ability to use some of the weaker abilities of her sacred gear without damaging her mind. In this state, she can heal, and restore the youth of a target, and if allowed to just calmly sit and rest with this ability, her mind will steadily begin fixing itself.

'Ah yes, that last perk... hentai logic. The only way it could be even more hentai logic is if the seal was on my dick.'

"You do realize that you feeling better might not be due to my hand being under your shirt, and it just may be skin contact, right?" I slowly ask.

She looks away slowly as I slide my hand down to her stomach-

Her hands halt my own dead in its tracks, then drags it back up to in between her breasts. "It feels better like this."

"That sounded really lewd, but alright. I suppose I could nap like this for a while."