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Game of Monsters - 159
🕑 Added 2024-09-24 17:53:06 +0000 UTC-With the Devil in Me
[Shalba Beelzebub]
“I thought you were going to do something,” he commented, moving to look at the human that had humiliated him and his peers.
Shalba still couldn’t make sense of it.
He was a human. He was also weak. The only reason he had any sort of strength was the Egyptian gods, who would get what was coming to them, he was sure. Khaos Brigade wouldn’t let their loss be just like that.
Back to Davis though, Shalba was convinced that something was fishy with the human’s win. It didn’t make any sense no matter how he looked at it. Thus, he’d been thinking it over… and he realized that something had happened. Kokabiel had been stupidly chatty throughout the whole fight.
He could say he was buying time for their Kyoto attack as much as he wanted, but Shalba didn’t believe that one bit. On top of that, they’d been promised that Davis’ defenses, the only thing that made him even remotely dangerous, would be taken down. They evidently hadn’t been, at most being temporarily dismantled, which was a big difference.
They’d been screwed over and Shalba would make sure that the person responsible paid for it.
Once he got out, of course, but that was a matter of time.
Khaos would come, he was sure.
“I am,” Davis replied, not even deigning him with a look, as if Shalba were someone beneath his notice. The damned human would pay the most, that much he swore, as a descendant of the original Beelzebub. “All in due time,” the human continued, finally turning to look at him and giving him a lazy smirk. “No need to be impatient.”
“I really wouldn’t bother the guy in control of the situation, just saying,” Shalba heard the human woman, the magician, say. He only gave her a disgusted look though. This had been one of their allies? No wonder the branches were falling apart if she was one of their leaders.
The imposters and their merry band of idiots had to be winning for a reason and Shalba knew it couldn’t be competency. They didn’t compare to the true leaders of their faction, them, the original Satan’s own blood. If people like this… Walburga were the best Khaos had for their branch groups, then things were making a lot more sense.
Maybe they’d been made to make the little alliance lose time?
As good a guess as any, Shalba supposed.
“In control of the situation,” Shalba said, not a hint of belief in his voice. “You really think he’s in control of anything? He’s just making his own situation worse.”
“He will realize how much he’s messed up eventually,” Katerea joined, unable to stay silent any longer.
“The irony is almost funny,” Walburga told him, giving him a pitying smile that Shalba swore he wouldn’t forget. How dare the lowly bitch look down on him. He’d show them all, he swore. “I had heard rumors about how crazy you were, but damn.”
“Why, you-?”
“That’s enough,” Davis said, which Shalba couldn’t have cared less about if he tried. However, the human had the gall to accompany the order with a silencing spell of some kind, snapping his fingers for emphasis. Walburga didn’t seem to care much for that, but she didn’t matter anyway.
She was a human magician anyway. The only way for her to be of a lower standing was for her to be a mundane human. Shalba was still trying to figure out why she’d been big enough a deal for him to have heard her name, honestly.
So far, he was far from impressed.
Unfortunately, he’d have to stomach the insult that was getting silenced by a filthy human. Shalba could wait, even if he hated it. Everyone would get what was coming to them, Davis, Yasaka and everyone else. Especially the fucking imposters, that was for sure.
“You really don’t learn, do you?” the human asked, giving him a curious look as if he found Shalba to be a particularly strange creature. He glared right back, speaking all the words he wanted to as best he could with just his expression and glare. “Well, you will soon… probably. If your time here hasn’t taught you that,” he continued speaking, making Shalba flinch ever so slightly.
Typical of a human, threatening others with the power of stronger people instead of their own. Yasaka of the West Youkai could scare him, he would admit. How could she not, with the power that she’d been given by her gods, which was also typical of a lesser being, a lesser faction, a lesser panthe-
“Either way,” Davis, the human continued speaking and Shalba wanted nothing else than for him to disappear. He was an eyesore and incredibly annoying. “I’m done studying you three,” he commented, running his fingers through his hair as he stretched, like he’d been doing much of anything other than sitting on a chair in between their cells and writing down on a notebook.
“No chance of you telling me what you are doing?” Walburga asked, making Shalba’s eye twitch. ‘She’s not silenced?’ he wondered, even though the answer was obvious. The human was obviously insulting them, the absolute-
“Just trying to sense them through my spells and such, picking up as much info as I can,” Davis answered casually, taking a moment to look around as if remembering that he was in a dungeon and not anywhere else. “Now, it’s time to use that info,” he commented, turning towards Shalba. “Thanks for offering yourself for this,” he added, directing an excited smile his way. “Testing round one of Project Forever Fall.”
Was that supposed to mean anything to him?
Because it didn’t.
Either way, instead of explaining further in any way, Davis stood up and took a deep breath in. Shalba just looked at him move through slightly narrowed eyes. What was he going to do? He still had no idea and he’d reluctantly admit to being curious. He’d been taught the horrors of not knowing what was coming during his last… interrogation and he wasn’t a fan.
Unfortunately, he had no voice and he rather doubted his questions would be answered.
Fortunately – in a certain, very twisted way –, he didn’t have to wait long to get his answers in a rather direct, blunt way. This happened after Davis went around, setting down drawn circles and foci on the empty space between cells. ‘Wards and hexes?’ Shalba hazarded a guess.
Not like it was difficult, what with those being the man’s known main magic branches.
Further musings were interrupted as he felt the magic reach for him, surround him, observe him and, eventually, grasp at him. He felt the energies reach for his energies. He felt his demonic power being prodded and then ignored. He felt something touch even deeper, and Shalba could only wonder what the spells had scrapped against, because it made him shiver, feeling cold and a dull ache at the center of his being.
The spells ignored that too, he realized, somewhat gratefully.
This feeling was short lived though, very much so. Because the energies grabbed onto something else and this time they didn’t let go. For a long second, that wasn’t so bad. Awkward, odd, weird, strange, uncomfortable, it was all those things, but not bad. This lasted just as little as his gratefulness.
More “hands” reached to grab this energy inside Shalba, but that wasn’t the worst part. No, the worst part was that they started pulling. It was the return of feeling pain and cold in his core, but even worse than before. It was like someone was pulling him apart, limb by limb, organ by organ, muscles, bones, veins, nerves and everything else. Yet, his body remained intact, which made it all the worse.
Because it told Shalba that he was being torn to pieces, and it had nothing to do with his physical body. Was it his magic? Was it his soul? What was Davis doing to him? Whatever it was, he couldn’t even scream about it. No sound came out of his mouth as he thrashed about in his cell to no avail.
Shalba’s surroundings disappeared as he was filled with just pain and cold, so much cold, like he was being frozen over despite also being constantly shredded into nothing. He could do nothing other than experiencing that. It was all his mind could focus on. No thoughts came to him, nothing broke through the haze and Shalbe was left alone with his torment.
Until he wasn’t.
Somehow, the magic letting go of him felt worse, because Shalba became aware and able to process what had just happened. The pain receded and so did the cold, yet he could remember it so vividly that it was almost like it hadn’t stopped. Just low enough for him to realize the hell Davis had unleashed on him.
He wanted to curse the man with all he had.
He wanted to beg him not to do it again.
He wanted to run away.
He wanted to cry.
All Shalba was able to do, however, was breath shakily while his body trembled nonstop. He remained lying on the ground, twitching and turning while sweat ran down his skin. The dark cell around and the rough stone under him that he’d swore at for days and nights felt like a haven all of a sudden, or maybe an anchor. Because if he felt those, if he saw those, then he wasn’t relieving the Nightmare.
“What… What did you do to him?” he heard someone say when his mind finally started to become aware of more things. Idly, a part of him noticed that it was a familiar voice. “Shalba?”
He didn’t answer. He barely realized that they were calling for him. He didn’t have the strength to say anything, nor the wish to. He just wanted to forget. He wanted to just… stop feeling.
“Well… That went about as well as I expected it to,” he heard, the voice making him twitch. That was the voice that brought the Nightmare to him, Shalba knew, feeling it in his all.
“That was well?” he heard a voice say harshly, making him twitch even harder. “What did you do to him?!” Another twitch followed the loud voice.
“It’s good for me,” the Nightmare himself answered casually. “You all… You all I could care less about. You forfeited the right to anything when you attacked what was mine and you did so understanding what you were doing. Nobody told you to do it, nobody lied to you nor forced you. Now, I’ll make sure to use you to the best of my ability so that I can properly dismantle the entirety of Khaos. I will leave nothing of your organization, of the Old Satans, of anything that’s even remotely related to you all.”
“You call us monsters,” he heard the female voice snarl. “You think you are any better?”
“It was never about being better than you,” the Nightmare replied, just as unconcerned and Shalba recovered enough presence of mind to see the Nightmare shrug. “It was about making sure you aren’t a threat to me. If I have to be as bad as you, or worse, then I will be. I’m not a hero, Katerea-” Right, that was her name. “-I’m just a guy that you wouldn’t leave well enough alone.”
With a wave of the man’s hand, Katerea flew towards the cell bars, being left right in front of the human.
“You wanted a war, didn’t you?” the Nightmare asked, the coldness of his voice sending a chill down Shalba’s spine that was terrifyingly similar to the cold from the Nightmare. “That’s what you’ve been trying to get. War and pain and deaths, for whatever insane reason each of you mad bastards could think up in your twisted, sick minds.”
Katerea seemed to go to say something, but a hand wrapping around her throat choked the words before they could come out.
“I hope you are happy,” the Nightmare told her. “You’ve got your war. I’ll bring it to every single one of you all until none of you are left, if it’s the last thing I do.”
“... What… What are you doing?”
“Did you think Shalba would be the only one? Oh no,” the Nightmare said.
A second later, only screams could be heard.
Screams that were quickly silenced.
“Say hello to your war, Katerea.”
[}-o-{]
[Joshua Davis]
He looked at the two still half delirious Satan descendants and the surprisingly composed Kokabiel in their cells.
“People whisper about how nice you are,” the fallen told him, grinning wearily, with his body sprawled on the stone floor. “They speak about how you give more than you ask for, how you don’t make demands or pressure people. They speak of a mild, benevolent man… And yet here you are.”
“Didn’t you ever hear that you should fear the anger of a gentle man?” Joshua asked, feeling dead inside but keeping himself standing straight and strong. He would give them nothing. He could mourn the little part of him that he felt he’d lost while pulling his experiments on them, one not unlike those he’d lost with his treatment of the fallen and other less than nice experiments.
A loss that he was, for once, fully aware of.
“Is that what you think you are? A gentle man?” Kokabiel asked and Joshua considered the question for a long moment. Ultimately, he guessed he made a fair point. He didn’t feel very gentle at that moment. However, he also remembered other times, with Kunou, Asia, Jeanne, Issei, his familiars and many others…
“I am who I am,” he decided out loud. “What you or others think doesn’t matter.”
To that, the fallen barked out a laugh.
“You aren’t an idiot,” Kokabiel told him. “I’d have been pissed if you were, after you beat us. Well, man of your own, go on with your war.”
“Your war,” Joshua corrected pointedly. He wanted nothing to do with wars and bloodshed. However, if someone was going to bring both to him, then he’d do his best to end them. With that said, he decided he had enough and turned to leave.
He needed some time to recover anyway and things weren’t getting any better while inside that dungeon.
“You look tired,” was the greeting he got once he stepped outside. With a weary smile, he turned to face Yasaka, not even trying to keep up appearances like he did inside. Instead, he let her presence be a reassurance, dropping his heavy-feeling shoulders and relaxing his tense body. “You don’t look disappointed though.”
“I got some data,” he replied, his voice all but a sigh. “Didn’t go as well as I’d have liked, but it went better than I expected.”
“And we should always be happy with such results,” Yasaka told him, her smile lifting his spirits just as much as her life energy wrapping around him to help him feel better. “Now, how about we go sit down for a bit and drink some tea? Kunou will be in class for a little longer still.”
“Sounds wonderful,” Joshua replied with a slightly widening smile. The idea itself was enough to make him feel even better. He was far from well, but he didn’t feel like he was drowning anymore, which was great. So, he followed her through the halls until they reached their destination.
“... I’ve probably done worse things to my enemies,” Yasaka told him after Fuyuko had delivered them their drinks and some light snacks. He didn’t feel like eating, but the tea sent a very welcome trickling of warmth through him.
“Does it get easier?” he asked her, looking at his cup as he set it down slowly. If she thought that’d make him feel better or change his opinion of her, then she was wrong on both accounts. He hated the world for forcing him and probably her into that position and he wasn’t anywhere close to being enough of a hypocrite to think badly about her for doing what he was doing.
“Maybe? You come to accept it, I believe,” she answered, sounding unsure of her own words. “It’s part of the world we live in. Trying to be upstanding is all well and good, until someone that’s not comes along and, in the end, you are forced to stoop to their level if you don’t want to suffer.”
That made sense, he supposed. One could be good as long as everyone was sort of equal. Once the smallest imbalance was thrown into the mix, however? Things became much more complicated. And there were a lot of imbalances in the supernatural world. The strongest could do whatever they wanted so long as they didn’t run across someone above them. It was a very might makes right world, in the end.
“If it helps, I like that you can do what’s necessary,” Yasaka told him, but the sad smile on her face told him that there was more to her words than just what she said. Sure enough, there was a followup statement for that. “I love that you don’t like it though… Because that's infinitely better than doing awful things and enjoying it.”
“... It still sucks though,” he commented, bringing his cup to his lips.
“It does,” she agreed, making him snort, darkly amused by her quick response. “I like to remind myself that everything I do, I do for my people and, more importantly, for Kunou. Because maybe if I stain my hands enough, she won’t have to.”
“That’s one way to look at it,” he said, not really feeling all that positive at the idea. He’d still rather not have to. However, there was no denying that it did make it all a little better. Because if there was something he hated more than the idea of keeping doing things he was doing, that was Kunou having to do things like that.
He refused to let that happen.
“So, why don’t you tell me what you found out?” Yasaka asked him and he wondered if she was trying to get his mind off of things. If she did, it worked, because that might make him remember what he’d just done, but it also made his mind delve into magic theory and pull away from emotions he’d rather not deal with at that moment.
“Well, whatever it is that powered them up-” ‘Ophis,’ he thought to himself. He couldn’t quite say that though, since he only knew that from whatever scraps of canon knowledge he still retained. “-is a lot more… clingy than I expected. Very interesting though. I’ll have to study that more. Confirmed that there’s a lot of power there-”
“Which we already knew,” Yasaka pointed out, which was fair. If there was one thing Ophis’ touch was not, that was inconspicuous. Anyone with any sensing capability could tell the vast well of power that it was. Nevermind what people like Yasaka and him could pick up on, what with her level of life sensing and his many spells.
“Yes,” he conceded. Still though… “Not sure if I’ll be able to do anything with that, but it’s certainly interesting. I’ll have to keep at it. I probably shouldn’t let them die though, should I?”
“Pretty sure Serafall and her people would appreciate those devils surviving,” Yasaka answered, which made him grimace a little. “At least until she can get some value out of them.”
“Well, I’ll see then,” he replied vaguely. He’d have to pull his punches a little, by the sound of it. “Kokabiel is fine though, and a fallen that doesn’t really matter if he dies is a pretty good source,” he commented, his mind drifting through his several ideas and experiments. “And then there’s Cao Cao.”
“I have a feeling you have something… else for him,” Yasaka commented and he gave her a smile that held no amusement behind.
“You have no idea,” he replied darkly. Because, after all, the man was the one that had scared his daughter the most. He was also the one at the very top of the entire thing, or at least the highest ranked member of Khaos Brigade that Joshua had gotten his hands on. With that in mind, there was only one thing to do about the absolute bastard. “No idea at all.”
“Glad to hear,” Yasaka said, returning his grin with one of her own. A grin that very much reminded him that she was, indeed, a fox youkai, if a mythical kind. Furthermore, foxes were predator animals too, which was worth acknowledging.
“Longinus, hero descendant, True Longinus,” he listed, thinking of all the things he could use the piece of shi- ‘Calm,’ he told himself. Just thinking about him pissed Joshua off, he would admit. There was a reason he hadn’t so much as addressed him during his visit. Good thing Cao Cao hadn’t decided to open his mouth, either because of unexpected wisdom or for some other reason.
“Tell me more.”
Joshua wondered if he should have felt concerned by the amount of enjoyment that Yasaka seemed to take on the possible future suffering of Cao Cao. Then again… he felt more or less the same, really. He’d heard Kunou whimper at night after nightmares, talking about the “Man with the Spear”. So, despite how he’d felt about the whole… treatment of their captured enemies thing, Joshua couldn’t find any fucks to give regarding the Hero Faction leader.
He knew his anger would fade eventually, just like it had happened with the fallen. Even then, he suspected he’d never really care. Not only had the guy apparently traumatized Kunou, but he’d also spread his racism against non-human species around, apparently. After all, Joshua hadn’t forgotten that Jeanne had been part of the group in canon and been just as fanatical as Cao Cao.
Jeanne, who had a devil boyfriend and was friends with a bunch of devils too. Jeanne, who loved spending time with her niece. Jeanne who seemed to have a good time sparring with Raynare at times and talking with Gabriel whenever they met.
Something was fishy there and Joshua had a feeling that it was all Cao Cao’s fault. He was fairly sure, after all, that everyone had been recruited by him. Maybe he was jumping to conclusions, but oh well… He’d have time to get to the truth, he supposed.
Either way, he was happy to tell Yasaka all his plans for Cao Cao and even the rest of the Khaos Brigade members… Even those that had escaped. Because oh did he have ideas for those too. All of that was stuff for some other time though, since time had passed and the situation had changed.
“Am I interrupting your date?” Kunou asked, not at all caring about the possibility that she might be right. Instead, humming, she skipped her way to Joshua and then sat on his lap. “Class was boring,” she added before any of them could actually ask. “But I did well, that’s what the teacher said.”
Joshua hummed.
“He did!” his daughter protested, hearing the clear doubt in the sound. “He said he’d tell you that.”
“And you didn’t threaten the poor man or anyt-”
“Dad!” Kunou whined. Joshua, for his part, just enjoyed her presence, letting her wash away any of the lingering bad feelings. She was really just a gift that kept on giving.
“Maybe if I stain my hands enough, she won’t have to.”
Yasaka had definitely been onto something with that. Thus, Joshua took a deep breath in and settled down to hear his daughter talk about her classes. He had a nice cup of tea at hand and his family around. The only thing that could make things better would have been having Serafall, Jeanne and Asia there too. ‘That’s an idea.’
“Say, Kunou, what do you say we go home tonight and have a sleepover with Auntie Serafall?”
“And watch her show?” she asked, big excited eyes staring up at him.
“Yeah.”
“Yay~!”
[} Chapter End {]
Hey guys! How’s it going?
Well, that was certainly a chapter.
I thought something like this wouldn’t happen again after the fallen trio thing, but here we are. It’s kind of interesting to learn more about Joshua’s character, because yes, I’m learning together with you all. I mostly have an idea of what characters are like, but then things happen and new aspects of them shine through as I imagine the scene going.
I don’t know if I’m making any sense, honestly.
Leaving the matter at that, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.
Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ
Random Question: What’s the last thing you drank? I’m drinking a smoothie right now because there was a power outage and I had to get to a cafe to be able to write. I see it as a win though, smoothies are great.
See you.
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