-Till Your Hope Has Died-
[Joshua Davis]
There was a plan in place and he was going to follow it.
First step was to lock down the area, of course. He didn't want anyone getting out and especially nobody getting in. Nobody would be calling for help and nobody would arrive to surprise them. If anything at all happened, Joshua would at least have a heads-up to prepare himself.
Then came the support spells, although Joshua kind of agreed with the view that they were just the first wave of offensive ones. After all, he was getting infamous for his energy draining spells. So much so that even he knew about it. It was kind of funny though, that those were merely a means to an end, not the end itself. He'd gotten started with those to be able to better power spells he had no business casting back in the day…
And he still did that, really, just that the ceiling for things he couldn't cast had gone up quite a bit through his development. They were effective as offensive alone though. Still, those weren't the spells he'd placed to attack Tepes territory.
Those were step three, after all. He'd thrown a bit of everything in there. Some weight increasing spells, some weakening spells, some magic dispelling spells… and then an assortment of hexes that almost left him feeling bad for the vampires. Almost, but not quite. They were going to be burned, frozen, electrified, corroded and a number of other things.
Hexes were great at causing suffering, as it turned out.
Speaking of, step four was where their counterparts came in. Boons started coming to life, protecting, healing and otherwise supporting their allies, the Carmilla faction, together with the people Joshua had brought himself. Which were the usual suspects, really: Raynare – of course, as if there was any doubt –, Kuroka, his familiars – again, who else but them? – and Jeanne. Although, he'd managed, thankfully, to sit Morag out by having her play bodyguard to Asia back at Carmilla's place.
That had not been a fun conversation.
Step five was spitting on the Tepes faction's face much like how he'd done with Nurarihyon. He had a good reading on the defenses around the Tepes territory, of course, but he hadn't been able to look too closely until that day without possibly drawing attention to himself. Now though, the cat was out of the bag and that meant he was free to do whatever he wanted.
Thus, he peered at the defenses, dissecting them with his many senses and channeling Nephthys and Horus for good measure. Magic and protection became part of him and he became a part of them, and thus, the defenses' design unraveled before his very eyes. Finding a weak point to poke wasn't hard, doing so in a way that allowed him to get in and start overwriting things was a little more complex, but it wasn't like he had to pay attention to the fighting.
Raynare was drawing all the attention in the world, and that wasn't even mentioning Nagini, Cheshire and Carmilla. Jeanne was playing it safe, staying around him and watching out like she'd decided when he explained the plan. Meredith looked like she was itching to go and prove herself, but she stuck to him too. For good measure though, Kuroka was making a nuisance of herself as usual. All her considerable might was being used for the sake of making the battlefield as chaotic as possible for the Tepes and even the Carmilla, even if those latter ones were just collateral damage.
Joshua didn't expect anyone to have the time to bother with a rather unassuming human in the battlefield. Especially when he was doing his best to keep his presence as low as he could. Difficult thing to do considering he was channeling the power of gods, but he managed decently, if he did say so himself. He'd been kind of toying with that for a while really, not just by switching his Titles around, but also consciously leaning on them, making the effect stronger… or weaker in this case.
Because he had neither Great Column nor Domain Authority on. Instead, he had one of his first titles ever, Magician. Basic, plain, boring Magician, the kind of title nobody would care about after getting much better versions like The Professor or Domain Authority. It came in handy then and there though. Sure, Joshua could have used the boosts of the other Titles at that moment, but he considered the added "anonymity" of the title a bonus good enough to do away with the other effects.
Besides, that was only until…
'Eureka,' he thought triumphantly. Taking a deep breath in, he moved his hand down, palm to the ground, and made a foci appear on the ground before a circle came to be. Then, he repeated the process a few more times, setting up an improvised array.
And then his spells pierced the defenses, turning them on their own people.
That was it for the most basic steps, however. From there, the plan kind of spread out into branches depending on what was needed. Maybe his draconic inkling was wrong and there wouldn't be anything of the sort happening during the attack. Maybe someone would try to punch their way through the spells, either from inside or from outside. Maybe Sephiroth Graal would be used in some unexpected way to mess with everything.
Thus, Joshua was kind of on stand-by until something "unexpected" happened.
All things considered, the battle was going well, he supposed. No hiccups, nothing truly unexpected thus far. He wouldn't be lowering his guard by any means, but it was nice for plans to go smoothly. He'd be annoyed if all his work was dismantled by some random bullshit coming out of nowhere.
However, he was in the DxD world, so it always paid to expect some kind of bullshit to happen, he knew.
[}-o-{]
[Meredith Ordinton]
Her sword cut through the air and the neck of a vampire with the same ease in both cases.
The unfortunate being dropped almost immediately, his body slowly burning to ash under the effects of her holy sword. She grimaced, but that was all she could afford. Vampires were strong, they were fast and they were hard to stop. She couldn't afford to give them any room. If she tried not to kill them, chances were that she'd be the one dead instead and that was certainly not something she was going to let happen.
Did it make her a bad person though, how little she cared for the lives she reaped?
She thought so, but at the same time… She watched what her master did and felt like she couldn't be that bad, right? Because there were vampires all over the place, twisting and turning on the ground as they were overwhelmed by the spells. They wailed and pleaded, but nobody could help them. Or, at least, nobody cared to help them, least of all Joshua.
"You're merciless, aren't you?" she asked and she wasn't sure if she did so out of nervousness, fear or curiosity. It might even have been a mix of all three, she supposed. Because this wasn't really a new side of Joshua. She'd seen glimpses of it at times, like at House of Water when the association was attacked. Or even during classes, at times.
There was something very different between what she was witnessing at that moment and those events, however.
"They aligned themselves with my enemies," Joshua answered, calm but certainly not casual. There was an edge there, barely hidden. Meredith was just happy that it wasn't aimed her way, truly. "Enemies that have attacked my family time and time again. I'd have happily stayed at my place, studying magic and minding my own business. They are the ones that made it my problem, for one reason or another. Far as I'm concerned… they brought this on themselves."
"You can say that again," Jeanne commented and Meredith turned to see the girl pulling out her own holy sword out of a vampire's chest. Well, like brother, like sister, she guessed. No real surprises there, not at all. "I have to wonder though, how many idiots have they gathered in their little club? Because damn. There's no end to these dumbasses."
"World has an infinite supply of idiots," Joshua replied casually, taking in the battlefield. "You can go and fight properly if you want."
"Nah, I like this acting thing," Jeanne commented, and the truth of her words showed on her smile. Now that was unnerving. At least Joshua didn't look happy with the carnage. "This playing weakling thing. I might need to try it out myself. Could make a sword for that," the girl added, looking around to see if there were any more brave vampires coming their way. "Besides, Raynare and Carmilla have it well enough in hand. Cheshire and Nagini don't even need to try that hard."
And sure enough, that was the truth.
On one side, there was an unending sea of flames, only somewhat interrupted by a concentrated wave or tongue of fire aimed this or that way. The fallen angel was certainly going all out, by the looks of it. Her entire side of the battlefield was empty of even allies and Meredith had to wonder if that was because they had all decided to leave her alone or because the woman had killed those too.
On the other, the vampire Queen had done somewhat the opposite with her side of things. The entire area was wrapped in mist and shadows and when the wind blew their way from that direction, Meredith could feel a chill caressing her skin. She could see very little other than that, but the screams coming from within the mist told a story all on their own and they were not one that she cared to be privy to the details of.
She had a feeling they would be more disturbing than whatever she might or Jeanne might do.
Notably though, she left Joshua out of that, because… She had her doubts. Seeing the man as she was at the moment, Meredith wouldn't be all that surprised if he treated fighting like he did spell testing. She could almost see the man having his spells consume people like they did a failed spell casting. And if that were the case…
She hoped she didn't have to see that.
She'd rather not have worse nightmares than she was already likely to have.
[}-o-{]
[Carmilla Karnstein]
It was the sweetest, most exhilarating night she'd had in way too long.
After so much time spent bowing her head and being pressed underneath the thumb of the Tepes faction… it was cathartic to be able to fight back, to be able to kill the absolute vermin. They deserved worse for what they had done to her and hers. They deserved to suffer for much longer, just like they had.
But alas, that was a concern for after they had won the fight.
Besides, Joshua had made it clear that he wasn't going to allow nonsense. He wanted to win the fight and end things. He'd help her recover her rightful place, even put her at the top of the two factions, no problem at all. But if she wasn't going to do her best to achieve that, then he'd just ditch her.
Carmilla couldn't allow that, she just couldn't.
Because if she came that close and failed, then she'd rather die. If she had to go back to being low class, mid class at best, then she'd go mad. She was not going to be insulted like that, never again.
Thus, Carmilla magnanimously decided to leave her righteous vengeance for another time, if at all possible. Better to get a frustrating win than to lose, even if it galled her. With any luck, there'd be enough survivors for her to take her frustrations out on.
A concern for another time, however.
"What-?" vermin exclaimed as she moved through her domain and grabbed their neck. Carmilla saw the moment of realization, the paling of her faces and the smallest hint of contempt hidden somewhere deep in her eyes. She noticed all that in the split second it took her to snap the Tepes vampire's miserable neck.
And that was the kindest death she'd delivered that night. Just because she couldn't take her time, after all, didn't mean she couldn't indulge a little, right? That was what she had decided. Because if she couldn't have them grovel at her feet like they'd had her people doing since they lost, then she'd have them dying as painful and pitiful deaths as she could without risking the fight. It wasn't the same as what she'd have liked, what she'd fantasized, but it'd have to do.
"I sense something going on deep in their territory. A Tepes is doing something," Joshua said in her ear, courtesy of a little artifact he'd given her before the battle started. "They are making a move."
"We'll be ready," she said, with more confidence than she felt. Because sure, they were winning, but there was a reason why they had lost last time. She couldn't help but be nervous, despite how clear an advantage they had. She'd thought she had a good chance of winning the last time and they had been destroyed.
"Just keep doing your thing. I'll take care of that," Joshua told her and she blinked. Her voice hadn't betrayed her, had it? "I haven't done anything for a while. I might as well keep everyone doing what they are doing. We're winning this rather easily as is. I'll deal with the new arrival, whatever it is or whoever they are."
"So be it, then," she replied, doing her vest to keep her voice even. She was really hoping that the man hadn't somehow found a way to notice her emotions, because that'd have been… embarrassing. Either her previous fear and uncertainty or her current relief would have both been exceedingly shameful on her part.
She was a leader, and there she was, leaning on a human for comfort, for reassurance.
Granted, she was quickly learning that Joshua Davis barely counted as a human, but still. The point remained that she couldn't afford such weakness, especially in the wake of what had happened to her faction. She'd have to establish herself once more. Even with their loss and subsequent torment, her people still followed her, but that wouldn't go on forever. Sooner or later, they'd start doubting, they'd start hesitating, especially if she kept failing, one way or another.
Carmilla would need to make sure that didn't happen.
That was a concern for the future, once more, however. For the moment, she'd need to rely on her allies. They were the reason why she could even afford to fight to regain her power, her position. She'd just have to be mindful not to show how much she was relying on them, else her image be further stained by weakness.
"You should have stayed-!" a Tepes vampire shouted, being interrupted by Carmilla's hand clawing through their stomach and up into their chest, behind their ribs. "You… you are… nothing."
"Hm, so you say," she whispered, a smile tugging at her lips. "But you're the ones falling like flies, are you not?"
"You brought… outsiders," the man hissed, spitting blood on her face that she was unfazed about.
"You'd know about involving outsiders, wouldn't you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Joshua had told her about Khaos Brigade, after all. They had to somehow be involved in her fall, Carmilla was sure. "Turnabout is fair play, vermin," she said, before tossing the man aside even as she kept his heart in her hand. That is, before she let that drop to the ground too.
There was so much to do before they could afford to relax.
She should stop thinking as much and start fighting more, she guessed.
[}-o-{]
[A Tepes in the Night]
He didn't know what the fuck was even happening, in all honesty.
One second, everything was fine. He'd just been going about his business, patrolling a street to make sure that nobody was causing trouble and that none of the Carmilla people got the wrong idea of how things stood. The idiots seemed oddly reluctant to understand reality, poor bastards. It was business as usual though, is what it had all been. The most notable thing that had been happening was that the boys and him had been talking about maybe going out that night and have a good time.
And the next second, there was a war going on.
Not only had the Carmilla rebelled, but they had brought reinforcements. Not that his faction was one to talk, considering Sephiroth Graal, but still. Where the fuck had that bitch found a four-winged fallen angel? And how the fuck was this new piece of work making it rain holy fire on them all?
As if that weren't bad enough, which it most certainly was, there was the cat, the fucking cat. He had already been displaced twice and fooled by illusions more times than he was willing to admit. Better than the tiger though, that was for sure. He'd only caught glimpses of that beast dashing around, covered in lightning like it was a storm in the form of an animal. Nobody left in its wake was any definition of fine, as far as he'd seen, even with their boosted bodies. He'd heard something about a snake too, but he wasn't looking for that one, that was for sure.
He'd heard she could kill with a look and he liked being alive, thank you very much.
As if those monsters roaming the battlefield weren't bad enough, there was the magic permeating the whole place, the spells looking over the battlefield like players over a chess board. The lumbering beast clawed and bit at them. There were vampires barely keeping themselves on their feet while covering in flames or twitching uncontrollably or having their skin frosted over. The towering machine dissected them with unfeeling efficiency. Their power was extracted from their very veins, making the cage around them all the stronger, nevermind the other pieces of magic. And if that weren't bad enough, they couldn't do anything to the enemies with the shining guarding behind them. Despite being blessed by Sephiroth Graal, they were the ones doing the least damage, and they were the ones weaker and weaker as the fight went on.
It was a nightmare. There was no escape and there was no solution. There was only the losing fight and nothing else. Brothers fell all around him and he could only fight to try and make a difference before he was too weak to do anything at all. They would turn this around, surely. They had a Longinus, after all. The bitches of Carmilla and whoever these fucks were, they were going to get what was coming to them. Someone was likely already going for Valerie, after all.
It was a matter of time before some version of a powered up vampire came into the fold and the tide turned.
They just had to keep fighting until it happened. Easier said than done, admittedly, especially with how they were dying left and right, but what else could they do. Not fight? What would that get them? It was a great boon that they were blessed, or the "fight" would have likely been over by then already.
Fucking Hell, to whom had Carmilla sold her soul to in order to get those allies?
He didn't know the answer to that, but as the minutes passed, he noticed something. Carmilla wasn't at the center of it all. No, she was opposite from the fallen angel, actually, taking a second side of the battlefield. At the center of it was… nobody, really. There were humans there. Two girls and a man. The girls had holy weapons, swords, and they looked like they could, at the least, make a fight very painful. The man though, he was nobody special, from what the vampire could see. He just stood there, looking around like someone might window shop while out on a walk.
And that rubbed him the wrong way. There they were, fighting for their lives on both sides and this man was just… there? What sense did that make? And why was Carmilla allowing a human to be at the center of her attack? Why wasn't she spearheading the whole thing? She was too weak, of course, but surely she had enough pride to do so anyway, even if she needed to bring the fallen with her. Why hadn't she?
He had to be special, for sure.
He couldn't fathom what considering he had less presence than some of the weakest Carmilla bitches around, why else bring him if not because he was useful? So, with that in mind, he thought the decision was simple, really. Why not take that guy out, when he was a weakling? He didn't think there were many chances of taking anyone else of importance out, so he might as well see if that did anything, right?
Besides, the ones guarding the man were human too, so he could get away with that, easily at that.
So, he started on his way. He tried to get closer, fighting through Carmilla's people. He didn't manage to do a lot of damage, but his brothers could do that while he went on his self-appointed mission. The battle was all but lost if something didn't happen and considering Valerie wasn't anywhere to be seen and neither was anyone else…
Once he was close enough, he went for it, dashing for all his supernatural legs were worth. He went to claw the human's throat, quick and effective as any other method. Just one swipe and it'd be done. Maybe it'd do nothing, but maybe it could help, so-
"Hey there," the human said, grabbing at his hand and keeping it in place despite his best efforts. "Did you sense me or something?" he asked casually then, a confused tilt of his head as if he'd just been told the sky was green. "Why'd you come for me?"
"What the…? What are you?" he asked instead of answering, looking at the man, horrified. No human should be able to stop him, except maybe Strada or that other new one, the magician. "You're no human."
"Not the first time I've been told something like that, but it's kind of ironic. You're barely a vampire yourself, after all, what with how your soul has been twisted," the… creature commented, speaking casually with a smile on its face. "I should bring one or two of you for testing. It'll be fascinating to study the effects of Sephiroth Graal. Could you remind me, Meredith?"
"Of course, sir," the redhead by his side replied stiffly.
"What are you?" he said, his voice growing more panicked as he tried to pry his arm away from the thing's grasp. "Let me go!"
"I don't think I will. And I'm a human," was the response he got and he paused in his efforts, staring at the creature in disbelief. "Joshua Davis, to be exact. I'd say nice to meet you, but…"
"Joshua… Davis?" he repeated, uncomprehending before realization dawned on him. How… How had this man gone unnoticed so far? How hadn't he sensed any kind of presence? Why was it that nobody seemed to know the second – some even argued the – strongest human in the world was on the battlefield?
Suddenly, a lot of things made sense, the beasts, the spells…
'The Professor,' he thought, staring at the man's casually uncaring blue eyes in horror. 'The Pharaoh, the Domain Authority…' There were many names for Joshua Davis, but all of them had weight.
And then, when he thought it was all over for him, he heard a roar that shook the very earth.
Maybe he'd die, but all these pieces of shit? They'd go down too.
That would have to be enough.
"You'll die, human," he said as both of them turned to see a dragon barrel into the battlefield. Damn, that was better than anything he could have hoped. The tide would certainly-
"We'll see," the human commented, just as calm as he'd been before. "Vampire."
[} Chapter End {]
Hey guys! How's it going?
Well, Joshua's terrifying people left and right. Nothing new, is it? Business as usual, just that it's vampire cannon fodder instead of human cannon fodder. I'm sure those Khaos Brigade branches appreciate the break… probably, maybe.
Likely not, considering everyone else in the anti-Khaos alliance is still hunting then.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!
Random Question: Would you take a stronger power with a drawback or a weaker power with no drawback? Considering I can already see the munchkin people, no, you can't get rid of the drawback in any way nor is it going to be a drawback you can just ignore. (People already tried to ruin similar games with answers like that previously.) Personally, I'd rather get the weaker power. I don't like drawbacks, at all.