Beta'd by Everpeach
Creator's Cave (8:00 AM)
POV: Felix
"Felix where are you!? You talked all that shit about being early to our first mission only to be the last one who's actually ready to go!?" Mittelt's 'sweet' voice called to me from downstairs.
"You can't rush perfection dear, I'm coming down in a second" I shouted back trying to contain my laughter, I can't wait to see their reactions to my latest creation.
I checked all of my equipment to make sure that I had everything I needed, I had some holy hand grenades in my hammerspace but honestly, they won't be needed.
I already know my monsters would rip some low-class devil scum to shreds, this is more a test for the low-class in my group. I do wonder if it is foolish to think that Raynare, Kalawarner, and Mittelt can surpass their weakness, they were only low-class mooks in the anime after all, beaten by fucking Issei of all people.
Maybe it is my lower head thinking but I see a glimmer of potential in them and as their team leader I will make sure they don't stay at the bottom of the power barrel for long.
I shook my head as I descended down the stair a second pair of steps following me, now it was not the time to think about this after all.
"So is everyone ready" I cheerfully say casually waving to the girls downstairs, seeing all of them there.
"What took you so lo- What the FUCK is that thing!" I gave the shrieking Mittlet and disturbed girls a neutral look.
"This is my rifle" I say pointing at the gun resting on my shoulder and giving the tiny girl a raised eyebrow.
"Not that dumbass!" I almost lost my composure at her disbelieving expression, have to contain my laughter "What the hell is that corpse behind you" she said now pointing at the monster behind.
"Mhm? That's Codsworth" I answer with a big smile, the monster behind me smiling in a way even I found creepy.
The monster moved from behind me, sliding forward with an almost lazy step and slumped back, though its movement was hardly the most noticeable aspect of him.
Mittelt's first comment does kind of fit, this monster was my most humanoid yet looking extremely close to a normal human if not for certain details. He was thin for starters, thin enough that you would think he hadn't eaten in two months, ribs showing in a stomach so flat one could probably see the spine if they were willing to.
He was monochrome like all my other monsters, with pitch-black skin that looked as if it was in an advanced state of decomposition, his 'clothes' were only a vest and some shorts that seemed to melt into his skin.
A low distorted laugh started emanating from it making most the girls shiver with the exception of Keiko who only got into a more aggressive stance.
"Oh yeah he does that every once in a while" I didn't have any intention of it being able to laugh, hell I didn't even know my monsters could laugh, no idea where that ability came from.
"And does Kharis over here have a purpose or is he just there to look creepy" said Kalawarner her eyes not leaving my monster, like how you can't keep your eyes away from a forest fire.
"And what's up with those eyes!" said a disturbed Raynare pointing at my monster's face.
My biggest inspiration for this newest addition to my monster gallery was actually an SCP, SCP-106 The Old Man. The eyes coincidentally matched, normally my monsters have white gems for eyes but those gems had a different use now, so his eyes were just as black as the rest of his skin with a couple of small white dots as his irises
"He does have a use, an incredibly useful one!" I still felt some satisfaction about what I had accomplished with Codsworth, he was without a DOUBT my biggest step yet when it came to monster creation. He marked a new age for my monsters a Rennaissance to my crafting.
"He is my very own personal teleporter!" I exclaim with a grin that was filled with teeth. What seemed to be tattoos on Codsworth's arms shone with a bright white light at my statement. Anyone with a keen eye would have noticed that they were not random symbols, not at all.
They were NUMBERS, carefully and painstakingly designed to make something truly great.
"It would be better to show you" I say still excited in the face of their attitude, great inventors always have to deal with the pushback from the ignorant masses after all.
"We are going to the former Dantallion lands today, you all better be ready already I want this job to be a quick and simple one" My firm tone made the team straighten up, my eyes moved through the group trying to discern if any seemed to not be in the right state of mind, thankfully all girls seemed to be in the right mindset.
"There is a Grigori checkpoint near the borders of the land, the devils couldn't have gone too deep due to the light magic permeating the air so we are teleporting there" All this info was in the bounty hunting app created by the Grigori, thankfully Keiko confirmed that she is capable of tracking yesterday.
It would be annoying to have to create a hound dog monster after all.
I checked with the girls one last time to make sure they weren't leaving anything behind, I didn't want to hear any whining about forgetting something.
"Well if everything is set then we have hunting to do, here are the coordinates to the Grigori lookout.
I watched as the girls each cast their spells each slightly different in their color and casting time, I honestly wasn't sure if Moka would be able to teleport given what I knew about her from her series but I can understand that this isn't actually Moka, she is a very close version that grew up in the universe of DxD, but their skillsets and even personalities could and would differ.
After all of them had teleported away I chuckled before turning to Codsworth "Do your thing" I ordered getting a creepy chuckle and a hand over my shoulder.
Grigori Lookout Near Dantalion Lands (8:20 AM)
After a few seconds of disorientation, I started walking forward with a huge grin on my face "I must be the greatest Annihilation Maker wielder to ever live" I smugly stated as I walked towards my team.
The lookout was a simple little building, clearly, not a lot of money came to it by the look of things. It was better than the run-down church the fallen stayed in canon but that isn't saying much.
"Why are you so smug you only teleported?" Mitlelt, sweet ignorant, and naive, Mittel asked not truly understanding what I have just done.
"I didn't teleport dear, my friend over here did it for me" Codsworth made its wave forward the numbers on his arms still glowing.
Their eyes widened at my statement looking at my monster with entirely new eyes… yet I knew they didn't quite grasp what I had managed, not truly at least.
I have basically made Codsworth into an enchantment in a way, his body was designed so that when he channeled some of his mana into his tattoos the spell would be cast, not unlike my revolvers and Milagrosa.
What is the biggest flaw of the human magic system? It was hard to use consistently in the middle of a fight, the training required to do the math for spells while dodging attacks, aiming, etc, at the same time was frankly too much.
Only a genius could use the system effectively and as vain as I may be I know that I'm not any math genius. However, the answer to this problem was simple.
Why do the math myself when I could just have my monsters do it for me? This doesn't mean I'm suddenly a master magician but with practice and a lot of monster creation I may very well have the collective might of my monsters be the equivalent of one.
The only weakness of this technique is that these monsters are inherently harder to make and are created slower because of it.
"Let's go register at the desk" I start strutting in the direction the smugness on my face probably was too much but it was brought by my understanding of what this meant going forward.
I explored what I could do with implementing nature to my monsters, gems like Basil my monster snake were the result, now was a new age, from here on I am adding spells to my monsters (as well as improving my older variants with them of course), previous limits such as the nature of how poison and venom work no longer held me back.
If a mix of the most venomous snakes humanity knew was so dangerous then how deadly would the mixture be when paired with the forces of the arcane? Beyond that was whatever new monster I could manage to create, maybe one with combustion magic? explosions are always fun after all.
I almost bumped into the waiting desk, distracted as I was by my next creations. The fallen managing the desk looked done with everything and bored out of his mind.
"Register Team Felix arriving" I said in a cheery tone, I have noticed that whenever I create a new monster or see one I have created excel I feel as if adrenaline had been shot directly to my brain as well as some odd kind of happiness.
Who would have thought I was the creating type? certainly not me.
"Ugh, fucking normie it's too early for all that happiness," the depressed fallen replied, sighing in disinterest. I took a better look at him, he was dressed like some 1700's noble and looked just as dumb.
"Kalawarner is that you?" he suddenly asked the attention suddenly "Huh haven't seen you in like 30 years" The judging look he gave our team didn't go well down with me at all.
"Hanging out with humans and monsters now? shouldn't surprise me, you never had high standards" the cruel words made the team look much more on edge, especially Moka and Keiko.
"I see you are as pathe-" Kalawarner's comeback was cut short by a loud banging sound as well as a more subtle cracking one.
"My nose!" shouted the fallen after I grabbed him by the hair and pulled him face-first onto his metal desk "You human pe-" and then I did it again "Stop that!" and again "No, I don't think I will" I spoke before slamming him for the last time with considerably more strength breaking through the sturdy metal desk and driving him to the ground.
"Felix what the fuck!?" shrieked Mittelt as she saw me brutalize her fellow fallen, Raynare and Kalawarner seemed surprised as well but Moka showed no emotion and Keiko had a menacing grin on her face.
"I would sooner spit on Ophis' face than let some Low-class-emo-fuck talk to me like that" I say in a calm and almost soft tone "Supernatural races always talk SO much shit while rarely being able to back it up" really it is like all the fallen think they are invincible when most of them are just fodder.
"Azazel won't let you get away with this" came the gurgled response from the shitstain on the floor his face running with blood "After he hears about you attacking me out of nowhere he will put you down like the dog you a- UGH!" I ground his head against the floor after I stomped him.
"Azazel won't do jackshit" this is exactly what I was thinking about "I'm a Longinus wielder one of only 13 in the entire world you are some random low-class fallen that was assigned to a shitty cabin in the middle of nowhere" This isn't even me being arrogant just stating the facts.
"There are thousands upon thousands of you, do you think Azazel or any of the Cadre ever think about you? you are a complete unknown relegated to waste your long, LONG life on some menial jobs until you finally get sent to fight something you can't handle and die a completely meaningless death" How many fallen has Azazel seen die? dozens of thousands no doubt, he doesn't give a fuck about some random racist low-class fallen, why would he?
Not only are these fallen actively damaging his desire for peace but there are too many of them to care about. It fucked with my mind for a long while when I learned that the fallen don't actually have a fertility problem, nope that is only the devils.
Baraqiel got Shuri pregnant in like a year if I remember correctly, this would be almost impossible for a couple of devils, the couple would have to be REALLY lucky and do nothing but fuck to have a chance.
The only reason the Grigori are considered a threat by the devils despite Sirzechs being capable of easily stomping Azazel is probably this, fallen can just fuck more fallen into existence, replenishing much faster than devils have any hope of.
"So yeah you can go seethe about how much better fallen are than any other race all you want, at the end of the day you low-class fucks have the life expectancy of your average fly and probably have the same worth" I finished my judgment by spitting in the opposite direction and marching away from the fallen and the cabin in general.
"Team Felix we are moving out!" I bark out, having lost some of my cheer "We have devils to exterminate" Keiko was the first to follow me, almost skipping to me as she giggled, Moka followed right after her keeping her emotionless expression.
The three fallen girls stayed there for a moment looking at their bleeding beaten and humiliated fellow fallen for like half a minute before slowly walking away.
"By the way if my team isn't registered by the time this hunt is finished I'm cutting both your balls off" And with one last probably unnecessary threat we were gone and on our way.
…
I ignored the awkward atmosphere that had built as my team and I walked deeper into the Dantallion lands, I had summoned Jeff and was letting my first monster just fly around and do whatever he wanted.
It was better to give the three girls some time to get their thoughts in order before starting 'that' conversation.
Keiko was in her werewolf form, guiding us as she tracked the smell of devils slightly deeper into the territory. I was mostly busy admiring the terrain, Big G sure did a number here it looked as if a storm, tornado and forest fire all happened at once on a massive scale.
It really put the power of the top ten strongest beings into perspective, and I highly doubt this was the peak of God's power. It was one thing to be told stories about their power, it is another entirely to actually witness the results.
"Hey Felix, can I ask you a question?" came Mittelt's hesitant voice the girl seemed unlike herself at the moment, instead of loudly expressing herself with a smirk she was looking even smaller than usual with her eyes not meeting my own.
"Absolutely I'm a completely open book, so feel free to send any question you all want my way" With some exceptions of course but that is for everyone's sake.
"Why did you act so…" Mittelt trailed off not seeming to be able to find or want to say the words "Brutal, cruel, violent?" I finish for her getting a nod.
"*snort* Felix did exactly what he had to do" came from Keiko as she kept moving forward "The number of times I have had to deal with some low-class fallen that thought the world belonged to him is too high to be funny" Her voice was slightly deeper due to being in her werewolf form and her mannerisms looked odd in a different body.
"They thought that just because they were from a 'superior' race they could tell me what to do" the displeasure in her voice was clear for everyone to hear "Not to speak about how they thought that I should just bend over for them, those ones well…I dealt with swiftly" Keiko finished with a slashing motion at what would be the crotch area of the average man.
I winced slightly at the image I even felt some sympathy for those poor bastards but it just reinforces my line of thinking.
"Why should the strong let the weak harass them?" Came Moka's agreement, the vampire girl hadn't made a comment yet which left me quite curious about her thoughts "The weak will try to see if the strong remains such from time to time that is a fact of life, it is then the job of the strong to prove so" More or less what I expected from someone raised in a world of literal monsters.
"That may have some truth to it but it isn't why I attacked him" I finally start to explain my actions now getting all the girls' attention "I don't have anything to prove to a guy like that, I beat him up for you three girls' sake" I say pointing at Raynare, Kalawarner, and Mittelt.
"Huh?" was Raynare's intelligent response as she raised an eyebrow "You beating up and humiliating that guy was for us? did you finally go crazy?" she says in disbelief Mittelt and Kalawarner not looking that much different.
"Yes, to the first one I don't think I have gone crazy yet" I confirm thinking of the best way to explain this "There is no nice way to say you three are all fodder" I raised my hand up to stop them from getting mad just yet "You three are near the bottom of the barrel in the Grigori, that is a simple fact, what just happened to that random racist fallen back there happened due to him not being able to back up what he said" if you speak shit you better be ready to back it up, it is a simple rule of life back in the human and doubly so in the supernatural world.
"The reality of it all is you three hold no specific value to the Grigori, there are thousands of low class fallen like you who knows how long it would take before you three get sent into a mission you can't handle and die?" I know of course, sending three low-class fallen to a devil-controlled Kuoh was basically a death sentence, even without Kokabiel's interference.
I looked at the girls in question, Kalawarner didn't seem surprised by my assessment looking at me with little expression and thin lips, Raynare and Mittelt looked much more frustrated on the other hand.
"Sheesh, no need to get so moody" I say with a lazy wave of my hand getting some glares "All you have to do now is train after all" I laughed loudly as I saw the stunned expressions, Mittelt in particular started to show some panic.
"Oh yeah, whether you girls like it or not you are going to train, I don't care how lazy or comfortable you may want to be" Training against one Beru should be enough to start "Then something like what happened back there or worst won't happen to you" No, really the fact that they have survived this long is a small miracle, the life expectancy for the average low-class fallen isn't pretty at all.
"Really give me a year and I will have you all at high-class power wise" it was a ballsy statement to be sure but one I believed in wholeheartedly.
I don't have a broken gamer system that can just make numbers go up and the girls stronger, I have to train the old fashion way, while also abusing the pre-existing systems as much as I can.
I could see all the girls were skeptical about my claim, fair enough, not like I expected them to instantly believe me, a lot of the supernatural community doesn't believe in advancing in power through training choosing instead to rely on their passive power growth, it is completely stupid.
I am sure their attitudes will change once they feel the results of their hard work.
"Enough chatting though, I want all of you ready for combat" discussing this more now won't get me much, better to give them time to think about it all "Keiko how close are we to our targets?"
"The scent is getting closer, at the pace we are going I would say 10 minutes give or take a couple" I knew they wouldn't get too deep into the territory due to the residual light magic, staying there for long would mess up any low-class devil. An ultimate class one or higher possibly could stay there for much longer but a low class wouldn't be able to stand the effects for more than a day before suffering from light poisoning.
"Understood get ready for combat " I ordered as I activated my gear, it shouldn't be necessary given what trash we are fighting but overkill is always the wisest option in my opinion.
Quickly five Berus were spawned, they honestly should be more than enough to complete this hunt by themselves (an idea for the future to be sure) I kept them around Moka and the fallen girls, Keiko and I can take care of ourselves.
"Okay girls I want this nice and clean, we go there kill the bastards, confirm our kill, and leave" I refuse to fall into common stupid mistakes "We won't be talking with them, there won't be any monologing and no listening to their last words" I swear that if I hear any of them taunting their opponents instead of killing them things will get ugly.
"We are a team of professionals, we are doing a job, DON'T fuck it up" Keiko and Moka probably don't need to hear this I'm mainly worried about Mittelt and Raynare.
"The smell is near, there seem to be more than six devils though" warned Keiko, making me frown, was the intel faulty.
"Could it be that another group of devils joined them?" I ask leaning on Keiko's more experienced insight which clearly made the werewolf happy.
"Possibly, wouldn't be the first time it has happened either, through blackmail or chance. It does mean out pay could increase considerably I don't sense anyone really powerful though" explained Keiko making me nod.
"And you are sure they can't sense us?" I asked, not for the first time, the last thing I want is to be ambushed that would just be embarrassing.
"Positive, residual light magic like this messes devil's capability of sensing magic probably the second reason being sent here is such a death sentence.
"Good, Keiko is in charge when I'm not available remember that"
"I'm going up to see if I can find some high ground, remember the plan, and don't rush in like fucking idiots" The plan was simple I would stay slightly behind and snipe from a distance while the girls and the Berus swoop down in the chaos and finish them off.
I can easily teleport to them with Codsworth in case it is needed. I could just start with them but to be honest I just want to do some sharpshooting. Well that and also I want to see how well the fallen girls do.
There wasn't any foliage around to hide behind, all the trees had long since died only the scorched husks being left behind. I could already see a place to set aim at as well as where our group of devils tried to set up camp.
Emphasis on TRIED, I suppose it makes sense with devil culture being similar to human one, how many humans would know how to make a decent camp if sent into the wilderness? almost none. The camp seemed like a parody of an actually functional one and the devils inside looked miserable, a mix of having to live with no commodities, being exiled and the light poisoning most likely.
The supernatural world sure was cruel, not that I felt bad for these fucks I hadn't forgotten what they had done, after all, they burned an innocent family of their fellow devils alive, there were more devils now, eleven in total was what I had counted so far but I doubt they were any different.
A great side benefit of picking this hunt is that it will show the three low-class girls how the low-class are treated here.
It isn't like I believed in a might makes right philosophy like Keiko and Moka seemingly did, every powerful person has a line describing why they deserve their power. Power (in all the sense of the word social, political or otherwise) didn't make someone right but it did make them capable of doing what they wanted with those weaker.
The supernatural seemed to practically have this as their code, whether I agreed with it or not didn't really matter.
I finally reached a point that I was satisfied with, it was quite up there around 200ft above the devil camp and around 300ft behind it giving me a clear view of all the little devils talking around.
There wasn't much other than rocks and Codsworth keeping me company up here but it gave me a decent view of the former Dantalion lands, everything was dead basically, not that surprising.
"Keiko tell me when you all are ready" I spoke through a simple communication charm, I had already learned the enchantment the moment I laid eyes on it and would make sure to improve it in the future.
"Everyone is in position Felix, the devils seem to be discussing what to do next now, we will move when you take the first shot" I took a relaxing sigh and started staring at the devils below.
Such a distance would make it a challenge for a normal human to discern what they were looking at, but I certainly wasn't average both in my making and in my talents.
I was made from Sigurd the legendary hero and had spent a considerable amount of points in Marksmanship Talent, 500 points to be exact which should put my talent with ranged weaponry around the same level as Siegfried's talent with the sword.
I could honestly take this shot from much further away, when I finally get around to crafting a proper sniper rifle my range will be frankly ridiculous with the help of magic.
I took aim with Milagrosa, my lever action rifle had its barrel pointed down below as the stock pressed against my right shoulder, I kneeled for more stability and searched for a target.
I could feel the excitement start running through my veins as I moved my iron sight through the different devils. I knew what it was of course, my obsession had been growing in strength with time, playing around the Grigori was fun but I knew things would come to this eventually.
The desire to hunt, more specifically hunt rare and interesting targets was a drawback that I picked just for points but felt extremely real right now. These devils were not rare, the opposite really they were thousands upon thousands of devils just like them as well as better ones. But they were my first devils to hunt since I 'came' to this world.
I knew who I was going to shoot first the moment I saw him, seemingly giving a speech to the rest of the devils he had scars covering his body and he seemed to be a step above the rest of this trash, he was probably the one responsible for our current situation, devils tend to follow the strong so he most likely was the leader of a different group that ended up merging with the one we had been hunting.
That means he probably had some prize tag on his head and was stronger than average which means that I could probably make something out of him, maybe that sniper I was talking about? or a shotgun perhaps?
How would the enchantment even work with a devil sample? it isn't like devils have a base element like angels and fallen have light after all, the imagination magic system is incredibly versatile.
"Well I will just have to find out won't I?" with a chuckle that Codsworth shared with me.
I had to make an effort to not have my hands shake in excitement as I pointed at the devil's head, Codsworth's laughter continued even after mine stopped as I looked at my target's face move as he spoke.
"Get fucked" I said before I finally took my shoot "Bang" I whisper pulling the trigger the light bullet traveled at blinding speeds making only a slight sound before it impacted the devil's head. I obviously had the rifle in the killing setting so it was quite amusing to see the reaction of all the other devils as their leader crumbled like a puppet with its strings cut, a hole in the middle of his forehead smoking with light magic.
If Codsworth was chuckling before now he was downright cackling, I had a huge smirk on my face as they started to panic, my next target already being in my sights.
Maybe this whole starting from the bottom of the rankings thing wouldn't be so boring after all!
Change of POV
(Raynare two minutes before)
If there is one thing Raynare considered herself it was a good actor, over the decades she had learned the art a little from experience, some from teammates, and she even learned some illusion magic from a human teammate she had for a year.
Her considerable skill and talent at acting were now being put to good use… to hide just how scared she fucking WAS! She could already hear Kalawarner's naggin voice telling her 'I told you so' despite the fact that her oldest friend was completely silent just staring at the devil camp with a blank expression.
Raynare knew she was weak she didn't need Felix to remind her that, she had all her half-sisters for that.
It wasn't like she was given much of a chance to get stronger having been relegated to bureaucratic work most of her life, for her 'own safety' fucking assholes.
One would think being Azazel's daughter would come with some awesome perks, but most didn't realize how many women could claim that. The strongest fallen angel had enough bastards to make a small town. It didn't help at all that Raynare herself was only low-class, a daughter of a millennia-old faction leader being only low-class, she would find it funny if it wasn't about herself.
So yeah she now found herself about to enter combat, a REAL fight to the death, with just her new team and a half-assed plan. She could see that Mittelt was nervous as well but the girl always had a surprisingly strong spine.
"These five new devils came from the Sitri territory" Whispered the huge form of Keiko, her feelings about the werewolf were pretty neutral all things considered.
"That's a long way from here" commented Kalawarner they all understood that Keiko had better hearing than them and could dose hear the devils talking from over the distance.
"The Sitri territory is famous for how well defended it is, the Sitri family takes their responsibilities VERY seriously and that is without taking into account the Leviathan's regular visits to the territory" Serafall Leviathan was as strong as Azazel, Raynare honestly could understand wanting to leave that territory as soon as possible.
"But why are they HERE though?" Mittelt's question made sense, why would they come to one of the few places in devil territory where devil's COULDN'T live?
"You see the Scarface over there?" a wolf-like finger pointed to the devil in the middle of the camp "He is planning to recruit exiled devils into his gang, to create a new faction" Her eyes widened and she couldn't help but do a double take.
"A new faction!" she harshly whispered the scale of that would be huge!
"Yup" nonchalantly said Keiko "He is ambitious I can give him that, shame we caught him so early in his plan though he would probably have become worth a lot more in the future"
"Keiko, tell me when you all are ready" suddenly Felix's voice came through a charm near Keiko's ear, standard Grigori equipment to be given back the moment the mission was finished.
"Everyone is in position Felix, the devils seem to be discussing what to do next now, we will move when you take the first shot" Raynare tensed her knuckles turning white from the tight grip of her fists.
"Get ready, the second Felix takes his shot we are attacking as fast as possible, make maximum use of the chaos." she knew she probably was scared about nothing, they had five of Felix's stupidly powerful monsters as well as Keiko who was a high class in power herself hadn't Raynare herself said they were just dead men?
Then why were her hands fucking shaking?
The group observed the devils from their safe hidden position it wouldn't take them long to rush the camp, from their distance hidden behind a cluster of dead trees it would take only a few seconds.
The monster's around them that Felix had made suddenly started shaking, their chest specifically as they released a weird sound was that… laughter? their claws took a stronger shine that made her slightly uncomfortable so she decided to focus back on the devil group.
She was left stunned when the devil leader suddenly just… plummeted to the harsh ground, as if his soul had been pushed away from his body or he suddenly had dropped unconscious.
"Raynare, Mittlely let's GO!" shouted Kalawarner getting her back into reality, the blue-haired older fallen was already charging forward, Raynare herself almost stumbled as she finally started moving creating a light spear and flying behind her.
Keiko being the fastest of them all was already swarming the devils, in a lunging attack, her jaws ruthlessly clenched around the head of the other devil boss the one they had originally come to kill.
She kept her emotionless mask acting like if these devils were nothing in the face of her, they had no chance of harming her, she was above them!... if she repeated that enough times maybe she will believe it.
She followed Kalawarner's lead throwing her light spears alongside her, Mittelt finally catching up did the same. The shower of light spears reached the still recovering devils, instantly taking the life of 3 of them as they turned to dust due to the light poisoning.
"Lariat!" Raynare looked in the direction of the shout, only to be sprayed with blood, the vampire girl Moka had managed to burst one of the devils' chests open with a well-placed kick.
Her inexperienced showed as she had to take some time to take notice of her surroundings, the camp was now filled with devil shouts, she looked at the enemies that remained alive the five- four now as a light bullet traveled through the temple to the lower jaw of one devil making said devil drop-dead, Raynare was barely able to see the bullet.
Keiko quickly took another one out with an upper slash that she couldn't even see, ripping the poor bastard apart right down the middle, his insides spilling everywhere.
That meant only two devils were left! The battle was going great! Maybe she actually was really strong?
She didn't get to test her new opinion of herself as the last two devils were quickly disposed of one getting a hole drilled to his heart with a laser beam a tiny black bird soon chirping over and the other the falling victim to one of Felix's giant monsters their clawed hand grasping their head and squishing it hard to enough to make it burst like rotten fruit.
The image definitely made Raynare feel much better about not fighting one last time she let herself go a little crazy, honestly challenging Felix had been just dumb.
The fight left a weird taste in Raynare's mouth though, it wasn't disappointment but something close to it, after hearing Keiko explain the devil's leader she expected well… more even if it was dumb to hope for more trouble than necessary.
It was just jarring to see someone so seemingly ambitious die such a quick death, Raynare was positive the devil never saw his death coming, one moment he was giving a grand speech about his future ambitions and dreams, and the next he was sent directly to the void.
Could something like this happen to her? would she get her friends killed as this devil had?
Her thoughts were cut when she heard the distinct sound of someone teleporting right behind her, she almost stabbed the figure before she saw it, she still felt like doing so as payback for scaring her like that.
"Well done team! A great performance indeed" came the cheery voice of Felix, the human (?) man calmly walked through the camp his newest creature following behind, the creepy shit had a lipless smile as it observed the carnage.
Raynare shivered as its eyes passed through her, all of Felix's monsters were kind of creepy but this one was just disturbing, the fact that it seemed to have some intelligence certainly didn't help.
"There are some things to fix of course, moves to practice and the like" his relaxed pace seemed slightly out of place in the carnage filled background, then again Felix always seemed to have a calm step, before she would have said that his confidence bordered on arrogance but seeing the results (the corpse of the leader was literally like five meters from her) she couldn't deny that Felix was strong.
She jumped a little when the sound of Felix's rifle when off, once again she was barely able to notice the bullet moving she would have no chance of dodging even if she was warned about the shot beforehand.
"Make sure every devil is dead before relaxing, make sure the enemy in general is dead from now on the last thing we need is some fuckers playing dead or running away" The corpse that Felix's bird had shot through the heart now had a matching hole in its forehead.
"Like that fucker behind Raynare" Felix said pointing behind her.
Due to either the calm way he said it or because she was just coming down from her combat mode it took Raynare longer to react. Once she did turn around her eyes widened as a dagger appears just a few inches from her left eyeball, a devil bleeding profusely from his mouth and with a mangled torso looking at her with hate in his drowsy eyes.
The only thing that stopped her from being blinded and probably killed was a firm ebony black hand grasping the stabbing arm, the monster that Raynare had called creepy beforehand had just saved her life.
"You fallen scum how dare you! " shouted franticly the devil as he coughed blood "Captain Ublek was the greatest devil to ha-" His words were cut a second dark hand closing his mouth, cutting his tongue in the process.
"This one is quite resistant to damage, to be walking around with his ribs on that state" said Felix almost impressed "Get rid of him Codsworth" Raynare remained shaking in place as the humanoid started once again with its deep laughter using its deceivingly powerful body to wrestle the devil to the ground and clutching the devil's head. With its tattoos shinning in place a black slimy substance started oozing from the hands, the devil only was able to scream for half a second a violent reaction taking place with a boiling sound, it almost sounded like mixing hot oil and water.
"Nice to see the acid works well!" …What the fuck?
"What the fuck Felix!" shouted Mittelt unknowingly repeating what Raynare had just thought.
"What? I couldn't NOT give it black acid" he defended as if it was a reference they were all missing "Oh wait you guys don't have those yet" Raynare was barely able to catch his whisper and it didn't help her confusion.
"Fuck… I almost died" she dropped onto the ground as she said it her legs finally giving up on her, Mittelt and Kalawarner quickly coming to her side in worry.
"If it makes you feel any better if Codsworth didn't catch him I had Jeff and a Beru watching you" Felix's surprisingly gentle words were paired with a tiny black pigeon landing on her shoulder chirping in what seemed amusement.
She never thought a bird could look smug until now.
"Okay, Keiko Moka and I will deal with the rest of the clean up why don't you three stay here" Felix didn't even give them a chance to respond turning around to do whatever the hell he was planning to do with the devil corpses.
"Raynare are you okay?" asked Mittlet worried generating a brief spark of anger from Raynare at the dumb question but she wouldn't shout to Mittelt the girl didn't deserve it "No, I'm not okay I have just gotten closer to being blinded or killed than I feel comfortable with" she threw some snark, one of her oldest tools to hide her true emotions.
Kalawarner's look told her that it hadn't worked, a negative about living so long with someone she supposed, Kalawarner was always more perceptive than anyone gave her credit for.
"Come on Ray you can tell us what is really bothering you, we are all like sisters aren't we?" stupid Kalawarner pulling at her heartstrings like that.
"Doesn't this all bother you?" Raynare said with a sigh "I don't really care that some devils have died and these ones were even scummier than the average but something just felt disturbing about this mission"
"You are worried we may end up like this" Kalawarner calmly said hitting the nail in the head making her wince.
Raynare thought about it looking at the half dissolved corpse from the devil that had tried to kill her as she moved one hand through her hair nervously.
"I don't know maybe?" Despite admitting to not being the bravest fallen out there Raynare had wanted a combat assignment for a long time, despite Kalawarner's complaints.
It wasn't out of loyalty to the Grigori or anything like that she understood that the paperwork that she, Kalawarner, and Mittelt did help the faction keep running like cogs in a well-oiled machine.
But she couldn't help but want MORE, maybe it was her Sin of Envy rearing its ugly head but she felt justified on it. She was one of the weakest if not THE weakest daughter Azazel had and her siblings definitely remind her of it each time they met.
She had acted as if their barbs and mocking words hadn't affected her but their worlds ever so slowly had started drilling into her mind, she couldn't deny that she envies her siblings even to this day.
"Could this have been us? A mission gone wrong" she asked out loud, even though the answer was obvious.
"Yes" answered Kalawarner despite it "You know this world is dangerous to people like us" 'weak people' was left out but Raynare heard it nonetheless.
It made her wonder did someone like the Cadre feel fear? with all that power there were so few beings that could hurt them. In the entirety of the Great War, a conflict that was supposedly brutal for the fallen angels had only two Cadre die comparing that to the extremely high death toll for the average fallen was just too depressing.
"Well today certainly was a lucrative day" Felix's words brought her out of her funk the man walked with a skip on his step as if he had won a great prize today, Moka and Keiko looking slightly disturbed, the werewolf girl now being back in her human form.
"Are you girls ready to leave this shithole?" With a big smirk he extended his hand towards Raynare's downed form, she stared at it for a time until it got a little awkward.
Finally she took it, she needed some time to think about everything that had happened today.
She probably will drink some beer and collapse on her bed as soon as she can.
Change in POV
(Felix)
Well Raynare is fucking gloomy right now, probably will have to talk to her soon. I would be lying if I said that I didn't expect something like this to happen.
I was actually hoping for it, a good dose of reality should help this lazy fallen start taking training seriously I thought it would take longer though.
Nevertheless, that is something for the future right now I am in a great mood! How could I not be? I was able to test out my weapons and monsters in actual combat, as well as getting hold of some great materials.
Who knows what I will be able to create with the devil parts I have harvested? it is a shame that some of them turned to ash but that is just how light poisoning works.
This paired with my breakthrough in monster creation feels as if the kiddie gloves are finally off, I would call them the second generation of monsters.
This is only the beginning though my projects have been going great, I think I can finally start experimentation in living monster armor, creating a symbiote may be impossible right now but in the future who knows?
Hope you guys liked the chapter! A lot of stuff happened on it that will affect the future of the fic.
Raynare is starting to question her life and worth as a low-class, it will be a slow process but she will eventually come out stronger from it.
Felix now has MAGIC unlocked for his monsters, I'm sure I don't have to say just how impactful this is for his future monster making, many ideas you all had can now be actually applied.
I would be more than happy to get ideas for magic monsters or what Felix should or could make with the devil parts he has acquired on the reviews or more directly through discord.
Here is the discord link: discord .gg/wd3tUYWVCd feel free to join the community is filled with talented writers and dumb memes
