The Guild of Gamers: The Shopkeeper
Chapter 9: Never was one for Formal Events
A/N: So my pat...reon is live! The site doesn't like that word so I have to space it out. The name for the link is my pen name and the name for my page is Omega's Fanfiction Emporium. Feel free to give me a little love over there. If nothing else free members can view my lemons from my works on that site. Disregarding all of that! Let's get right on with it!
Disclaimer: I only own my dreams. The Guild of Gamers is a concept created by TheDarkWolfShiro and as many of you keep pointing out I did take many parts of the start from Warranty Void if Soul is Broken. Go check out his stuff and that story if you haven't as they make great works and makes stories come to life.
{System speech}
[System screens]
"Active Thoughts/Telepathic communication"
"Speech"
"SCREAMING AND OTHER LOUD SCHIST."
"ROB's and other higher plane beings speaking."
POV: Alex Asími Mammon
As I tugged at the collar of my suit I grimaced. Looking at myself in the mirror I couldn't help but be unsettled by my looks. While the horns and pointed ears had taken time to get used to I had. No it was the formal suit with accents and cufflinks made of platinum with a deep red silk shirt that was throwing me off. I didn't really feel like myself so much as I felt like "Lord Mammon" in the thing.
Every piece of platinum on me had come from my own personal effort which made me feel a little better about the whole thing. But the problem was I had yet to even have the chance to truly find out what assets I had as "Lord Mammon" which combined with the fact that the Mammon I knew ripped my soul to pieces... I was supremely uncomfortable.
As my hand went to adjust my collar again a delicate hand smacked my own.
"Stop fussing with it Lexy! You'll just make it more wrinkled!" Runeas said from next to me as she reached up and straightened out my collar for the third time since I put the suit on.
"Sorry. Just really not yet comfortable with this "Lord Mammon" business. I might be after I have had a chance to settle into the role a bit, but right now it's rather overwhelming for me." I said as I let her fix it. It had been almost three days since the invitation arrived and I had spent almost the whole time training my resistances. I had focused heavily on my fire resistance given how much further ahead my holy resistance is at this point.
[Resistance: Fire
35% Resistance to Fire Element. 165/500]
It had been painful. Agonizing actually and had led to me making my first healing spell.
[Scar Removal (Minor): User can remove the scars from their skin with effort and time. Cost: 10 Mp/second.]
I had had to remove more scars than I was comfortable thinking about during the course of my training. It actually helped me up my Holy training as well as that simple cross made of silver was the limit of what I could hold without any scars. I had ended up buying an actual crucifix that had been blessed by a priest in order to up my training beyond the passive burn from The Golden Order Greatsword. This meant that while it wasn't my focus I finally broke 50% on my Holy resistance as well.
[Resistance: Holy
75% Resistance to Holy Element. 0/1000]
Honestly I was surprised I hadn't gained a "Pain Resistance" skill with how much I had trained and ignored the pain over the course of the last three days. My attention was pulled back to the present as a crimson magic circle appeared beneath us. With a flash we were whisked away from the manor I had spent the vast majority of my time in for the past several months. A moment later and we appeared in a room within Gremory manor as we had many times previously. This time however it wasn't for a tense "family dinner" but rather a different kind of confrontation.
Almost a Full Hour Later
It had already been almost an entire hour since we got here and we had yet to even see the supposed "Host" of this party. Thankfully there were plenty of things to distract myself with between the whispers when I showed up on the arm of Runeas and the various food and drinks. I actually figured out why I never got a pain resistance skill while I was here. Since alcohol was a "poison" with side-effects that people liked I decided to experiment a bit. It turns out not having a fully functional system actually had even more detrimental effects than I thought. Unless I was intending to create a skill a skill wouldn't be created at all. Also gaining poison resistance was weird as it required you to ignore the effects of the poison. Not damage caused by it like everything else.
[Resistance: Poison
10% Resistance to Poison and its effects. 0/100]
After I gained the resistance I stopped drinking. After all I needed to be as alert as I could be during the fight that was to come. That and Runeas was pouting at me.
It was then that a spotlight from the ceiling shined down on Rias and Riser. As Riser started his speech about how happy he was that this had finally been settled so he could finally get married to Rias I finally acted as I busted out laughing.
Everything was silent as the crowd parted between us. Looking at Riser as his eye twitched and Rias's suppressed a giggle only made me want to laugh harder.
"Riser demands to know what is so funny!" The flaming idiot near screeched at me.
"You are you great flaming moron! The idea that some third son nobody who barely qualifies as a member of the devil race and only does due to his clan trait; Would be worthy of marrying THE Heiress of the entire Gremory clan is absolutely ridiculous!" I shouted with barely suppressed laughter. This time Rias DID giggle even if she tried to cover it and Riser burst into flames in anger.
"And who are YOU to say such things to Riser! Some low class devil servant no doubt." He said with a sneer.
"Me? My name is LORD Mammon and I challenge you to a duel." I said as confidently as I could.
"Oh? And why should Riser accept? Riser already has everything that he could possibly want." He said with a sneer.
"Because if you win I will serve your family for the next century and will administer a public apology retracting all I said today." I said with a smirk in return.
"Hmm and if you win?" He said with a hint of doubt.
"If I win I want the marriage contract that you have with Rias. Oh and for you to step down as King of your peerage and it to be given to your sister Ravel for the same duration. After all they are CLEARLY wasted on you." I said with a scoff.
"That is RIDICULOUS! Why would Riser every accept those terms?!" He shouted as his flames flared around him.
"Simple, because if for the duration of my duel I will not use any part of my clan trait. I won't use the Crystal Bullets of Avarice nor will I use any other ability that would turn you to metal. Oh that and if you don't you show you truly are just a coward unworthy of the Phenex name much less the hand of Rias Gremory." I said as though it was a simple fact.
Riser looked to be thinking it over as I glanced at Rias. Her face had gone through many different emotions during our discussion. She had been giggling over my insulting Riser like I was. Then became angry as I bartered for her hand the way I had. Then as the conversation continued she gained a look of contemplation of her own.
"If that isn't enough then I will also put THIS up as a part of the duel and swear to also not use it during our duel." I said as I pulled out The Bolt of Gransax from my "Treasury".
The presence of the lance made a few devils take a step back. Others looked wide eyed as more still looked on with greed in their eyes.
"Fine! Riser accepts your challenge! Riser shall make you regret ever even showing your face here!" He said with a confident sneer.
I stepped over to where Sirzechs was standing and stabbed the lance into the ground in front of him releasing a discharge of crimson lightning at the point of impact.
"I trust you to watch over this weapon and preside over our duel fairly as is your duty as the Satan of Internal Affairs?" I said to Sirzechs who nodded seriously.
With that I headed over to my side of the nearby arena.
POV: Rias Gremory
"Brother what is he thinking?" I whispered to my big brother as I watched Lord Mammon walk to his side of the arena. I didn't know what to think or how to feel about the mysterious Lord even before this. He had muscled in on our territory without ever even giving so much as a courtesy request to do so. Despite that he had left me and Sona alone save for a single visit with Sona to enroll a member of his peerage in the school. From what Sona had said his peerage member was very much like my own; damaged and traumatized. Someone who had almost died before he saved them from that fate. One who was used as a weapon and tool to be used, who was experimented upon like Kiba had been.
He came over with Grandma Runeas almost every day for several weeks during "family dinners" and yet he never talked with her nor did he talk with anyone else at the table. This meant she knew basically nothing about him other than that he cared enough about his peerage to try and keep them happy.
Then today he had spoken up and started to berate and insult Riser. It was genuinely hilarious to watch him verbally demolish Riser with nothing but a few insults. Then he had challenged Riser to a duel for her hand and she had genuinely thought about ripping him a new one. Then she took a moment to think about things and decided to let him do as he wished. After all if he beat Riser and turned out to be a worse person she could just kill him unlike Riser. And if he didn't win then she would just have to go through with her plan to give her peerage over to Sona before killing herself.
"Relax Rias. He told me this was his plan weeks ago. If you didn't manage to win your Rating game he would challenge Riser to a duel. If he wins he fully plans to give you the contract so you can choose for yourself what to do with it." Her brother whispered in return. This lifted a weight off her shoulders she didn't realize was there but added a new one.
"If that is the case then why? Why put himself in so much risk? If he loses he could be what amounts to a slave to the Phenex family and if he wins he doesn't get anything either!" I almost shouted out but managed to strangle down to a tense whisper.
"I honestly don't know. Maybe he wants to get in my good graces or something." Big brother said with a shrug. "Honestly he could do worse than getting my precious little sister out of the hands of that idiot to gain my favor." He said with a grin as I blushed in mild embarrassment at the terms of endearment.
"Better focus now. Your knight in shining armor is entering the arena now." He said teasingly which brought a deeper blush to my face even as I focused on the arena.
Lord Mammon wasn't wearing his suit jacket out tie anymore. In fact the red silk shirt he was wearing seemed even more appropriate given his actions so far. But none of that stood out more than his gloves to her. Even from here she could see a set of crosses sewn into the knuckles on each finger. And as the murmuring kicked up around herself she had to wonder how he wasn't burning from the amount of crosses on the gloves.
"This is a Duel between Lord Mammon and Riser Phenex of the Phenex clan! The rules of the duel are thus! Should either party forfeit the fight they shall lose! Should Lord Mammon use his clan any part of his clan trait during the fight he shall lose! Should either party be knocked out or otherwise unable to fight they shall lose! The duel shall begin in 3! 2... 1!" Her brother shouted while under the influence of a spell to increase the volume.
Lord Mammon charged straight at Riser and as Riser prepared to use a blast of fire at him he took an action the surprised everyone there.
"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." He said as his fists started to glow with a golden light. Riser flinched at the opening verse of The Lord's Prayer. Even devils up in the stands winced and grabbed their head as a headache emerged at the open prayer. Riser faired even worse as the fireball he was prepping fizzled out. Then the glowing golden fist slammed into Riser's stomach with bruising force and Riser's stomach blistered and burned by the now clearly Holy Light.
Riser was left reeling and it appeared Lord Mammon wasn't prepared to let him recover as another glowing fist hammered into his cheek, but Lord Mammon was clearly also effected even if to a lesser degree as a spell fizzled out revealing a trio of horns upon his head and a spade shaped golden scaled tail. Patches of scales also appeared on his cheeks. By this point Riser had recovered even as flames appeared where the fists had slammed into him to heal what damage had been done. It wasn't nearly as fast as it occurred when she fought him and clearly the Holy elemental nature of the gloves was effecting the speed of how fast he was healing as the flames almost seemed weak.
Riser took aim and started to ready a blast of fire to send Lord Mammon back only for Lord Mammon to not give him the chance.
"Thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven." He said calmly as the holy prayer caused Riser to grip his head in clear pain as the fireball was forgotten to fizzle out again. Lord Mammon was clearly not in a forgiving mood as he slammed the once more glowing fists into his face again causing blisters and burns to spread over his face further. The flames on his body getting even weaker from further Holy element and Light element poisoning. Even her brother winced a bit at this point and she had a rather annoying headache she fully planned to take out on Lord Mammon if he won this.
"Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." Lord Mammon said as he tackled Riser to the ground. Even as Lord Mammon seemed to wince from using the prayer he slammed his fists into Riser's face with a sickening CRUNCH as blood spurted from Riser's now broken nose. Said blood proceeded to boil as it came in contact with his other fist as it slammed into his nose again.
At this point Riser screamed in anger and unleashed a blast of fire pointblank into Lord Mammon's stomach and her heart leapt into her throat. The smoke obscured everything for a moment before a voice rang out like a bell from the darkness created by the attack.
"And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil!" Lord Mammon shouted. The smoke dispersed to reveal an unmoved Lord Mammon his fist raised high. His shirt had burned off exposing his skin which had blistered from the heat of the attack. On his arm blazed that golden light and thanks to how much attention she was paying to the fight she could see that the light was beginning to blister his skin near the glove. Riser began to make a desperate move as he gathered all the fire he could for one last blast.
"DIVINE SMITE!" Lord Mammon shouted as he slammed his fist right into Riser's skull and with a CRACK the attack fizzled out completely as Riser stopped moving. For half a second everyone froze before a wet gurgling breath escaped Riser as he finally kept breathing.
"Lord Mammon has won the duel. By the terms of the duel Riser's family is to forfeit the marriage contract for Rias Gremory's hand as well as to give Riser's peerage over to his little sister Ravel." Said Sirzechs from next to me. His words hardly reached me as I could hardly believe I was finally free of Riser. It was as I started to laugh hysterically that Issei burst into the room with the boosted gear on his arm and shouted "Give me back Rias you Yakitori bastard!" only for him to look around in confusion as no one paid any attention to him. Even as he tried to prompt me to tell him what was going on my attention was drawn back to the man standing over Riser in the arena. Despite his injuries he took the time to spit on Riser's face which sent me into yet another laughing fit. I might be glad to be free but I honestly wouldn't mind marrying Lord Mammon at this point.
POV: Alex Asími Mammon
I panted a bit as I spat on Riser's face. The bastard had got me pretty good with that blast of fire to my stomach. If it wasn't for my resistance to fire I would probably have died. I made my way out of the arena even as Riser was carried out by members of his EX-peerage. It took a while to get back up to where the party was and when I entered a ball of flame flew at my face only to be intercepted by a Gremory Crest.
"Now now Lord Phenex. I didn't just see you try to kill Lord Mammon after he succeeded in defeating your son did I?" Runeas said as she stepped next to me.
"That boy has NO right to be called a Lord! He cheated!" Lord Phenex shouted red in the face and spittle flying.
"Oh? Did we watch the same fight? Not once did Lord Mammon use his clan traits. Meanwhile your OWN son used nothing BUT his clan trait. Face it. Your son lost and Lord Mammon won. Now hand over the contract so I can be on with my day." Runeas said with a mild threat in her tone.
"And why should I do as a little trollop like you demands?!" Lord Phenex said with a scowl.
"Because not only is she MY ancestor but I have also ruled that Lord Mammon won." Said Sirzechs from behind Lord Phenex which made him whirl around to shout at Sirzechs as well. Only for his face to pale and him to choke on his own spit as he caught sight of a roiling mass of The Power of Destruction that surrounded Sirzechs. At that point he grumbled but handed over the contract to me shoving it into my stomach roughly causing me to wince as it aggravated my injuries.
"Oh and I shall tell Satan Beelzebub to be be expecting you. After all you still have to transfer Riser's Peerage to Ravel." Sirzechs said as Lord Phenex stomped out.
It took more effort that I would admit to walk over to Rias who was surrounded by her peerage. Issei had also shown up at some point and seemed to be glaring at me for some reason.
"I believe that this belongs to you." I said calmly as I handed Rias the contract that had bound her for so long.
In response she giggled as she accepted it and seemed to take great pleasure in destroying it with The Power of Destruction. "Thank you Lord Mammon. That was a wonderful gift~" She said with a flirty tone.
{Major Quest Updated!}
[Major Quest: Door Stuck! Door Stuck!
Objective: Satisfy the conditions to unlock travel back to the Shop
A: Deal with Riser Phenex. (How you do so is up to you.)
B: Deal with Kokobiel. (How you do so is up to you.)
C: Restore House Mammon to proper Glory. (How you do so is up to you.)
D: Make a Deal with The Ouroboros.
Rewards:
A: Access to items from the Shop Unlocked.
B: Access to travel to the Shop unlocked.
C: Shop is upgraded and reopened to your Home Dimension.
D: Shop is reopened to the Multiverse.]
{Due to actions additional rewards have been given!}
[Gained 1 Gacha Token(s), Gained 1 SUS point]
I blinked at now having access to items from the shop before gaining a smile. The token appeared inside my "Treasury" thankfully as it would be hard to explain otherwise in front of so many other people.
{Multiple changes in reputation.}
[Reputation with Sirzechs Lucifer 35 for helping his sister and keeping up your end of the deal. 50/100]
[Reputation with Zeoticus Gremory -35 for breaking the contract between himself and Lord Phenex. -10/100]
[Reputation with Grayfia Lucifuge 40 for helping her sister in law and acting like a true Lord should. 75/100]
[Reputation with Rias Gremory 86 for freeing her from Riser, beating Riser into the ground, and being rather handsome. 100/100]
[Reputation with Venelana Gremory 50 for saving her daughter from her own fate. 65/100]
[Reputation with Millicas Gremory 25 for saving his aunt and looking cool while doing it. 30/100]
[Reputation with Gremory Household 35 for protecting the girl they couldn't. 50/100]
[Reputation with Riser Phenex -100 for beating him to a pulp and insulting him. -100/100]
{Unlocked Enemies: Riser Phenex}
[Achievement Completed: Gain your first Enemy. 1/1
Reward: 1 Gacha Token]
[Reputation with Lord Phenex -75 for beating up his son and insulting the Phenex name. -75/100]
[Reputation with Lady Phenex -90 for beating up her son and insulting him. -90/100]
[Reputation with Ravel Phenex -25 for beating up her idiot brother. 55 for giving her a peerage and freeing her from babysitting said brother. 30/100]
[Reputation with Ruval Phenex -25 for beating up his stupid little brother and making fun of his family. -25/100]
[Reputation with Phenex Household -35 for beating up one of their charges. 50/100]
{Affection Unlocked: Rias Gremory. Reward for Maxing Reputation gained.}
[Perfect Princess: Gained +5 reputation with princess's and princess types.]
[Affection with Rias Gremory 39 for freeing her from Riser, beating Riser into the ground, and being rather handsome. 39/100]
I was basically hit with a wall of text thanks to all this. That combined with the pain from my injuries caused me to pass out.
Four Hours Later
I woke up blearily and tried to sit up only to find myself unable to move. I felt something heavy on both of my arms keeping me pinned along with the faint smell of cherries. Whatever was on my arms was soft though and as I gave a bit of a squeeze two different moans greeted me which caused me to freeze. As I finally blinked the remains of my sleep from my eyes and looked around I had no hope of stopping the blush that hit my face. I could see both Runeas and Rias next to me and based on what I was feeling none of us had clothes on. It was as I was considering whether I had been taken advantage of that Runeas sat up a bit. It seemed that I had woken her up with my movements.
"Lexy did I say you could stop. That was feeling nice~" She said teasingly.
"I while I don't mind continuing that train of thought later. I would like to know what happened." I said with a bit of a deadpan. That didn't mean I was unaffected by her words though as a certain part of me responded to the offer.
"Oh fine. You beat Riser Phenex and won the contract. You then gave it over to Rias and let her destroy it. From there the damage you received both from Riser burning you all over your stomach but also from you somehow utilizing attacks that used Holy power (Which I WILL be getting an explanation of later mister) caused you to pass out. I had planned to heal you by myself with devil magic. Rias however wanted to help and here we are all naked together." Runeas said as she moved into my lap and started wiggling with a mischievous look on her face.
I let out a groan and grabbed her hip to get her to stop. (Mostly out of respect from the fact that Rias was here with us.) This caused her to pout but she succeeded in her mission as I heard a squeak from next to us. As I looked over I sighed as I found Rias looking at us through her fingers with her face looking rather like a tomato with how red she was. In fact I could have sworn there was steam coming off her head.
"G-Grandma Runeas! What are you doing?!" She shouted at her.
"Oh~? Would you rather it was you here "thanking" Lexy~? That's totally fine Rias! Lexy can handle both of us~" Runeas said with a teasing smile as Rias seemed to overheat from the suggestion.
I could only sigh before smiling fondly as while Runeas was totally serious about letting her join in I could tell she was just teasing her.
"Don't listen to her Rias. She just is a horrible flirt." I said with a smile as I gave her a bit of a hug... or as much of one as I could in my position. In response Rias squeaked again before fleeing the room in a flurry of clothes. Runeas stretched with a giggle as she got out of bed.
"Don't worry Lexy I'll go calm her down and let her know I was just teasing. But I expect a reward okay?" Runeas said as she left the room before I had a chance to respond. I sighed before looking around.
Now... Where are my pants?
A/N: Well here it is people! I got chapter nine out rather easily. This was one thing I had planned when coming to DxD and I hope you all are happy! I will be posting this on my Pat...reon as well and eventually all my content will be ported to AO3 just in case FanFiction fails again. Happy Reading!