Bad Tidings

The devil, Sagarel, took steady steps down. Its heavy footfalls echoed loudly on the wet rocks that made up the cave, some breaking apart as it stomped on by. The wound that Bell Cranel dealt had fully healed, but its pride was still bruised, and its evening ruined. It wondered why it hadn't yet harvested the soul of Bell Cranel, but that only meant that the boy had bedded a virgin. The devil smirked in its small victory. Patience, it told itself, patience is a virtue. The irony of a devil utilizing a virtue was not lost on it. The smirk on its face slowly turned into a scowl as it entered a large chamber.

Natural rock columns raised the roof of the cavern, while candles that glowed in a low green light brightened up the stuffy atmosphere with a dull violet glow. A stagnant pond of water sat in the middle of the more expansive part. The deep center was nearly filled to the brim of the bones of animals and humans. A table made of stone was set up at the far end, the farthest away from the mouth of the chamber. The stench of rotting and mold filled the air.

It was a wonderful smell that the devil Sagarel loved.

What made him scowl in displeasure, however, were the thirteen other beings in the cave. Devils like him, they were the only devils left in this world. The fourteen remnants of the 72 Pillars and their legions. Despite knowing them for millennia, he only concerned himself with a few of their names. The Whore of Babylon, otherwise called as Treseis, was known as the devil that drove the golden city of Babylon into madness and destroying it from within; Merdecow, a devil with a bull for a head, had led an army of minotaurs on a rampage before the deities started bestowing their blessings; Akasha, the once hailed "Queen of Pain,"wrecked a kingdom from within and an honest pain in Sagarel's side; and Sei, the only devil among them to have killed a god, was one of the few there that Sagarel respected.

"What is this? Why have we been called?" Sagarel asked, not even bothering with greetings. He stepped over to his empty seat and plopped right down on the smooth stone, crossing his legs above the meeting table, much to the chagrin of the devil beside him.

"We have received news," one of the devils that Sagarel cared not for spoke up first. His face didn't matter so Sagarel didn't commit it to memory. "You have been going again on your human hunt!" he threw a parchment attached to a wooden board at Sagarel. The parchment had the words, [Wanted Dead: Devil — 200M valis], a wanted poster set by the Guild located in Orario, the Labyrinth City. "Thanks to your vain games," he spat, "The major deities now know that there are some of us alive! Have you forgotten how the Zeus and Hades Familias hunted us down?! It took us centuries of staying low before they finally assumed extinction. And now what? They now know that we still live!"

"I was bored," Sagarel drawled, having forgotten half of what the man had said already.

"Sagarellll!" the devil hissed as he stood up to his full height.

"You want a battle?" Sagarel leapt to its feet and drew its glaive. It towered over the other devil, easily. Sagarel grinned, its fingers itching for a fight. It licked its lips and shuffled its feet into a battle position

The rest of the table stayed quiet, most of them eager to watch a show. Most of them had gotten bored with the status quo long before this meeting. The last tragedy they watched was the final battle of the Zeus and Hera Familias, and that comedy was 28 years ago. Since then, entertainment was scarce, and obscurity was everso dreary; they were at the end of their patience. Almost all of them wanted to stretch their legs and get back to plotting to bring down kingdoms to their knees, watching humans kill each other in the tens of thousands.

Enjoying the whimpering sacrifices that the foolish humans offered them was some of the most fulfilling components of the process.

"Fight, fight, fight," the Queen of Pain cheered.

The opposing devil threw the first attack with his sword, made of Crozzo steel and magic. Sagarel lazily batted it away before slashing downwards with its glaive. The other devil got cleaved in two but healed almost instantaneously. His sword sang as lightning covered it and struck Sagarel. Sagarel healed the onset of burns quickly. It swung its glaive once more, cutting the other devil into two horizontally. But once again, the other devil healed.

The two devils kept this up for two hours. All the while, their dark indigo blood splattered everywhere and left a foul, rotting stench.

"Dekatris," Sei finally interrupted, having grown bored of the battle. "Sagarel, that is enough," both devils held their weapon by their side and stopped swinging. If there was anyone who held authority among them, it would be Sei. Said devil stood, his red eyes scanning his kinsmen. "Brethren, do you not think that it is time for us to rise up again and claim the world?" he asked.

The room stood silent for a moment as all the devils stopped talking and moving. They processed what Sei had said. It only took an instant. The cave soon erupted in an uproar as some of the demons agreed and some were against

"Are you crazy!?"

"It's about damn time!"

"Sei! Do you not remember what happened when the Zeus and Hades Familias wiped out the rest of our kin?!"

"Ahahahahahahahaha!"

. Sei raised his hand and the room once again went silent.

"Have not the Zeus and Hera Familias been wiped out by our valiant nephew, the One-Eyed Black Dragon? The Hades Familia is also no longer the juggernaut it once was in the old days. The Artemis Familia has also been wiped out, while the Ares Familia has been reduced to a couple of drunk fools. The Astraea Familia is gone, thanks to our friends in the Evilus Faction. The Kali Familia has isolated itself, following the mistakes of their ancestors. The Thor Familia is gone. The Amaterasu Familia is forgotten. And the Ouranos Familia is non-existent," Sei listed. They all recognized all the gods and their Familias, who once took part in the devil hunt a thousand years ago. "Tell me, Sagarel, as the only devil who dared to venture near Orario, what are the Familias that could stand against us?"

"Loki and Freya," Sagarel promptly answered. "Ganesha and Ishtar if they get a little bit stronger."

"Who are the adventurers who could stand against us?"

Sagarel muttered to himself, trying to recall specific names. "I only know them by their titles: King, Braver, Thousand Hells, Vans Freya, Elgarm, and Dainsleif."

"Six of them against the fourteen of us. Although they may have others under them, this is doable," Sei revealed a bloodthirsty grin, breaking his stoic expression. "Shall we topple one or two Familias before going in?"

"Oh! Oh! I want in!"

"Not you, Sagarel, not yet. We need a more inconspicuous devil to take charge," Sei denied the larger devil a chance. "Akasha, Treseis, would you kindly?"

"With pleasure."

"It has been a while since I slapped a goddess of beauty in the face."

Both female devils were excited at the prospect of being able to seduce humans once again before killing them off.

Sei nodded, pleased with how things were working out.

"After we have taken out a pillar or two from Orario, we reawaken our sister. Although we will have to kill Ouranos first before the lid over her could be broken," the smile on his face widened. "Our sister, Tiamat, shall rejoin our ranks soon. We are so close. Just a bit more."

It shan't be longer. Sei could feel it. The winds were changing. The age of gods was nearly over. Devils would once again take over the earth as it was their birthright.

Bell felt his weapon fly out of his hand and the impotent blade of air sent by the steel of Ais' sword.

"Dead," Ais said in a despondent tone. "Make sure to tighten your grip on your weapon. You don't want to lose it in the middle of a battle."

"Yes."

"Earlier, when you saw that you had an advantage, you pushed it. Well done."

"Thank you," Bell smiled.

"But you let down your guard as you did."

Bell nodded. His excitement wasn't marred, his determination only grew, and his mind immediately crafted new ways to avoid the mistake.

"Never, let down your guard. If you think you are winning, be more cautious. Enemies, human or monster, will capitalize on your moment of attacking that weak spot; especially if they baited you. A fighter in their final moments is the most dangerous," Ais finished.

Bell nodded again but this time in thanks before bowing his head to contemplate in the following silence. This was some solid advice, as always. A lil obvious in hindsight this time around, but being directly pointed out to him quickened his process of learning. Ais had a great deal of experience under her belt and gave him the wisdom of the battlefield. He took his time digesting all of the information imparted by her. Was there a way to implement it into his fighting style? Or, to tell the signs of when an enemy was baiting him? When was the right time to capitalize on a weakness? How should Bell maximize the damage as he took advantage of it?

"I'm sorry," Ais broke Bell out of his thoughts.

"Huh? What for?"

"I have been harsh with you," Ais admitted with a slight change to her expression.

"No, you haven't! If anything, it's my fault for being so slow and weak."

"Bell."

"Yes?"

"Don't apologize for being weak," Ais did something uncharacteristic and poked Bell's forehead. She surprised herself with the unconscious action, before smiling as she enjoyed Bell's expressive response across his face. She always enjoyed Bell's expressions. He wore his emotions on his sleeve, and Ais liked that. It was like a breath of fresh air. "Instead, focus on getting stronger. I was once like you, you know? I was weak too."

And I still am.

Bell slowly bobbed his head as he stewed in his thoughts. He couldn't imagine the Ais in front of him being weak. She was the Sword Princess of the Loki Familia. An unshakable pillar of Orario and a well-known adventurer. Bell sometimes wondered why she bothered to train him at all. He wasn't complaining though! It was fun being with her. Educational too!

Hurt a lot, but it was more than worth it!

"That's enough for the break," Ais said as she picked up her sword.

Bell followed her example and walked to where his weapon flew. It was a short sword, the same as Ais', they bought both swords at a cheap weapon shop to use for training. Which reminded Bell that he had to buy new equipment after his run in with the minotaur…

He shook his head. Now was not the time to think about that. He took a stance and looked at Ais.

"Defend," Ais spoke as she closed the distance between them. "Remember, in a melee, footwork is what matters most," even as she attacked Bell, she gave him a lesson. "Your enemy may be stronger or faster, but if you are able to out-maneuver them, victory will be in your hands."

Bell's steel sword clashed noisily with Ais'. The screeching of metal against metal sent goosebumps up Bell's arm. There was no getting used to it. It was loud and sudden every single time. But, Bell powered through the noise. He would have to shrug it off. Discomfort was nothing to getting wounded or better yet, death.

Ais stabbed and Bell parried. As Ais pulled back, Bell kicked at her stomach. The kick sent Ais back a bit, but both knew that she was just acting. There was no way that Bell's weak kick hurt her. She was simulating an enemy that Bell could defeat.

Bell pushed the advantage and slashed vertically. Ais dodged to the side and responded back with a downwards slash of her own. Bell blocked beautifully, remembering to angle the blade away, so Ais' sword and strength would slide the flow away from his body. It left her open, just long enough for him to react accordingly. With dexterous hands, Bell made a stab at Ais' unguarded throat; just stopping millimeters away.

"Well done," Ais used her gloved finger to push away the tip. "That should be it for today."

Bell huffed as he splayed himself all over the cobblestone floor. That was a win in his favor. The first one!

Ais lay down beside him, taking a more neat and straight lying position compared to Bell's spread eagle. "You've improved greatly," Ais commented.

"Thank you. I have a good teacher," Bell grinned.

Ais' cheeks turned a shade of pink. "I'm sure there are better teachers out there than I."

"There may be… But, you are the one for me. Thank you, Ais."

Ais let herself smile a little at Bell's praise.

"Be~~ll~!" a voice called out to them, and Bell turned his head to find his Goddess, Hestia, who he hadn't seen in several days. "There you are!" she grinned. "Ah, it's Ais Wallenstein. Thank you for taking care of my Bell while I was away."

"It was no problem," Ais replied, retaking her usual aloof tone.

"If you don't mind, Ais Wallenstein, I will be stealing Bell away now," Hestia took Bell by the arm and helped him up. Ais wanted to protest but saw a neatly wrapped gift in the satchel that Hestia carried and understood. She nodded, and Hestia gave her a thankful grin. "I'll make it up to you some other time, Sword Princes! Come on Bell! Monsterphilia is starting!"

"Eh, ah! See you again, Ais!" Bell called out to her

Ais watched the two of them leave and suddenly felt like she was forgetting something. Ah, that's right. She was invited to participate in one of the Monsterphilia events. She glanced at the shadows on the ground. It was still early but getting ready did not cost her anything. Ais decided to head back to the Twilight Manor to prepare for her battle in the arena of Ganesha.

"I am Ganesha!" the pokemon announced, and just like that, Monsterphilia officially began. Cheers roared from the crowd as members of the Ganesha Familia came rolling out of the arena gates. It was quite the spectacle to behold. Monsters of all shapes and sizes ran out with the members. Chariots rumbled forward, firecrackers exploded, and the whips that the Familia used as a taming tool cracked.

Bell was swept up in the excitement. Tittering in his seat with barely restraint energy, he marveled at the ligerfang that leapt through a hoop of fire, a swarm of war ants marched in a line, and an infant dragon did aerial acrobatics with its trainer. He cheered when a silverback juggled several large, water-filled balls, and was awed into silence when a hellhound breathed fire then the Ganesha members flew through its waves of fire. His mouth dropped in utter shock when a Pallum was swallowed whole by a wyvern. Just a moment after, he was clapping and laughing with everyone else when the Pallum emerged from the mouth.

The wyvern and Pallum bowed before all the performers left the stage.

"And now!" the announcer shouted once the props and monsters were cleared from the arena. "We will have our special guest for this year's Monsterphilia! Give it up for the Sword Princess herself, Ais Wallenstein!"

The whole crowd cheered her name, and Bell immediately spotted Ais emerging from one of the gates. She gave a slight wave to the crowd as she coolly walked to the center of the arena. She was dressed in her armor but carried no weapon.

"She will now attempt to subdue a Greed Dragon bare handed without killing it!"

"What!?"
"They can't be serious…"
"Isn't that a level 4 monster?"
"She can do it!"
" "Go Sword Princess!" "
" "You can do it!" "

" "Sword Princess! Sword Princess! Sword Princess!" "

The crowd was swept up in astonishment, to fear, to confusion, before trusting that their beloved Sword Princess could take down a dragon without a weapon with a growing chant. Bell watched, amazed, as the crowd put their full faith in Ais. This was the influence of the Sword Princess, this was Ais Wallenstein.

Bell clenched his fists. He will catch up to her, no matter how long it takes. He will sever his curse and live without its chains!

Ais' eyes scanned the crowd and spotted her goddess, Loki, among the crowd flanked by Tiona, Tione, and Lefiya beside her; the rest of members of the Loki Familia intermingled the surrounding area. Tiona gave her an exuberant wave, and Ais nodded back. She scanned some more to find Bell with his goddess. He waved at her. Ais smiled and waved back. Once she saw that both Bell and Loki were watching, Ais decided to put on a show. She narrowed her eyes and readied herself.

Opposite to her entrance, a loud bang shook the arena's ground. The Ganesha Familia members double-checked all the safety equipment before unbolting the lock of the gate. A dragon rampaged out of the gates, and the crowd gasped at its size. Ais was a small mouse compared to it. They knew that the Sword Princess would win but doubts suddenly planted their seeds in the minds of the people.

Ais waited patiently. She waited for the dragon to come to her. The dragon rampaged around the arena at first before settling its emerald eyes on Ais. Ais took in a breath and exhaled. She wasn't nervous about this, she had this in the bag. But, she was fighting without her weapon and without the intent to kill.

This may be a little harder than she initially thought. Withholding her strength was one of her greatest flaws.

The dragon roared as it beat its wings and accelerated at a blistering pace. Its sharp teeth were glinting and hate shadowed its eyes. Its claws were ready and its fire was burning. Its target was the unassuming human before it.

Ais expected this though and nimbly sidestepped the charge, watching the dragon collide with the arena's sand. The dragon tumbled uncontrollably, and Ais ran alongside it. She had to jump and duck under the flinging limbs of the dragon, avoiding its tail and wings. She stopped right in front of it and punched its snout.

Ais… honestly did not know what she was doing.

The dragon snorted and snapped at Ais. She deftly avoided that and delivered a kick to the dragon's snout.

Now that Ais was here, she rethought accepting the invitation. Foremost, bare fisted fighting was not her specialty nor was she good at it. It could be argued that while she knew how to fight in close quarters, it was only against humans. Not much use against non-humanoid monsters. Throwing a monster over her shoulder was much different from tossing Loki on the regular.

Ais and the dragon stared at each other. The kick didn't do much damage to it, unfortunately for her. It roared, and once again, Ais stepped out of the way of its flurry of attacks. She dodged left then right, up then down, never once stopping her feet from moving.

Her masterful dexterity and perception of the battle was on full display as the scenario reset repeatedly, and a certain white-haired boy couldn't help but gape.

His mentor and idol showed off her skills; he was learning so much just by analyzing her movements. He watched her maneuvering around the dragon, so it wouldn't be able to use its natural weapons nearly as much. She kept herself on its left side so it wouldn't be able to use both claws, but always remained conscious of the whipping tail.

Ais leapt and grabbed the dragon by its horns and swung it over her shoulder and onto its back. She dusted her hands. "Oh, so you could just throw a monster over your shoulder like you would Loki," she muttered to herself. She checked the dragon and found that it was out cold. A Ganesha member came and handed her a chain.

Ais took it and easily wrapped it around the dragon's wings and legs before securing it tightly. She took a step back and looked over the crowd. Her eyes zoned in on where Bell was seated. She raised a fist. "That was how you do it," she said, although she was sure the boy didn't hear her over the cheering of the crowd.

Ais lowered her fist and walked out of the arena.

"You were so cool, Ais!" Tiona cheered once both were out.

"You just threw the dragon over your shoulder! That— That was so cool!" Lefiya, an elf junior of Ais, said. Ais could see the stars in her eyes and felt a little proud of herself.

"Ais!" Loki flew at her and Ais easily sidestepped her goddess like she sidestepped the dragon. A wide grin was on the Trickster Goddess' face. It held no malice nor scheme under it, but was just full of pride. "That's my girl! You sure riled up the crowd!"

"Where did you think of pumping up your fist?" Lefiya asked.

"I just felt like it," Ais said offhandedly.

Their conversation was interrupted by screams of terror.

"What the hell?" Loki muttered to herself as various monsters rampaged out of the arena gates and into the city. "Ganesha, what did you do?" She could feel the oncoming headache to clean up yet another mess.

"I'm heading out," Ais said.

"You don't have your sword!" Loki shouted.

"I can make do," Ais brushed her off.

"I'm coming with you," Lefiya said.

"Where's Tione?" Tiona asked. "We will need all hands on deck."

"Loki Familia!" Shakti, the captain of the Ganesha Familia, ran up to them. "Please help subdue the monsters!"

"You don't have to tell us twice!" Tiona grinned as they got ready for a brawl across the city. They had no weapons on them but could probably take down these monsters without much hassle. She cracked her knuckles as a battle hungry grin stretched her face. "We'll save as many people as we can!"

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Edited by Aerex