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JACG Chapter 91 (Byakko The White Tiger)
🕑 Added 2024-05-15 01:10:09 +0000 UTCRias was standing in the center of the room sulking about the ending of her fight. She had a picture in her head about how things were supposed to go but the reality she had encountered was not it. So she had a dejected face that was telling the whole room that she was not happy.
Pyrrha was just looking at her like she could not comprehend what was going through Rias' head. To be fair to Pyrrha Rias had some pretty unreasonable thoughts running through her head. The capital example of Rias being unreasonable is Ashley’s actions.
She had walked towards Rias at the end of her rather lack luster fight. She then placed her hand on Rias' shoulder in a comforting gesture. Rias stopped her sulking and just stared at Ashley for a moment.
“It’s okay Magic Tits, there are more people to be murdering! Maybe the next one will be cooler!” Ashley spoke with cheer clear on her face. Rias had several looks flashing across her face at the declaration but she settled on awkward acceptance.
“I appreciate the sentiment Ashley but your hands are sticky and I don’t want to think about why that is so can you stop comforting me,” Rias spoke out with that same awkward look on her face. She was happy about the sudden acceptance from Ashley even if it was tied in with mockery. But she was also rather concerned about the juices that were coating Ashley’s hands.
Ripping that eye out of that monster did not do her any favors in that regard. I was just glad I was not the one that had eye juice coating me.
“Come on Magic Tit’s what’s a little questionable fluids between friends,” Ashley spoke out with the same cheer as she continued to rub Rias' shoulders in a comforting gesture. She might not have had this in mind at first but now that Rias had pointed it out she was going to rub as much juice on Rias as she could get away with.
As Ashley looked at Rias with that bright smile on her face I was more and more sure of that thought. Rias was clearly uncomfortable but she did not want to ruin the sudden bout of niceness from Ashley. So she was holding her tongue even if she really wanted to not have those juices coating her. Ashley’s smile seemed to widen further as Rias became more and more uncomfortable.
“I don’t really understand what's happening here, Prince.” Pyrrha pipped in beside me as she watched the interaction between Ashley and Rias.
“What part, Ashley messing with Rias or Rias insisting on some questionable tactics in the middle of a fight?” I questioned with a light smile on my face. Pyrrha suffered around as she took in my words.
“Both, but I am more concerned about the second part,” Pyrrha muttered out as she looked at Rias with confusion clear on her face.
I figured this was going to be brought up at one point. Pyrrha would not really understand Rias' perspective as she was fairly unreasonable. She would be willing to indulge Rias for the most part but when she threw herself into danger for no reason that was when Pyrrha had to take a stance.
“Rias is a big fan of grand stories and epic quests. She is rather familiar with the tropes and scenarios told in certain stories. So she wants this mission to follow along those tropes to fit the image in her head.” I explained calmly to the girl who still wore a confused look on her face. That was the best way I could describe Rias' current thought process without going into what Anime was and the tropes that defined most of it.
If I brought up the particulars of this case it would only lead to more confusion from Pyrrha. This explanation was good enough to clear most of the thoughts running through Pyrrha’s head.
“That’s ridiculous, she wants to follow the outlines of stories so badly that she is willing to throw herself into danger for no reason?” Pyrrha questioned with outrage and frustration clear on her face. She did not questioned the validity of my claims as what I said explained her actions well but she was questioning why Rias would be willing to go so far.
“When you are following your dreams you can often find yourself doing strange and outlandish things,” I spoke out with a calm smile on my face. I did not really agree with Rias' perspective but if she was willing to follow those tropes and outlines I was not going to try to change her outlook for my own thoughts.
Pyrrha still looked like she was not going to accept that. She even started to walk towards Rias with a determined look on her face. I sighed and pulled her back. She shot me a look that screamed she was frustrated with this situation and she was not happy with me standing on the sidelines.
“Cool it, I get your perspective and honestly you are the reasonable one here but you don’t have to worry about Rias so much,” I spoke out quickly trying to calm the irate girl before me. She seemed confused that I was calling her the reasonable one here but was still stopping her from giving Rias a piece of her mind.
“Why? She is playing around with her life and you expect me to not be worried?” Pyrrha questioned with frustration bleeding into her tone.
“Again you're right but Rias was not really in as much danger as you think she was,” I explained again to Pyrrha who did not look convinced about that point. Rias was willing to take hits and drain her own stamina to follow some dumb rules in her head.
“Just look at her,” I spoke out lightly while pointing at Rias. Pyrrrha looked at her at my recommendation. Rias had several tears in her clothes from narrow dodges from the rocky tail strikes that surrounded her. There was even a big hole right at her stomach from the first strike that caught her off guard. Ignoring the state of her clothes Rias was perfectly fine, there was not even a skin injury on her. The skin that was displayed underneath her wrecked outfit was perfectly fine and it did not even have a scratch on it.
Seeing her current state Pyrrha’s eyebrows rose in disbelief. She herself had a forcefield but she knew that Rias had no such thing protecting her. So the many hits she took should have shown some sort of damage on the girl but that was clearly not the case.
Pyrrha’s vision was too narrow. She was using the logic of her own world to understand the situation happening to her now. That was the wrong path to take but it was an understandable one as most people fall into old habit when faced with the unknown. In this case, she thought that someone without Aura had to be unreasonably fragile in her opinion. So she did not take in Rias' natural durability as a literal Devil.
Again I could not blame her for that outlook as the concepts before her were something beyond her worldview. Rias' actions looked far more severe to Pyrrha when Rias was just playing around for the most part.
If things started to get really dicey I was sure that Rias would become serious. No one should be willing to play around with their life just to follow a random whim. Even if said whim was something that they have been dreaming about since they were a child.
“She’s fine?” Pyrrha questioned with a dazed look on her face. Which was good as she stopped trying to free herself from my grip to march towards Rias and Ashley who were currently in a stand-off.
“She is, I’m sure if things really started to go bad she would start to become serious and if things really went bad you and I would certainly not stand by just to satisfy Rias' desire,” I spoke out as I let go of the now calm girl. Pyrrha looked back at me and nodded seriously. Of course, Pyrrha and I would take action if things went poorly for Rias.
I was willing to indulge people’s interests and whims for the most part but I was not going to let her die for her dreams. Pyrrha was also not someone who would sacrifice a friend for that friend’s dream. Ashley’s name was taken out of this discussion as she would absolutely let Rias kill herself in her current state. She was not that attached to Rias yet but when she did become closer to her Ashley would also join the rationale squad.
God Ashley being on the reasonable side is a blessing that I never thought would be possible. I kind of hoped Rias and her would get close just so I could experience such a foreign and strange scenario.
The current situation should lead to those two getting closer so here is hoping I could live to witness such a scene. Rias appeared to have given up on trying to convince Ashley to stop trying to comfort her. She had a dejected look on her face as she accepted the shoulders pats and hugs but there was also an inner happiness about the comfort. Ashley was bright and cheerful as she got to have her fun but the fact that she was willing to hug Rias showed me that she was willing to actually get close to the girl now.
I was now dreading the moment I had to tell Ashley how Rias felt about me. Things were going in the right direction between the both of them and that little tidbit might break those changes. I bit my lip in anxiety as I did not want to ruin the thing that was brewing there. Sadly this was not something I could hold back, if I did it would only become worse with time. It was better to rip the bandage off as fast as I could.
“Alright, we got another three Saint Beasts to kill so let’s head out!” I shouted out knocking the strange bonding scene out. Ashley let go of Rias and started walking towards me as I marched following my wand. Rias let out a sigh of relief and followed as well. Pyrrha was front and center already looking for more traps on our journey.
“You getting along with Rias now Ashley?” I questioned lightly as we started walking up a staircase of all things. Rias seemed interested in my question as well but that made sense. Ashley just hummed lightly before she decided to respond.
“Magic Tits is alright, she merc that guy pretty quickly and she is a Devil so she is pretty fucking metal,” Ashley commented lightly as she walked by my side. Rias looked like she wanted to squeal at the sudden affirmation but she held back as that would only take points away from Ashley’s opinion. She was learning to interact with Ashley faster than I expected.
Why was that? I wanted Rias to get closer to Ashley as Rias would be a good friend to her. Now with the way Rias felt about me I thought she would be more aggressive with Ashlely but she was friendly for the most part. She had her moments were she ribbed out status as a couple but she was fairly friendly with Ashley. I could not really put any motive behind Rias’ actions but I was still glad about how things were playing out.
Pyrrha was looking a little left out so I decided to throw her another bone.
“How about Pyrrha? She seems like a nice girl as well.” I committed lightly to Ashley who looked over at Pyrrha again. She looked at Pyrrha and the light in her eyes dimmed for a moment before they returned to the same brilliance. She then wore a contemplative look on her face as she thought over all of Pyrrha’s reactions.
Pyrrha seemed startled at being included in this particular talk but she did seem interested in Ashley's opinion on her. Pyrrha had a poor opinion on Ashley before but so far things looked like they were getting better in that category. Pyrrha also had a bad opinion on me but she was warming up to me as well.
“She is a fucking badass, the way she massacred those green little shits were great. She is also not as squeamish as Magic Tit’s but she has this goody two shoes energy.” Ashley spoke out as she rubbed her chin as she thought. Rias seemed affronted about her nickname still being used after their bonding session but she just sighed instead of confronting it.
“Thank you?” Pyrrha let out as if she questioned if she should even thank Rias in this case. Being called a goody two shoes was certainly an insult but Ashley thought any good natured person was one. So Pyrrha was in good company in that case.
“You see what I mean.” Ashley gestured at Pyrrha who just finished thanking her. The look on her face clearly saying that Pyrrha’s sudden thanks was a problem. I let out a light chuckle as Pyrrha seemed even more confused about Ashley’s opinion of her.
“It’s not the worst problem to have,” I spoke out lightly to Ashley. Pyrrha’s good nature was something I admired about her after all. I knew I was fairly messed up myself but that did not mean I hated good natured people on principle. I hated most people on principle but the truly kind people were people that I admired. They had something I would never be able to output.
Our conversation veered off as we reached the top of the staircase. The sight that greeted us at the top of the stairs was not something I expected.
Beyond the door at the top of the stair case was a long stone bridge that had no support beams, that lead towards a flat open area that looked like it was meant to fight on. All of this was underneath the sky as the bridge was completely open to the world around us.
We were standing on one tower and the bridge was leading towards the other side of the castle. This was that strange design decision that I saw much earlier. I now knew more about this particular world but this decision still seemed rather odd to me.
Standing on a raised platform near the other side of the castle was a new beast. A hulking creature that had muscles on muscles as it stood proudly before us. It was wearing a garish tattered rag that was barely covering the important bits of the creatures. The monster before us was a humanoid white tiger with black stripes all over its body and a bright green mane for hair.
The tiger before us looked like it belonged in the WWE and no one would bat an eye if it suddenly decided to change its career from Saint Beast to pro wrestler. As it notice us the monster let out a loud and powerful roar that shook the very ground we stood on.
The sound blasted the air around us with enough force to make us take a step back. Beyond that parts of the castle started to fall down from the sudden auditory assault. I grimaced for a moment as that ability was not something that was magical. That was just from the beast's outrageous body even if that thought defied common sense.
“You will pay for coming this far into my territory Humans!” The creature before us shouted out again slightly shaking the ground. That was an interesting trick all things considered but not one I could get on my side sadly.
“Oh fuck off kitty cat! If I wanted to talk to a pussy I would drag some other cunt here!” Ashley shouted out as she flipped off the giant beast before us. The sudden insult caused the girls to look at Ashley with questions clear on their faces but there was no chance to interact as the tiger growled at the insult and hopped down from its raised platform landing in the center of the arena.
“Hold your tongue Human, do not feel proud because you took care of Genbu! He was weak and the only reason we kept him here was because he could talk to the lesser demons by prowling through the rocks! That was the only reason we kept him around!” The tiger before us shouted out ending with a deep growl that reverberated through the air around us.
“That girl might have some strange power but her attacks me nothing to me! I am much stronger than that weakling Genbu!” The tiger shouted out once more as he pointed at Rias with a glare clear on its face.
“Duh, I already had my fight so obviously my attacks would be useless against the next boss it only makes sense.” Rias declared with a smug look. There was a brief silence in the air as everyone reacted to the strange comment from her. I gave her an exasperated look that was shared with Pyrrha. Even Ashley was giving Rias side eye for that particular comment.
The tiger froze for a moment as it could not comprehend that comment from Rias but it recovered quickly.
“So that human can not save you little girl I will tear you limb from limb and feast on your organs girl! “ The tiger shouted out with a growl as she looked over at Ashley with a fierce angry look on his face.
“ I don’t need Magic Tits to save me, I can take care of a little kitty cat by myself!” Ashley spat out as she took her spear out of her inventory and marched towards the tiger all by herself. Pyrrha looked at what was happening before her and just sighed at the absurd nature of what was happening.
She did not think another one on one fight was going to happen again. This Saint beast just managed to piss Ashley off enough to get her all hot and bothered. Or maybe she was boiling for a fight the moment she got here. Either way, Ashley was going to be stubborn about a one on one fight as well.
I gave Rias a brief look as this fit far too well into her thought process. I was kind of concerned that her own luck was affecting the outcomes here to allow the scenario in her head to play out. I discarded that thought as any bonus to luck would be null in the face of my own as I had that one Perk. I guess it was just a matter of fate that had things playing out like this.
Rias looked like everything was going according to plan and I honestly wanted to step in just to wipe that look off her face.
“You are brave but stupid Human, come face your death girl and tell Yamma Byakko sent you!” Byakko shouted out as he flexed his claws with Ashley walking toward him with her spear already brandished.
“Hold it!” I shouted out breaking the tension that was building between the two fighters. Ashley looked back at me with a pout on her face as I was getting in the way of her fight so I shot her an apologetic look. Rias looked outraged that I was taking a stance here but I had to do something. Pyrrha looked happy that I was taking action here and was looking like she was going to join in so we could jump Byakko.
I was going to disappoint her as I remembered an ability that Byakko had that I wanted to see in action.
“Sorry Ashley but he said he had a way to deal with Rias' attack and I was interested in seeing his method. After that, you can get back to ripping each other apart!” I shouted out explaining my thought process. Ashley took in my words and huffed but she looked like she was willing to let things play out according to my thoughts. Pyrrha looked completely and utterly disappointed as she sulked.
“As if I would show you my attacks Human, I am not like Genbu I will hold back on that move until I have devoured this girl!” Byakko shouted out as he drooled while looking at Ashley. I felt my eyebrow twitch at the blatant threat to my girlfriend but Ashley wanted to take care of this so I was just going to push him and let Ashley have her fun.
“You don’t really have a choice in this Byakko, if you want to live you are going to have to use your technique!” I shouted out as a dark energy bloomed on my fingers already ready to fire at the big hulking tiger before me. Before he could reply I shot the energy on my finger at the tiger who looked scared for a moment before he opened his mouth wide open and swallowed the energy fired at him.
He grimaced as the energy did not sit well with him but he managed to do the unthinkable. He managed to stop a conceptual attack because he wanted to eat something. Truly anime villains are a different breed.
Thankful this technique was more mystical in nature so I was able to copy it with my Alpha Stigma. It had its limits as my body could only contain a certain amount of energy but I was now able to swallow any energy based attack and store it in my gut.
“You have the Power of Destruction?” Rias questioned quietly with disbelief on her face. I grimaced but nodded which seemed to shock her further.
“Cheap trick Human, like I said your puny attacks mean nothing this little girl has a better chance of hurting me with her little spear!” Byakko shouted out as he laughed while looking at Ashley who was twitching at his dismissive attitude.
“You done Prince? I really want to tear the Kitty cat apart!” Ashley shouted out as she clutched onto her spear tighter. She clearly wanted to take action now but she was willing to wait for my go ahead which brought a smile to my face.
“Good!” She shouted out as she started to walk menacingly at Byakko. She was not there to kill him she was there to play around with him until she was able to tear him apart.
Byakko scoffed at her as her ran at her going at speeds that would be impressive to your regular humans. His claws swiping at Ashley trying to make sure his last threat went through.
Ashley started to deflect his attacks with her spear smoothly, the force behind each of his strikes being displaced with a measure of skill that not anyone else could display.
With every strike, she deflected she would swipe at the beast before her tearing into his skin but only skin deep. So he was getting covered in cut after cut that was letting bright blood fall onto the arena surrounding them.
The bravado Byakko was displaying falling apart as his blood started to coat the ground around him. There was frustration clear on his face as he could not even manage to make a single strike in his current situation. There was also dread building on his face as Ashley had complete and utter control over the situation.
He did not have time to pull off any other moves as the spear was always moments away from taking his life and Ashley was swiping at him every time he tried to back off.
“Awww what’s wrong? Does Kitty Cat need a break?” Ashley questioned sarcastically. The pride that was clear on his face before was nonexistent. He was not even able to open his mouth to reply as Ashley was always prepared for him to roar again.
This was honestly a horrible match up for Byakko but that was what he got for being all smug and arrogant.
“If you say pretty please I’ll let you take a break Kitty Cat,” Ashley spoke out in a baby voice deliberately mocking him.
“You dare,” Byakko growled out as Ashley finally let him speak but he knew if he tried to roar he would be back to square one.
“What cat got your tongue?” Ashley questioned out with her own smug cat face clear for everyone to see. She started to cut deeper into Byakko’s skin as she was no longer satisfied with the skin injuries she was inflicting. The stage was bathed in even more blood as chunks of his flesh started to be torn from his frame with swipes of her spear.
After a couple of moments of that treatment, Byakko could no longer handle the situation around him. The desperate situation he was in and the fear of death overriding the prideful nature he had before.
“Pretty please!” Byakko shouted out in desperation as another chunk of flesh was torn from his body. The begging in his tone clear for everyone to hear. I know the rest of the Saint Beasts were watching our fights so even if he won this fight by some miracle his comrades would kill him for this display. Not that he had a chance at that. I could tear this world apart if Ashley was even injured.
Ashley laughed joyfully with a mocking smile blooming on her face but she relented and let Byakko back off instead of containing him. Once Byakko managed to flee a good distance away from Ashley like the scared cat he was he became confident again.
He was coated in his own blood the garish colors on him replaced by crimson as all of him was covered so no one could believe his sudden confidence.
“Letting me go will be your last mistake girl!” Byakko shouted out as she summoned nine beasts using his hair as a catalyst. The beasts summoned were hairballs with sharp teeth and sharp claws. They would be impressive but they were also coated in Byakko’s blood as he used his blood soaked hair as a catalyst.
I could now also summon hair beasts using my hair but I did not really want to. Those beats were not exactly that strong and there were not even all that cool.
Ashley did not seem that concerned about suddenly being outnumbered so she should have this covered.
Instead of joining the fray with his goon squad Byakko stood back and started to shoot out sonic attacks from his mouth that had some fairly interesting mechanics. Those attacks might have even hurt Ashley but his aim was pretty bad from the distance. He clearly wanted to put as much distance between him and Ashley as he could afford.
Ashley laughed seeing that as she dodged his attack effortlessly. Seeing that he was out of tricks she decided to end things as she rushed at him.
She reached his new army in moments, instead of taking her time dealing with those scrubs she decided to take a different route. She stuck her spear into the ground right in front of those beats. She used the sudden speed and leverage to vault over the hairbeats avoiding yet another sonic blast in the process.
Without the beats in her way she got to Byakko in a flash. Fear and panic started to build on his face again but before he could do anything else Ashley gave him a mocking smile.
“Well this has been fun Kitty Cat but I think play time is over, but I got another trick prepared just for you.” She mocked out as she brandished her spear in a specific pose. Byakko only had a moment to widen his eyes before her next words sealed his fate.
“Nine Lives,” Ashley spoke out with sudden weight behind her words and a manic smile on her face.
The calm in the air was shattered as she blurred into motion. Countless strikes were unleashed in the blink of an eye. The speed behind those blows was impressive as the wind sang with every blow but there was something else behind them instead of just speed. All of those strikes seemed to happen at the same time which was baffling to see.
The strikes were countless but they ended eventually even if it only technically took a moment for everything to get done. Ashley was back to her original pose with the same smug smile on her face. Byakko stood completely still for a moment before he started to fall apart into bloody chunks diced to perfection.
I let out my own manic smile at the attack Ashley just unleashed. Ashley just did something I never expected from her. She just unleashed a Noble Phantasm and I got to have a first row seat to it. Poor poor Byakko never stood a chance.
