Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.
You Can Say Whatever, I'll Fight My Way
"What are you working on, dad?" Kunou asked curiously, peeking at his notes from the side. "Wards?" she hazarded a guess, an accurate one at that. She didn't know the first thing about how the branch worked, but she'd seen him work enough to know when he worked on wards, illusions or something else. He hadn't worked much on spatial or communications or hex magic for her to recognize them, but he'd probably get there. Especially the latter, since Yasaka said he'd start getting his payment soon.
He would finally be able to continue working on hexcrafting. If he was honest, he really wanted to start actually casting them. He'd been putting it off since forever, it felt like.
Oh, the experiments he'd have to make so as to start gathering information. Hex magic also had a lot less that was known regarding it, it seemed. Joshua was fairly sure that was due to the fact that it had much more variable foci options than wards did. So, despite it being easier and more accessible, it was less overall explored than its counterpart.
Thoughts for another time though.
"Yeah," Joshua nodded absently as he finished taking some notes. He was in a bit of a roll, after all. Thankfully, Kunou knew not to interrupt or take offense. He'd give her all the attention she wanted once he was done working or found a nice spot to take a break.
"The healing ward?" she asked then and he shook his head, his hand continuing to write without a pause. "Huh? Something new?"
"You could say that," Joshua answered vaguely, which made the little girl hum. He wasn't too bothered by her, really, and what he was doing wasn't that important. He'd usually tell her to wait for a bit if he really needed the silence. "It's more… quality of life stuff, you could say."
"Isn't that a spatial magic bit there?" Kunou pointed at a specific ring in the circle he was working with. He took a second to give her a proud smile.
"Caught that, did you? Good job," he said, making her beam back at him. "And yeah," he nodded, looking back at his notes. After a moment, he nodded again, this time to himself. It seemed he was done for the moment. Or, at least, he didn't have anything that needed to be noted down. "A side project of mine, you could say. I'm putting together a ward/spatial magic circle, you could say. Or several, really."
"What are they for?" she asked curiously, even as she moved. Joshua blinked, caught off guard for a moment when Kunou climbed on him and sat on his lap. She hadn't done that in a while, he thought to himself. She had done it a few times in the past, but mostly when they met at his place or when he'd been meditating, as far as he could remember.
"Well, I'm just working on stuff to make things easier for me. You know, a cleaning ward to keep the house… well, clean. Something for clothes too, maybe, although I'm mainly thinking about just folding the already clean clothes that are already clean. Maybe a storage spell that'll keep the temperature of stuff inside, to store meals and such, you know?"
Kunou let out an "aaah" that seemed to be just a flat attempt at being impressed.
"It's not all that great, I know," Joshua added with a chuckle. "But I don't have servants, so I have to do those things myself, you know? And it takes time. So, I'd like to… not need to do those things," he explained with a shrug.
"I guess that makes sense," Kunou replied with a nod. "It's still boring though."
"I guess it is," Joshua readily agreed. She wasn't wrong, after all. "Are you done with your homework?"
"I am," she told him, quite proudly at that. She also seemed to be daring him to question that fact as he did sometimes. She didn't even know how easy it was to tell the difference whenever she did or didn't do what she had to. "I was thinking about working on my illusions for a bit, or maybe see what's up with Project Strategy."
"Ah, I left some notes about that for you to look through, if you do," Joshua told her, placing a hand on her head and ruffling her hair. He wondered if she'd ever stop giving token complaints about that.
They'd come a long way in regards to projects too, it seemed. No longer did he do all the work with her giving ideas. They'd even gotten past the time when he'd use the projects to explain stuff to her, even if he still did that. Now she actively participated in the drawing of circles. They had shared notes in which they noted ideas or possible ways to make the idea happen, with Joshua occasionally leaving her little tasks like researching a specific bit or telling her to look for a mistake he'd found and solve it, and so on. It was working well for them so far, he'd noticed.
Then again, his daughter was a great student.
He wasn't biased, no sir.
"I'll check that, I guess," Kunou said, but she didn't move. "Later," she added a moment later, leaning back against his chest. He smiled to himself. "... Aren't you going to keep working?" she asked, trying and failing to be sly.
Chuckling, he leaned forward to start working once again, his arms moving towards the notebook. As soon as he picked up the pencil to continue though, he dropped it. Instead of doing that though, he gave Kunou a quick hug, since that was what she'd wanted. After all, when he worked with her on his lap, he might as well be hugging her without actually doing so.
"Next time just ask," he told her before letting go and actually starting to work on his spells again.
"Ok, dad," he heard Kunou mumble shyly.
[}-o-{]
"They aren't going to call, are they?" Jeanne asked, from opposite to him during dinner one day. "You said we'd have to act soon if they didn't. How soon is soon?"
"... A few days," Joshua answered with an uneasy feeling building inside him. Putting traps out there was one thing, going out of his way to attack a place that was probably actively protected was another. "I've been working on what I'll need to attack the place."
"Ok," Jeanne nodded, she didn't need to ask if she would be joining him, her glare told him she would. He gave her a nervous smile. "Don't even try, Josh."
Joshua just sighed.
"Anyway, I have some wards I can set up on the fly. They'll take time to reach a good level, so we'll be on our own for a bit," he explained, not that she didn't know, but Joshua wanted to make sure she knew how things would work. "From there, well, we'll be bringing Cheshire, Nagini and Morag. I'll have Setan Kober at the ready."
"And I'll be there. More than enough. Margalo is gonna feel bad that she couldn't come, but I guess we'll just have to comfort her later," Jeanne mused with a slightly guilty look on her face.
"I mean, you could stay and keep her com-"
"Nope."
Joshua sighed again.
"Worth a try," he commented with a wry smile.
"Sure it was," she replied, rolling her eyes at him. "You sure the Church won't throw a fit if we do this? As in, get us in trouble for doing stuff in their territory?"
"I've cleared that up with Yasaka, and Serafall too," he started with a nod. "According to them, it's unlikely, but even if they do try to cause trouble, the two of them will help. If the Church really pushes which is damn near impossible, there's Azazel," Joshua explained before blinking. "And Shed, from what I'm getting," He added, his eyes darting towards the Charm hanging from his belt loop.
"Speaking of," Jeanne said, her eyes brightening up in a way that had Joshua suspecting where she would go with those words. "Are we gonna go visit Egypt? You know, to see if we can meet him?"
"This doesn't have anything to do with the place having quite the sights to see, I'm sure," he pointed out dryly, to which his sister simply gave him her best innocent look. It didn't work, obviously, but she gave it her all. "He doesn't seem to dislike the idea, so I guess we might be going for a visit. Later though. I'm busy and there's stuff to deal with over here, evidently."
"Ok, I can wait, just wanted to ask," Jeanne replied, looking like a happy camper. "Can I go around Japan, since we live here? There's other places to see."
"Hm, I might need to check with Yasaka if we can have someone with you when you go, and you'll be taking Nagini with you, I'm guessing," he commented, the serpent raising her head from his lap to give an affirmative hiss. "I guessed as much. So, yeah, there won't be too much trouble with that in mind. Just be sure to keep the teleportation circle at the ready."
"I will," Jeanne told him, rolling her eyes again. Paranoid, he might be. However, was it really paranoia if they were really out to get you? Besides, she knew he was right and wasn't really annoyed. "You sure it'll work though? You know I'm not very good with magic," She added then, suddenly looking unsure. It reminded him of the shy girl he'd picked up from the streets, really. A girl he didn't get to see very often those days.
"I'm sure. I made that circle specifically so that you wouldn't have to worry about casting it. It won't even use your magic for the teleport, it'll drain the wards back here a little," He explained to her, going into a little more detail. She did relax after that.
"You tested it?"
He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Right, sorry."
"Anyway… I really, really hope that they'll contact us," Joshua muttered, continuing with the meal. He'd lost his appetite, if he was honest, but he'd always been taught to eat all his meals. "They've had time, and I told them that it was time sensitive though."
"Which means that we should be prepared."
"We should be prepared regardless," he corrected. "That's the way of the magician."
"Which explains why I'm bad at it. I'm not one for plans."
"I believe you," he replied with a wry smile. After all, Jeanne had followed the voices blindly while running away from home. She had no plan, no resources, nothing. Only the words of something that she didn't understand and lots of hope.
"Do you have to make it sound like that?" Jeanne whined, stabbing the food on her plate as if it was its fault that she was a bit of an idiot. Then, as if reading his thoughts, she frowned. "Anyway, I'll prepare a list of swords and you can tell me what you think. Sounds good?"
"It does to me," he nodded, his eyes moving towards the cellphone he'd set to the side, as if expecting it to suddenly get a call. It didn't happen, and he hadn't really thought it would, but he couldn't help but be disappointed. He sighed once more.
"I have a feeling that the Church will have to work quite hard to get on your good side after this," Jeanne commented idly and he chuckled bitterly in response.
"You have no idea. I really hoped they'd at least value my abilities enough to put their pride aside for a moment and accept," Joshua grumbled, taking a deep breath in before he could get too annoyed. Then he took a sip from his glass. "No such luck, I guess. You can bet I'll be charging quite a lot if they need me for anything in the future."
"Like, actually charging them something in specific?" Jeanne asked, an amused smile on her face and he shot her an annoyed expression. She wasn't wrong though.
"Yes, they are that annoying," he grumbled.
"If what I've heard is right," Jeanne commented, looking like she was containing her laughter. "They might annoy you on purpose if that gets you to give an actual price."
He really, really hoped that was just Jeanne joking around.
[}-o-{]
It was in the middle of the day when they made their move. Jeanne had suggested doing it during the night, but that really offered them no real advantages. Well, to the humans, at least. He wasn't very sure regarding Morag, but Nagini and Cheshire probably worked better in the dark. Jeanne and him didn't though, so he preferred to have no advantages to having half their people be handicapped.
Joshua looked to the side, assessing his "team" if he could call them that. Jeanne was twirling a sword around her hand, looking relaxed as she could be. He was actually more than a little surprised that she was so calm. That is, until he noticed that her eyes seemed to be trying to take in everything around them and more.
His familiars seemed to almost be looking forward to what was coming, so he could at least be glad for that, he supposed. Nagini was coiled and ready to take off at any moment. Cheshire was no longer walking, it seemed. Instead, the feline was prowling around. And Morag, little Morag was restless as she waited for him to set up the wards, walking all around his head and shoulders and unable to stay still for even one second.
"Everyone ready?" Joshua asked and he got an instant response from his two closest familiars. Then Morag pulled at his hair to tell him that yes, she was ready too. As for Jeanne, she took a moment, looking towards their objective.
"Yes," She replied, not curtly but determined, focused. She was ready, of that Joshua had no doubt. What he had doubts about was if he wanted to drag his sister into this. He'd killed before, and while he hadn't quite made peace with all that, he was at least sure that doing so again if he had to wouldn't affect him as much as he suspected it would affect Jeanne.
Then again, he still wasn't so sure how being a hero descendant affected the girl's way to think. Or how the voices would help or not in regards to such things for that matter. For all he knew one, one or the other or both would help her deal with the act much better than he himself had. He could only hope so, even if he wished even more that he wouldn't even have to find out.
There was no convincing Jeanne not to participate though. Joshua had tried, oh had he tried, but there had been no luck in such endeavors. Every conversation failed, every order and every argument resulted in the same thing. Jeanne just wouldn't let him do this by himself.
It had come to the point that he'd considered just not doing it at all. However… Joshua knew the future, or at least a version of it. He couldn't risk not doing anything and hoping for the best. He couldn't bet with the lives of everyone he cared about like that. He'd changed things already and he'd continue to do so.
As such, the least he could do was try and make things better.
Joshua sighed, nodding to himself as he pulled a bunch of circle drawings from a Storage Spell. All of them were wards, of course. After those followed wardstones that he'd carefully selected. He set them all on the ground, under the illusion that was already hiding his "team" from both the mundane and, more importantly, the magical. After that, he started working, with Morag following his every action. His spider familiar wasn't quite as learned in the art of warding, but she could at least try to be a second pair of eyes in case he messed something up.
He didn't, but Joshua was more relaxed knowing that there was someone that might be able to tell.
Once all the circles and wardstones were placed, he stopped for a moment. Joshua would have to cast everything quickly, after all. Once the first spell went up, Khaos Brigade would realize what was going on instantly. Illusion or no illusion, there was no hiding a ward appearing out of nowhere. That wouldn't leave them with much time to continue setting up the ward array. It was the reason why wards weren't usually used for offensive approaches such as that one.
Joshua was confident he could get them all set up before someone came for them.
Taking a deep breath in, he closed his eyes for a moment. Once he opened them, the circles lit up. The first ward was up in an instant. A new one that he'd researched and prepared specifically for that moment.
[Landlock Ward - Lvl 5/50
A Special Ward which the user can cast to stop targets from leaving the inside of it.
Requires a Wardstone of Special Typing.
Effectiveness and Area are determined by Skill Level, Wardstone Quality and Magic Quantity.
Consumption with circle - C to ∞
Consumption without circle - A to ∞]
It was expensive and it wasn't nearly as leveled as he wanted it to be. However, with some luck, all the time he'd spent crafting that circle would make up for the latter though. As it was, this was the one preparation set up to make sure that nobody left. No one would spread word about what they did here, if Joshua had any say in the matter.
The ward basically acted like a reverse Shield Ward against teleportation, switching and anything else that might help someone leave the premises. Hell, it even stopped people from leaving through mundane means. Nobody with the slightest connection to Khaos would leave while the wardstone was up.
That was just the start though, so taking another deep breath in, this time out of the exhaustion that he was feeling from the drain of the ward, he continued. Up went a bunch of Draining wards, weak and barely powered at all, but they would take care of that themselves. At the end of the entire line of wards of the array, he set one of each of the other wards he needed. In that list were a Weighting ward, a Weakening ward and a Concealing ward.
Just in time, because the door of the abandoned building Khaos had used as a base burst open at that moment. That was fine though, because Joshua and his "team" weren't within sight of it, of course. Or, most of them were not. Nagini and Cheshire had set up as soon as the first ward started being cast.
He heard the start of a shout before it was quickly followed by a strangled sound. His serpentine familiar had gotten a hold of the guy, evidently. Then there was the cackle of electricity followed by pained cries. Cheshire had struck and she'd wasted no time in using her new skill, it seemed.
[Spark - Lvl 5
Defines the user's ability to apply electric charges to attacks.]
"Let's go," Joshua said, standing up and breathing deeply to try and regain some of his energy. His magic was almost empty, but if he really truly needed some, he could use one of the Draining wards he set up to recharge himself a little. However, that was an absolute last resort, since he needed that energy to power all the other spells he'd put up around the place.
"Ok," Jeanne nodded instantly, and he could tell that she'd decided she'd be his bodyguard. He'd have complained, but that worked well for him. First, because that meant she would stay close by and he'd be there if she needed him. And second, because he really was left quite weary from his wardcasting.
Thus they moved towards Khaos Brigade's base, turning a corner just in time to see several people on the ground and the end of Nagini's tail slithering inside the place. From his shoulder, Morag jumped and made her way to a nearby wall before climbing. From there, the arachnid entered from the upper part of the door they also went through. She'd look from above and either shoot poison at people from there or jump down if someone needed some back up.
The sounds of battle could be heard, following his two more developed familiars in their wake. Around a corner though, people appeared. Joshua wasn't too surprised. He might not have set up Detection and Monitoring wards, since he needed to save energy for other, more battle oriented ones, but he still had Magic Sense and Life Sense to rely on in regards to that and they were more than enough.
The group of Khaos Brigade was swiftly received with a volley of knives. Joshua didn't try too hard to aim. Because he didn't have any interest in killing people, but mainly because he preferred to be quick than to waste time with that. Every second that people were on their feet was a second the number of enemies could increase. He didn't know exactly how many people were there, but he didn't want to find out by facing them all at once, that was for sure.
Jeanne joined his efforts instantly, one of her swords flying forward with a wave of her hand. She didn't throw it, no. Instead, she'd made a sword that responded as if she were using telekinesis on it, flying where she wanted it to be. The blade quickly embedded itself on someone's leg, which came as a huge relief for Joshua.
"I know what you think, Josh," Jeanne said from his side, softly but still firmly. "And I appreciate it. I don't want to kill either. But… I'll do it if it means keeping you safe, just as I know you would for me."
Not as reassuring as he would have wanted those words to be, he'd admit. However, that wasn't the moment to be having long conversations, so he'd have to make do with that for the moment. He still smiled bitterly. He wasn't too sure having more time would change things much though.
"Let's go together to the next floor, the girls will have the ground floor covered," Joshua said, drawing a sharp nod from his sister. "Morag, cover any of the points which lead out and down here, in that order, can you?" He added, and even if he didn't get any response, he knew the spider would do as she was told.
"Wanna see who can take out the most people?" Jeanne asked, receiving only a raised eyebrow in response. "Scared?"
"Considering the fact that I'm already winning?" Joshua asked, rolling his eyes as he continued walking. Mentally, he kept track of everyone inside the building through his senses, paying special attention to anything that might suggest someone might be fooling them. Last thing he needed was someone stabbing him in the back because of a Sacred Gear or magic that hid their presence.
Jeanne sputtered at his words, but he wasn't done.
"Maybe leave the joking and games for after we are actually experienced in this kind of thing," He pointed out, taking the first step on the stairs leading up.
"Ruin my fun, why don't… you?" Jeanne said, a pause interrupting her as they reached the first floor and she had to use her second sword to block an incoming spell. That was all Joshua needed to throw daggers at the caster and everyone else that might be there.
He grinned too, because his wards were gaining strength with every passing moment. Their enemies' magic was slowly being used to weaken them and weigh them down. 'God, I love wards,' He thought to himself as his smile widened into something more… predatory.
Maybe it was the thrill he was feeling from Nagini or Cheshire. Maybe it was the fact that these people were a menace and a danger to society and everyone he cared about. Maybe it was a combination of those or something entirely different.
But Joshua would certainly enjoy this raid, he knew.
[} Chapter End {]
(AN:Please remember that this story is not mine and will never be mine. Make sure to give thanks to the original author on fanfiction.net https://m.fanfiction.net/u/11459794/)