Telos Karma Meta Gacha

[Hajime POV]

We had finished lunch and were ready to hunt for a more challenging opponent.

Specifically, we were going after a stray devil.

They weren't necessarily tougher than a regular mage but were magically more capable.

Human mages were restricted by their magic. Humans used Merlin's self-created system based on devil magic, allowing us to use magic by shaping our magic to fit different mathematical equations.

Devils didn't need to do this. Their magic was based on imagination, allowing them to cast spells far more effortlessly than humans.

They could use calculations if they wanted, but they rarely ever did. It isn't smart that they ignore that, though, since using calculations in magic allows for the most efficient use of magic possible. The best example is Ajuka, who leaned into calculation so much that he created the Kankara formula. This spell allows him to use his magic to alter reality with devil magic, but on a deeper level.

Had all devils practiced enough to be able to learn it, devils would easily be the strongest faction in existence.

Despite that, even the weakest devils were, on average, stronger than most human mages, excluding Issei.

The devil we were hunting was the former knight piece of a reincarnated high-class devil.

According to their bounty profile, they had only been reincarnated for a few years. He was narcissistic enough to think that becoming a devil would easily make them stronger.

Over their years as a devil, they rarely trained but were disappointed by their strength. This led to them taking an enchanted sword from their king. The sword was a family heirloom that increased the speed of the wielder. They believed it would work in tandem with their knight piece, making them unstoppable.

It was surprising to find such a detailed background. Usually, people try to hide information that might make them look bad, especially for beings like devils.

However, since he wanted his family heirloom back, he didn't care about hiding anything.

He was even willing to give an extra $50,000 to ensure that he would get the sword back.

It may sound unfair that he'd have to pay extra to regain his property, but the supernatural world doesn't care about fairness. He wasn't able to protect his sword and wasn't able to get it back himself, so he essentially lost all rights to it.

It's not like he couldn't issue a bounty for whoever took it from the stray or have somebody get the sword themselves, and he can't expect someone just to give an enchanted artifact away because he asked nicely, even if it was initially his sword.

Besides, why would anyone else if a group like the church, which claims to show kindness to others, wouldn't give back its stolen swords?

Arriving at the abandoned building the stray was staying in, the three of us got ready to fight it.

Tsubaki and Kimiko would lead the charge, using their flaming tornado attack to weaken it before I charged in and finished it.

While I could easily use Excalibur Blessing to end this instantly, that would remove all the challenge. In an emergency, I would use it; even its presence would weaken them enough to win easily.

Unlike in the anime, a devil wouldn't be able to keep their regular strength in the presence of one of the most powerful holy swords in existence.

Just saying God's name hurts them, so how could a devil be fine standing in front of a holy sword? Even if you think the holy energy doesn't weaken them because Fae made it, that still doesn't explain how the light energy doesn't weaken them. Devils are weaker during the day due to being creatures of darkness, so how can they withstand any of the sword's magic?

The anime took many liberties with logic. It ignored anything that didn't contribute to the plot, such as the political ramifications of their hot springs moment with Issei, Yasaka, and Kunou.

Aside from the disgust of thinking about my adoptive aunt behaving that way to a literal sex offender, it doesn't even make sense how that would happen.

At no point during the series, excluding the start, is he not a servant of House Gremory. Even if he was the Red Dragon Emperor, he was still a devil. Politically, he would always favor devils, not to mention any children would be devils. It would make future yokai leaders into half-devils, which is spitting on the entire race, especially after the Nekomata incident, for which the yokai were never compensated.

-----

Refocusing my mind, I remembered what we were about to do.

Tsubaki and Kimiko took out their weapons while I set up a barrier around the area.

Kimiko started swinging her staff, slowly speeding up as the wind it created made her movements flow faster.

A large gust of wind grew stronger and faster, forming a tornado around the house the stray was hiding in.

Once debris started flying around, Tsubaki stepped forward and unleashed fire from her naginata, which the tornado quickly absorbed.

One ember hit the house, and thanks to the oxygen increase from Kimiko's tornado, it quickly burned down.

Before any of us could react, the house exploded. While I thought they might have hit a gas tank or something, I realized the cause of the destruction when I saw a creature standing in the middle of the ruins.

The being had a large body, twice the size of an average adult. Their skin was a deep, dark pink, with large claws on their hands and feet.

Thankfully, despite their monstrous appearance, they still had pants on. I wouldn't have been surprised, though, if they had nothing on since devils are perverts.

"Who dares!" the stray bellowed.

"Your mom!" I know I shouldn't, but an angry opponent will likely make mistakes. Plus, in the worst-case scenario, I have an Excalibur.

Though, this guy is undoubtedly stronger than what the bounty said.

His bounty was made a few months ago, and it was said he was at advanced-stage mid-class, so he must've reached high-class in the last few months, likely by eating people. Stray devils, though corrupted, can grow in strength by absorbing the magic of whoever they eat.

This is why most stray devils gain a more monstrous form, allowing them to consume their victims quickly. Most devils slowly change their appearance depending on their thoughts, which is why some can age despite their immortality. These monstrous forms are their bodies acknowledging their new mindsets.

It's also why they are killed with extreme prejudice since if they were to eat enough magical beings, strays could easily reach a level where they become a political issue.

While I wanted Tsubaki and Kimiko to gain some experience fighting higher-level opponents, I'm not dumb enough to let them fight someone two ranks higher than them.

Kimiko barely qualified as a supernatural fighter. The fight with Tsubaki showed it clearly, with her mostly being a distraction. Had Tsubaki been more powerful or violent, she would've been dead. The wind staff helps, but strength reliant on items is misleading for someone. They can overestimate their abilities, which is a fatal mistake.

Tsubaki is stronger, but against a high-class, it doesn't mean much. Her Mirror Alice could withstand an attack from mid-class, but doing so would drain most, if not all, of her energy.

As for a high-class attack? Forget it. Even if she could, using a high-class attack once doesn't make you high-class.

Enraged by my insult, the stray devil charged at me, completely ignoring my allies.

Activating Barrier, he slammed into it, clawing at it, trying to get me.

Using Lightning Dragon's Roar, I dropped Barrier, but when I did, the stray avoided the attack.

I charged forward with lightning, coating my body to push him away from my allies. We didn't have any information on his abilities, so I wasn't going to risk him trying to attack them in a suicide move.

Everyone knows villains always say stuff like, 'I'll take one of you with me' before they get killed, and I know there's a chance he could follow through with a threat like that.

The two of us clashed, fist against fist. We flew back a few feet before we rushed at each other again, trading blow for blow.

With the stray's physical abilities, I would use this fight to work on my Slade assimilation.

My physical abilities are similar enough to the stray's thanks to my Dragon Slayer physiology, and judging by this stray's abilities, he's mostly a physical fighter.

The stray moved back after I landed a blow to his kidney.

By now, he had regained some of his sanity, and I'm sure he realized I was quickly growing in skill. At first, we were trading blows, each of us landing hits on the other. When he hit my arm, I hit him in the chest, before he hit me again in my stomach.

As we kept fighting, though, more of Slade's knowledge went to work, with me now blocking, parrying, or dodging his attacks. Unluckily for him, he wasn't as good as I was getting. My blows hit him more often, even throwing several faints into the mix.

While Tsubaki and Kimiko might not have been fighting, they did their best to help.

Tsubaki was launching fireballs and senbons at every opportunity. She was already familiar with Barrier, so she knew that her spells were unlikely to hit me, even if I was within range.

Her attacks were preventing the stray from fully committing to offense.

It was already aware of my Barrier, and when added to Tsubaki's attacks, it would only take damage and lose energy. Even if I were to focus entirely on defense, they would still end up being the only one getting hurt.

Kimiko wasn't attacking but still contributing. She used her wind staff to send wind bursts to disrupt the stray's movement.

In the end, the stray, although stronger than the two of them, was partially suppressed by their abilities.

It couldn't attack them because that would allow me to attack it without any retaliation, with no guarantee it wouldn't die before reaching them. It also couldn't attack me with my lightning dragon slayer magic, enhanced physique, Barrier, and the two girls supporting me.

Ironically, the stray's dedication to physical might made us its worst enemy. It had no way to counter and couldn't back off because its lack of range made attacking impossible.

In the end, after nearly half an hour of slowly wearing the stray down, it ran out of energy to dodge.

Now that he was finally immobile, I activated Lightning Rush and charged at him one final time, beheading him.

Quickly dropping the blood onto the book and claiming the reward, I stored everything, the corpse included, as the three of us all fell onto our backs, exhausted from the fight.

Even if we were not fighting dangerously, we were all mentally drained from being on alert for so long. The girls also used lots of magic by keeping their weapons activated for so long. Kimiko had almost completely stopped using the wind staff because of how drained she was, her low-class reserves taking a large toll.

Had she not been training for the last week, she might have barely lasted a minute into the fight.

Tsubaki was just as drained, having had to use Mirror Alice to defend the two of them from stray attacks from the stray.

As the three of us sat there, drained from our actions, we heard a noise from the nearby trees.

Knowing someone was there, we immediately got on guard as much as we could in our current states.

The barrier I used was specifically made to drive all living beings without magic away to prevent collateral problems, so who or whatever we were dealing with was magical.

Coming out of the bushes was a strange man wearing Japanese priest clothing.

"Hello, children. Would you mind listening to a deal I have for you?"

Uh oh.

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Omake: Excalibur Thief 8

[Francisco POV]

As I flew through the desert, I was relieved that my luck wasn't all bad.

While I didn't want to die, there were deaths I would prefer.

Dying because of the church, for example, is better than dying in the desert.

The main reason for that is meaning.

If I just died in the desert, it would be a meaningless death that few would even know when and where it happened. Thousands have died in the Sahara over the centuries, and few, if any, are remembered.

Considering that I stole the Shroud of Turin, I would at least expect my death to be more interesting and maybe more religious.

Eventually, the three hours for the smoothie ran out, and I fell to the ground, leaving an imprint of my face on the sand.

Getting up and removing as much sand from my clothes as possible, I took out my blender and prepared it to make another sand smoothie.

As I was gathering sand inside it, I felt the ground rumbling.

Seconds later, out of the ground burst a large sand worm, like the ones from dune, about the size of a hippo.

Reacting instantly, I used the sacred gear I took from that criminal. I hoped its soul-based attacks would take care of the worm without me needing to fight it directly. Even if it didn't, the fact it was a sword still made fighting it easier.

Swinging the blade forward, I launched a soul attack at the worm using what little lifeforce the blade currently held.

Glowing brightly, the sword had a blade of energy fly from it, cutting through the worm.

The worm squirmed in pain, making a strange noise, but seconds later, it collapsed.

Shoving the worm's corpse into the blender, I activated it, planning to use the worm's abilities to escape the desert without dying.

{ Gains a sand worm transformation and sand manipulation }

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Author's Note:

Thanks for reading; I'll see you next time.