Maybe that priest had been onto something.
I was starting to rethink this whole magic thing.
I sprayed what was probably the twelfth bottle of holy water at the demonic duo. The goat-looking demon and the homeless blond guy had both tried to start chanting something.
Every time one of them tried, I made sure a bottle smashed into their face. The priest had said holy water messed with magical nonsense, so I kept spraying whenever they so much as opened their mouths.
Unfortunately, it seemed I had come a little too lightly equipped.
My final bottle of holy water shattered against the goat demon's face.
Both the demon and the blond homeless man were still writhing from the pure and holy wonders of blessed water. My little onslaught had clearly caused them a lot of pain, but it hadn't done much real damage.
The goat demon looked like someone had dragged it across a grill.
The blond homeless guy mostly just looked wet.
I squeezed the trigger on the water gun again. All I heard was the whir as the rotary spun, but no water came out.
I pressed it a few more times and got nothing but a sad little spurt.
"Shit…"
"You…" The goat demon fixed me with a dead-eyed stare before its mouth opened in a screech. "WRETCH!"
A red aura burst around it as the latex ropes binding it disintegrated. The blond man went flying, the emaciated hand they'd been clutching whipped through the air as he tumbled away. The goat demon did not spare him a glance. Its eyes stayed locked on mine.
Any semblance of reason was gone. All I could see behind that ugly face was pure rage.
"I will torture your soul for a thousand years and wear your skin as a cape!"
Hmmm. How do you respond to a clearly outraged demon?
I flipped him the bird.
"YOUUUU!"
Bat-like wings tore from the demon's back as it launched into the air.
[Feat Achieved! Ragebaiter]
[+1 Bronze Gacha Ticket]
You could get a ticket for that?
Cool.
"Caribun… Crescunt…" The demon pressed its hands together as heat shimmered between its palms. "IACTA!"
A massive ball of fire formed and shot toward me, roughly the size of a boulder as it tumbled through the air.
The impact slammed into the ground in a violent burst of flame and smoke.
"Hahaha!" the demon screeched. "Take that, you weak little—"
A thrown halberd pierced straight through his stomach.
As the smoke cleared, the towering form of Gary stood there, looking only mildly singed from the fire.
I leaned out from behind Gary's back.
"You were saying?"
"A golem of some sort?" the demon sneered as he ripped the halberd out of his chest without much trouble. He raised a hand, another ball of flame already forming. "A single paltry trick. This—"
An axe slammed into his back.
The goat demon crashed into the ground as another gargoyle slammed into him from behind. The stone creature drove him into the pavement hard enough that the ground cracked beneath the impact.
I walked over and grinned as the demon struggled under the enormous weight. Patting the gargoyle's shoulder, I nodded in approval.
"Nice job, Stu."
"Anything else you wanted to say?" I bent down and looked the demon in the eyes.
"Caribun—"
My foot slammed into his face, cutting off the spell as my shoe firmly landed on his jaw.
I rolled my eyes. I shot my familiars a look.
Gary and Stu got the message immediately.
Stu's halberd came down again, the axe blade cutting clean through the goat demon's torso and splitting it neatly in half. A massive stone foot followed a second later, stomping down and turning the demon's head into paste.
"Good job—"
Gary moved before I could finish. He grabbed the other half of the corpse and tore into it like someone shredding a chicken. His jaws opened wide before a long stream of flame poured out, burning the torn pieces he held.
Not to be outdone, Stu opened his own stone maw. A violent gout of lightning crashed down onto what remained of the demon's body.
I had to clamp my hands over my ears as the two of them went absolutely feral on the corpse. The combined roar of fire and thunder was loud enough to rattle my skull.
After several extremely loud and extremely bright seconds, there really was not much left of the demon.
"Good job, guys…"
Maybe I imagined it, but Gary and Stu both seemed to preen a little.
[Feat Achieved! Demonslayer]
[+1 Silver Gacha Ticket]
I grinned.
Save the best for last, then.
[Rolling Bronze Gacha Ticket]
[Flashlight]
|Trash Ability|
You can emit a beam of moderate-intensity light from your hands, a useful replacement for a flashlight but not useful for much else.
Eh.
That was… something.
I suppose it made sense. If there were epic-level rewards floating around, there had to be some absolute bottom-of-the-barrel junk too.
Alright, come on.
I tore open my silver ticket.
[Rolling Silver Gacha Ticket]
[Throwing]
|Uncommon Skill|
You are fairly skilled at throwing a variety of objects with speed and accuracy, being able to land a stone on the head of a target from across the street without trouble.
My body twitched slightly as the knowledge settled in. Suddenly, I just… knew how to throw.
The little adjustments that made the difference between a miss and a clean hit. It all felt weirdly natural, like I had been doing it my entire life.
Huh. Nifty.
"Bollocks!"
Something crashed behind me.
I turned to see the homeless-looking blond guy knocking over a couple of glass bottles as he scrambled backward. He glanced at me and immediately tried to shuffle away.
Hmm.
Maybe not the most pious decision, but…
I grabbed one of the crosses hanging from my belt, lined up the angle, and tossed it.
"ACK!"
The blond demon-man fell as the cross smacked dead center into the back of his head.
Headshot!
"Oy! You can't just go around attacking good men like that!"
"I'm pretty sure men don't burn from holy water." I snapped my fingers, and Gary immediately grabbed him.
"I ain't just any man! I'm a hero, you know," the man said quickly, flashing me a grin. "Worked with the Justice League before. John Constantine. Doer of great and terrible things. Ladies' man. Hell, I've even saved the world."
I just stared at him.
His clothes were greasy. His coat looked like it had been slept in for a week straight, and I could count at least a dozen suspicious stains without even trying. The man also smelled like something had died in his pockets.
"Nahhhhh."
"Fuck you mean, nah!?" John sounded genuinely offended.
I looked him over again.
Still looking like the grossest homeless man alive.
"Nahhhhh."
"Even Batman owes me one. You, Gotham boys, better be trembling in your boots. Batsy and I go way back."
"That so?" I asked dryly. "Then let's see you put your money where your mouth is."
I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture of the guy. It was a little weird using Hood's contact this quickly after getting it, but he was the only person I knew who actually had a connection to the Bat.
Found this guy at the docks. Poured holy water on him. Calls himself John Constantine and claims to know the Bat. You got anything?
Send.
"Kids these days don't even—"
I tuned out the grumbling from the possible demon man.
Instead, I found myself wondering what else my power might give me. The whole thing was completely chaotic. One moment, it was a throwing skill, the next it was some techno-magic alchemy, and then it straight up handed me literal luck.
If it could spit out things like that, what else might be hiding in there?
I didn't have long to think about it.
My phone started ringing.
I raised an eyebrow and answered.
"Do you still have him?" Red Hood asked immediately.
"I do."
"Put me on speaker."
I shrugged and did as he asked.
"That you, John?"
"Oh… hoodie boy." John had suddenly broken into a sweat. "Haven't seen you in ages…"
"Yeah, not since you left me and Artemis stuck in Faerie, asshole." The irritation in Hood's voice came through loud and clear.
"Both of you came out fine," John said quickly. "Really, it was a gift. Two youngsters out in the wilds build character and all that—"
Apparently, that was the wrong answer.
"Valjean. Fuck him up for me."
"Gotcha, bro."
I snapped my fingers.
Gary immediately grabbed John and started spinning him around like a rag doll. A second later, he tossed him to Stu, and the two gargoyles began casually playing catch with the homeless man.
"So this guy the real deal?" I asked.
"Unfortunately…" Red Hood sounded genuinely pained to admit it. "He's a magician who's worked with the League before. Not a demon. He just shoots up demon blood."
"You don't sound particularly fond of him."
I watched as Gary tossed John back to Stu.
"He's an asshole," Hood said flatly. "But he gets results. The problem is, he'll screw over anyone if he thinks it'll get the job done. Demons, villains, heroes, it doesn't matter. I'd stay the hell away from him. The guy's bad luck incarnate. Anyone around him usually gets dragged into his mess and pays for it."
"I see…"
"Put me down!" John screamed as he flew through the air again. "You cunts!"
I watched the gargoyles toss him back and forth like a particularly greasy football.
For a moment, a thought crossed my mind.
Would my luck beat his bad luck?
Comments and Thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Likes are like a drug to me and boost my creative juices. If you want more, please comment your thoughts and ideas.
I have advanced chapters on Pa tre on/daisyberry if you wanna read ahead.