Eating Your Weight: Second Course

Two weeks of grueling training later, and I was much more confident in my fighting abilities, as was Miyo. I had gone from getting thrashes in pretty much every spar to getting a few good hits in of my own, and though there was clearly still a gap between us when she went all out, I could make her work for the win most of the time.

Motivated by certain rewards, my sword fighting and chain manifestation had gotten so much better they couldn't even be compared to what they had been before. With my improvements, Miyo estimated that I would be able to handle most Stray Devils, but that didn't mean that I didn't need to keep getting better. According to her, I could stop training when I was dead. And since Nidhogg had increased my lifespan to the point that death was a far off prospect… yeah.

It wasn't all bad though. As I got better at fighting, the rewards had improved right alongside me. At this point I had pretty much gotten my hands on every part of Miyo that I could ever dream about. Pretty much the only thing I hadn’t done yet was have sex with her.

Though with how this spar was going, that might not be true for too much longer.

I dodged a swipe of her sword and blocked the other with my nail, twisting the weapon to keep the blade trapped in the iron barbs. Manifesting a chain in my off hand, I whipped it out and tried to catch Miyo in the face with it. She let go of her sword, letting it splash on the ground as she jumped backwards to escape my attack.

I pressed the advantage, rushing towards her as my Sacred Gear glowed brightly. Four chains burst out of the ground around her, trying to snare her at my command and making her curse as she was forced to dodge them all.

Through great amounts of painful, painful training, I had managed to decrease the amount of time and concentration that it took to manifest my chains. Now I didn’t even have to gesture so long as the amount of chains I was trying to manifest wasn’t too large, I could just make them appear. It was fantastic for sneak attacks and catching my opponent off guard, as I was proving right now.

I lunged forward before the woman could recover, batting her fist away and grabbing her neck. She froze immediately as my fingers made contact and I smirked as I let my chains sink back into the ground.

“Looks like I won, Miyo.” I said, panting lightly as I stared at her shocked face. She glanced down at my hand and I tightened my grip warningly, letting her know that she wasn't getting out of it any time soon.

Something that we had discovered was that if I was actually touching someone when my Sacred Gear was active, the time it took to drain someone's energy was reduced exponentially. All it would take was a few seconds like this and she would be in a heap on the floor.

Miyo realized this and relaxed, giving me a proud look, “So you did. Well done, Naomi, that's the third time you've managed to defeat me in these spars. And this time I was barely holding back.”

I looked down, “Yeah, I can tell.”

The both of us had been going at it pretty hard today and out outfits definitely reflected that. My shirt had a massive gash in it where Miyo had nearly managed to catch me with her sword, while Miyo's skirt was hanging on by nothing but the hopes and dreams of the people who had sewn it together.

We were also both covered in dirt and sweat and fuck, Miyo nehsd never looked sexier than she did right now. My hand left her neck and went down to her waist, a touch she accepted without complaint.

“So do I get my reward now?” I asked huskily. She raised an eyebrow.

“Well I suppose that depends. What would you like.”

“Oh nothing much.” I said, leaning forward, “Just something I probably should have asked for a while ago.”

Miyo's eyes were lidded, “Is that so? Then by all means, take what you're owed. I'd certainly say you've earned it after that display.“

I didn't hesitate. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to Miyo's in one fell swoop. She didn't miss a beat, responding almost eagerly as I opened my mouth and slipped my tongue into hers.

We had never kissed before, my rewards being limited to groping and massaging, and I was regretting that immensely right now. As amazing as it was to get to feel up Miyo's rocking body, this felt more intimate somehow, and as our tongues wrestled, I got into it even more by bringing my hands down to her ass, grabbing deep handfuls of flesh.

I pulled back to catch my breath, but Miyo surged forward, closing the distance again. Clearly I wasn't the only one who was enjoying this. I held her tighter, quickly getting harder as my hands slipped under what was left of her clothes to get at her bare skin.

I never intended to take things this far,but I didn't hear her complaining. She seemed to love it just as much as I did as things quickly got hot and heavy.

A little too hot actually. It felt like someone had suddenly bumped up the temperature a few hundred degrees, and I paused as I picked up an odd sound in the distance, slowly growing closer. It sounded almost like… crackling?

My eyes snapped open and I pulled away from Miyo, grabbing her by the waist and diving to the side. A fireball streaked through the place we had just been standing, crashing into the forest several yards away. Trees fell and even more caught fire, and I was sure that was going to be an issue that I would have to deal with later.

Once I was done dealing with the creature making its way up the hill towards the two of us.

“You are more observant than most humans I have feasted upon. That attack was meant to incinerate the both of you.” The Devil spoke in the smooth timbre of nobility, or at least someone pretending to be a noble. He slowly walked closer, stopping a fair distance away from the pair of us, just out of range.

I glared at him as I let go of Miyo and stood up, “Damn dude, you really know how to ruin a moment. Couldn't you have waited like, one hour?”

As I helped Miyo up, I took on the Devil in front of us. He was clearly the one that we had been waiting for because… well, duh. Buy he also bore a striking resemblance to the other Devil that I killed, with the same spider-like body, fangs, and creepy as fuck eyes.

Though his body wasn’t nearly as messed up as hers had been. From the waist up, he looked like a normal guy if you ignored all the spidery facial features. He had a long, elegant coat with poofy sleeves and collar, like he was some sort of eighteenth century aristocrat. He had a helluva lot more class than that other bitch.

As I examined him, he glanced between us, tilting his head, “What a curious set of circumstances. I come here expecting to find my dear sister with a lair prepared and perhaps a meal to share between us, and yet when I follow her scent, I find you.”

He extended a crooked finger in my direction. His eyes bore into my own and his tone became low and dangerous, “Would you mind telling me why that is?”

I looked at Miyo again, before shrugging, “Probably because I killed her and ate her little chess piece like she was planning to eat me.”

My declaration didn't seem to surprise the Devil. He pulled his hand back, nodding slowly, “I see. And pray tell, human, how exactly did you manage to kill her? Calliope wasn't the strongest member of our family, but she certainly wasn't weak. How could someone such as you beat her?”

“I ripped her head off with my chains.” I said without hesitation, “She cried like a bitch.” I added on, just to pour some salt in the wound.

The Devil’s eye twitched, “Well that is certainly unfortunate. I was hoping it would have been something much simpler. I’m afraid I don’t have any chains at my disposal with which to repeat the deed. Oh well… I’lll simply have to make do.”

The Devil spread his arms out in presentation, “Heed my words, filthy humans. You stand before a being far beyond your comprehension. Ehat comes next is inevitable. You may scream, you may cry, you may even beg for your puny lives, but by the time the day is out, your end will come all the same. I promise to inflict the grandest suffering upon your wretched souls before I send you to the depths of hell for what you have done.”

“You really like to hear yourself talk, don't you? I asked as Miyo tensed beside me, “Your sister was pretty similar. You know, before I ripped her head off.”

The Devil’s eyes narrowed on me, “I will be sure to save you for last, you impudent whelp.”

He swiped one hand through the air and my eyes widened as several spinning, orange magic sigils manifested in its trail. I pushed Miyo behind me and held a hand up, summoning several chains in front of us as a battery of blazing fireballs shot out of the magical symbols. They slammed into the wall of chains and were absorbed by my Sacred Gear, losing their magic and form as embers scattered into the air. A few of my chains collapsed under the stress of taking in so much magic at once, but their loss was barely felt as it was instantly replenished by what the rest managed to contain.

“Cower behind that shield all you like. It will not save you from me, humans!” The Devil shouted, swiping another hand through the air. More fire burst forth, slamming into my chains, and I added more of them to the wall to replace the ones that had fallen, keeping his assault at bay with ease.

A tap on my shoulder made me turn to find Miyo staring at me, “Once you feel a pause in his attack, pull the wall down and rush him. We'll split up, take him together, you go right, I'll go left.”

“Got it.”

The fireballs continued for another minute or so before the Devil finally seemed to realize that it wasn't working and let up, perhaps to make some other sort of attack, and that's when we made our move.

My wall came down and Miyo dashed forward, leaving me in the dust as she trailed a wide arc towards the Devil's left side. I was much slower comparatively, running along his right and forcing him to split his attention between the two of us.

He snorted contemptuously, “Fools. You believe you can distract me with such paltry tricks? I'll reduce you both to cinders at once!”

He raised his hands above his head and another sigil manifested, this one bigger than ever before and growing larger and larger by the second. A massive ball of fire burned to life above its surface, singing the grass around him and blasting us with its sheer heat.

If he actually managed to get that spell off, it would probably do some serious damage so with that thought in mind, I swiped my hand as I ran, creating chains around the Devil’s body that immediately shot forward, piercing his abdomen and wrapping around him tightly. He lurched in pain and surprise and his spell sputtered and died as the magic he was supplying to it was instead directed towards my chains.

He looked at his hands in shock, before glaring down at the chains wrapped around his body. “What!? What are you doing!?”

“You like em?” I called as I manifested a nail, “Your sister loved them too! Right before I-again-ripped her fucking head off!”

The Devil’s face twisted in absolute rage as I mocked his dead sister, and he turned towards me as he focused all of that anger on me instead of Miyo. The woman took the opportunity that presented itself, moving faster than before and reaching him in an instant.

Raising her sword, she brought it down and sliced straight through two of his chitinous legs in one fell swoop. The flesh that her sword had passed along sizzled like someone had poured acid on it as the holy water rejected his demonic essence, and he screamed loudly as he was unbalanced.

“You wretch!” He turned towards Miyo, eyes blazing angrily as he shoved a hand in her direction. Another sigil spun to life in his palm, glowing dangerously. Miyo flipped backwards, dodging the ball of flame that slammed into the ground where she had been, before twisting and swiping her sword upwards.

A portion of the water attached to her blade detached itself, becoming a spinning disk that zoomed towards the Devil’s face. He ducked to the side, twitching as the water sliced a line into his cheek, before snarling at the woman and holding a hand out once more. Another gout of flames raced towards Miyo, leaving her no time to dodge, but I was already there, holding up one chain-covered arm to intercept it.

My chains absorbed the magic inside, bolstering me and rendering the flames completely impotent. I glanced back at Miyo as smoke obscured my vision, “Gimme a boost!”

Miyo nodded and the sword in her hand immediately shifted, flattening into a thin disk which she sent towards the Devil. I ran towards it, using it to spring myself upwards and onto the Devil’s massive body, and he didn’t even have time to react as I raised a hand up, clutching the nail in my palm.

“Eat shit!” I yelled triumphantly as I slammed it down on his skull. I expected some sort of resistance, a shield or a spell to stop me and push me back. Instead, I was met with only the resistance of bone and brains as my nail sank deeply into his skull, slotting itself neatly in his grey matter. Time seemed to stop, and I stared the Devil in the eyes with a grin.

“This… This can’t be!” The Devil somehow said, in complete disbelief that this was happening. I twisted the nail, using the barbs to shred his brain even more in case this wasn’t enough. His eyes twitched as they stared into my own, and blood leaked from the corner of his mouth at my death blow, “A mere human… beating someone like me? How could this… be…?”

The life finally left his eyes and his face went slack. His head crumbled to dust around my nail and I jumped off of his back, landing on the grass a few feet away as I watched him slowly disintegrate into a pile of ash and dust that blew away in the wind. Like before, there was a single red chess piece left behind, and I snatched it up with a happy grin, “Yoink!”

“Looks like this mere human was more than you could handle. Sucks to be you, man.” I said as I held it up to the light. This one was different from the pawn I had absorbed before. It was longer and had a bulging top that had a small sliver taken out of the side. A bishop, eh? Wonder how much of a boost this would give me.

“Bottoms up!” I clenched my fist around the piece and my gear glowed as I absorbed the energy held within. I instantly gasped as my body was filled with a rampant energy, racing through me from head to toe, “Hoooooly shit!” I moaned as my body buzzed witch ecstasy so much more intense than the last time I had done this.

“Naomi?” Miyo walked up to me, concern on her face as I bent over at the waist, grabbing my knees to keep myself from falling over. I held up a finger, flushed and panting and harder than a fucking rock at what I had just experienced.

“Gimme a second… Trying not to cream my pants here.” I panted as the arousal faded to a low fire burning in my core. It was still there, the embers of lust smoldering and waiting to be reignited, but I wasn’t in danger of blowing a load just by rubbing up against the front of my pants.

I straightened, groaning as my dick strained against the front of my pants, “Goddamn that’s intense.”

“What was that? Are you alright?” Miyo asked. I nodded.

“Yeah, I'm fine. I basically have a soft orgasm every time I absorb an Evil Piece apparently. Not sure what caused it but hey, I'm not complaining.” I gave her a grin, “Honestly, combined with what happened earlier, I'm practically raring to go right now if you know what I mean.”

Miyo smirked, “I'll keep that in mind. After your performance today, you might have just earned yourself another reward.”

“Ooh, I like the sound of that.” I purred, just barely resisting the urge to take the woman into my arms again.

And then I looked to where the Devil had disappeared, and the happiness in my body curled up and died an ugly death in my gut. I eyed the spot, before sighing loudly.

“What's wrong?”

I shook my head, gesturing vaguely “I don't know. It's just… that was disappointing, wasn't it? We trained for weeks for that? That right was over before it even started! All he did was throw around some fire that wasn't even that strong and insult us. Like what the hell?”

“Our teamwork worked to our advantage and that Devil was clearly underestimating us.” Miyo stared at where he had been, “I'd put his strength at the lower end of Mid-Class. He probably thought he was much more powerful than he actually was after killing his master.”

“Yeah, well his master must've been weak as shit.” I sighed, “This sucks. He was talking all that good shit and I actually got a little hyped up,but in the end it was just… shit. I wanted a real challenge.”

“A challenge, eh? I think I could assist you with that.” A voice came from further down the hill, and Miyo and I turned around, tensing at the sight of the new arrival.

The face belonging to the voice was split into a large grin. It was a massive man, at least seven feet tall, with a bare chest and long, flowing red hair. He was dressed oddly, like someone larping a viking, He had a cloak made from a wolf’s pelt hanging around his shoulders and leather vambraces on each arm. He had a massive sword strapped to his back, so long that the tip was practically scraping the ground, and from this distance I could just barely see that it had runes etched into the side of the metal.

He was also fucking jacked. I’m talking so huge that even professional bodybuilders couldn’t even hold a candle to this guy. Every step he took was accompanied by a muscle bulging in his chest or tree-trunk sized arms. The insane physique was only further enhanced by the massive freaking scar that crossed his torso horizontally, like he had been cut in half and stitched right back together like nothing had happened.

All in all, this guy was a sight to behold, and if I wasn’t a lesbian, I’d be all over that. But alas, pussy was the goal here. No bros allowed.

That didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate it though. I whistled lowly as he approached, drinking in the sight, “Damn dude, what’s your PR? Six tons?”

He looked confused by the phrase, “Pee Are? I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“It’s nothing.” I shook my head with a grin, “Anyway, what do you want? If you’re looking for that Devil, we already took care of it so you can just go home if that’s what you’re here for.”

“I have no quarrel with Devils. At least not today.” He reached behind his back, pulling the sword from its strap and pointing it towards us, “You on the other hand, are a different story. That energy radiating around you, that foul presence that desires to devour all around it, is what I seek. And I will have it.”

He was after Nidhogg? Or just his power at least. Either way, it wasn't happening.

“Sorry bud, that energy is attached to my soul and I’m not planning on giving that up any time soon. Come back in a few thousand years and we’ll see if we can get somewhere with that.”

“I am not asking. I will have that power, even if I have to rip your soul apart to get to it.” He raised his sword towards the heavens, declaring to us both in a voice wrought from iron and thunder, “Hear me now! I am Agnir, descendant of the great god Modi, brother of Magni and son of Thor! And today, I will complete the task that we failed all those years ago!”

“He is rather melodramatic, isn't he?” Miyo asked, watching the display before us. I shook my head, grinning widely at the declaration.

“Nah, that's actually pretty freaking awesome. Look at him! He's like some old school berserker or some shit with that sword and the fur on his shoulders! It's like Braveheart up in here!” I said giddily, taking in the man's aesthetic, “Hey, do you think I could rock an outfit like that? Not the bare chest though, just the viking look. Even I have enough shame to not walk around with my tits hanging out.”

Miyo gave me a dirty look, “Naomi, this is serious.”


“Yeah, you’re right.” I said, manifesting a chained nail in one hand, “I don’t think either of us have facepaint. We’re revisiting this though. Right after we deal with this guy.”

Though I wondered what he was talking about. Task he failed years ago? I'd never met this guy in my life.

“So I was mistaken in believing that that foolish cult has disappeared for good.” Every eye turned to my Sacred Gear as Nidhogg's voice boomed from its jewels, “Descendant of Modi… You have made a grave mistake in appearing before me like this! Were I capable of it, I would devour you whole and use your precious sword to clean my teeth!”

Nidhogg's voice was more angry than I had ever heard before, and I stared at my gear in confusion, “What's up with you? Do you know this guy or something?”

“No, but the group he represents was a thorn in my side for decades.” Nidhogg explained, “He is a member of the cult that sought my power before I was trapped in this Sacred Gear. A cult of scavengers, always appearing before me when I was at my lowest to take my power for themselves! Had I not perished during our last battle, I am sure that my essence would reside within their leader instead of you.”

Oh, so he was a member of the group that killed Nidhogg. The group that he explicitly said I wouldn’t have to fight because they were all probably dead… Yeah, that tracked.

“My master would have put that power to far better use than you ever have you pitiful worm.” Agnir declared, pointing his weapon at us, “And when I bring you to her, I will be rewarded greatly. Not that this chance at revenge is not reward enough.”

Agnir raised his weapon once more, and I tensed as a strange energy suddenly filled the air. The weapon glowed with strange power, the runes along its surface shining an incandescent blue so bright that it glared in my eyes in the middle of the day.

“HEAR ME NOW!” He boomed in a low tone, like the rumblings of a thunderstorm far off on the horizon, “Your time has come, and rejoice! For it has come at the hands of Agnir! When your soul joins the legions of Hel, know that your strength will be put to a much greater cause than you could ever manage yourself!”

There was a strange pressure in the air, a weight on my shoulders that tried to suffocate me and drive me into the ground all at once. Miyo seemed to sense something was wrong, and she cursed, forming her blade once more, “Naomi, cover me!” She ordered, rushing towards the demigod as the pressure began to build.

“You are too late!” Agnir bellowed as the pressure reached its peak. From the clear sky, lightning rocketed down from the heavens to strike the sword in a perfect arc. Thunder boomed and my nose and mouth were filled with the taste of ozone, before he pointed the weapon at the woman running towards him.

“Look out!” I shouted, raising a hand as I realized what was about to happen. A wall of chains sprouted up in front of the woman, curling around her as she stopped in her tracks and braced herself, moments before there was a blinding flash.

Lightning streaked across the field, scorching the grass and earth alike as it raced towards Miyo. It reached her in an instant, slamming into my chains with a sound akin to a rolling bell. I gasped, my eyes widening and my head flying backwards as I was filled with an energy that wasn't mine.

There was too much. I could instantly tell that the moment that the chains failed to withstand the onslaught of electrically charged magic. They burst under the pressure, iron links flying in every direction, and the lightning continued on unabated. It slammed into Miyo who had wrapped herself in a whirling vortex of water, trying to divert the charge elsewhere.

It worked somewhat, in that instead of taking the full brunt of the lightning bolt, she just had to deal with what couldn't be redirected. It was more than enough though, and I watched with horror as the woman was sent flying off her feet to land on the ground several meters away in a smoking heap.

“Miyo…?” I called, my voice small as I stared at the smoking body of my lifelong maid. Her clothing was scorched and missing in places, and her hair had been blackened and burnt. The smell of burnt flesh wafted into my nose, and I flinched, calling her name again, this time with more urgency.

She didn’t even twitch.