D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Chapter 2008: Chapter 2008 Kress Release

— Kress —

Kress had been resting in a corner of this little town. The guards hadn’t bothered him for days and it worked as a nice base of operations. Apparently, they didn’t know how good they had it with orbs. They also didn’t realise that they had a bunch of keys hidden all over the place. Not that many magical chests. Plenty of normal chests he could open with some lockpicking skill, but not the fancy ones.

Kress’ Corner, as he’d taken to calling it was an old treehouse at the edge of town that hadn’t seen much use recently. Kress had cleaned it up, ’acquired’ a mattress and a few tarps. Now it was his place of residence. So of course, things had to go wrong. A vague shape flung itself in through his window, and after a glance, Kress realised it was Dusk. The obvious reaction to that was to attack him, or to ask for an alliance… but Kress was smarter then that. “Who the fuck are you?”

Dusk panicked, casting a spell to do… something, Kress couldn’t tell what. Kress took a slightly more aggressive stance from his corner. Showing off one of his basic daggers that weren’t particularly fancy. Just some of the most common enchantments you could find on it. “Stop that and get the fuck out of my house! I’ll gut ya!” growled Kress. His voice was only slightly disguised… but he hadn’t spoken with Dusk all that much and the high collared outfit helped obscure his face.

Dusk immediately dismissed the spell, apparently not thinking anything odd just yet. “I’m sorry, you startled me. I was just looking for a place to spend the night…”

“Spend the night? You run away from ya parents or ya wife or something kid?” sneered Kress, laying the act on perhaps a bit thick… but whatever. “Nah, you look like some teen trying to be an edgelord so probably ya parents.”

“I’ll have you know I moved out of my parents house LONG ago, sir,” insisted Dusk.

“Well, in that case, I don’t care what’s caused you to run away from your wife, but it’s got nothing to do with me. Unless… her name ain’t Shirly is it?” pondered Kress.

“I don’t have a wife!” hissed Dusk.

That was Kress’ queue. The opening he needed. Kress rose up to his full height, spinning his dagger a bit. Dusk took a step back, realising something was wrong. “Seems we’ve got an outsider here then. Can’t think of any other reason you’d not be home alone. If you don’t already have a house…”

Dusk looks like he’s about to summon up another spell before he pauses. “Wait… why are you living here then?”

Kress grinned. Even with Dusk not being able to see his mouth properly, the slight movement of his cheeks would help sell it. “My good man… that’s a mighty rude question to ask someone who hasn’t turned you into the guards yet. My poor house burnt down you see. I know who it was… but let’s just say he’s friends with the guards. It also might, or might not involve a woman named Merida.”

Dusk’s eyes narrowed. “I thought it was Shirly?”

Kress shook his head. “Merida ain’t got no kids. Shirly on the other hand, does. I get around a bit as you might be able to tell. It’s another reason the guards weren’t too keen to investigate who did me house in. Might have had a few other, adventures you know?”

“You disgust me,” growled Dusk.

*Well considering I’m lying and you believe me I’d call that a win on my end. Though I do wonder what part he takes issue with? Me talking about sexual escapades or the implication I’m someone who goes around breaking up marriages?*

“And? What the fuck does your opinion matter to me? Now for the last time, GIT. This is my house for now and fighting you would just draw the guards over. Don’t think I won’t gut ya if you stick around though. At least the guards will be certain to recognise me,” Kress let out the creepiest laugh he could manage and watched as Dusk bolted for the window. Literally throwing himself out of the treehouse.

Kress couldn’t help it. He moved over to the window in question and watched as Dusk’s figure booked it away from his treehouse and further into the city. *Hmm… seems like someone else has finally made it into the town. Took them long enough. Shame I’ve already got a good chunk of the fancy rewards, hehehe. Though… have to seriously consider if it’s time to leave after that.

I might have fooled Dusk easily enough and the few guards that weren’t interested enough in taking a closer look… but anyone who actually lives in the city will know my story is full of holes. They’d certainly have heard about the fire. If Dusk kicks the hornets nest they might find me as collateral damage…

The real question is, how did he managed to get inside. He didn’t smell like shit which implies he’s either got an enchantment to help with that or he didn’t go through the sewers at all. Hmm… does he even know you aren’t meant to be able to get into the town? If he teleported inside somehow then he might not have realised that part. I called him an outsider and grumbled at him a bit but I wasn’t as hostile as the guards will be. In character for the type of person I was pretending to be but perhaps a proper warning would’ve made him less likely to kick the hornets nest?

Hmm… though… I could use that. In one of a few ways. Either wait for him to be distracted with the guards and shank him when he’s not ready for it… help him out of a jam and leverage that into a proper partnership, or at least something that looks like one. Or… if the guards are distracted that might leave me more opening in the main building. Not sure I want to take that risk even with a distraction but it’s an option.*

Kress let out a hum and glanced over to the corner of his little hut where Timmy was currently hiding. He was glad he’d made the call for the little guy to hide in place whenever he got home. Sneaky little bugger was good at that. If Dusk had noticed his companion things would’ve gone a lot worse.

— Gareth —

Gareth found he was in an awkward position. Across from him and Gardor stood across some sand dunes from Long and Shoal. The dogs and Fluffles were around as well of course. What they should do however was unclear. Long seemed unconcerned with his presence, casually resting in a giant hole he’d seemingly dug himself while Shoal stood up on the edge.

Gardor seemed to be flicking his eyes between everyone here but it was unclear what he thought or if he was worried about something. “Alright, so what’s the plan then,” asked Gareth, projecting his voice. “We can either split up, or fight.”

“I’m always down for a fight!” insisted Long despite the fact he was panting. He’d clearly been hard at work for quite a while. What Gareth didn’t know, was that this was not the first hole Long had dug in recent days and the guy was all but exhausted. Still, he hid it well.

“Well, how would we even divide the teams?” asked Shoal. “I’ve got no interest in fighting Gardor but we’d be at the most risk. If it wasn’t for that extended grace period we’d already be losing extra time on our bracelets, and technically our team ’loses’ no matter which pair wins.”

“And if you both sat out, Long and I would need to worry about you both teaming up temporarily to take the winner down as well,” proffered Gareth. “So it’s not exactly ideal for us either. Are you suggesting we all just walk away?”

Shoal gave an uncertain look towards Gardor who shrugged. Upon seeing this, she turned to Long who shrugged in response as well. “Well fat lot of good you two are,” grumbled Shoal. Only for the pair of them to share a quick glance… and shrug again. “Very funny.” Shoal slowly glanced around the area. Gareth wasn’t sure what she was looking for or if she was just buying time.

“So what do you want to do then? Shall we both agree to go in different direction? Shall we fight?” asked Gareth, not wanting to give Shoal more time in case she needed it for some sort of plan. *Because honestly I don’t have one. I don’t particularly want to take this fight if I don’t have to. It seems too risky. Perhaps if we’d found someone by themselves it would be different. Or even if we found a group of three. It would be weird if that group didn’t have an overlap with my own. Hmmm… makes me wonder if there are any teams of five…*