The Games We Play -Shaman c57

Sona struggled for a bit before she got a reaction. The Devil Heiress pulled on the energy she was able to sense.

She moved her hand. Seeing greenish energy glowing around her fingers and palm.

“So this is the energy that turned me into your summon.” The Sitri commented as she looked at her hand.

“Indeed. You can test it later, once we are away from Earth.” Raynor replied as he was back on his couch. The girl took a while to get the hang of the controls.

It took so long that Raynor returned to his seat.

“Yes.” She nodded before looking at her Queen, Tsubaki. She walked over to her.

The tall glasses-wearing girl was a bit nervous… she was about to become a summon! 

“...”

“...”

Other girls became a bit nervous, as this was not what they signed in their contracts!

‘Wait.. ‘

They realised that stuff gets defaulted if circumstances become unrecognisable! Meaning that contracts are negated and classic devil rules apply… or something like that!

Regardless, Sona sends green energy into Tsubaki.

A window-like thing appeared in front of her, shocking the Sitri Heiress. The window said that Tsubaki Shinra became her summon.

“Interesting…”

She then looked at Momo. The white-haired girl stiffened a bit as she realised that something… happened to Sona; something had awakened in her.

The devil girl walked over to the taller one and placed her hand on her. Momo could feel something wash over her, and Sona hummed as she got another notification.

The black-haired devil girl continued with the rest of them. Once done, she looked at Raynor, who was eating an apple at the time. He looked at all of this with amusement, as he could see how curious his fiancée was.

“What are the limitations?” She asked him.

“It’s based on nature, so you need to dominate, to turn an individual to your Summon.” He explained to her.

“So, I was able to do this easily because they were my peerage members?” Sona concluded on her own.

Raynor simply nodded at her words. 

“Indeed.” 

The black-haired devil looked at her hand. Now, she was interested in improving on this. Could she learn more forms of magic?

Shamanism, druid or some dark magic or soul? Not these magic's hardcore stuff, but something that could help her to balance out against Rias, who has Destruction magic.

Her Sitri Water magic is lacking compared to Bael's sheer power and destruction.

This trip is something she begins to look forward to! Sadly, Rias is coming along…

“I see.” Sona stopped thinking for now and looked at him.

“I can assume I can tame animals in the same way?” 

“You want to tame in a similar way I control wolves?” Raynor asked with a bit of surprise. There is a huge difference between people and animals.

Animals are far more in tune with nature. The sheer dominance needed to control animals is way above that of people. People use reason to follow someone, while animals only care if the leader is bigger and stronger.

“Yes? Is there a problem?” she asked curiously, wondering why he was so surprised.

“There is no problem, the only issue is that you are too ‘civilised’ for that.” 

He turned to his wolves while saying that.

“Watch, and you will understand.” 

The Shaman whistled, and all of the wolves perked up. The pack leader, Apollon, swiftly walked over to him.

But then their eyes met, and growling started. Bloodlust rose, and Raynor and the Pack Leader began to challenge each other.

Sona’s eyes widen as she can feel the sheer will to kill! That big wolf was a machine in taking life… yet… Raynor didn’t lose either! No, to control these wolves, he needs to have bigger bloodlust; in fact, he needs to have much bigger bloodlust to dominate these wolves.

In the end, Apollon turned away with his tail between his legs.

“As you can see…” The bloodlust disappeared, and Raynor turned to look at Sona.

“Male wolves, like Apollon, will always challenge for pack leader status. The difference is that with nature magic is a bit different. It helps to keep them in check more easily.

However, to start the process, you need to dominate them.” He explained casually, not seeing how his bloodlust petrified the girls.

“Hmm?” 

The Sitri group snapped out as they needed to calm their breathing.

“I-I see…”

“You can raise pups, though.” He had an alternative for their situation.

“I am certain that raising Deimos pups would be a better alternative.” 

The black wolf immediately popped into Sona’s mind. She recalled that wolf, Raynor, always summons if anything is up.

“With the totem ready, they will be magical, yes?” the Sitri Heiress commented, as she wants to ‘pre-order’ a wolf for her peerage.

“Yes. That’s the idea, with the concept of volcano and Anti-element and Anti-divinity, they should be a decent upgrade.” 

“...Decent? That’s more unique powers than Fenrir.” Momo commented after hearing that!

“Yes, but there is a difference in potency; my wolves need to saturate in power for many years to surpass the god slaying wolf.” 

“But it should have potential? No?” Sona’s eyes perked as she realised that if the wolves were magical, they should have supernatural lifespans!

“In theory? Yes. They are ritualistic animals, anomalies, making them able to absorb magic in the same fashion as dragonsz— only in more intensity.” Raynor’s eyes widened midway as he realised he had created ‘monsters’.

“That means that they won’t stop growing… meaning that they will indeed surpass Fenrir…” 

He looked at Sona, and there was a smirk on his lips.

“You are lucky, because they will surpass Loki’s creation. In fact, they will have elemental magic in the form of volcanism…most likely they could cause eruptions too.” 

“I see… Then I want one for my peerage. Is it possible?” she asked in a hopeful voice. 

Raynor’s smirk didn’t disappear as he pondered.

“Maybe, you still need to persuade me to get that dragon and all that stuff.”

Sona pushed her glasses up as she understood what he meant. The girl needs to ‘work’ to get what she wants.

“I am sure I can think of something.” The Sitri Heiress looked at her members briefly before looking at him.

The girls realised something from the way their King looked at them.

Regardless, their conversation was cut short when a crimson circle appeared in the room, and moments later, Rias, with her peerage, popped into the room.

Her Peerage only had three members: Her Queen, Knight, and Rook.

“We are here!” Rias waved her hand. She was the only one who was happy to be around.

The black-haired Queen of hers didn’t look happy as she looked around. Her blond knight, a teen guy with a sword on his hip, looked neutral, maybe even indifferent. 

It only leaves the white-haired girl looking around and frowning.

“Dogs… too many dogs…”

Being a cat… and surrounded by dogs… is not something she was happy about.

“I got my peerage with me. We can leave for Westeros!” Rias happily walked over. She looked excited for an ‘isekai war’.

Her peerage followed after her.

“Sure, then we can go.” He nodded back at her, then looked at Sona and her peerage.

“Do hold hands, or have a contact of some sort.” The Shaman instructed them. “Otherwise, I will leave you behind.” 

Everyone quickly ended up holding their hands. Meanwhile, Raynor dismissed his wolves as they got recalled.

Then he took Sona’s and Rias’ hands and transitioned right back to his Castle on Dragonstone.

For the newcomers, teleportation was a familiar experience, but there was nothing that indicated it, which was strange.

“Whoa… look at the size of that mountain!”

“I think it’s a volcano,” Tsubaki replied, to excited Tomoe.

“Considering what he heard about Valeron-sama’s wolves, it should be a volcano.” Momo chipped in.

Raynor looked at her. He grimaced a bit. Adding ‘Sama’ to his name is…

“You don’t need to add any honorifics to my name, Momo, it’s a bit weird.” He tried to explain as plainly as possible.

“M-My apologies!” 

“Take it easy. You are part of Sona’s peerage, so it's fine.” He tried to calm her down. It worked to some extent, but they were a bit terrified of him.

Rias' peerage looked at their interaction. They were curious about the relationship between Sona’s peerage and Raynor.

It would seem they are a bit terrified of him.

“O-Okay…”

While Momo agreed, she is a bit reluctant to call him so casually, so she will try to address him as little as possible.

“Since we are back on the same day, I can use the rest of the day showing around the castle.” Sona pushed her glasses up as she spoke to Raynor.

“Do it, just remember those clothes.” He pointed at the Kouh uniforms the girls had.” They are considered very revealing and could invite misunderstandings.”

“I know. I was thinking the same thing.” Sona, who was wearing a conservative-style dress, replied in a knowing tone.

“Oh, so that is why you are dressed like a girl from a fairy tale.” Tomoe chipped in as she finally realised why she was wearing that dress!

“In the castle, we dress like that. After this, Raynor could make us some leather clothes. What do you think?” The Sitri Heiress asked him.

Making the Shaman perk up at the idea of dressing up devil girls.

“I could help with that.” He wondered how sexy these girls would look in leather armour.

“That's good; we can arrange that at a later date.” Sona nodded before looking at her girls. “Follow me; I will show you around the castle.” 

The girls nodded as they began to walk towards the keep. 

It only leaves Rias and her peerage.

“Rias, I do have something to talk about with you.” All of a sudden, Raynor got a bit more serious, making her peerage stiffen. The change in the air was… surreal. One moment, it was calm and cozy, and the next, it became cooler.

This was Raynor’s magic. His soul was ‘heavy’, and it impacted his surroundings. Mixed with Nature energy in him, it became sensitive to its surroundings.

At some point, his presence will be able to reshape landscapes just from living there.

“Is it about my mother?” the crimson-haired girl sighed, embarrassed about her mother.

“That too.” 

His reply made her curious, if not her mother, then what?

“Come.” 

He motioned for the four to follow him as they walked towards the lodge next to the small woods. They passed a fresh water stream and… a wolf den!

They could see a totem or more like a statue of a wolf in the distance.

The place gave the white-haired girl the creeps. As a Nekoshou, she is especially sensitive to the nature of this world.

‘Everything here is extremely old… the world… It's old, the power here is weird…’

It feels… stagnant.’

Even if she is not using her Senjutsu, she can sense that she could harden it here far more easily than on Earth.

Eventually, they got into the lodge. The house was a one-story building elevated close to a meter above the ground on sturdy-looking wooden pillars.

It was… completely made out of wood. They could consider it a simple lodge house if not for the magic reeking from it.

As they got inside, the place was pretty much empty. Except for a makeshift bed, a table and a chair…

There were no windows either.

The place was not completed yet.

“I almost forgot that you are close to your brother. I do want to remind you what that maid tried to do to me, and what happened to her.”

Rias immediately knew where the conversation was going.

It was about Grayfia. Her peerage could talk about her if they find out about her.

The crimson-haired devil was feeling in a pickle.

“That is what he is talking about?” Akeno asked. She was confused. All of this was weird, and her King was behaving weird, too! All of this had started with him.

She never imagined that a male could have such sway over Rias, to the point that she is rebelling against her mother… against her family!

“He is talking about Grayfia, who tried to kill him in Japan.” Rias honestly replied.

“G-Grayfia!?”

Akeno quickly realised that she didn’t see the silver-haired maid, who is usually around the Gremory Estate.

“Isn’t she a powerful devil?” The blonde teen, Rias Knight, was surprised that this Shaman survived against a powerful devil.

“Indeed. She is, but she is all raw power.” Raynor replied. 

The circumstances were good for him. Grayfia didn’t want to blow up the hot springs that he had meticulously built; she attacked after he was done.

Thinking that they will work without him.

“...Wait…what happened to her?” Akeno asked as she was getting nervous, all of a sudden.

“What do you think will happen to her if she tries to kill Raynor, Akeno?” Rias turned around and looked at her Queen.

“...He would kill her? But—” Akeno’s eyes widened, she heard from Rias that Serafall had become a summon, a way Rias did!

“...You made her into a summon! B-But she is Lucifer’s wife!” The black haired girl was in total disbelief.

Isn’t this a betrayal? Raynor is an important ally for the devils, yet Grayfia attacked him, and in turn, she became his summons. Such a situation is… complex, to say the least.

“Indeed. So, the question is, what will you do?” Raynor didn’t deny it. He looked at Akeno, who was behind Rias.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...As Rias’ knight, I keep her secrets.” Her knight promptly agreed to keep her secrets.

That leaves the white haired girl and the Queen. Who didn’t know what to say.

“...I won’t say a thing, however, if push comes to shove, I am not guaranteed to keep it.” Akeno eventually caved in.

The white haired Nekomata slowly nodded.

“Hmm, I suppose, we can saturate this secret, all we need is to stay in this world for a year or two.” Raynor shrugged, making their eyes widen.

If they stay for that long…

“After all, she is my maid now, and things happen between maids and their Masters.” 

Rias giggled for a bit, as her cheeks got rosy.

“Indeed~ Serafall and Grayfia were quite tame after their first experience.” 

The crimson-haired Gremory Heiress nodded at his comment. She thought that it was Serafall’s first experience as well, not that the Shaman needed to explain to her.

Akeno grimaced when he heard that. There was no doubt he had already done things to Grayfia; that woman was beautiful after all.

“Regardless, staying here will make you strong, and you all will learn things that you won’t ever learn on Earth.” He said that while looking at Koneko.

“Isn’t it right? Miss Nekomata?” 

Koneko looked at him, trying to understand why he was singling her out.

“You can sense nature, you know how strong this world is in that regard. It's how I became a Shaman and a blood mage.” Raynor clarified what he meant.

“...Yes...but it's dangerous art.” She frowned. The girl is traumatised by Senjutsu and, by extension, nature.

“Of course it's dangerous, all magic is dangerous.” He scoffed and pointed at Rias. “She can disintegrate things with a hand motion.” 

“...Yes, but Destruction doesn’t cause one to lose their mind.” Koneko frowned at the comparison.

“It depends. All you need to do is flood one with excess power, and you can lose control easily. Mental state is important, too,” Raynor explained to her.

“You need a certain mental state to control nature’s power. That’s why places with strong attachments exist. People's thoughts linger in nature.

This castle, for example.” The Shaman looked through the window towards the castle in the distance.

“It's flooded with ambition, greed and all sorts of desires, it tells what kind of people lived in this place.”

“You tell me. That place is haunted.” Tsufaame popped out with crossed arms.

“Hmm? What do you mean haunted?” 

“Most likely some of those Targaryens that haunt it, who died without achieving their goals.

It's not surprising, honestly. The place is built with blood and magic—potent conditions for the ghost to continue existing.” The Leviathan explained to him.

“Curious.”

The Shaman pondered as he looked at Rias in front of him. The trio behind her was confused; they wondered how he was talking.

“My pet leviathan told me that the castle is haunted. I guess I found some side activities.” The Wolf King smirked as he wondered how he could weaponise such ancient spirits.

If they are Targaryens, he could use their affinity towards Blood, Fire and Valyrian dragons to make something.

“Pet Leviathan?” Akeno recalled him using water a while back in the forest.

“Yes, he can use spirits like Shaman King! It’s so cool!” Rias quickly began to nerd out.

“Indeed. It would seem the castle doesn’t show all of its secrets to me, yet.” Raynor nodded at the comment before bringing her back to what was important to him.

“We can help! Devils are good with haunted stuff!” Rias puffed her impressive chest.

For a second, the Shaman looked at the burst, then at her face.

“I know, the issue is not finding but using them.” 

“I don’t need extras.’ Tsufaame commented from the side.

“I doubt they are as sane as you are.” Raynor rolled his eyes while dropping his gaze at her for a second.

“Even ten years could drive one a bit mad, now imagine twenty, thirty or a hundred years with no contact. Unlike you, who are properly anchored, they are not.” He dropped a couple of bits of information about spirits.

“Yes, but you have weird magics. You could fix them up, or something.” The Leviathan was not convicted. After all, if it was one of those hot Targaryens he was talking about from time to time, he could easily use them as a weapon in his armoury. 

While the Shaman and Ghost were talking, the other four looked a bit annoyed. They couldn’t see or understand half of the conversation!

It was weird and annoying!