He Who Fights with Monsters 5 (He Who Fights with Monsters, #5)

by Shirtaloon

Remind them that part of the agreement was that the Network would stop coming after me, and let them know that if they are going to be sloppy about the terms, then so will I.”

All I can do is my best, based on what I know and what I can do.”

“I’ll meet who?” “My friend who died.” “She’s not dead anymore?” “She got better. Eventually. I come back much quicker than she did every time I die.” “What?”

“Don’t worry about it, Moppet,” Jason said, tousling her hair. “Uncle Jason and Auntie Farrah are going to save the world.”

“I’ve gone native? You were frying giant worm meat in a village stall on your second day in my world.”

Ruth didn't look like a Russian bodybuilder so much as like she’d eaten a Russian bodybuilder and wanted to fist-fight a bear to work off the carbs.

“How did you get in here?” Kaito asked. “I’ve got magic powers. How do you not know that at this point?”

“The tyranny of rank, little brother.” “You’re the little brother,” Kaito said. “That may be true out in the world, Kai,” Jason said, “but not here. This is my kingdom.”

“That’s a boy’s complaint. It’s time for you to be a man.”

“Honour is how people with fancy swords fight people with sticks and claim it’s a fair fight.” “That is a poor characterisation of honour.” “And you came to my house to tell me I have none, which is a poor demonstration of courtesy.”

“Jason,” she said. “Did I ever tell you that you were my favourite grandchild?” “No, Grandmother.” “Good, because you’re not. You are coming along, though.”

“I’m just an ordinary bloke with vast cosmic power, trying to get by.”

“Figuring that out is on a very long to-do list, and not at the top. Ready to loot your first monster?”

‘Look at me, I’m a very stern clanswoman with a sword. I’m very good at stabbing.’”

“You’re telling me that this thing is a bag of holding?” Jason narrowed his eyes at her. “Do you play Dungeons & Dragons?” Her face froze for an instant before she schooled it back into a mask. “No.”

“Another step forward,” Jason said. “Yet many are to come,” Shade answered. “This world is large and not the only one demanding your attention. And beyond them lies the infinite.” “That’s a little above my rank, right now,” Jason said. “Since when did that ever stop you?”

not all knowledge is worth possessing.”

“What I’m hiding is my family. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there are monsters about.”

They’ve been showing off a bunch of second-rate supermen but they’ve forgotten that people like Batman more. Asano is an Australian, multicultural, yobbo Bruce Wayne.”

“But you will have to become far stronger if you want to hold those responsible to account.”

“We have proof!” “So does climate change and how’s that going? If I hear anyone on our side peddling a line about the EOA being behind this, I will personally have wild monkey sex with your father.” “My father’s dead, you arsehole.” “Then he won’t struggle, will he? Get back to work.”

They’ll get through this by coming together, the human race united. A network of people who are heroes not for the powers they possess but their willingness to raise one another out of the darkness.”

I’ll be the villain to your hero, but you’d best stop me now. You’re as strong as you’re ever going to get, while my power grows with every passing day.”

“She was sent here to help you, not just as a warrior but as a friend. She understands what you've been through because she has been through much the same. Most of all, she is someone you can trust.

“The deity knows. It just isn’t telling.” “Bloody transcendents and their bloody games,”

“Sometimes I suspect you're losing on purpose just to get hit in the head with the training swords.” “No worries on that front,” Jason said. “If I did that, you'd use your real sword on me.”

“You let me hit you, didn't you?” “It was something you needed to get out of your system. I didn't think you would do it hard enough to kill me, and I certainly didn’t think you would loot the body.” “Well, I had been drinking. And I really, really wanted to punch you in the face.”

“Well, I have to save the universe and I take that seriously.” A throat-clearing sound came from within Jason’s shadow. “Relatively seriously,” Jason said. “Also, you don’t have a throat, Shade.”

“You know, I thought it was strange when your sister gave me the number for the Network's human resources department. Now I get it.”

When you're better at magic than my niece, feel free to question her credentials. Until then, how about we stick to qualified opinions?”

“Rather than look back with recrimination,” she continued, “we need to look forward, to the challenges ahead.”

“You can be a fool of the highest order, Jason Asano, but even you’re not fool enough to think the cosmos is fair.”

“He said that great adventurers are the ones that turn opportunity into fortune.

“You tell Terrance that if he's more interested in looking like the good guys than being the good guys, the relationship between me and the Network is about to undergo a fundamental shift.

“You’re entitled to your feelings,” Asya said. “Just because someone else is miserable doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to be unhappy for yourself. You just have to keep it in perspective.”

“I’m not the guy who saves the world. I’m the comic relief sidekick.”

“The trick is to not worry about the destination.” “I always worry about the destination. You take the risks I never would, with the courage to accept the consequences I never could.”

“Is it your job? You never actually joined the Network.” “No, I joined the Adventure Society, which means putting myself between the bad things and the people who aren’t equipped to face them. Jumping worlds doesn’t change that.”

“And this Adventure Society is some bastion of virtue, compared to the Network?” “Of course not, but they let you make your own choices. You just have to be willing to live with the consequences.

“I trust people, not institutions.

“Technically, he's not a plane,” Jason said. “He's the living shadow of death itself. Actually, that doesn't make it sound safer, does it?”

“It is not for me to instruct you on the difference between hesitation and consideration.”

but if you keep compromising your principles to meet the needs of the moment, eventually, you don’t have any principles left. You wake up one day with blood on your hands, not recognising the person in the mirror.”

“I’m hoping that you’ll save your clan’s soul, Shiro, as well as its people. Once the fighting starts, I won’t stop until the job is done.”

“Always either be modest or wildly self-aggrandising. Avoid anything in between, for there lies mediocrity.”

“I am quite certain of their sinister intentions,” Shade said. “Unfortunately for them, it takes a lot to catch up to you in sinister intentions.”

“He has to be decisive when protecting the family,” Yumi approved. “If we show weakness, we’ll be treated as weak.”

“Be careful what you wish for,” Jason told him. “Not every power is worth the price.”

“Caution has its place,” Jason said, “but the first step of doing the impossible is having the nuggets to try.”

“Look at the things he’s done. It’s clear how hard he’s trying to be a good man.” “Exactly,” Koya said. “Good men don’t have to try.”