Jackpot Hit

"Salvatore Gefion, I assume?" Roko said as he walked out from behind the desk.

"In the flesh." Salvatore flashed a winning smile, "Now how about you introduce yourself Mr. Beetle Man? From how you're dressed, you're clearly trying too hard to play aristocrats but you're not so cheap as to be a common thief. Who are you?"

Roko dearly wanted to return the "trying too hard to play aristocrat" line back at the man dressed entirely in a black pinstripe suit with gold and gems hanging all over him but he decided not to. Though he wasn't quite satisfied with his decision.

"I've no quarrel with you." Roko replied, "I'm not trying to steal money from you or ruin your name or business. My only target is the boisterous knight you have paying a bit of rent downstairs. If you let me go, I can promise your business won't suffer too much from what's going to happen."

"That sounds like a threat, son." Salvatore smirked, "And I'm sorry but I don't turn my back on my business partners. You lose a lot of reputation if you don't stick to a deal in my business."

"Well from what I hear, your business isn't doing too well in the first place."

"Who told you that?!" Salvatore laughed, "My casino is well on its way of taking over this small fishing town. Ah, are you one of the townsfolk? Some private investigator or news snoop?"

"I told you, I don't care about you."

"You're standing in my office, holding my documents."

"Cause you made a bad business partner." Roko scoffed, "And I'm here to bust that business partner."

"And I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Salvatore pulled his sunglasses back down, "This fight club is going to make a pretty penny for me. Fire."

Salvatore's fist suddenly ignited in gold flames, burning as lavishly as its caster, "Now, how about you give me back that document before I burn you to a crisp?"

"...You really don't know what you're roiled up in."

"I'm afraid the ignorant one is you, my friend." Salvatore sneered, "You have no idea what kind of people I have backing me."

"The New Pantheon right?"

Salvatore's smile faltered for a moment, "...How?"

"It's written right here on the inside cover." Roko held up the book he found, " 'The New Pantheon will be be the foundation of faith in the new world, Gilbert.' -Reign' "

"You found that?"

"I don't know know much more past this autograph though. Never heard of you guys before but I can tell it's either bad news or just a big pyramid scheme. Best case scenario, I would hope for the latter, Gilbert."

"How dare you..." Salvatore scowled.

"Making your password your old name is pretty good as passwords go but maybe you should go for something more abstract next time." Roko smirked, "Gilbert."

"My name is Salvatore!" The man yelled, "And all you have is a name! You have no idea the kind of plans the New Pantheon has for the world!"

"Uhhh, let me think. Pantheon means Gods and New means new. So I'm guessing you're trying to come up with a new god?"

"..."

"Am I right? Oh do tell me if I'm right, I've only got this weird mini shrine to go off of, I really have no idea like you said."

Salvatore threw the golden fireball at Roko who ducked behind his cape as it it exploded over him.

"No one likes a smartass." Salvatore scowled.

"And when was the last time someone smiled when you entered a room?" Roko said as he tossed off his burning cape, "Trust me, you're not as popular as you think you are."

Salvatore threw another fireball that Roko ducked under as it exploded against the bookshelf but dissipated instead of burning.

"You have no friends here, beetle man!" Salvatore called, "You don't stand a chance against me!"

"Well, you're not wong." Roko said as he slipped one of the papers out of the folder and folded it up, "If I was alone at least."

"You're trapped here! You can't escape! Fire!"

Roko stood up and threw the folder in the path of the fireball, the two impacting into each other and throwing glittering sparkles and paper everywhere.

"Why you..." Salvatore scowled as he covered his face from the gust from the explosion.

Roko pulled himself up onto the desk and rolled across the top of it, scooping up the marble name block as he did.

"You think that'll help?" Salvatore sneered, "What are you going to do, bludgeon me with it?"

"Why don't you come here and find out?"

"How about I light you up from over here instead? Fire." Salvatore said as he lit up his fist with golden fire again.

"Good. That means I can do this instead." Roko aimed the block upward and threw it at the skylight. The block shattered a giant hole in the glass, causing shards to fall over the two combatants, each of them covering their heads to avoid the worst of the damage.

"What are you doing?!" Salvatore cried, "That's going to be so annoying to replace!"

"Tell it so someone who cares." Roko replied.

"What was even the point of that?! Are you going to call for help now?"

"You can say that. Aves!"

Helena's falcon flew through the hole and charged the startled casino owner. Salvatore threw the fireball at him but Aves easily dodged it, closing in and slashing at the man with his talons.

"Augh! Wait, what the hell?!" Salvatore cried as he brought his arms up to defend himself, "This suit is expensive!"

Roko whistled and Aves flew away from Salvatore. He held up two pieces of folded up paper and Aves quickly snatched them out of his hands and flew back out using the skylight.

"Ugh..." Salvatore grimaced at his torn sleeves, "What the hell was that?"

"Eh, don't worry about it."

"What the hell did you give that bird?"

"Don't worry about it."

"I'll give you something to worry about!" Salvatore roared as he charged at Roko with his fists raised. Roko ducked and dodged the well dressed man as he tried to land a blow on him. One fist soared above him. Another he let fly past him. Whenever Salvatore would go too wide with an attack and leave himself briefly defenseless, Roko landed a kick in the casino owner. In the ribs, in the stomach, even a few hits to the legs. Roko wasn't particularly interested in taking down the embellished man trying to punch him. Salvatore's frustrations built up more and more with each dodge until he finally lifted both his fists and roared, "FIRE!"

Roko lunged to the side as Salvatore smashed his golden flame covered fists into the ground, causing a giant wave of fire to burst out around him. With his attacker repelled, Salvatore took several deep breaths to calm down and catch his breath.

"Ya done?" Roko asked.

"Screw you!" Salvatore roared, "Why won't you fight back?!"

"I have been kicking you."

"You're not even trying!"

"I told you, I'm not here for you."

"Then why'd you fight?!"

"You're the one who threw hands first."

"You kicked me!"

"Cause you deserved it."

"What are you a child?!"

"I'm gonna be honest, this conversation isn't exactly worth my full attention."

"What's your deal?!"

A loud explosion suddenly drew everyone's attention towards the front of the casino.

"What was that?!"

"Probably the mercenaries we hired."

"THE WHAT?!"

Salvatore got up and ran past Roko towards the main hall. Roko followed him at a leisurely pace.

In the casino's main hall, utter chaos had broken out as a small group of mercenaries had broken through the front door and were fighting the casino guards.

"What's going on?!" Salvatore cried from the second floor.

"Boss, we're getting raided!"

"Let us do the explaining." A bookish looking man among the mercenaries wrestled the arm of one of the casino's guards behind his back and threw him aside, "Salvatore Gefion. We've received proof of your involvement with an illegal fighting ring." the mercenary held up a pair of papers, "And as per our contract, we've come to arrest those involved."

"Those papers!" Salvatore said as Aves landed on the chandeliers in front of him, "That bird!"

"This is a bit more messy than I expected." Roko said as he arrived, "It's the middle of the night you know."

"I have the area cordoned off, don't you worry." The mercenary bowed, "The police should not interfere."

"Nice job."

"Thank you."

"Why you..." Salvatore turned to Roko angrily.

"CALM DOWN!"

The door to the basement blasted open along with parts of the wall as the questing beast stomped out onto the main floor with Gaurav on its back.

"All we have to do is defeat them. I won't let you arrest anyone here."

"The only one we're here to arrest here is you." Helena called as she walked out of the same hole Gaurav burst out of, "Like I said, we're going to be letting go of anyone else we capture so really it's in your best interest to give up."

"Shut it!" Gaurav pointed a sword at Helena, "I'll be the one capturing you people!"

"...Aves, don't."

Gaurav's head turned just as Aves suddenly turned away from its dive at Gaurav, flying around him and landing on Helena's arm.

"Good boy." Helena cooed as she scratched Aves' head, "We don't want you to get stabbed now do we?"

"I'm here too you know." Roland coughed as he waved away the smoke, "Man, it's really hard to rout a beast that big isn't it?"

"Kaguya, hold onto Akagami for me!" Momo cried as she ran up from the basement, "I'm going to help! Don't let him fight!"

"I'll try." Kaguya said as she joined everyone upstairs with a dire wolf struggling to get out of her arms, "Seems like he wants to fight."

"Well don't let him! He's already injured!"

"Like owner, like pet I suppose." Mikado said as he arrived upstairs, "Lady Kaguya, we've secured all the audience members. I'll work with the mercenaries to guide them outside safely."

"I'll help." Kaguya nodded.

"Well now." Roko chuckled, "I've never had a plan go this smoothly. Thanks for that, Gaurav."

"YOU!" Gaurav turned his furious face at the masked Roko, "The beetle mask! Or should I say-"

"Yep. It's me." Roko took off his kabuto shaped helmet, "Fancy seeing you here tonight Gaurav. Are you here to gamble? Because I think you just lost our bet."

"Screw you, I haven't lost yet!"

"Give it some time." Roko smirked.

"I'll show you!" Gaurav roared as he directed his questing beast away from the fighting.

The questing beast leaped, soaring over all the fighting until it landed next to the locked room where the animals were being kept. The questing beast swept its tail, smashing the door and surrounding wall away, startling all the animals inside.

"Listen up!" Gaurav barked at the casino employees, "Get these animals out of their cages!"

"Are you insane?!" One of the more spindly employee cried.

"Do you want to get captured instead?" Gaurav growled, "You have this one chance to prove your loyalty and worth. Otherwise, you either throw yourself at the enemy or get eaten by the strong."

The questing beat growled at the man with a bit of saliva dripping from its mouth. The employee gulped and quickly fumbled a ring of keys out of his pockets.

"We can't let the situation get out of hand!" Helena cried, "We need to stop them!"

Mercenaries moved to stop the employee with the keys but the questing beast landed in front of them, roaring at them with quaking ferocity.

"You're going to have to deal with us first." Gaurav said as he dismounted from the questing beast.

"Roko!" Helena called towards him, "It's up to you!"

"Right." Roko sighed as he began to walk towards the stairs down, "Guess it's time to join the fray."

"You think I'd let you?!"

Roko ducked as Salvatore tried to punch his head from behind.

"You're still resisting?" Roko raised an eyebrow, "Look at how your business partner has ruined your casino. You still think it's worth backing him of all people?"

"Loyalty is key to business." Salvatore sneered, "He hasn't given up so it would be an utter betrayal if I stopped now."

"You'd make a good business partner if you could only make better business decisions." Roko sighed, "Shame on that really."

"I don't need your approval." Salvatore grinned, "This deal has been blessed by my god. There is no way I won't come out on top from this."

"Aren't the gods gone?" Roko frowned, "How could you possibly know your god exists?"

"Hehe. Wouldn't you like to know?"

Salvatore shouted Fire and charged at Roko with gold flame infused hands. Roko ducked, dodged and weaved between attacks, too slippery to be hit by the gaudy attacks. He would attack back but without a weapon it was too dangerous to get close and risk getting hit by the fire spell. And hand to hand combat wasn't one of Roko's specialties quite yet. That wasn't to say Roko wasn't preparing to fight back himself but before he could do anything, Aves suddenly swooped down and began to attack Salvatore.

"What the-" Salvatore cried as he stumbled back from the attacking falcon, "Get off me!"

Aves backed away as the casino owner reached up with fire infused hands to try and grab him. Aves flew up out of his reach but Salvatore began to pull back his arm to throw his fire at the bird.

"Ice!"

Two blasts of ice hit Salvatore's hands, instantly freezing over his fire before he could throw it.

"Whoops!" Helena grinned from the bottom of the stairs, "Sorry Roko! I forgot you didn't take a weapon with you!"

"I'm fine." Roko said as the princess quickly climbed the stairs, "I could have handled it."

"But this is the guy who's worshiping that weird god right?!" Helena cried, "Who knows what kind of weird stuff he'll pull!"

"Fire!" Salvatore cried as he melted the ice on his hands with his golden fire.

"See?! Look at the color of those flames! That's not normal!"

"It's not normal but it's not unbelievable is it?" Roko sighed, "It doesn't even seem to do anything special."

"Well, we can just ask him! Hey you! Do your gold flames do anything special?!"

"Heh. Wouldn't you like to know?" Salvatore smirked.

"Hm. Well would you like to tell us about your god then? Jezdazura was it?"

"You think I would tell you?"

"...Well I guess I should have seen that coming." Helena sighed.

"See?"

"Well, he's not telling us that means there's something he's trying to hide right?!" Helena cried, "So it's still possible!"

"It is either that or he doesn't actually know anything."

"Come say that to my face you rat bastard!"

"Still, this god could be real dangerous." Helena insisted, "We should be careful. You never know what kind of tricks they can pull!"

"It's just fortune."

"Huh?" Helena turned around.

"Jesdazura is just the god of fortune." Roko explained, "All it does is bring good luck."

"How do you know that?" Helena asked.

"It's all written here." Roko said as he pulled out the black and gold book.

"Aha! That's the grimoire isn't it?!" Helena cried.

"No, it's just a normal book." Roko shrugged, "More like a bible really."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"For one it doesn't emanate the same power as a normal grimoire." Roko explained, "And the grimoires I saw were a solid color with no trim. They were also hard covered but not leather. And most of all..."

Roko opened the book, "You can actually read this."

"Hey, you're right!" Helena cried as she picked up the book, "This is all in plain text!"

"I'd thank you to give me back that book!" Salvatore barked, "That doesn't belong to you!"

"Hell no, this is evidence so-"

"Yeah sure, here you go." Roko grabbed the book out of Helena's hands and tossed it to the ground.

"Roko!" Helena frowned.

"This guy isn't our enemy." Roko replied, "There's no point in arresting him, we don't have the authority to pin him to any crime."

"Oh. Well I guess he hasn't done anything illegal technically." Helena blinked, "I mean it's perfectly legal to open a casino and while it's questionable to host an illegal fighting ring, all he'd probably get is a fine."

"See?"

"Man, why couldn't your god be cooler?" Helana pouted.

"My god is more powerful than you could possibly comprehend!" Salvatore roared, "With his blessing, I have amassed more gold than you could possibly imagine! I've created many successful ventures that rake in even more gold! This casino will be no different!"

"Let's say I believe you." Roko said as he began to walk towards Salvatore, "Let's say your god has helped to do everything you've said and more."

Salvatore scowled and threw a fist at Roko. Roko shifted his body to easily dodge the attack while he attacked with his own punch, hitting right into the well dressed man in the chest, staggering him back.

"The gods I've face were infinitely more powerful than anybody can comprehend." Roko continued.

Salvatore went in for another punch but Roko parried his attack upward before launching a small flurry of punches into his opponent's chest and ending with a sharp uppercut to knock the casino owner back again.

"The kinds of monsters I've seen defy human logic. Warped human flesh, innumerable jaws, even the dead rising from the grave. They convert corpses into inhuman creatures and warp human minds to madness or obsession. I've seen the horrors they put humans through and the intelligence behind their unworldly actions. I've fought against these abominations both humans and monsters alike."

Roko pulled back his fist and smashed it into the side of Salvatore's chin, twisting the man's head as he fell to the side and tumbled down the long flight of stairs to the ground.

"Compared to that, your god is nothing." Roko sighed.