Danmachi: Heroic Will
Rated; M (Blood/Gore)
Disclaimer; I do not own Danmachi or anything created by the author Fujino Ōmori, all rights go to him
Summary: 8 Years after Bell Cranel becomes an adventurer, everything he has built as well as love has fallen after the mysterious awakening across the globe. As a final resort he managed to travel back in time to right before he started his march to the great city of Orario to become an adventurer. Follow Bell Cranel as he fights for a future where everything that he holds dear may survive and faces supposedly impossible odds to achieve his goals.
21: Infiltration
Hestia's POV
=Hearth Mansion, 3 Days ago=
"Explain Bell-kun… NOW!" I practically screamed, I have seriously gotten enough of this! Bell is really suspicious, and I want to know the truth "I want to know why you know so much more than you should, all these moments where you make a face so you look like you have been caught stealing a piece of candy" Bell's face contorted into a mixture of fear and worry, his face was the definition of the god-caught-with-hand-in-candy-jar expression. I decided to give him a little more of a push.
"You clearly know more than you should Bell, for example, you knew what a conversion was while you had only been in Orario for 2 weeks" I planned to say a little more but Lili seemed to be on my wavelength for once and wanted the same thing as I did.
"You know too much about monsters as well. I have peeked at your journal. The descriptions as well as monsters you had written down at the time were monsters we hadn't even encountered" Huh? I didn't know that, that's actually even more suspicious. What on Gekai could he be hiding? We continued to make a point or two more before we stopped.
Everything was quiet for a minute as Bell was obviously contemplating something. Eventually he breathed in and out deeply before looking at us
"Kami-sama, Lili, It will take some time to explain, and honestly, I don't think you will believe me, but please, bear with me" Huh? Why wouldn't I believe him?
"As you both know, my name is Bell Cranel, but I am not the Bell Cranel that I am supposed to be" What? How can someone be a person, but not be that person at the same time? "I am Bell Cranel, but from 8 years from now, from a time where literally everything has gone to shit" Oh, that's how… wait, how the hell is he from 8 years from now… Kronos, what have you done now? And what does Bell mean with everything has 'Gone to shit'?
"Gone to shit? What do you mean?" As I said earlier, Lili seemed to be on the same wavelength today.
"Let's just say that the dungeon showed it's fangs… across the entire world. It produced monsters so strong, that only me and at a bare minimum a high level 6 could fight them. Because of this, Orario was completely decimated, people were slaughtered by them, Lili, Welf and three others were killed by them too" I looked into his eyes, searching for the lie but when Bell looked straight at me and I saw the truth, I froze. Not only does he have tears in his eyes, but my godly intuition was telling me that it was the truth.
"We… were killed?" I managed to get out through my shock
"Yes, the entire Hestia Familia was slaughtered by them, everyone except for you and me. We were all forced to escape through tunnels underground that connected to the knossos, an artificial dungeon. That allowed us to escape and run away from these monstrosities, but the only people who survived were the Loki Familia, Ottar, Hestia and me" Even though I only know Lili out of everyone that dies, Pain flowed through my heart as if I lost my members right now. As the pain settled, a question hit me.
"Bell-kun" He turned to me "How… How old are you?" he looked down on the ground before answering "22 years old, almost 23" I gasped, to be an adult and have to live in such a young and undeveloped body must be tough
"So this event happened 8 years from now?" Bell shook his head "6 Years from now, we managed to survive in the wilds for 2 years, exploring new land, and eventually discover the secret to time travel using S-tier Mystery magic from a master of the type called Kentaro Ayers" I have never heard of him, he definitely isn't the Sage that made the Philosopher's stone.
"Is this why your stats are so unbelievable?" Again, Lili to the rescue with another great question!
"Kind of, The skills and development abilities seemed to have leaked from my previous timeline, while my status was completely reset" I wonder what level though
"What level were you?"
"Well… I kind of broke all records" Questionmark? Didn't he already break all records? Meanwhile, Lili next to me was fuming for some reason.
"Just tell us!"
"Alright, alright. I was at the top ends of Level 12" Level… 12? But that's breaking the supposed limits to leveling! Argonaut was the only one that reached higher than level 10, but for normal adventurers, level 10 is the peak of the peak.
"Level… 12, that is 3 levels higher than the most powerful adventurer that has ever lived who was a level 9 in the Hera Familia" Lili sure is knowledgeable. Bell chuckled
"I know, But it still wasn't enough. Those monsters were incredibly powerful, the weakest were estimated to be level 7-8 while the strongest level 15" I gasped as I got a really bad feeling, it can't be them… Can it?
"I was chosen to return here because of my Liaris Freeze, which is what allo…" I completely zoned out and nodded here and there out of instinct. Just the thought of it being them made me shudder, last time they were around, half the population of the world was killed.
The conversation continued and my ears picked up words here and there, until I heard the name, 'Kyros'. It slingshot me into the conversation again as I wanted to hear what he was going to say.
"-the Kyros, the monsters that came from the dungeon. I am not only preparing my level but I am also preparing others, Like training Ais, bringing you and Welf deeper and Deeper, getting our old… my old familia members back" So, he was preparing us for war basically.
"Who are they?" Both me and Lili asked in unison
"Well, you know one at least two of them, Welf of the Hephaestus Familia and Ryuu of the Astraea Familia, the other two are Mikoto of the Takemikazuchi Familia, and Haruhime of the Ishtar Familia" I nodded, it was weird knowing the strange, unique upbringing of each of the members. One is a time traveler, one a Blacksmith, one a waitress, one basically a samurai and one is a thief. The last one I don't know though.
"As I said earlier, don't spread this around. Right now only members of the Hestia Familia may know of this information" I nodded, completely understanding the sensitivity of the situation.
After 5 minutes, we talked some more before Bell went to bed, Lili left shortly after that leaving me in the room. Honestly, most people would expect much more of a reaction, but it's kind of hard to react when your soul leaves your body from shock.
The monsters, the Kyros that Bell encountered in the future… they are supposed to be dead. Tears flowed down my eyes as memories of the beautiful face of a goddess reminded me of the sacrifice needed last time around.
"Athena… I'm so so sorry…" My voice hitched as I stood up and started walking towards the door, before I reached it, I nearly crumbled to the ground as uncontrollable waves of tears flowed down my cheeks.
"Athena… ATHENA!" The memory of the goddess that used to be my best friend and greatest ally made everything so much worse. At this point, I was laying on the floors, weeping and wailing in the soundproof room. All the emotions that were bubbling up suddenly came out in one ear piercing scream of agony
"I'M SO SORRY YOUR SACRIFICE MEANT NOTHING!"
Bell's POV
=Hearth Mansion, Present time=
I woke up, feeling lonely and cold. I looked to both my sides, panicking shortly about the missing monster girl that was supposed to be there before it hit me. I left her with Lyd again. I hope it goes better this time around since it was earlier.
I got up and stretched before doing 4000 push-ups. It was a good way to get an adventurers body ready in the morning. As I got up and looked out the window, I saw that the Goibinu Familia workers were well underway with the blacksmith shed. My line of sight shifted slightly downwards to spot Lili, arguing with one of the workers.
I quickly got something to wear before opening the window and jumping down to the ground.
"LILI! STOP!" Lili turned around so fast that I though she actually snapped her neck
"Why!? They are messing with our home!"
"I paid them to do this. It's a blacksmith's shed for Welf!" Lili wasn't backing down
"Why would you buy a Blacksmith's shed for that lunatic?" Why the hell is she acting so aggressive.
"Lili, please just calm down, I paid for it so if you scare them away, that's 150 000 Valis down the drain for nothing at all" She opened her mouth before shutting it again, before huffing and leaving. Seriously, what the hell is going on with her? I turned around back to the workers.
"I'm so sorry about her. She usually isn't like that, if you want, I could help you guys out, after all, I am a level 3" The agitated worker calmed down before smiling.
"Alright then, we got some heavy stuff we need to lift into the shed. We all aren't strong enough and were planning to call a stronger person here, but it seems we won't have to" I smiled and followed the man, before arriving at a large, packed pile of rocks. I sweatdropped, I am about to break my back"
I helped the workers with putting the rocks into place as well as installing the heavy anvil. With my help, the work was done before midday.
"Thanks for the work kid, you paid for it but still helped out. You got a heart of gold, take care of it!" I forced a smile, after everything that's happened to me, I'm not sure that he's right.
I turned around and walked into the shack to take one last look at the final product. It's perfect, and now all that's left is that expensive sauna. Man that's going to eat my Valis like a rabid dog.
Anyway, I got a lot to do today, so I better get started. Firstly I need to head to Welf and tell him that everything is ready, then start working with Hermes.
I closed the door to the shed, and left towards Welfs apartment. Thankfully, it's relatively close by and I got there right as midday struck. Luckily, Welf hadn't left for his blacksmithing work yet and I managed to catch him packing lunch.
"Welf! Hey man, what are you doing?" Welf peeked over his shoulder and grinned "Bell! I'm just packing lunch for my work today. What do I owe the pleasure of this visit" I smirked
"How about instead of working at your usual place, you go to the new renovated shed by the Hearth Mansion?" Welf's eyes practically jumped out of its sockets.
"You already finished the preparations?" I smiled "Yeah, All that's left is to tell Lili and Hestia to welcome a new roommate" Welf chuckled
"You never cease to amaze me"
"Do ever disappoint?" Welf hit me on the shoulder before we left.
Once we were back at the heart mansion and I opened the shed door, Welf walked inside and gasped.
"Man! Bell how did you do this in a day? It's more than what I could hope… No way! This is the latest model of anvil! It's supposed to be able to take even more force then the last, allowing it to forge the hardest of the hardest weapons and armor!" I smiled, just watching Welf be a complete fanboy was amusing.
"Bell, I don't even have words to describe how grateful I am. This will revolutionize my blacksmithing capabilities"
"It's my pleasure my friend" He smiled at me before opening the shutters. I noticed that the time was around 1PM and remembered that I had to spar with Ais.
"Shit, Welf, Feel free to use the shed. I have to go! See you and Enjoy!" Welf didn't even have a chance to respond before I was out the door and by the gate.
Ais' POV
=Top of Orarios Wall=
I was practicing my motions with my rapier, Up, down, up down. It may be repetitive, but it does have an effect if you do it enough.
"Ais-san! Sorry I'm late, I had some business to attend to?" He finally arrived, he was supposed to meet me here midday. It's already been 45 minutes since then.
"It's alright, shall we get started" Bell nodded with a charismatic and cute smirk before drawing his daggers in a seamless motion while I pointed my rapier at him. Bell Charged at me, spinning his daggers and using the fact that he has two weapons to his advantage.
He swung his left hand from above, which I blocked before he swung the other, new red ornamental dagger to the side. I dodged backwards to avoid the attack. Throughout these sparring sessions, I have picked up on his fighting technique, it's not like in the beginning when he beat me, now I can actually predict his movements.
Bell threw his right hand dagger behind me as he charged at me with the black one. Instead of parrying, I dodged to the side, knowing that the other dagger was heading straight for me from behind. Bell seemed taken aback as he was forced to a backwards somersault to avoid the incoming projectile. Once he got his balance back, he looked at me smirking.
"Good, you've gotten better" I smiled, I definitely have "Now it's time for the real challenge, Heat Tempest!" The flames that I have come to almost fear came forth from the ground up. They were hugging the blades perfectly. Suddenly I noticed something, the right hand blade, the red ornamental one was glowing more red than usual. It was almost as if it was being powered.
He threw the black dagger at me while simultaneously jumping towards me, causing me to jump back while tilting my body to the side.
*Clang*
He had slashed at my rapier at full speed, I held the rapier in place with two hands as I searched all my enhanced senses for the black knife, I heard it swishing through the air as I prepared to dodge.
Before I knew it, the dagger flew past me, and into Bell's hand and he sheathed it. What is he doing? Now he only has one dagger which puts him at a disadvan- I noticed that my Rapier was turning red… IT WAS HEATING UP!
I jumped back with my full force before taking a look at my rapier, the blade was extremely hot, did the blade give off heat? But where did he get a magically infused weapon like that?
"I see you noticed the trick, and to answer your unanswered question, yes, this is a type of magic weapon with just… a different mechanic" I couldn't stop looking at his weapon, It was as if someone discovered a way to level up everyday. How does one's weapon almost melt Durandal? It's supposed to be unbreakable and non-meltable, and here my rabbit is, almost doing the impossible if I hadn't intervened.
"How did you make it?" Bell looked conflicted
"With a Development Ability" What? A development ability? The only development ability known that could make something like this is Asfi's Mystery, but it is highly unclear how to get it. At least from her description, one needs to tinker with one's gear a lot such as making modifications.
"Do you mean with Mystery?" Bell just shrugged "Who Knows?" Okay, he wants to keep that a secret, but it's clear he either has Mystery or an unknown Development Ability.
"Well, Ais. Let's keep going, we still got a lot of sunlight to put to good use" I readied my rapier, and charged
Finn's POV
=Twilight Manor, Finn's Office, 6PM=
Lately, I have had no time for anything but the preparations for the upcoming Expedition in one week and 3 days. It's been hectic and has put a lot of stress on my shoulders since the last one was a complete flunk.
Some positive news is that Ais seems to be smiling more and more, almost as if she is enjoying herself and thinking of something other than training. Riveria has taken a massive interest in this matter and tries to give Ais advice as much as possible.
Currently though, that is unfortunately the only piece of good news that we have. Our Valis is running short and we might have to take a loan for this expedition since there isn't enough of it from the dungeon. Maybe it was a bad idea to prohibit Ais from entering the dungeon during the time she is investigating Bell Cranel.
Speaking of the boy, he just gets clouded in more and more mystery. I thought I had at least a general grasp of how his inner workings… well work, until I invited him to the expedition. It was the first glimpse I have gotten about who Bell Cranel really is, someone clearly scarred by the past, but that is where it gets very weird. The only thing that I could find about his past that could have scarred him, is the death of his grandfather. The only issue is that he wasn't present for when he died, in fact, he was in his house when it happened.
Thinking back at the look Bell Cranel had, it reminded me of someone who was present at the nightmare on the 27th floor, cold, brutal, scarred eyes that just screamed to help them. To have eyes like that, there must be something that the world doesn't know about him. Ais has also informed us that he has gotten strong enough to naturally move at the speed of a mid tier level 4 without any kind of boost. That is frightening since it means he is stronger than his own level.
Most people would faint from just that amount of information of his abnormality, but he also has gotten his hands on a magic very similar to Ais, calle Heat Tempest. It's the same type of elemental enchantment magic but just in the form of Fire. Honestly, even I am starting to get dizzy from everything.
*Knock Knock*
"Come in" The door opened to reveal Ais looking like she took a beating
"What happened to you?" She looked down "Bell during sparring" Did he do this? This looks brutal "But he doesn't look much better, or better at all" Oh, that makes sense.
"Did you find out anything useful?" She nodded, and I put down the pen and paid all my attention to her.
"He seems to have the Mystery Development ability, either that or an unknown development ability" This boy just continues to surprise doesn't he, not only 2 unique magics which are both quick cast type, as well as one rare skill at a minimum, he also has the ultra rare Development ability, mystery.
"How do you know this?"
"He has a blade that is able to magically heat up to the point it can almost melt durandal, actually, it may be able to with enough time" Hot enough to melt Duranal? That is just unreal, it's never been heard of until now. Just how many things unheard of will this boy do.
"Alright, thank you Ais. On another note, are you enjoying yourself sparring with him?" I started smiling as a tiny, almost unnoticeable blush spread across her cheeks.
"Yes… it's fun to be able to not hold back during sparring" That makes sense since Gareth and I are nearly always unavailable. That means she never has an opponent to spar against that could put up a fight.
"It's nice to hear that, it also gives you a better cover if you look like you're enjoying yourself" I smiled at her, bathing in the feeling of watching a girl that I could consider like a daughter to me finally start to find more interests than just a suicidal mission for revenge.
"I want to go and eat something, bye Finn" I waved her goodbye. Once the door shut, I leaned back in the chair.
"Bell Cranel, I must thank you for the change you have made in her"
Bell's POV
=Travelers Inn, 6PM=
I was currently approaching the Hermes familia home, the travelers inn. It was obvious that Hermes had just gotten back from his investigation since from out here, you could practically hear a party inside.
I walked forward with a smirk on my face, always carefree, aren't you Hermes? I walked up to the door and knocked. There was no response, maybe they didn't hear me? I went to knock again but the millisecond before my hand would have made contact with the door, It flung backwards by a clearly drunk Hermes, holding a mug of Ale.
"Bell Cranel! What a surprise, come in, come in!" He put his arm on my shoulder and led me inside while, with some impressive flexibility, managed to twist his right leg backwards, to kick the door closed. Asfi seemed to immediately notice my presence and walked up to me.
"Greetings, , to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?" Oh thank god, at least she isn't drunk. I am so happy they have Asfi for a captain. I got a small smile on my face and opened my mouth
"I had some business with Hermes, assigned by Ouranos himself" Asfi went silent as Hermes went completely rigid. I looked to my left and saw that he was studying my features, much the same as Asfi. I closed my eyes
"Instead of staring at me like that, let's just get to a private room. I can barely hear my own thoughts in here" Asfi nodded at me as I followed her alongside Hermes, we quickly headed upstairs and into an office type room. Obviously Asfis since Hermes doesn't really use any offices.
"So, … what business did Ouranos assign you to with Hermes?" From my memories, Asfi did know about the Xenos. She just didn't get involved very much in it unless it was necessary.
"Well, Since you're the captain and all of this Familia, I guess I can tell you" I turned towards Hermes "It's about the Xenos, and the Investigation of the Ikelos Familia" Hermes, even though he was drunk managed to put on a serious face.
"Ouranos' messenger said as much, just not that it would be you. The Ikelos Familia huh? those annoying bastards" my smile faltered, yes they were real bastards weren't they? "We have been tracking them for so long now, but they have been abnormally active in the last year or two" I nodded, after all, Dix Perdix was starting to get worried since he's getting older and older. At this point, he may look like he's in his late 20's but in fact, he is over 40 years old.
"Yeah, I have been caught up on the details of the Ikelos familia apart"
"Yeah, apart from something I found out recently. Apparently the Ikelos Familia is working with the Ishtar familia who want to get their hands on a killing stone" Ishtar? They weren't working together last time, so why are they doing it now?
"Ishtar and Ikelos?" Hermes nodded "Yes, and it seems that for whatever purpose that Ishtar needs that Killing stone, she already has it and the full moon will be in 3 days" Shit! If that's true, then the sacrifice is happening in three days as well.
"Hermes, We need to stop them! There is only one reason Ishtar needs a killing stone, and that is to trap a soul in it then shatter it to reap the benefits. Whomever it is they want to sacrifice, she must have a game changing ability in order for Ishtar to take such a risk, also the deal may also be to share the ability with Ikelos" Hermes nodded as Asfi responded
"That is true, but we also have other concerns. We have gotten news from Fels that the Xenos have gone Berserk" Huh? "The attacks Rivera on the 18th floor, it's not going to be long before the guild will be forced to send down a taskforce to eliminate them"
"What, I was down there, talking with them just- No, Wiene…" If they attacked Rivera like last time, then that means that a group of Xenos was most likely taken by Ikelos familia again into the Knossos.
What should I prioritise though? Haruhime or the Xenos? The Xenos are going to be attacked tomorrow at the latest while Haruhime will be sacrificed in 3 days. It may be smarter to handle the Xenos incident first here. I made up my mind and turned to Hermes and Asfi.
"Hermes, Where is the Ikelos familia hideout? I know that you have a vague idea where it is and I need to go there and steal something that only they have" Both Hermes and Asfi were clearly confused
"What do you need to steal?"
"A key, to the Knossos, an artificial dungeon. That is most likely where the Ikelos Familia's base of operations in the dungeon is" The faces of Asfi and Hermes lit up in realization.
"So that's where… It all makes sense" I smiled as Hermes turned to me with a serious look
"Alright, the Ikelos Familia hideout is somewhere in the eastern part of Daedalus street" That makes sense, have their base close to the Knossos, which allows them to enter and exit the dungeon without any issues.
"Alright, I will head there immediately, I have to get that key as soon as possible" I nodded at both of them before taking my leave.
The fact that Ikelos and Ishtar are working together is troubling. Why does the world throw so much at me at once. My brain will melt with all the pressure.
Bell's POV
=Eastern Daedalus street, 7PM=
I was standing on a roof, looking over the place that's called the other dungeon because of it's extremely complex design.
Once a question was swirling through my head, 'Where would Ikelos set up a base to easily enter the Knossos?'. I looked down at the well that is one of the entrances to said artificial dungeon. It must be close by.
"Dude, did you hear? Pix's group captured a whole damn group of those monsters today!"
"What Seriously!? The dude is insane but awesome" I quickly hid my presence and looked where the voices were coming from, It looked like they were coming from an alleyway but with all the echo in Daedalus street, you never know.
I saw two familiar guys practically walk through a wall. What the hell? They just came out of nowhere, unless...
I watched the two Ikelos Familia members head down the ladder by the well. They were clearly heading down to the Knossos.
I ignored them once they were out of sight and focused on the wall that they exited from. Perhaps it's some kind of magic barrier that only reflects light as if there was a wall there?
I jumped down front the roof, landing on the ground, practically making no sound at all. Quickly I got in front of the wall and touched it with my hand, to realize that my hand just went right through. This is interesting, no wonder Hermes never found this before the last week of the Xenos Incident.
I braced myself and went through the wall. There was no way to tell if there was a guard there so I had my hand on my Hestia Knife. I morphed through the wall to enter a large alleyway with many doors. I walked up to the first door and carefully opened it. Thank god it wasn't locked. Lockpicking isn't my strong suit and I would most likely just alert all of them.
I walked inside to hear some voices. They were in the room ahead, I walked forward some more before I could make out the tone of the voices. One sounded exactly like Ikelos so, without sound, Iwent up to the wall to listen through the crack in the door.
"Ikelos, you need to take this seriously. The Little Rookie has been interfering with our business recently. One of our men was almost killed by him to save a monster!" How did they know that I was there? I made sure that they never saw me "It was a pure stroke of luck that we identified him. He clearly thought there were only 2 of us, but the last guy that went to pee came back to see him slam one of them into the ground head first. The kid should not be taken lightly" So, there was one more. You've gotta be kidding me, if that's the case, then Ishtar may know of my involvement as well which makes it more likely that Ishtar will try to kidnap me.
"I understand what you're saying, but I can't put half our men to take out a single adventurer. I've got Hermes to worry about" Seems that Ikelos doesn't take me seriously, anyway I've heard enough. There is a staircase upwards. The key is either up there or inside where Ikelos is.
I carefully sneaked upstairs, most of the people seemed to be asleep. Were they sleeping for a late night mission?
I searched the bedrooms with the sleeping adventurers, most were around level 2, but there were three or four level 3's or 4's. Thank god my agility is high enough to hide my presence.
Once I got the end of the hallway, there was just a single door left. I opened it carefully, the room was filled with treasures of all kinds. Was this perhaps their treasure room? If that's the case, then this is a jackpot. I closed the door and started looking around.
A durandal sword, no. Massive bag of Valis, no. A pair of boots? Wait, wasn't this the early prototype of Asfis wing boots? Well, I could take this and return it.
I kept looking around the room, most of the stuff was unnote worthy. Come on, why do they have all of this useless stuff? Seriously, it's as if all of it is just here to irritate me. I was starting to lose my mind right before I spotted something. It was the tip of something very familiar. I walked up to it and dug it out of the pile.
"Aha! The key!" I slapped my hands to mouth. That was not good.
"Who's in there?" Shit, I have to hide. I looked around, before just jumping behind a lot of the junk lying around.
The door opened and multiple sets of footsteps walked inside alongside the rustling of armor.
"The Hell, I could have sworn I hear someone yell out 'Aha!'"
"Keep searching, he's somewhere in here" The people were searching the room, lifting and digging through objects. This was not good. If they kept going, they were going to find me eventually.
I heard some footsteps walk in my direction. A single plan came up in my mind and I focused on an object in the corner of a room and extended my hand out just a little bit. I lifted it off the ground and threw it into the door, making it sound as if I escaped.
"The fuck? Did he get out?"
"Shit, you 2, run after the sound, I will stay in here and search" Good, that leaves one, making it easier for me to escape. Once the two guys were downstairs, I sneaked behind the guy, digging through the stuff and smacked him at his nape, blocking the nerves down to his body, causing him to lose consciousness
"UP HERE! HE'S IN THE TREASURE ROOM!" I snapped my head to the right to see people exiting their sleeping room with swords in hand.
The two guys from downstairs ran up again alongside Ikelos and the guy he was talking to.
"The fuck, is that the Little Rookie?" The guy that talked to Ikelos exclaimed causing Ikelos to smile
"Seems that I should have taken you more seriously" He peeked at the key in my hand
"I can't let you leave with that now can I?" I looked down at it and showed a warning expression
"So you don't want to part with it? Alright, take him" The men started walking forward, carefully, watching my every step.
The man that I recognized as the level 4 Gran was at the front. He was probably the most dangerous of them all. I put the key in my pocket and prepared myself. Gran, once close enough tried to jump at me really fast, thinking his level 4 status was good enough to outspeed me.
I quickly dodged, my agility right now, added to my agility from my previous level should be in between level 4 and 5, meaning that there is no way that Gran was faster than me. The only issue is if it's enough to get through all of these guys.
As Gran realized that I dodge, He turned to me. I hightailed it towards the large group of level 2's and a couple level 3's. I started narrowly dodging their attempts to catch me, while simultaneously charging my Argonaut. It was a safeguard in case they managed to get a hold of me. As I was starting to get closer and closer to the edge I was starting to think that I would actually make it.
The moment that I got out of it all. A hand managed to grab the back of my clothes making me fall to the ground. The adventurers quickly pounced me and held me down on the ground.
I hoped that I would never have to use this.
"I'm sorry… HEAT TEMPEST!" The now charged heat tempest exploded in white flames, burning everyone in my vicinity. Ikelos screamed while clutching his face as his arms and back burned. The members that weren't affected ran to Ikelos to put out the flames.
I jumped up to the ground, looking behind me to the now scarred Ikelos. He was looking at me menacingly and hatefully.
"You will pay… You will FUCKING PAY!" A support on the roof fell to the ground in front of me, reminding me that the place was made of wood. It was going to crumble from the flames eventually.
I hightailed it out of the building as fast as I could, quickly running outside and climbing up to the roof while disabling my magic. As I got on top of it, I looked back. The building was like a bonfire in the middle of the woods at night. It was burning with now blue flames that were slowly turning the usual orange yellow color as it cooled down.
This is going to attract a lot of attention. Thankfully, Hermes won't have Daedalus' notebook this time to trick the Xenos. It was most likely burned in the fire.
I turned around and ran across the rooftops. I looked at the moon while heading back, before glancing at the now awake entertainment district. I pulled to a halt before contemplating something.
"..."
"Shit, Fine" I changed directions and ran
Eina's POV
=Guild Office 8PM=
"WHAT! ARMED MONSTERS DESTROYED RIVERA?" The now closed guild was filled with all of the guild employees. We were summoned by the guild for an unexpected meeting.
Currently, Misha lashed out at the news of Rivera being destroyed.
"Yes, and tomorrow, we are dispatching the Ganesha Familia to handle it" This was a very serious situation. I really hope that Bell isn't anywhere near these events but knowing him, he probably is at the center.
"This also means that tomorrow, your job is to calm the storm of people that are bound to enter the guild with questions. Answer whatever you can but do not let anything get out of hand.
"YES!" Another guild worker was storming into the guild.
"Boss! Daedalus street is on fire! Some say that the Ikelos Familia was attacked by a Rabbit!" I froze, there was only one person that I knew looked like a rabbit.
"Bell?" I muttered under my voice which only Misha heard. She leaned in to me
"Your adventurer? The one we made a bet on?" I looked at her before deciding to trust her
"Yeah, He looks like a rabbit and he has fire magic" Misha looked concerned for me.
"What the hell is going on" I looked up and started ignoring everything and offered a silent prayer.
'Please be safe Bell'
That's Chapter 21, I hope that you all enjoyed it. I don't really have any afterwords for this chapter and just want to say big thanks to Ca1Piggy for Proofreading the chapter and catching a bunch of mistakes that I would never have spotted :)
Anyway, as always, I hope that I see you in the next chapter!
Review:
Ca1Piggy: not my favorite chapter due to xenos topic. though i am surprised that Bell allowed weine back in the dungeon given the original story.
Did Belluchi use his mystery capability on the new weapon?
surprised the renovations were so cheap. My recollection is the mikoto bath and the welf smith shop used up most of the apollo war winnings in the original story.
Author: I understand your feeling about the Xenos, it's not everyone's cup of tea but it's honestly become such an integral part of the Danmachi universe that if you removed them, it would change way too much about everything.
Yes 'Belluchi' used his Mystery to empower the already slight Fire enchantment on it that was given from the weapon being made with Bell specifically in mind (From Canon). This allowed him to not only make the blade emit more heat, but also empower it with Heat tempest to the point of melting Durandal!
The Renovations were so cheap since in the original universe, it was the sauna that cost the most. Also, the tools cost much more than the renovations because it's such a small hut that it wouldn't take very much material to renovate. He even got the tools at a discount because of the store owner knowing him. Anyway thanks for the Review and proofreading!