Chapter 21: Deep Deep Floors

A/N: Yo wys. It's been a while, I have been busy with writing my Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei fanfic, Love That Transcends Magic and it's been a blast. Gotta say, the Danmachi community is definently more active in terms of feedback and reader quantity, but who knows. I am going to be balancing it somehow.

Main Point, I am looking for a proofreader, basically, I will send u my writing, you check over it and correct spelling mistakes and send a copy back. Simple really, gmail is fine unless there is a word limit there. I'll tell u the details later, so if you are interested, just leave a REVIEW saying u would like to do it.

The benefit you can get is that you'll read my newest chapter a day before, not much Ik, but it's not like I'm making money from this. Since, most of my chapters are 10k words, it's really slow to spell check my stuff. SO, I would appreciate it if someone wants to help me out.

It was finally the day for Bell to go to the dungeon for his solo expedition. He arrived near the entrance of the dungeon, carrying a large backpack that would've made him look like a supporter, it was overflowing with different things. A spare set of armor that Rochelle made, obviously it wasn't anything too special but it could hold up just fine, food, a few sets of clothes just in case he found a safe zone where he could take a rare bath or something, some more food and even more food.

"hey brat." Bete called out. Surprisingly at that time, there was Riveria, Finn, Gareth, Loki, Bete and a few more people. It was early in the dawn when the sun was still sitting on the horizon, the city was slowly awakening yet wasn't bustling. "don't die down there." Bete finished.

Bell felt a smile tugging against his cheeks, he wanted to tease him a lot but decided against it. "yeah." he confidently replied. Though Bell had no way of knowing what awaited him, he could at the very least reassure his survival. Riveria wasn't happy, but knew that her selfishness had no basing to endanger the entire world. She was mature enough to understand, yet the lovestruck side of her which was acting immaturishly and was head over heels for Bell, just caused a gnawing feeling in her chest.

"here Bell." Finn went up to him to hand him a small box. It was divided into 6 sections, and the rectangular shape was closed down. "this is Asfi's newest invention. Something called, a lightcube? You can record vocal records in it, however, each cube can only hold 10 mins worth of information so be careful with its usage. Whenever you reach safe floors or such, take a few moments to summarise what you saw and your physical condition etc. Once you finish one cube, give it to Ray I think it was? She will carry it up so Fels can come and give it to us. Ideally, send us a cube every 5 days for a month's worth." Finn briefly explained.

This however, was truly an important addition, with the creation of light cubes it was now possible to store records besides physical books full of descriptions, although they were prototypes, they were sure to be revolutionary items. Bell took the case and carefully put it into his carrier. Not the massive bag of course, the cubes would be crushed. They were relatively light, each cube had a separate colour of its own and one main black button which once pressed would start recording. If you pressed it again, it would stop recording. Pretty simple.

"thanks Finn, I'll try my best to be conservatory." Bell replied. he turned to see Riveria, looking down to the ground. She evidently was depressed but did nothing to stop him anymore. He went up to her and pulled her into a hug silently. There was no need for reassuring words to be shared at that point, they had talked about this expedition more than enough. She herself only hugged him back, tight enough to convey the words, 'I don't want to let go'

Yet duty called, Bell had no choice. He pulled away from the hug, it felt as if something from his very being was taken away. He smiled and grabbed Riveria's hand, "I'll be going soon." he told her. She only nodded, still not looking up. He chuckled and put something in her palm and closed it. This obviously piqued her interest. She opened her hand to see a brooch of a bell. She finally looked up into his eyes and his gentle smiling face. "Keep this to remember me, you won't be lonely this period of time. With every toll of the bells, I'll be with you." he told her. The smile still plastered across his face, actually making it seem that he would be with her.

"Hey, are you crying?" Finn asked turning to Loki, who was scrubbing her eyes with her sleeve.

"who's crying ya idiot. Me eyes are jus sweating." Loki sniffled. The sight was rather comical and Bell laughed at her antics.

"well then guys. I'll be off, to live with a crap ton of monsters for like a month. Wish me luck." Bell waved as he went towards the entrance of the dungeon.

"make sure to come back idiot." Loki shouted.

"I'll save my best bottle for ya."

And so, Bell walked in. His first goal was the 20th floor, where he would meet up with the Xenos. Since the monsters wouldn't spawn near him because they were afraid of him anyways, he decided to run to the floor. Of course he didn't use REINHERIAR, since that would be a waste of magic, even with spirit healing at his disposal.

It took him a few hours to get there. He had reached the secret entrance, where the boulder was carefully placed, instead of shattering it, he chose to simply pick it up and chuck it right above so that it would land in the same spot after he went in. He walked in to the rather dark and empty room. He already sensed the countless presences of his friends nearby.

" Yo Lyd, how ya been?" he said turning to his left, where Lyd was standing slightly off to the distance. After a moment of silence however, they all emerged.

"Belluchi! It's been a while my friend, you've changed." Lyd said as he walked over and put his arm over Bell's shoulders. It was good to see how he didn't change, Bell barely ever had time to visit them due to the behemoth incident so he hadn't seen them in a while. Everyone came over and greeted him, the final 2 were Wiene and Ray.

"Bell." Wiene shouted as she clung to his leg. She was much too short to properly hug him, but well, he would make do with what he had.

"Hello, Bell san." Ray greeted with a smile.

"hey Wiene and Ray, how are you two?" he asked as he pat Wiene's blue hair. He had missed his daughter figure, truly it had been a while since they saw him, he hadn't changed much physically besides the extra occasional scar that randomly popped up.

"We are doing great." Wiene replied as cheerful as ever. Truly, he felt that he was with Tiona whenever he was with her, not that it was a bad thing of course.

"Oh? Did you grow a bit taller? Wow, you did. Is my little Wiene finally growing up?" Bell said as he knelt down. He confirmed it. When he came last time, with him leaning down, she was the same height as him. But now her height slightly surpassed that. Wiene gave a giggle.

"Bell Cranel." Suddenly a sharp voice interrupted the cheerful atmosphere. They all turned to a figure in the shadows. Bell had a grin across his face, he had sensed the monsters presence since when he arrived. He stood up.

"Asterius." he said turning to face the massive figure that stood over him, now that Bell was taller, the difference wasn't as big yet it was enough to be menacing. Yet to the rest of them, the presence of the two was more or less the same. Their overwhelming auras pouring out of their bodies as if clashing in the close vicinity of each other. "you've gotten stronger." Bell told him with a smirk.

"you grew as well. I wonder who would win if we fought now?" Asterius asked as he blowed out from his nostrils.

"uwaa..." Wiene panicked turning from person to person. She had become aware of Asterius from quite a little after she was saved by Bell, at first she was awkward with him. Yet soon enough, she started acting pretty normally, although he was quiet and serious, he never once told her to go away. Bell started chuckling.

"you're the final boss. My job is not to fight you just yet." Bell replied. Although his words implied that Asterius was stronger than him, the confident look in his eyes said otherwise. Bell never once lost his smile, Asterius turned and went back into the shadows and sat down in his usual place.

"we're heading out tonight." Asterius huffed from his place. Bell nodded and turned back to the other Xenos.

"well, we don't have that long, but I brought somethings from the surface. Fels entrusted them to me." Bell informed them smiling. The cheerful atmosphere came back in full blast. Most of the Xenos dreamt of going to the surface, there were no luxuries within the dungeon. Therefore, the things that Fels and Bell would occasionally bring down were precious. Of course, they had to be consumables since, clothes wouldn't work and accesories/ decorations wouldn't stay with the Xenos' repeated relocation.

"Oh, it's the rumored potato snacks. Man, what I would give to taste it fresh and hot."

" It's cookies."

"Ah, is that chocolate?" Wiene asked, looking at a brown packaging of a small bar. Bell smiled.

"I know you and Ray like this a lot especially, so I brought a lot." Bell told them, he looked left and right before leaning in to Wiene's ear, "don't tell anyone, but I brought an extra bar for you and Ray separately. This is our secret okay?" Bell whispered. Wiene giggled as they pinky swore, and everyone only looked at them with a gentle look. It was easily understood, what the relationship between Bell and Wiene was, a loving father who spoilt his child since he got to see her rarely and a daughter who loved her father equally as much.

"seriously, you dote on her too much." Ray sighed. Her tone wasn't criticisive mind you, it was more of a 'keep it up tho' kind of tone. Bell of course didn't mind. Bell chuckled dryly.

"well, it might be because I have a wife now, that I sort of like dealing with children." Bell replied. As he pat Wiene's head as she sat on his thigh with the biggest smile. She only got this incredibly happy whenever Bell came over, which wasn't many times. It helped remind the Xenos for their goal. The parental sight reminded all the Xenos something most monsters would often forget.

Not all humans were bad. Not all humans wanted to kill them.

It may seem like an exaggeration but even the slightest smile of Wiene seemed to bring back their own 'humanity' making them want to co-exist rather than exterminate. They all remembered once more, there is happiness to be achieved. And at the very least, even if they couldn't get it, the next generation of Xenos or maybe even the ones after, will be able to bathe in the bright sunlight that they all desire so badly.

"Wait... did you saw wife?" Ray finally noticed his words. It seemed like something that fit in so much, that her mind unconsciously glossed over it. Until she sort of realised it.

"uh yeah? I got married like a few days ago." Bell replied, giving them a confused look as if to ask why don't you know that. After a few seconds past, it finally clicked.

Oh.

OHHHH. "you guys had no way of knowing, right I forgot. Well, I... um got married to Riveria the other day." Bell smiled. He hoped that they would just gloss over it and that's it but, let's be honest... no way that would happen. They didn't smile.

"so... you mean to tell me, you got married after fighting a massive monster that could've potentially killed you guys. There is another massive monster coming. You came down here, and the chance of you dying is very realistic. Yet ignoring all of that, you still got married?" Lyd asked. Yes, the decision from a logical point of view was ridiculously stupid, even to the xenos who didn't know much about the surface, they learnt quite a lot about marriage because Ray never shutting up about finding a lover. This, right here... was a stupid decision.

"yeah well, I'll pull through... Hopefully." Bell shrugged. They all saw the problem here, Bell was careless. He got caught up with his emotions and made a risky move. They had no choice but to facepalm and just... forget about the last two dreadful minutes.

Regardless, they moved on, Bell didn't have much time to relax anyways.

(Italics represent Bell's voice recordings.)

" Is this thing recording? Goddamn it, Asfi made another dud." Bell cursed. "oh it's on, hello world. I am Bell Cranel, Level 8 executive of the Loki familia, hopefully you know that. Uh... 17 years old, married to a beautiful elven princess and-" Bell began talking.

"oi, Belluchi, I swear you had a limited amount of time to speak into that thing?" Lyd asked from the distance. He was right and what Bell was doing was accurately called, wasting precious recording time.

" Damn how'd you know that? Uh right. So, I am in the 20th floor safezone, I shall head down to the safe zone in the 39th floor. Obviously, I will be avoiding to fight the weaker monsters and since my falna can be updated by myself, I have no real worry besides hunger and sleep. I'm heading down with Asterius, the minotaur Xenos that is somehow hellbent on killing me in battle. Do you have any words?" Bell asked as an interview. They just watched him from the sidelines, it was clearly wasting the devices space.

"I'll kill you one day." Asterius huffed. Not the best thing to say, considering his position, but hey... Asterius tries his best.

"uh... ominous, I feel very safe with you having my back? You sound like Ganesha. Speaking of, say hello to Ganesha. Anyways, you probably won't hear this for another 5 days when this gets sent up. I'll start my logs, they'll be fast and concise, so don't expect too much." Bell recorded. Honestly, he was acting like an idiot, but it added to his charisma of sorts. "oh, ah right. Riveria, don't miss me too much okay? Just remember. With every bell toll, I'm there." he finished.

Was it arguably romantic? Was it efficient? Who knows, he was honestly just kidding around, very characterful of him.

"All right, that's enough seriousness. Let's go Asterius." Bell smiled and turned to them, who only looked flabbergasted.

'th-that was him being serious?' they questioned simultaneously. Thankfully however, Bell's charming personality, should help him from going crazy, after all, he was going to live amongst monsters for an entire month or more. According to his plan.

Bell and Asterius head down using the secret Xenos passage. They momentarily stopped to kill Udaeus real quick. He would've gone for the Amphisbaena but that thing had been killed recently so there was no point in doing so.

"Asterius, let me handle this." Bell smiled. He remembered Ais killing Udaeus single handedly when she needed to go to level 6 so this wouldn't be tough for him.

"hm." Asterius replied. Short and sweet, it was just the affirmation Bell required. He grinned, and put on his mask. The same mask he used from his Evilus killing days a year ago. After all, the final goal was the extermination of Evilus. He released an immense blood lust, the red fluid like aura filled the air. Asterius watched with a glint in his eyes. This was certainly new, from Asterius going off to train all the time, he didn't know much about Bell's situation and if Bell hadn't come around this time, he would've gone back up himself to test him.

Fortunately Bell came down instead. Obviously, for the sake of training but at least there didn't need to be a massive minotaur wrecking the surface apart.

The beady eyes of the Udaeus looking down at Bell from his usual giant stature. The red glow being the only distinct feature available for sight. It grabbed it's sword, something it would do only when a single fighter came forth. The usual cannon fodder also began to be dispensed, an immense number of monsters ran straight towards Bell. It was like the dungeon recognised how much of a threat Bell was, and decided to pour all of this floor's resources into killing Bell.

"ho? You think you deserve to look down on me?" Bell asked with confidence brimming in his voice. Not arrogance, but confidence. The type that would intimidate his opponents. The type that would reassure his allies. Black lightning sparks started to emerge from Bell's legs, thrashing against the ground. Thrumming in the very air. His grin widened under his mask. "REINHERIAR." he cast. Bell disappeared, or rather moved so fast that no-one could see where he was. Even for Asterius, it took quite a lot of attention to keep up with him.

From Asterius' eyes, it was surprisingly. Bell... was charging straight into the massive group of monsters. His two hands placed upon the dual swords on his hips. The red and blue glowing harmoniously. He drew them, and in what seemed like an instant but actually took a few miliseconds, the heads of most monsters flew off. Not to say that there wasn't enough of them remaining, but enough to make it seem like 60% of the monsters simply vanished into dust.

They couldn't keep up. By the time they realised what was happening, they had lost a huge number. He was jumping over monsters and simply killing them in one hit. Udaeus, however, saw the situation from above, taking the chance, he thrust his sword into the group of monsters. He killed a lot of Spartoi, but there was no fellowship between them. They could just be summoned again, Bell however saw this chance. He jumped off the neck of one of the monster, the force being enough to snap the neck off. He ran up the sword, and jumped onto its skeleton like body, he ran on to it's shoulders and jumped down going head first towards the ground. Asterius raised an eyebrow, which he didn't have. At first glance, the decision to not chop the head off was a weird one, but soon Asterius' saw the impossibly long streaks of cuts appearing on the body. The literal bones of Udaeus shattering, as if someone's ribs were shattered.

They broke apart and the monster obviously collapsed, a massive cloud of dust appeared. Bell stood on a stone and saw the head of the monster. Although, it didn't make much noise, the red eyes were still looking at him. "ugh, them eyes be scary tho." Bell shrugged as he grabbed his swords and threw into the monsters eyes. Seemingly extinguishing it's glare, the monster was dying anyways, Bell had destroyed the magic stone. It was slowly disintegrated into dust.

"I thought those stones were important for you humans?" Asterius suddenly spoke up as he went up to Bell. Bell didn't even break a sweat, who would've thought it would take Bell only 3 minutes to wipe out Udaeus.

"No, I'm not interested in the money. Besides, the sword will be just fine. I needed to excelia from him, and I have to say... it's an atrocious amount for a monster rex. Like a drop of water in an empty bucket. The hell was the point of the last 3 minutes?" Bell asked aloud. It was amusing, to see him complain calling a floor boss to weak, not that it was very surprising, Udaeus wasn't a very satisfactory opponent for Asterius either. "I guess I should record this."

"Uh so I think a few hours of walking has passed? nevermind, apparently it was 8 hours, we were walking pretty slowly I guess. I have to say, travelling with Asterius is one of the most boring experiences, filled with only questions of when I'll fight him and how much he wants to kill me. I can no longer guarantee my sanity, who knows he might try to kill me in my sleep." Bell sniffled. His acting was getting better than before, no one would believe he just killed Udaeus by himself just now.

"uh, anyways. Udaeus was killed, and Loki I have to say, even with my skill... this thing ain't worth nothing. If floor 37 boss is only like this, I don't even know anymore. I got an overall of 100 points, and a massive sword that I don't even want to swing so... eh whatever. I'll just continue I guess. Bell signing out." Bell chuckled as he stopped the recording. Asterius was watching from the sides.

'What a playful person. He certainly has changed even since the last time I went up, yet his strength seems to have increased many folds.' Asterius analysed. He was by no means just brawn and no brain. Yet his passion for fighting Bell makes it seem like he's a dumb monster. Others often think that when they first see him, but they all soon learn the truth.

"Yo Asterius, let's quickly go to the 39th, I wanna grab some food." Bell told him as he jumped off the rock. Asterius silently followed, they made their way down to the 39th floor within an hour. Their pace was slow but understandable, the Xenos route were safe, but not short.

However, as they got to the 39th floor, Bell sat down inside. The massive walls encompassing them created a bird cage like feeling, which was understandably annoying since he was trying to eat and not feel like a pawn on a chess board. But in the end the lowered appetite, saved his precious food.

"you want some?" Bell offered Asterius as he held up a sandwich toward Asterius. "It's my wife's cooking. You'll never get to taste it again." He grinned as he moved the food around.

"I'll slap it away if you don't stop." Asterius threatened. Bell immediately brought the food back towards himself, closer into his chest as if protecting his child.

"How could you?! I'm telling Riveria about this." Bell huffed. Was he being childish? yes. Did it suit his age? No, it didn't. Did it suit his character however? Very much so.

After a quick lunch break. Bell sat down thinking, about how to increase the efficiency.

"Asterius, we will stop the Xenos path. We're going to fight down normally now. Do you know the layout of each floor?" Bell asked, this was a main way for him to fight, he could fight non-stop going down.

A few days pass

It's the 4th day of Bell fighting and basically living in the dungeon. So far, Bell has been fighting pretty often, he would get a couple hours of sleep here and there since he could still afford to. He recorded surprisingly only one journal log the entire time, however, considering how there isn't much to say about these floors since they've been explored, they didn't have much to say. He however, finished recording and gave it to Ray to take it back. Ray wasted no time to take it back, since Bell was especially expressive on how important the fast delivery was required. She got back to the 20th floor within a couple hours of non-stop flying and managed to hand the cube to the Fels before taking rest.

At the Surface

It had been a few days since Bell was gone to the dungeon. Not much was different really, Riveria stayed extra close to Loki, since she might realise if something happened to Bell. However, that meant, no drinking for Loki, since in her toxication she may say random incoherent things. Truly a woman in love was fierce. Soon, a package had arrived. Raul was on guard so he retrieved, but he instantly recognised the cube, he ran inside and all the way to the food hall where the members were having breakfast.

"Finn san!" Raul said bursting into the room. Everyone, including Finn was facing Raul, who was looking as if he saw a ghost. He held up a package. "The first cube has arrived." he announced, many didn't understand the meaning, but the executives rushed over.

"really?" Finn asked. It was a day earlier but well, it is hard to tell the time in the dungeon. They grabbed the blue light cube, it was indeed the right one. The recorder showed, 9 mins and 46 seconds. The executives left their breakfasts and head to the meeting room to listen to it. They expected to hear something serious, or rather important maybe about his potion reserves, his mental health condition.

But who were they kidding, it's Bell Cranel for goodness sakes. By the end of the first five minutes, Finn was face palming as if his ear heard the most embarassing words. Riveria was blushing a bit. Gareth and Loki were teary eyed from all the laughing. They had heard up to the Udaeus part.

"goodness me, if someone told me to live in the dungeon with this guy, I don't think I would mind." Gareth roared. The comedy Bell was saying, calmed them as if to say that he had been fine. Ais was a bit off put, because he sounded like he was having so much fun, she wanted to go in a solo expedition too but was promptly denied, since she would most likely never come back up if she had the choice.

"Ugh, and I told him to not waste the time anyways." Finn sighed.

"let's continue listening." Loki told them as she pressed the button once more.

"ah day 4 I think. I honestly cannot tell anymore, which if you're wondering... is concerning. I bet while listening to the first 5 mins of the recording, Finn probably said something like 'and I told him not to waste the time anyways.'" Bell mocked, they all looked at Finn who looked slightly irritated at the mocking tone but they moved on. "Regardless, I am at the...44th floor? Maybe 45th. If you don't remember this one, the floor looks like the inside of the volcano. It's like a freaking oven. I decided to abandon the Xenos safe path, since there wasn't enough confrontation and have been grinding these monsters here to no end."

"what? That's reckless." Riveria bursted out.

"yes yes, I know it's reckless." Bell confirmed in the recording as if to match what Riveria said, "but hey, I need to fight. My status right now is probably mid level 8, maybe slightly less. Anyways, the main annoyance is the heat and peludas. Goddamn these freaking peludas. They are everywhere, in massive hordes too. They don't hit me with their poison, but they look so fucking disgusting. You guys ever fight the same monster over and over again? They are turning into a goblin equivalent for me." Bell cursed.

However, this confirmed one thing. The expedition was working, so far, Bell took no risks and was smoothly getting stronger as planned. Alas, if it's to do with Bell Cranel, nothing is smooth. Besides Riveria's skin.

"So, yeah I'm fine I guess. I have yet to be damaged good enough. Only a couple scratches from tiny slip ups here and there. Well, the next goal is Balor. On the 49th floor, hopefully it won't be as weak as Udaeus." and just from that it was obvious to guess, Bell had a smug grin on his way. A drop of sweat went down everyone's heads.

"damn flex." Bete cursed.

"ah yes, how could I forget. After the Balor is beaten, which will probably take 30 minutes to an hour, depends on how long I toy around with it. I and Asterius have decided, after a long and thorough discussion which began with 'hey' and ended with 'fuck you' , that you should stop people from entering the dungeon for now." Bell told them. They all flinched back in surprise.

Bell was literally telling them to stop people from earning money.

" The fuck, does he think he owns the place?" Bete growled. He already had enough of Bell acting all smug and the fact that he had the strength to back it made it worse.

"Calm down, if it's him he has a reason." Loki instructed. Bell acted like an idiot, but he wasn't careless or a fool. He knew the best actions for others better than anyone else, since he always fought for others rather than himself. The fact that he was telling them to stop people from going to the dungeon meant he was going to do something extremely stupid or incredible. For this guy there was no normal in his dictionary anyways.

"the reason being simple. Since these monsters haven't been enough, I'll be summoning a what's it called? Jugganet, Jugmanut? Jagamarukun?" Bell asked into the device. They all listened confused.

"I don't know what that is, but it sounds delicious." Ais added, in character with her self, they all looked at her as he stomach grumbled at hearing the mystical name of a jagamarukun.

"ah yes a juggernaut." he confirmed. "I think that's what it's called, the mercenary of the dungeon or something."

"Ok, not so delicious anymore." Ais corrected herself as Tiona laughed nervously.

"WAIT.. A JUGGERNAUT? THE THING THAT WIPED THE ASTRAEA FAMILIA?" Riveria asked shocked.

"oh my... he has a death wish." Finn sighed.

"hahaha I bet you're losing your minds right now. But I heard the Juggernaut is stronger based on where it is? Since I'll be in the 49th floor, it should be relatively strong right? So, to bring one, as far as I can remember, you need to damage the dungeon faster than it can heal. So Asterius will be going ham on the wall and floors. So, there might be intense shaking, that's why I'm telling you, block all adventurers." Bell told them in a serious tone. Arguably he sounded like he was prepared to fight to the death. "oh and did I say, I'll be fighting the ugly thing by myself? Asterius will only intervene if I ask or if I'm on death's doorstep... but remember this you guys, I do not have control over the juggernaut, I will not be able to stop it unless I get to fight it properly, so don't... absolutely don't let anyone into the dungeon. Unless, you want them to die," Bell menacingly warned them and then, the recording stopped.

They just stood in silence. What were they supposed to do? Should they listen to what Bell asked of them? Should they ignore it? Or should they try to stop him? Countless questions just flowed right through their minds, of course it was reckless, however they didn't know enough about the situation.

"We need to stop him. Why would you even bring it out if you can't contain it?" Riveria decisively spoke. Her unwavering voice, rang out in the silence like the harsh truth.

"Riveria...we know that's impossible, if he was in the 44th floor, it has already been at least a few hours. We can't stop him in time." Finn told her. Indeed she knew that it was impossible as well, but what could she do? She knew he'd be reckless but certainly not to this extent.

"tch, oi stop weeping about and make a decision. Do we follow that guy's request? Or do we do our own thing?" Bete growled. He wouldn't admit it, but he was worried a bit himself, a juggernaut wasn't a joke. It certainly wasn't something you can just call up on a whim and think you'll leave just fine.

"This obviously is a gamble on his part." Loki finally spoke, drawing everyone's attention to her, "with the kid's typical boosts. Killing the juggernaut, would be a massive gain. Maybe even bring him near to levelling up too. But the main problem is we don't know much about the monster, argh fuck's sake." Loki cursed. Their position was not a good one, if they spent too much time researching the monster, then they wouldn't be able to successfully stop the people from entering the dungeon.

"Ok, Loki you go have a talk with Ouranos about this issue, since he also knows about Bell's trip. Me, Riveria, Gareth will go to Astraea familia home, the rest of us split up and go to both Hermes and Ganesha familia try and see what they can do. We don't have much time so waste none, is that clear?" Finn asked.

"YES CAPTAIN." they all responded and went off, Loki made her way to the guild.

At The Guild

" Ah, Loki sama, you can't-" someone tried to stop her, but instantly they clammed up. The overwhelming pressure coming from Loki rendered them unable to continue.

"Sorry, I really ain't in the mood to follow the rules for now. Not when my children are in trouble." Loki threatened, she ignored him and went off towards the secret prayer room. The tunnel was as long as it always was, but thanks to her speed walking she got there relatively quickly.

"so you're here, Loki." Ouranos suddenly spoke up as soon as she entered.

"yeah. Imma need a favour from ya." Loki told him, she could've probably explained it better, but she thought it would be better to make him listen to the thing himself, so she played the last couple minutes of the recording to him. They remained in silence, Ouranos didn't even question it until the recording ended. "so yeah, he's tryna be stupid again. Ya think ya can put up some random excuse to stop people going to the dungeon?" Loki asked him.

"... what a troublesome man. Fine, Fels." Ouranos called forth as he emerged from the darkness, " issue the guild a restriction to stop all adventurers from entering the dungeon." he commanded. Fels complied and soon their work will go into motion.

Meanwhile, the groups headed to Hermes and Ganesha both got them to agree to help out, while Hermes's response was more than suspicious, Ganesha's reply was 'I am Ganesha' which they took as confirmation. However, the problem lied in Finn's group.

Under any circumstances, these things were not to be talked about. For a Goddess, to feel each and every single one of her children's connections be torn is painfully present. It's someone no-one should have to face but it was what it was. The three made their way to the Hearth Blade Manor, the only one they could ask was Ryuu, the sole survivor of the time. They knocked on the entrance. Soon, one of the members opened the door.

"hello, can you take us to Ryuu-san?" Finn asked with a small smile. The girl nodded and guided them towards Ryuu's office, after knocking, she told them to come in.

"Oh? Finn san, Riveria sama and Gareth san. What's with the sudden visit?" Ryuu asked ocnfused. For the top three of the Loki familia to visit all at once, was either a house tour of Riveria's part or something serious.

"uh... we need to ask you a few things. Something only you can answer." Riveria told her. She could feel a stone present in her gut, as if weighing down upon her. "It's to do with the... juggernaut." Riveria revealed. It seemed like things took a turn for worse, who would've thought. Ryuu's eyes narrowed, they knew what was coming, but didn't lose their bearings.

"why would you want to know about that monster?" Ryuu asked. A predictable question, of course but one they were hesitant to answer.

" B-Bell... is thinking of summoning one on the 49th floor." Riveria honestly spoke up, they came for information. However, the information was so specific that there just wasn't a way to be discreet about it.

"...WHAT? DOES HE WANT TO DIE?" Ryuu bursted out suddenly. The reaction was pretty to Riveria's own so it was understandable. "that thing was strong enough on the 27th floor, but he wants to fight one on the 49th floor. With who exactly? You guys are still he-" It dawned upon Ryuu, she looked at their faces, none were looking at her directly, "s-surely. H-he doesn't want to fight it alone does he?" Ryuu asked. It was kind of hard to believe, but the lack of response said it all. "... sigh, it really doesn't matter. that thing is impossible to beat most of the times, it's too late." Ryuu informed them.

"Ryuu san, if we could at least hear about its weaknesses-" FInn tried to speak but got cut off.

"weaknesses? What will it help? He's on the 49th floor. You are on the surface, there is nothing for you to do. Besides... that thing doesn't have weaknesses." Ryuu told them.

"eh? I-It doesn't?" Riveria asked. Now if you may ask why are such high level adventurers so clueless about the monster, it's quite obvious,=... the guild had issued a gag order. Ryuu wasn't allowed to talk about it, and the majority of the population believes that the Astraea familia was killed by an Evilus trap. When in reality, the Lokis learned only a while ago that they were actually killed by something called a juggernaut.

"no, that thing has claws that sharper than any sword. It's speed and strength are beyond comprehension. It's armor can reflect any magic thrown at it. Worst of all... it has no magic stone." Ryuu revealed. Their eyes widened in shock.

"t-that's not possible, a magic stone is the core of a monster, without the being is not alive. It cannot move." Riveria called out on the obvious discrepancy.

"That's exactly what makes it so fearsome, the monster even though massive, outpaced Alise our captain, it's claws tore us apart. The magic reflected from it blinded our own allies. Even after the entire thing, after all the things that occured, the thing wouldn't die. Since it had no core as to attack, it had no main weakness. Beyond these things I don't know anymore. I don't even understand what it requires to die. All I can say about this right now, is that we have no choice but to wait it out. We literally have no other choice, when the juggernaut comes out, the dungeon starts to act rampant. It's basic functions fails, since it can't heal itself in time." Ryuu told them the harsh truth. There was nothing they could do, it seemed that Bell understood the reason for banning adventurers from entering, since the monsters would act everywhere they would be hard to manage and thus become a risk.

They returned to the Twilight Manor, to once again speak of the information they gathered.

Deep in the dungeon.

Bell was sitting on a rock, a massive magic stone lay behind him as he bit into a piece of jerky. He gave a massive grin, "It's time to get it." Bell spoke.

It would be better to rewind time to around when Ray took the last note back up. Bell met and sent the light cube to Ray to take up at the entrance of the 49th floor. He entered the room. The massive room, named Moytura. A desolate stone land, no trees or greenery could bear to exist here. The reddish brown hue simply etched onto everything. The extreme heat causing small beads of sweats to flow down Bell's chin.

(So, the appearance of the Balor is just not described at all. As far as I'm aware. But, from the beings I'm aware of, the Irish depiction of him being a giant demon with feathery wings and bull horns. So, I decided to use this version, don't blame me, blame the fandom.)

In the centre of the room, in a slightly lower platform, a giant black figure. Raven like wings sprouting from its back, it would seem majestic had not seemed like a crow had taken drugs and had been magnified in size. The only difference in colour were it's pale green eyes that had locked onto Bell and Asterius from the beginning. Two bull like horns placed neatly on each side of it's head. Truly, a definition of darkness and death.

"Huh, would you look at that. Look Asterius, it's your dad." Bell joked. If you had gotten rid of the black skin, then it would indeed look like Asterius' dad, but that doesn't mean it pleased him.

"That, is NOT my father." Asterius corrected with a huff. There was a strain in his voice as if he was tryin to control his anger.

"SCREEEEECCH" a loud scream rang out in the floor, making Bell cover his ears.

"Goddamn, it might look like your dad, but it sounds like your mum. Jesus Christ, the bitch is in heat." Bell cursed. He was joking about, but as he removed his hands from his ear and looked at them, there was red liquid coming from his ears. His eardrums were ruptured from the sound. Bell thought it was a time as good as any, to pour some small healing potions onto his ears and drink some. it was the diluted version, he got for cheaper and hidden in his bag, since Riveria would probably go bat shit crazy for taking duds with him but well, he had his ways. Money didn't grow on trees.

But it did grow in the dungeon. Soon, a massive group of fomoires appeared, charging their way to Bell. Bell drew Ignis.

"Quick change: Bow." he cast as the greatsword, soon curved and slimmed to make a bow. Bell kneeled onto one knee and drew the bowstring. "destroy and devour. Spread like poison. Embody the dark, DARK REFRACTION." he cast as an arrow of pure dark matter formed in his bow, he let go off the string as the arrow thrust forward as it pierced the middle of the group and exploded into a hemisphere of nothingness. All was devoured in the space, as the group continued to approach they had a massive hole in there. Bell returned Ignis back to its original form and charged straight.

'I don't have time to be playing with disposables' Bell thought. The fomoires were certainly stronger than the monsters on previous floors, but not a concern for Bell yet. He jumped over a fomoire and sliced it in half in the process. Using 'REINHERIAR' he waltz in a zig-zag form as he blitz through the dozens of monsters. As he approached the Balor, it seemed to have red glow near its mouth and soon it unleashed a ruthless burst of flames. The flame collided to the ground, immediately melting it due to the extremely high temperature. Bell used Ignis in a shield form as he jumped striaght through the flames. A path of clearance behind him as he gained height. As he reached the top of the monster, he could clearly see. The clear pale green eyes looking right at him. Bell grinned under his mask.

"FIREBOLT." he chanted as a flame burst exploded to the Balor's mouth. However, he failed to see the monsters wings approaching from the left, he could barely block the feathery wing as it slammed into his body and sent him flying towards the eastern wall. The impact didn't help at all either, Bell was essentially flung to the wall. With a sharp crack, he cough out blood as he got buried into the wall. Bell fell down and landed on his back.

"urg, well... that felt great." Bell chuckled. Asterius only looked at him from where he was standing. They had made the plans already, so he wouldn't interfere.

'Get up Bell, if you can't beat that stupid minotaur or whatever the fuck that is, how can you beat the juggernaut?' Bell encouraged himself. He returned to chuckling, it's really been a while since Bell had to give himself a pep talk. He got up and saw the flame burst being charged again, from the small glints of red coming from the thing's mouth. Bell sheathed Ignis and drew his twin blades once more. He started running. Soon disappearing into a blur, speed was his usual weapon and he would use it to his benefit.

Yet the balor could keep up, since he wasn't using REINHERIAR, it spun it's head and surprisingly, closed its wings inwards as if to cocoon itself. However, as soon as the confusion appeared, the balor started shooting it's feathers towards Bell. Each individual feather moving at high speeds and instilling itself into the ground below.

Bell dodged each feather. A cloud of dust appearing with each one that embedded into the ground.

"Dark flames of the past, flare up, in the name of the jester, Loki, I beckon thee. Flames of war, rage on with ferociousness..." he began chanting. The monster sensing danger, starting increasing the shooting rate. Bell now having dodged each with acrobatic and flexibility. He jumped forward and spun as two feather nearly skimmed past him.

"enslave the purity of my soul, I again beckon thee, under the name of Cranel, possess my blade, flare, flare, flare, slay my enemies, eradicate all in my path, for they crossed this unholy prince..." he leaped up, and as a feather approached and Bell surprsingly used it as footing to further leap forward, jumping from feather to feather. The balor finally released it's flames, shooting forward and turning as it followed Bell. The feathers themselves being burnt into nothing.

"PROMETHEUS." Bell cast as flames rose up and surrounded his blades. he started slicing in extreme speeds, cutting up each leg of the balor with extreme precision. Did he know the anatomy of the balor? No, he didn't even know that it was a demonic feathery minotaur hybrid. The dark figure of the balor lighting up as each cut from the blades left a burning flame erupting from the wound preventing it from healing. He cut all over the body, although shallow, the hits never healed. He leapt up and as the hand of the balor was about to hit him, he within an instant jumped from the palm of the Balor and flung himself to the neck. A white flash ran through temporarily blinding them, as the Balor got decapitated. The smooth platform where the head once was, now bathing a raging sea of flames from the slim cut. Asterius's eyes held a level of surprise but he soon smiled. It was within his expectations. The Balor disintegrated into a massive cloud of smoke.

Asterius walked up to the rock Bell was sitting, pulling the collar of his shirt to relieve himself of the heat that had consumed the floor.

"That was a decent fight." Asterius commended.

"heh, could've done better. Now, let me update my status." Bell told him and his eyes began to glow. No matter how many times Asterius saw this, it suprised him, Bell's red eyes glowed even more ferocious and his black armor just barely contained the white glow from his back. Soon however, the glow faded. "huh, I gained a decent amount of excelia." Bell commented.

Status:

Bell Cranel

Level: 8

Alias: Dark Prince

Str: 600

Vit: 428

Dex: 548

Agi: 698

Mag: 586

Magic:

Firebolt

Reinheriar

Dark Refraction

Ianuae Magicae

Skills:

Liaris Freese

Blood Lust (8,783)

Blood lust weapon slots:

Prometheus

Tenebris

Universal weaponisation

Hero of the End (inheritor of the Hero of the Beginning's will, changed the name cuz it's long af)

Dev. skills:

same as usual just improvements

In terms of normal fighting Bell would be ready to level up soon. But since his stats have been on override for quite a while, he aimed for at least 1500 in every aspect. Which, was a massive goal but he still went for it. So, Bell sat down for lunch. A bunch of dried meat jerky, some dried fruits and a healthy dose of dual potions.

"Well then, let's summon this thing shall we?" Bell grinned. He nodded to Asterius, who drew his two war axes. He swung it around everywhere. He ran and streaked massive gashes along the walls as if it were skin. However, that didn't seem to be enough. Bell thus, stood up and fired a Dark Refraction towards the ground. As much as the dungeon was trying to heal, Asterius was practically running in circles and cutting it non-stop. Finally, the dungeon seemed to let out a shrill of immense despair and anger. It reminded Bell kind of like the behemoth but soon, the room's lighting dimmed. A figure seemed to be approaching from above the floors, from a blindspot no-one had spotted, a large hole emerged and a massive titan like figure, twice the size of the Balor flew through. The cloud of dust that emerged could not even be exaggerated, because no matter how hyperbolic someone was, the description would be fitting in this case.

"hahaha," Bell chuckled dryly, "oh boy, this one's gonna be tough." he smirked.

A/N: and that's a wrap. I'm back guys, Are you as happy as I am, probably not but eh well, can't get everyone to like me. Btw I had one thing to say, Idk what happened but this community suddenly died, like before there were a couple chapters from series coming out everyday and now it takes a couple days for even one to come out. Like bro, what's going on?

Either way, hope you liked it, I went a bit more to the descriptive side so it might be a paragraphed than before and less dialogued based. So tell me in the reviews if u like the change or nah.

Bless.