Hey people I intended to post yesterday but realized that the point I wanted to reach in this chapter was a bit further away than initially anticipated. I wanna make a few things clear:
One - I don't proof read the whole chapter and even if I did there would still be errors so mind that.
Two - It's to do with the fluff in this story. I want to do more but as of now I can't. As you can understand Bell is five, so making fluff scenes is rather difficult. For now this level is what I'll have to maintain it at. It will grow and evolve exponentially as we get to the arc after Evilus. Also don't worry Alfia will be the first to give Bell a real kiss.
Three - I will not be doing Yuri and they will be virgins as you ask. I am also not confident about smut scenes so I don't know. If you want I can try, otherwise I'll mention and leave your imagination at it.
Four - As to what Goddess Bell will join once he is freed. I've looked at the comments, whenever people said any Goddess I added a point to all the Goddess in the selection. Astraea is NOT an option I'm sorry for that. Some might have misread, most just asked for her or Artemis if not an option. However, I want to keep Astraea's Familia as it is, don't worry though she will end up in the harem.
Counting the votes it went:
Erebus - 1
Loki - 8
Artemis - 12
Freya - 8
So Artemis is the apparent winner. I will be planning with this in mind, so it can't be changed from now.
Five - I don't know how it happened but Erebus is not a female.
Six - I didn't have to count as it was apparent that three quarters of the people want Athena in the harem, so that will happen, but a bit later in the story I'm afraid.
Seven - More fluffiness will come with the addition of other girls, so when Evilus is 'defeated'. I've seen many characters that people asked for, I'm still not sure which will and which will not be included, I'll decide that further in the story. I personally don't want to include too many people otherwise it gets complicated and hard on my end. Though I will include at least a dozen or two.
Eight - Snippets it is for the OEBD
If you have questions about the plot I'll answer, requests and ideas are accepted but I do NOT promise that they will be included or used. I'd say this is everything for now, I don't think I forgot anything if I did and want to ask anything then PM. Enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 3 – The Start Of The Necro Phantoms
Having woken up, Bell got dressed before walking into the dining hall to have breakfast. Alfia, Riveria, Zald and Europa were already in the room, sat at their places, who upon seeing the rabbit enter, greeted him in unison.
"Morning Bell."
Bell greeted them back before taking his place next to Alfia and Riveria who seemed to be a bit red. Demanding if they were okay Bell scooted closer, worried for Alfia's and Riveria's health. As Bell came closer to inspect them, the two women started blushing madly, the memories of yesterday's long and embarrassing teasing by Europa resurfacing in full strength.
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The night before Europa had prodded and poked around the two women's emotions, asking about how they spent their date with Bell. To her it was just too good, so she took it a step up, implanting naughty fantasies with young Bell.
Like she had expected it had quite a drastic effect on the two, causing them to blush and curse at her. Having the seed planted, the two women couldn't get the naughty ideas out of their mind, every time they tried and failed they cursed at Europa.
Europa was having so much fun that she decided to risk Alfia's and Riveria's wrath by treading into dangerous and uncharted territory. The idea excited her as a smirk grew on her face.
"You won't confess then?"
Alfia and Riveria looked at Europa with a deadpanned look,
"are you crazy?! Course not!"
Europa nodded and hummed,
"Hmm, I see. Then surely you wouldn't mind if I make my move on him, do you ladies?"
The two who were looking down in embarrassment shot their gazes up at Europa who was giggling. The two started shouting at her, making her giggle even more, earning her more and more ire from the two adventurers. Playing around with those two mages' jealousy was dangerous as they could end up burning the entire palace to ashes.
Even the mighty level eight wouldn't get out of it unscathed. She knew the risks she was taking, jealousy was a dangerous weapon, but it was just too fun for her. That changed as she saw the two getting ready to chant a spell to demolish everything in front of them, causing Europa started to panic.
"O-oh, okay, I was just kidding you two. Don't go blowing anything up."
The two mages glared at her before huffing and sitting back down, not facing her. She giggled one final time before sending them off to their rooms, having had her dose of fun for the day. She looked at the sky and let out a small yet happy sigh, with it a smile graced her face.
Europa would never make a move on Bell, she did love him, but not in that way. Ever since Meteria had passed away, she always taken care of Bell with Alfia, acting as his mother. Europa didn't have a lover, much less a husband. However, if there was one thing she wanted, that was a child and Bell so happened to appear, fitting the checklist perfectly.
Meteria had entrusted him to her, as she found Alfia unreliable to act as mother figure. From then on she loved him as his own son, together with the help of Maxim who acted as his father, not wishing for someone as cowardly as his actual father to raise Bell, fearing what he might become.
All the times she or Maxim spent time with Bell, she could hear the other members in the background, staring at them and whispering words like 'family' or 'mother' which she didn't mind, no, rather she enjoyed. Bell didn't get to meet his father nor spend that much time with his mother, matter of fact he wouldn't even remember her face had it not been for the pictures they have of her. As for the father, he was never mentioned nor shown as they didn't want him to be influenced by him.
Thinking about Bell she couldn't help but smile fondly, he promised to Meteria to love him, watch over him and protect him, and so she will do.
"Perhaps I'll spend day with him as well, just to give him a break from Alfia and Riveria. Hehehe."
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Back to the present, while she was remembering the night before, Bell sceptically accepted Alfia's and Riveria's reasoning of being fine, turning his attention back to the exquisite food in front of his nose. Athena soon entered the room with the usual four people following behind.
"I see you adventurers are early risers. You're welcome to eat as much as you wish. In an hour, my children here will accompany you to one of the small monster lairs nearby, resting only a few hundred meders away from here. With that out of the way enjoy."
With her speech over, Athena sat on a throne at the head of the table, her four Familia members sitting to each of her flanks. Bell smiled at the excitement of being able to fight monsters again, whilst dismissing Athena's speech as normal. What little Bell couldn't see were the faces of his companions.
The four veteran adventurers looked at Athena in shock. Her speech, her attitude, they didn't recognise any of that. Sure the Goddess had been nice to them in the past, to the exception of Zald, mostly due to the presence of Alfia and Riveria, but this was generosity on another level. Thing that was found to be vaguely suspicious by Alfia.
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In the following hours, the entourage of adventurers, escorted by the Athena Familia, reached the small nest of monsters that had been mentioned before. The nest contained monsters that periodically attacked the city wall as well as several nearby village that were withing striking range of the nest.
The whole nest problem as a whole was nearly four months old. Due to this, the nests and monster numbers had grown substantially. This led to Altena suffering mass casualties, mostly civilians in small villages, as they didn't have any guards or a vanguard protecting the village. Taking heavy losses and not being capable to properly fight back and quell the monster insurgency, Athena had asked for Orario's help to deal with this problem, leading to the present time.
The entourage soon reached the housing the monsters, a large cave from which the sound of low growls already reached their ears. The entourage halted taking cover behind a large rock situated on a hill overlooking the entrance to the cave. All Athena Familia members had their weapons in hand, ready to attack the monsters.
Meanwhile Zald looked at the cave and contemplated their plan of action before he turned to Europa. The level seven knew what Zald was thinking and nodded, signalling him to go on. Zald moved to Bell and put a hand on his shoulder, causing the rabbit to turn to him confused.
"This is an occasion to make up for the time you lost in the dungeon. Why don't you show them the pride of the Zeus and Hera Familia?"
Bell smiled widely and brightly, with a nod he was gone, darting towards the entrance of the cave much to the surprise of the others who weren't aware of the plan. Unlike usual, he didn't unsheathe his katana but grabbed his dagger instead.
"Bell?"
Alfia turned to Zald confused, who simply shrugged,
"let him go at it."
Alfia and Riveria sighed at the battle junky dashing into action. Though not everyone was agreeing with the option.
"You're letting that kid go inside alone?!"
Asked a random Athena Familia member. Together with the four strongest members, the Athena Familia had brought a large part of the garrison directly from the palace. The captain seemed to agree,
"that's too much for just a kid like him!"
The adventurers on the other hand disagreed before Europa explained.
"Bell is a level two, he'll manage. The monsters are severely weaker than the ones in the dungeon. Unlike you, he is used to fighting in those conditions thanks to the narrow corridors of the dungeon and hardly anyone compares to him when it comes to skill, technique and he is very cunning."
Just as she finished the sound of fighting started, the sound of a blade tearing through flesh, the sound of monsters screeching and screaming, all sounds that suggested that the battle was going in Bell's favour. The group waited around ten minutes before Zald started to move.
"Now that he has carved us a path, let's check out what the result was."
The cave had mushy earth walls, with a few stones sticking out here and there, on the ceiling and on the walls, one could see the roots of the trees above. At the same time though the walls and ground were smeared with blood, other than that, the whole place was littered with blood puddles and magic stones.
The Athena Familia members couldn't believe their eyes. It left the impression of a slaughter taking place, which was exactly what had happened. The adventurers though looked at the scene before them with a grin, proud of the growing strength of the rabbit.
Turning around a corner they found Bell facing off against a large number of silverbacks that had him surrounded. Even then, they stood no chance as Bell sliced the monkeys apart. The others restricted themselves to watching. The amount of excelia that Bell would get from these monsters would comparatively low to those of the dungeon, but the numbers seemed to make up for the loss of quality.
From each hole, more monsters came charging towards Bell, who with his level two status was untouchable to the monsters. The Athena Familia members wanted to enter the battle to help but couldn't find a reason. They felt like they would simply get in the way and this feeling of inferiority irritated. The thought of being inferior to the rabbit, who was barely a ten months old adventurer, level two and a man out of all things, made it unbearable to the women who were raised with the ideology of hating men.
Ergane fumed seeing the boy fight, not believing that he was a level two. Thinking about her fight, her chances didn't look as bright as she initially thought, which worried her. Her golden chance to get her hands on Alfia and Riveria, the loves of her life, now they would be thwarted by the boy, though the boy is the reason she got this golden chance in the first place.
Seeing him slice through the monsters started making her worried. The more she watched the more her chances of winning seemed to decrease. She started wondering if he had a weakness, but she didn't know him, nor had she met him for long, making it difficult for her to uncover a weakness.
The adventurers though were more focused on something more concerning. Looking at the pattern, variety and organization of the monsters, one thing was made clear, this was not natural. Someone was doing this artificially from the shadows. The numbers and strength of the monsters was unnatural for a large nest, even for a lair, the monsters were too organized and wee unusually strong, in some cases they were as strong as the ones from the dungeon.
As Bell single-handedly finished the monsters, he turned to return back to the large group, but his face had an inquisitive look, as if he was confused and thinking about something deeply. Making his way to Alfia, Zald, Europa and Riveria, Bell stated his confusion as he noticed the unusuality of the monsters. Coming up with the same theory of something being wrong.
Having finished their observation they decided to wrap things up. Bell had destroyed the whole nest as well as all the monsters that were inside it. Before leaving they burnt the whole nest down and got on the carriages heading back to Delna. They'd have to give this assessment to Athena to warn of a possibly dangerous variable in this whole crisis and that it may be part of a larger scheme, which could be much more serious than it seems.
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"So what you're saying is that there might be a group of people behind this?"
Europa nodded. Athena had carefully listened to Europa's theory, after all, they were the experts in this field and drew to the conclusion that there was an organization, one that was powerful and big enough to carry out such a large scale operation.
"To be more precise, we believe that there might even be a tamer amongst the perpetrators."
Even if the group behind the attack had enough manpower for this operation, the monsters were moving too conveniently. With a large number of people, they could force the monsters into attacking the nation of Altena. However, the monsters were too many, too obedient and coordinated, attacking only civilian populated areas, avoiding any military checkpoints or garrison stations. Which made them draw to the last conclusion: a tamer.
Normally a tamer wouldn't be a problem, but the sheer amount of monsters, strength of monsters and variety made it worrisome. Either they had hundreds of tamers, or they had some impressively skilled tamers. Monsters are territorial and don't get along with other species, so seeing such a wide diversity of monsters working and living together suggested the obedience of the monsters.
According to the intel provided by the Athena Familia, there was an irregular sword stag that supposedly lead the monsters, but even then, there was no way for the monster to lead this number of monsters, that totalled more than seven thousand.
Other than the sword stag not being powerful enough, even if irregular, monsters themselves weren't intelligent enough to form a task force and strike civilian areas, whilst also distinguishing which areas to avoid. Monsters are generally cocky and only sense the danger emanating from a person when they are leagues apart in strength.
"We also presume that there are monsters that come directly from the dungeon."
The revelation by Zald shocked the Athena Familia members as well as the patron Goddess.
"We don't know how they could have possibly managed, but there is no doubt that they snuck dungeon monsters in here."
"This certainly has escalated quickly. It seems I might need your help more than I thought. I think we might need to extend your stay here in Altena."
The others nodded before they were dismissed and they all returned to their own rooms, except for Bell who was dragged away by Riveria and Alfia, causing Athena to look at them curiously, Ergane to fume and Zald and Europa to chuckle and giggle continuously.
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"You did great Bell, I'm really proud of you."
Bell currently laid down on a bed in Riveria's room, his head resting on the high elf's lap as she gently caressed his head, while his face sported a smile, which Riveria loved to see. Alfia was busy writing a letter to Hera, in which meantime Riveria had taken the opportunity to spend more time with the snow haired bunny.
The proximity of the bunny made Riveria blush, which wasn't noticed by said rabbit, not that he would understand the reason even if he did. Bell was still too little for that, but it was also noted that Bell is as dense as durandal and not only romantically, though it was also studied that it was mostly given to his low self-esteem, thinking that he wasn't worthy, when he was more than worthy in the eyes of others.
Be it praise, achievements or affection, he would always pass it off as luck or not being enough to be something of any recognition by the others. Many could only sigh at the lack of self-confidence of the boy outside of fights. Bell was also stubborn as he refused to accept what others said about his self-esteem, leading to him always pushing himself harder, though it was obvious that Bell was happy whenever someone said they were proud of him.
Those magic words would always lit a smile on the bunny's face. A trick which was learnt by nearly everyone now, as they enjoyed to see the happy and smiling rabbit. A smile that many considered a feast, worthy of millions of valis, for their eyes, mostly the girls who held romantic feelings for the boy.
"Get ready Bell, from tomorrow, you will be either training or hunting monsters, but be careful since there is an organization that's leading this massive operation, there will definitely be high levelled enemies."
Bell nodded at Riveria's warning as Alfia entered the room and sat next to Bell, on the opposite side of Riveria.
"Alright Bell, tomorrow you'll need to be up very early in the morning, so go off to bed now."
Riveria and Alfia both placed a kiss on each of Bell's cheek, making him go red before he scuttled off to his room.
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The following day during their morning the day started with breakfast before moving onto training for Bell. There were no missions until later in the afternoon, so the others took this time to exchange between relaxing or training Bell. During this Athena had come out and sat on a bench over the green grass overlooking the training grounds.
It was a calm day, the sky was blue with a few white clouds passing overhead. There was a gentle breeze that mitigated the temperature in the air, making it comfortable. Alfia studied Athena as she observed her bunny. Athena seemingly caught onto her gaze and stared back.
"What is it Alfia my dear?"
"I was wondering what you were doing and why you seem so interested in Bell."
Zald and Riveria who weren't training Bell also got closer, sitting on the bench that Alfia was sat on, staring intently at Athena, waiting for an answer.
"I was here to observe, as you say, my latest interest. As to why? I don't really know, he seems such a pure soul. Maybe it's his innocence or maybe it's wise answer that he gave me not too long ago. Perhaps it's his unbreakable will. He doesn't give up and is insistent. The boy is full of mysteries."
The other three nodded understanding and agreeing with Athena.
"Then again, too much purity might be too much to handle for some people."
They watched as Athena took a quick glance at Ergane without her noticing, causing the other three to snicker. She then watched as Bell got knocked down but got up with more vigour than before. She realised that she admired the strength of his resolve more than anything else.
"He brings out the best out of everybody, doesn't he?"
Athena looked at Zald before turning back to Bell who was fighting against Europa and nodded.
"He does, so much that I came to respect him. Which is why I'll stop pursuing Alfia and Riveria."
The others looked at Athena like they had been slapped across the face. Ergane being the most daunted about what she had just heard. Alfia looked at her as if not believing her words, giving her a 'are you serious look?' To which she nodded,
"I am doing it our of respect for the boy, but also because I've seen that your will is adamant on staying with your current Familias, though I can see why now most of all times. Though I did hear of the challenge you issued to my captain."
Alfia simply shrugged her shoulders turning her gaze back to the love of her life. She calmed down knowing that Athena would stop going after them. Athena might have been wise, sly and crafty, but the one thing that was true about Athena was her honesty. Sometimes she might only reveal half the truth but she never lied. With that thought Alfia's mind worked on answer to the Goddess' statement.
"I have full confidence that he won't lose to your captain."
Ergane shook in rage but kept quiet much to the amusement of Alfia and Riveria, who never got tired of humiliating her. Meanwhile, Athena smiled lightly, interested to see this fight as Alfia seemed to be brimming with confidence in the little rabbit.
"That being said, I haven't given up on the little rabbit himself."
Stated the Goddess of wisdom, though the others didn't react, which Athena caught onto.
"You're not worried?"
Riveria shook her head,
"as you said, Bell is a pure and innocent person, who values his family more than anything else. We know that he won't accept your offer."
Athena smiled before the weirdly pleasant mood was ruined when two soldiers ran in and interrupted everyone in the courtyard. The Athena Familia members ran in breathing haggardly and desperately shouting that there was an emergency.
Seeing the patron Goddess, the two soldiers ran up to her and reported what other scouts and civilians had reported.
"There are huge groups of monsters headed for the villages of Tona and Mila! There is also a group headed for the eastern mines by the mining village of Aquarin! We have dispatched units to intercept the monsters headed to Tona and Mila but the unit headed to the mines is still preparing!"
Athena nodded and thanked them for the report dismissing them. The Goddess then turned to the group of adventurers.
"Well, as you heard, I will need your help on this one. Seems like you'll have to start a bit before than expected."
Bell and Europa who had heard the report had quickly regrouped with the others before nodding at Athena's request. Following the four top elites of the Athena Familia, they reached a stall where horses awaited them.
Last time they headed out, they had used carts instead of horses, but that was because there was no need for haste and a cart was much more comfortable. This time however, time was of the essence, so the horses were the obvious choices, except Bell didn't know how to ride one.
"Bell get on."
Bell turned to Riveria who extended her arm to the rabbit. Taking her hand, Bell was pulled up onto the horse, with Riveria behind him. She held him in a tight embrace with one hand as she took the reins with the other one and spurred the horse forward, following the rest of the group.
The group didn't waste time as they went at full speed, reaching the mine in just fifteen minutes. The mine was one of the largest strategic depot of adamantite in Altena. It was not comparable to the adamantite you'd find in the deep levels of the dungeon, but it was still denser than the one that you'd find in the lower floors, making it an indispensable location for the nation.
The mine was situated in the side of a large hill. Around the entrance was a stone wall with plenty of towers guarding the gate to the mine. Around, the area was mostly green plains, with a small forest on one side of the mine. Not too far away, ahead of the mine gates was another large hill, which was in the direction of the closest known nest of monsters.
They arrived to see that the monsters hadn't reached the mine yet. Taking the opportunity, they started to set up defences, not that they'd be needed with the adventurers present. Being a key depot, the place was obviously heavily guarded, with at least a dozen level one soldiers as well as a handful of level twos. They informed the stationed soldiers to prepare for battle as the sound of monsters howling was heard in the distance.
Bell and the others looked as the monsters amassed outside of their range, instead of just mindlessly charging in, which made their suspicion of someone being behind this rise. They also noticed the unusually intelligent coordination and strategy, placing bigger and bulkier monsters at the front, whilst the others stood behind them, using them as shields.
As all the monsters got into position, one monster, that shouldn't be on the surface appeared.
"UUUUORRRRRRR!"
It's howl was louder and stronger than any monster that Bell had met before. Coming over the hill was a tall monster with a muscly blue body. It had black hair around its head like the mane of a lion. It had a goat head with golden curved horns resembling those of rams, from its hip down to its ankles, the skin was covered by a thick and hairy black hide. In it's hand it held a large silver broadsword, towards the end of the blade, the blade concaved in before returning up and going straight to the tip, leaving a semi-circle shape in between the mid-point and end of the blade. The blade was obviously artificial and it also wore golden armour pieces that covered its shoulders and wrists.
"A fomoire?"
Bell turned to Riveria in confusion. Noticing his confusion Riveria explained to Bell, telling him about the monster.
"The fomoire is a goat monster that mainly focuses on speed and strength. They are rated level four as they should spawn only on the fourty ninth floor."
Bell looked at the monster confused, but Riveria immediately stated how it was not normal but an enhanced species, noticing the out of place purple tail, which turned out to be a snake attached directly to the monster.
'why is an enhanced dungeon monster here?'
At the same time, the presence of that monster confirmed to the adventurers that the monsters Bell fought were indeed dungeon monsters and not surface ones. This begged the question, why were they up here? How did they get here? Who smuggled them here?
Those were questions that had to be left unanswered for now as their attention was grabbed by the fomoire that with a howl, made the monsters charge down the hill straight towards the guarded mine. Zald looked at the horde of monsters as if studying it before turning to Bell.
"Bell, you take on the fomoire, we'll take care of the other monsters."
Bell quickly gave Zald a glance before breaking into a sprint heading to the side of the mine, to go around the whole stampede of monsters. He soon disappeared behind a hill. The others were left surprised by the sudden decision, mostly Ergane who turned to Zald as if he was crazy.
"What are you doing?! You want him to take on a level four monster?! Also didn't you say that it was an enhanced species?!"
"Monsters are actually weaker than what they are rated as, when compared to adventurers. For example while the fomoire might be a level four monster, if it faces a level four adventurer, it wouldn't stand a chance. Monsters are naturally weaker than adventurers when at the same level, to the exception of monster rexes. Which is why it should prove as a good challenge to Bell. As for irregular monsters? It seems like it's a specialty of Bell, he always runs into them."
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Bell snuck into the forest nearby in order to move up towards the fomoire without running into the horde of monsters. He looked back to see the monsters collide with the defences only to get the short end of the stick as they met Zald and Europa who were obliterating the monsters.
He crossed the territory, from tree to tree before hiding himself and waiting until all the monsters had passed. As no new monster showed itself, Bell started sprinting again up the hill, under the cover of the forest.
He stopped and hid behind a tree as he turned to look at the fomoire, spotting it standing on a rock overlooking the battle. Every cell in Bell's body screamed at him, warning him of the danger of this monster. He also noted how he couldn't take him by surprise by walking up to him from behind due to the snake tail.
Pulling out the mithril knife he aimed it at the base of the tail. The snake would be a second pair of eyes to the monster as well as a second monster to fight, which would place him at a huge disadvantage, so that was the first target if he intended to take the fomoire down.
He calmed down and started taking in deep breaths in and out, his mind focused on the legends of old heroes. Slowly and silently his skill Argonaut started charging. Right now he was about to face an incredibly powerful monster, so wasting too much stamina wouldn't be beneficial. For that reason he restricted the charge to ten seconds before aiming and launching his mithril dagger.
For a moment before launching the dagger, Bell contemplated the idea of striking the fomoire in the head instead of aiming for its tail. However, he deemed it too risky, as there was a higher chance that it would have noticed, if the monster did noticed, all it had to was just slightly turn its head and the dagger would have hit the horns and be deflected. Bell was sure that with only ten seconds of charge, he wouldn't be able to penetrate the large horns of the monster as he guessed that like minotaurus' the horns were their true weapons as well as the hardest and toughest parts of the body.
The dagger zoomed like an arrow, easily truncating the tail, causing the fomoire enhanced species to scream in pain at the sky, before snapping its head to the forest. It grabbed its sword and took a defensive stance as it didn't spot the culprit, also showing Bell how this monster was smarter than any average monster.
Bell kept himself hidden, taking quick glances at the monster, thinking of a way to fight it. The monster on it's side, kept on furiously looking for the human that had cut its tail off. However, as time went on, with nothing happening, the monster grew impatient and having had enough of waiting, the monster took action.
Looking back at the monster, Bell paled as it saw the monster charge straight into the tree line of the forest with its arms wide open. It clearly intended to flatten the forest and whoever was inside it. Just as the monster reached the trees, Bell jumped forwards onto the open plain, quickly grabbing the dagger he had thrown. He turned back to see a mountain of dust fly into the sky as the trees fell down, rammed by the monster.
Bell kept looking at the place where the monster had disappeared into as silence overtook the surroundings. The earie silence went on for just seconds but it felt like an eternity to Bell, before slowly, a large silhouette started becoming darker and clearer as it moved closer. It's glowing red eyes gleamed through the smoke, staring straight into Bell's soul. The monster came out of the dust cloud and into full view, before roaring loudly at Bell in a fit of rage.
The fomoire walked over to Bell, towering over the tiny Bell, as it stood just a few steps away. The two stared at each other in silence. The blood red gaze met the rubellite red eyes of the rabbit, both readying their weapons.
The fomoire snorted and charged at Bell, who quickly reacted by rolling to the side, evading the monster. Now that the monster would face him head on, it was time to test the extent of his skill's power.
As Bell charged the white particles, the monster started attacking with intensified vigour, sensing the danger of the skill. Putting in practice what he had learnt about concurrent chanting, he continued charging the skill while also moving around, dodging the strikes of the monster, barely avoiding some of the attacks.
The monster persisted but was unable to hit the hopping bunny and the more time went by the more it got desperate. The fomoire started feeling scared sensing the imminent threat of the move, but no matter what it did, it couldn't interrupt the charging which made a dreading feeling creep into the monsters' heart.
As three minutes passed, Bell noticed that the draining feeling stopped, meaning that it had reached its current maximum charge. The monster must have understood it too, as it stopped its attacks and tried to make a run for it, dropping the sword.
Bell was tired, he had put all his energy in dodging the monster's blows, though he hadn't completely dodged everything as cuts and scratches criss-crossed all over his body. Looking at the fleeing monster Bell pushed his last effort in reaching the monster in a quick dash.
As a shadow was cast over the monster, the fomoire looked above. It's eyes widened in shock as it found Bell, who after having jumped off a large rock behind the monster, was now directly above him. With his glowing hand, Bell landed a punch straight in the monster's face.
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Zald and Europa were obliterating the monsters that charged, while those who tried to retreat were punished by Riveria and Alfia's magic. Ergane and the other three elites of the Familia led the troops into the fray, also successfully pushing back the monsters.
Then a colossal roar shook the earth. The whole battlefield was frozen as every person and every monster, all stopped fighting turning their attention to the origin of the roar. The tail of the beast fell down to the ground with a massive thud, before it turned into black ash and disappeared.
Soon the monster charged into the treeline causing the whole forest to collapse, as tree after tree fell down. Ergane couldn't help but smirk, believing that the foolish bunny had died in the charge. She felt victorious for a moment, though she was still baffled that Bell had managed to cut off the tail of the monster. Her emotions were unexplainable yet positive at the thought of seeing the rabbit fail and die.
Then again, the glee was short-lived as Bell was seen standing just fine, making her frown in frustration. Most of the monsters were either dead or injured, allowing for most to simply turn their attention to the battle between the bunny and the monster leader.
All present people observed as Bell dodged the charging monster before the monster turned around to attack again, sending a flurry of attacks with its sword. They watched in awe as the level two was dodging most attacks, but remained confused. Bell seemed to not attempt to attack nor did he seem to have a weapon in hand.
Again the elven captain smiled condemning the foolish rabbit for his actions. Alfia and Riveria on the other hand looked at it differently. They too smiled with happiness, but not because he was going to lose, but because they knew he was going to win. Pride filled them as they saw him put his concurrent chanting to the test and seemingly pulling it off with success.
Zald and Europa noticed how the monster seemed to desperately slash in hoping to hit the rabbit. Was it frustration? Or was it something else? That, even Zald couldn't tell. Though it changed as they saw the glowing white fist.
Then the monster stopped, causing more confusion amidst the people watching the fight, but not as much as when the monster dropped and the sword and started running. The others were flabbergasted. The monster ran, it ran away in fear, terrorized of the rabbit before him. It desperately ran away as if it had lost all hope in face of a threat it couldn't overcome. As if he had met death. To all the monster looked pathetic.
Everyone looked expectantly at the rabbit, who made a dash towards the fleeing monster. Lifting off into the air, using a large boulder as spring, the boy arrived on top of the monster. Leaning forward, not knowing what to expect. Then the fist of the bunny impacted with the face of the monster.
As the fist made contact, it made a white explosion. The monster was instantly wiped away, as multiple massive white rings of energy blasted the surroundings like a praxis effect shockwave. The waves quickly expanded over the landscape, trees bend backwards, grass flattened out and it soon approached the people by the mine who seeing the trees bend had braced for impact. Everyone other than the adventurers were blown off their feet, meders away from their original standing place.
Ironically the one who had it worst was Ergane. She who doubted the rabbit drew the short end of the stick. Not believing that he was that strong out of pure arrogance, she didn't brace, expecting to be just light gust of wind. This came to bite her back nearly instantly as she flew high like an arrow straight into the leg of one of the wooden watchtowers, knocking the air out of her lungs before the tower toppled over and burying her under it.
Zald, Europa, Riveria and Alfia snickered as they saw her getting buried under the now destroyed watchtower. They were still laughing as Bell reached them exhausted from the fight. His presence though completely captivated the attention of Riveria and Alfia, which caused great displeasure to Ergane, who had a plank over her head removed by a fellow Familia member.
As she was freed she saw that Alfia and Riveria didn't even bother caring about her and instead immediately turned to the rabbit as if nothing else in this world existed, which to the two women, that was true.
She had so many emotions that flowed inside her at the sight of the rabbit and enraptured women, so much that she couldn't explain it herself. Though she did know something, when the time for their match would come, she would destroy him and completely humiliate him in front of the two, before making sure they'd pay attention only to her. Though even that dream started to seem just a dream. After seeing the move that completely crushed the monster two levels above himself, doubt started to settle in.
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"Congratulations to you all and I thank you adventurers of Orario for successfully protecting our territory against the monster invasion. I also heard about your heroic deeds, Bell. Quite an amazing feet, I can only congratulate you for that."
The groups that were dispatched to deal with the monsters had returned and were now all gathered in the throne room of the palace as Athena addressed and commended them for their brave actions.
Though she did seem to be more focused on Bell, who bowed with a slight blush at the praise, much to three specific women's annoyance. Athena leaned back on her throne looking at Bell as if thinking of something before speaking up.
"Though I would like you to reconsider, I believe your answer hasn't changed?"
Bell tilted his head in confusion.
"About staying here and becoming my Odysseus."
The statement shocked all who weren't aware of her offer to the rabbit, while it clearly ticked off the elven captain as well as two female adventurers who looked ready to pounce on the Goddess. Alfia and Riveria knew him well. They knew he wouldn't accept, that he valued his family, yet they couldn't help the apprehensive feeling that gripped their heart, causing them to clench their hands over their hearts as if trying to grasp it, feeling their chests getting tighter and constricted as they became nervous.
The more time Bell took to respond, the more the tension in the room rose, so much that even Zald and Europa were worried that Athena may have done something to convince him. Fear gripped the adventurers as they saw Bell lift his head to look at Athena with a gentle smile.
However, their worries were all for naught for Bell kindly declined. He did so with an apologetic yet kind smile, that radiated the innocence of Bell. The rejection caused shocked reaction from all Athena Familia members. The thought that a boy had declined the generous offer of their Goddess was beyond them.
"As you say Kami Athena. I still value my family and my bond with them the most."
Many wondered if he really was a five years old boy at the answer given, but it proved all the more that he truly was a prodigy, the treasure of the city of Orario, the diamond of the Zeus and Hera Familia and the shining sun of all those who loved the rabbit, adventurers and citizens alike.
"I see, that was to be expected. I respect that decision, as such I have but a single request for you."
Bell nodded, accepting to fulfil her request clueless as to what it would be. Athena smiled at the rabbit as she saw him agree before indicating him to come over to her with the motion of her index finger. Bell walked up to the throne of the Goddess as she stood up. Everyone wondered what the Goddess might want before she leaned down and gently placed her lips on Bell's cheek, causing the poor bunny boy to blush. This prompted many different reactions.
Athena giggled at the cute reaction of the bunny, some members fell down from the shock, their souls leaving their bodies. At the centre of the room, Ergane, Alfia and Riveria had to be held down before any of them tried to kill anyone, mostly Alfia and Riveria who were about to send that Goddess back to Tenkai.
"Ergane calm down!"
Minerva, the vice-captain pleaded the elf to calm down.
"That scoundrel! He defiled Athena-sama!"
Minerva and the werewolves sisters pinned her down to the ground with a sigh. Minerva also hated men and embraced the countries' anti-men policy. However, unlike the captain, she wasn't an unjust extremist and didn't openly accuse men when they didn't do anything. The one thing she valued more than the policy and her Goddess was to be just and fair.
Right now she couldn't fault the bunny for any of this as her Goddess was the cause of it all. Besides, for the short time she had known the boy, she came to appreciate him as he wasn't anything like what Ergane believed men to be. She didn't share the unfair belief of the captain and didn't understand why she hated the poor boy so much for doing nothing but being himself.
On Zald's side, he watched as Europa was holding down Alfia and Riveria from attacking the Goddess. They were screaming, with rage overpowering their emotions.
"That b-!"
Riveria was about to do something very un-elf like which amused Europa but decided to slap her hand on Riveria's mouth to uphold what dignity she had left.
"Stuff it Riv. It was just a peck on the cheek."
Riveria though didn't seem to be listening as she kept struggling trying to reach her staff, which caused Europa to sigh. Alfia was also in a similar situation, squirming to get out her grasp to murder the Goddess.
"Hey Bell come here."
Bell bowed and excused himself before turning to Zald and returning to his side. With that they were all dismissed, though many needed help and had to be dragged out of the throne room. As soon as they were outside, Alfia and Riveria grabbed Bell and dragged him away, back to their room. Zald and Europa were left standing there, watching as the two women disappeared in a flash.
"Let's just hope they don't do anything."
.
Riveria and Alfia slammed the doors to their rooms closed and turned to Bell who sat before the two women in a seiza position on the carpet. The two adventurers started immediately ranting and scolding him, telling him to never approach or talk to Athena without either of the two adventurers before ehim now being with him.
Bell didn't know or understand Riveria's or Alfia's feelings, as such he wasn't aware that they weren't angry, but they were actually jealous. Though in the eyes of Zald and Europa they'd find this funny since they both already kissed him a couple of times before. However, scolding him didn't appease the two jealous women, who came up with an excuse to satisfy their needs.
"Bell, just to be safe, today you're sleeping here."
Bell cocked his head not understanding what danger there might have been, but slowly nodded, not wanting to go against them, as seeing them angry was the last thing that Bell wanted. Though in theory there was an actual danger, that being Ergane who was currently furiously looking to hunt a rabbit to make him pay for his actions.
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Several hours passed, the sun sunk beneath the horizon, dinner was served and everyone went back to their rooms, except for Bell who was tightly held onto by Riveria and Alfia, saying it was to guard him from danger.
To Bell the dinner had been rather awkward. Athena, Zald and Europa acted as if nothing happened, Ergane growled at him though she was often told off by Athena, saying it was not befitting of a lady to do so. Minerva and the werewolves gave him apologetic looks while Riveria and Alfia seemed to be always on guard as if something of dangerous was about to jump out of the shadows, whilst also sneaking a glare at Athena every once in a while.
As they returned to their rooms, Bell found himself cleaning his teeth positioned in between Alfia and Riveria, before the two dragged him to the bed. Bell wasn't given a chance to do anything as they laid down and fell asleep straddling the bunny.
The situation felt rather similar to the night when the storm was overhead as he laid in between the two high levelled adventurers. Bel didn't particularly mind, as a matter of fact, feeling their soft bodies pressed up against his, was very comfortable and enjoyable but it made him flustered to see their faces so close to his, not that he could do anything about it anyways. Knowing that he was trapped Bell resigned himself to his fate and slowly fell asleep.
.
The next few days went by similarly, with a few occasional incidents where three women's rage were brought out, pushing back monster invasion and training. Nothing significance happened, as time inched closer to the end of the adventurers' stay and to the match between Ergane and Bell.
Every day that passed Ergane grew concerned. She observed Bell during both training and battle, in hopes of understanding him and finding a weakness in him. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't accomplish either of her objectives. His combat style was too powerful and advanced, too complex for her to understand in the short time she had before the match.
She also noticed that he seemed to be getting stronger by the day, suggesting his massive growth. Her chances to win were getting bleaker by the passing days. She couldn't believe that he was just a level two, one who truly seemed to be surpassing her, which frustrated her to no end.
Then the situation in Altena suddenly changed without warning. In one day, the situation completely turned around.
.
It was a usual morning. For the most. Bell woke up once again with his face planted in Alfia's chest. After the stunt that Athena pulled off the night before, Alfia and Riveria decided that Bell would sleep with them in their room until they would return to Orario.
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The previous night, Alfia and Riveria decided to pay Bell a visit in his room. When they arrived, they knocked on the door but received no response. Opening the door they were met with an enraging scene, that displayed Bell sleeping soundly on Athena's lap. In the Goddess' hands was a large book. Seeing the two adventurers enter she turned to them and greeted them.
"Good evening to you. It seems like my Odysseus really likes hero stories, when you read one to him, he becomes so docile and adorable."
A tick, so large that Athena wondered how it didn't pop a vein, appeared on Riveria's and Alfia's forehead. They were clearly about to shout before Athena placed her index finger on top of her lips, hushing them.
"Now now, you wouldn't want to wake up this cute little rabbit would you?"
Alfia and Riveria grit their teeth in frustration, she was totally toying with them.
'Damn her!'
Athena lifted the light rabbit up and gently tucked him under the sheets of the bed. She giggled and kissed his forehead before swiftly leaving not letting the two girls have a chance to go off at her. The two stood there looking bewildered at the corner which Athena used to disappear.
.
After that Alfia and Riveria completely lost it and wouldn't let Bell go anywhere alone, hence the reason as to the current situation Bell found himself in. Bell had to wait an hour with his face pressed up in Alfia's chest, while Riveria snuggled her face into his neck, before the two women started to stir awake giving Bell a chance to get out of their herculean hold.
"hmm, morning Bell."
The two groggily woke up as they greeted Bell. Getting dressed and ready, the trio left their room and headed to the dining hall, where the others were already there and having breakfast. Entering, the two ladies gave Athena a glare before sitting down with Bell in between them. Europa and Zald simply stifled a chuckle at their overprotective antics.
Following the breakfast the day went rather smoothly until everyone was summoned to the throne room as another report of a monster invasion arrived, the report of a monster invasion per se wasn't that rare, they had faced countless ones in the last few days. However, this invasion was different. It was a large force, larger than ever before and it was going to be arriving at the walls of the capital city. The monsters were about to unleash a direct assault at the walled off capital city of Delna.
The soldiers reported that the scouts estimated there to be nearly a hundred thousand monsters. From goblins to black rhinos, monsters that resided only below the fiftieth floor. This caused shock and confusion. With that information there was no doubt that someone was bringing monsters from the dungeon up on the surface.
"Tell all members to mobilize and start evacuating the city!"
Athena ordered the soldiers to set the army on the move, alerting all members of the Familia to prepare for the battle. Currently in Delna, including all soldiers from all Familias working under Athena, there are around ten thousand troops stationed. Half of them are level one, the other half are level two, with only a handful of level threes and two level fours.
All non-combatant members would work towards the safe evacuation of the civilians, while the rest would all head to the walls. The adventurers started following Ergane, Minerva and the werewolf twins when they all noticed Athena following.
"Where do you think you're following us to Athena-sama?"
Athena turned to Zald, she didn't scoff or scorn him, no disrespect.
"I may be a Goddess, but I am not helpless, just so you know few can match me with a spear. Besides, as the ruling figure of this country, surely you won't expect me to run to safety and watch from a distance as my precious subjects fight with their lives for me, right? I'm no fool, I know the dangers of the battlefield, but I am not a selfish ruler. I won't stand still as my Familia fights for me and this country when I can help them."
Everyone was surprised to see her bravery and determination. They all saw her as the Goddess of wisdom, what they forgot was that she was also a Goddess of war. It was clear that she was adamant and wouldn't back down.
Both Riveria and Alfia hated her for her influence over Bell, but couldn't be helped but be impressed. She might have pulled a few stunts on Bell, but they had to admit that she was worthy of respect and was what you would call a true leader. A small smile graced their faces.
"I hope you can keep up Athena-sama."
The Goddess turned to Alfia and smirked.
"Don't worry dear, I'll manage."
The group now containing a Goddess, made way to the large walls surrounding the city.
.
They arrived and witnessed as the wall was in full alert. The defence mechanisms of the wall were activated. Skorpian's and trebuchets were loaded, Greek fire was prepared and massive amounts of soldiers gathered before the gate, organized in platoons. On top of the walls hundreds of soldiers, members of the vanguard, mages and archers readied for the battle.
(A/N: For those who don't know, a skorpian is just a ballista. I just found that it was another name or so I read.)
Climbing the stairs that led to the top of the wall, the group of adventurers and Athena stood on top of one of the towers of the barbican. In the distance before the horizon they as the shadow of thousands of monsters emerged and marched towards them.
There were nearly ten kilomeders before the monsters reached the firing range of the artillery pieces mounted on the wall. Standing tall Athena turned back to the organised squares of soldiers, who looked up at her.
"My loving people. Soldiers of Altena. We see the hordes of enemies approaching. We hear the blood curling growls from beyond this wall. Soon now, we will meet them face-to-face. I see in your eyes the terror that would snuff my hope from my heart. A day where all will be lost will come, one where courage fails, darkness prevails, one where friends and family are forsaken and our bonds of fellowship are shattered, but not today! An hour of broken blades and hearts, an age of monsters where Gods and children fall alike, but not today! That day is yet to come for today we reject fate and brace our weapons to fight!"
Athena's gaze swept across the plaza below her, where her soldiers stood with renewed morale and determination. She eyed them as they observed her.
"I am determined, amongst the heat of the battle, I stand here to live or die along you all. While we stand united, no invader shall pass, no unholy monster will set foot in this sacred place. Let the armies from hell come. We'll fight them as many times as needed, as long as needed, no matter what method. We won't kneel, we won't fall, we won't wither. They will be met with an iron resistance by our indomitable will. We'll stand to the last soldier, to the last arrow, to the last drop of blood! At the end of this battle, may we meet again, whether it be in Tenkai or the victorious battlefield! By all that you hold dear in Gekai, I bid you all to stand, show them your might proud soldiers of Altena!"
(A/N: This has been written using the speech given by Queen Elizabeth in the movie Queen Elizabeth: Golden Age as well as the speech given by Aragorn in LOTR: Return of the king. I simply tweaked a few parts and added a few lines that came to mind. It fit just so perfectly with Athena's role.)
Athena was met with the most powerful and determined roars from the thousands of soldiers who shouted her name. Their arms shot up, their spears hit the ground. The sound of their will resounded through the land.
"OOOO! Long live Athena! Long live Delna and Altena!"
Their shouts were so powerful that it travelled across the land over to the monsters that shivered as they felt the enriched vigor of the soldiers. They expected fear, terror, confusion, but never did they expect to be presented with roars more powerful than theirs or with lives flaring brighter than theirs.
Even the first and second class adventurers were surprised and impressed by the strength that the soldiers demonstrated. The surprise soon turned to smirks. Zald turned to Athena.
"Quite the fine bunch have to say. This will be interesting."
Athena smiled proudly and turned to the look at the approaching monsters, though they seemed apprehensive about coming closer.
.
An hour passed, everyone took their positions and awaited for the arrival of the enemy. The group of the ten strongest stood on top of the tower of the barbican. They observed as the monsters inched closer and closer. Soon the monsters got within eight hundred meders of the impervious walls. Meaning they were inside the range of the artillery weapons.
"Fire!"
Ergane shouted as the trebuchets and skorpian's started firing at the monsters, wiping out dozens of them. They had replaced the skorpian's usual iron clad arrows with explosive tipped arrows, the trebuchets as well were equipped with Greek fire covered projectiles, setting fire to the area it impacted on.
Normally such range with these weapons would be impossible by standard means, but they had retrofitted them using magic and magic items, to increase range, efficiency, range and power and damage output.
The monsters didn't all charge in together, instead they went in waves. Further suggesting the presence of someone working behind the scenes. However, it revealed futile as the first few waves didn't even get close to the walls before they were crippled.
Europa estimated that close combat wouldn't occur before the enemy force lost nearly fifty percent of its overall manpower to the artillery. Another hint to the opponent's intelligence was the fact that they sent in the weakest monsters first, gradually sending stronger units.
They were taking the brunt of the artillery, using them to wear down the defences, before sending the bulk of the main force. Much too clever for a monster, in the eyes of the veteran adventurers and Athena.
The first waves formed of a few thousand monsters were instantly wiped out, without having a chance to react. Goblins, kobolds and anything weaker than a minotaurus was left in a pile of ash before the mighty walls of Delna.
Everything was going as expected, soon the following wave arrived, comprised of minotaurus', firebirds and fomoire's. However, the firebirds were what caught the attention of Athena and the adventurers, they were the most dangerous monsters.
This was proven right as they flew up high in the sky outside of the range of any weapon. As they got close enough, they dove down unleashing streaks of fire on the skorpian's and trebuchets. The artillery weapons were melted instantly. This immediately dropped the range of the defences as well as giving the monsters moving on ground, a chance to charge and quickly reach the wall.
"Prepare for close combat!"
The soldiers on the ground drew their weapons, pointing them at the gate. The soldiers on the wall pointed their spears and unsheathed their swords whilst the archers and the mages kept shooting. Bell was observing the whole time and realized that Altena didn't boast about it's magic for nothing.
Fireballs flew into the sky and rained down on the battlefield. Following that, explosions and magic stones littered the land. However, the interruption caused by the firebirds allowed the monsters to reach the main gate of the walls.
The barbican had two large adamantite silver portcullis and behind them was the final gate that allowed entry into the city. The gate were two enormous doors made out of white orichalcum. The doors were nearly two meders thick.
The soldiers were all placed in front of said gate, forming an encirclement. Anyone who entered from the gate would be surrounded. The monsters though, showed unnatural intelligence once again. Before anyone realised a massive explosions shook the ground.
The group of ten who were standing on top of the barbican now looked to the left, leaning over the edge. Smoke rose from the wall as a gaping hole was made and monsters poured in. From there the fight became gruesome and straining.
All remaining monsters charged in, taking from behind the troops stationed at in front of the gates. The ten who were standing on the barbican jumped down and joined the fray. Monsters such as black rhinos were taken on by Europa, Alfia, Zald and occasionally Bell, though Bell tried to avoid them, since they were too dangerous for others to take on.
For hours the battle raged on. Blades were swung, arrows flew and magic was cast. Bell was currently with Athena, Zald and Alfia. A messenger approached the Goddess. Seeing him Athena sighed, foreshadowing the bad news, in this already terrible situation.
"Kami Athena, we have reports that a large force has been sweeping the nearby villages. They are razing the villages, killing civilians, but worst of all is that they appear to be kidnapping children!"
Athena was exasperated, the situation grew worse, the surprises kept piling up. It was all becoming too much to handle as they had their hands full. However, the idea that her people were being kidnapped was also weighing down on her.
"Bell, go to the villages and deal with them."
Zald instantly gave Bell the order to go and intercept them to the surprise of Athena.
"We'll stay here. Even with a level eight and two level sixes the danger of the monsters is too high. Without us there is a risk the defence will fail. We also can't send too many people. We need to send a single person. Amongst the level twos and threes you're the strongest."
Bell nodded and didn't waste time, getting directions from the messenger he took a horse from a passing soldier and headed out at full speed. Right now speed and time was of the essence.
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In an hour he had arrived at the designated area. To confirm his position were the smoke stacks from a burning village. He spurred his horse forward and soon came out of the forest to be met with a hellish view. The sky had turned red, smoke stacks rose up in the sky everywhere as the houses were all set on fire.
This didn't quite look like a monster attack, also hadn't seen any firebird or dragon, making him question how the fires had started. He was brought out of his thoughts by the screams of people begging for help and mercy.
He dismounted, jumping down and started making his way to the centre of the village. The roads were littered with objects and food. Dead bodies laid sprawled out, buildings that were burning collapsed on themselves as its foundation burnt. An image that would be burnt in Bell's mind, showing the horrific and brutal reality of this world.
But when he arrived at the centre he was shocked to see not monsters but people clad in black cloaks. At least a dozen surrounding what villagers remained. They were all sat on the ground as the black cloaked men were razing the villages. Nearby was a cart filled with crying children. He noticed one child had noticed him and was looking at him. A girl with red hair and green eyes, couldn't have been older than he was, maybe a year smaller.
"No! Give me my child back!"
Many shouts were heard as the parents begged to not be separated from their children. Bell intended to silently sneak to the cart and free the children, as the red haired girl kept looking at him with hope in her eyes, but it seems like the cloaked men had different plans as they grabbed their weapons and pointed them at the villagers.
"Now we'll kill you all! In front of these brats! Gyahahaha!"
With no choice left, Bell lunged forward, as what appeared to be the leader, raised his sword to strike down a woman. The children and the fellow villagers screamed for help and were met with the pained shout from the cloaked man.
He fell down to the ground, a large gash ran across his back. As the man fell, everyone noticed the white rabbit, with his spear drawn out, the tip leaking the blood of the person he just slashed at. Taking that as an alarm, the cloaked men told the caravan with the children to go.
Initially they took it as a joke, after all who would take a tiny five years old bunny as a serious threat. Though that proved to be fatal as two men who approached the bunny were quickly incapacitated as he effortlessly kicked one in the face sending him flying into a building.
The caravan started moving, causing Bell to turn to the caravan but the cloaked men all gathered up and stood in between Bell and his objective. With little time left, Bell dashed forward and quickly made short work of the goons. With swift and precise strikes, the seven men that had gotten in the way were instantly knocked out, with no injury being fatal enough to kill someone, showing the soft-hearted nature of the bunny.
However, as he looked back the caravan was already too far away for him to reach, the only thing he saw before it disappeared was the crying face of the girl from before. Bell wanted to give chase, but he knew it would result to nothing and placed the spear back on his back.
It pained Bell that he couldn't save them, but Zald had taught him about caution above all else. The villagers all ran up to him. Bell sighed and shook his head. By now the caravan will have probably reached the forest, making it hard to keep up.
"I'm sorry, there is no way to give chase to the caravan and catch up."
The various mothers, fathers and occasional sisters and brothers that were left, all fell to their knees as they mourned the loss of the children. Amongst the mourning Bell caught someone calling out to her child, a child named Revis.
He didn't know why that had reached his ear, but his attention was soon took over by the movement of one of the cloaked men. One of them was still conscious, taking the chance Bell decided to question him.
The cloaked person however, didn't yield, telling him nothing but one thing. He gave him the confirmation of a large organization being behind it all, an evil one. He'd have to report this to Zald later, for now he'd watch over the villagers until the others reached him. As he looked at the burning village, the name of the organization lingered in his mind. They called themselves: The Necro Phantoms.
To Be Continued~
Here is yet another chapter. For today I don't have any questions, I think. I hope you enjoyed this one. Also as mentioned before it's kinda hard to add fluff right now as he is five. Once he grows up, when he comes back from Evilus there will be much more fluff, much much more fluff. With this said and done, see u next time!