PROLOGUE: DESTINY IS A BORING WORD
The gentle warmth of a bright, cloudless high noon summer sun radiated across an empty field, giving all of the greenery spread across the flat ground an ambience that beamed with life, with youth, with an optimism that was almost too human to be a product of natural environment. And yet, the way the day illuminated the field allowed it to possess a brightness of its own, more figuretive than literal, and yet literal as well, that gave it the impression to be the manifestation of the giddyness a child experiences upon awakening its curiosity.
And yet, pain was all he could feel.
Eyes as red as blood, yet so pale and dull that it couldn't possibly have any color to it. Emptyness was all one would see within them. All that could be interpretated by the look they gave as they darted across the field, scanning, searching for something, desperate for someone.
Amids the lush green of the field, the figure desperately ran, hectic breaths exhaled, head turning around repeatedly, yet nothing could be found but their own self. As if having been defeated in mind, the figure fell to their knees, those dull, lifeless red eyes staring down at their hands as their expression was bathed in the sinking realization of despair. Their mouth opened and closed repeatedly, until eventually, words came out from it.
"I failed everyone..."
Ryuu Lion, current Level 3 high-end member of the Astraea Familia, was feeling uneasy. Ever since their Familia had been tasked with an expedition by the guild so they could chase the associated Familia that worked with Evilus, she had felt this sense of unease, this gut-feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong. Her senses had never betrayed her before, so she was wary and, visibly so, on edge, scanning her surroundings every time she could, which did not go unnoticed by her fellow adventurers.
"Something wrong?" The red-headed captain of the Familia, Alise Lovell, asked, her expression soft, her nigh-permanent smile adorning her face. "I didn't want to ask at first, but you seem to be a bit agitated, as if looking for something."
Ryuu realized what her captain and friend meant and slowly nodded her head. "I am fine, it's just... I can't shake this feeling out of my head."
"What feeling?" Kaguya, their vice-captain asked, holding a fan in her left hand which covered the lower half of her face.
"That something is terribly wrong with all this" Ryuu continued as they kept marching ahead. "We were tasked with finding and apprehending or eliminating the members of Evilus, but... I feel as if they are ready for us. I feel as if... we are the ones being hunted."
Alise nodded her head slowly and gave a wave with her hand, followed by a closed fist, the sign for their party to stop. "I know what you mean. More than once has Evilus made traps specifically designed for us, but we have made it out without casualities or serious injuries every single time, right?" The captain spoke, her tone having a hint of nothing but pure optimism and faith in it. "Whatever they have for us, we will take it, then hit them back tenfold, like we always do."
Ryuu found comfort in her captain's words, but they weren't enough to deter this feeling of dread and unease she felt. She however did decide to try and at least look more relaxed as to not worry her comrades. "Alright, I trust your call, Captain" She spoke, opening her mouth, about to say something else when suddenly, a distant boom could be heard. Then another, closer this time, until...
...oom...boom...BOOM...BOOM!
One explotion after another, each closer than the previous, the walls, the ground and the ceiling of the dungeon floor taking heavy damage from the chained detonations. Rubble in huge number, both large and small chunks, began to fall from the ceiling, with the Astraea Familia making their hardest to evade the debris, destroying whichever pieces they could not dodge. The explosions kept on coming, the shaking only growing worse, debris falling in bigger numbers and larger sizes.
"DAMNIT!" One of the currently unnamed members shouted as she used her halbert to split apart a giant piece of debris that was about to fall ontop of her, but the dust it created and the small chunks caused by the destruction obscured her view, causing her to react too late to further oncoming rocks that were about to bury her.
A gust of wind suddenly blew them all away and ensured that that member of the Familia was safe, courtesy of Ryuu using her Luminous Wind to blast it aside.
But their struggle was not yet over, as explosions just kept on coming.
"WE NEED TO FIND SOMEWHERE TO TAKE SHELTER UNTIL IT STOPS!" Alise commanded with a loud voice, her role as Captain and the leading Authority fully overshadowing the otherwise chipper and optimistic voice. "RYUU, KAGUYA, COVER EVERYONE'S FLANKS! ISKA, NOIN, VANGUARD! CELTY, TREAT ANY WOUNDS THAT OBSCURE MOBILITY!"
"""YES!""" Came the unified choir of the named members who had their orders. As instructed, Kaguya took one side while Ryuu took another, using their skills or their magic to blast away oncoming debris while also making a way for the others to run. Iska, their Amazon and Noin, who was a cat-like Beast Human of rather very tall stature, ran ahead of the others as the Vanguard to deal with anything that blocked the way as well as oncoming monsters.
This chaos continued until the explosions finally stopped and the Astraea Familia could take a breather.
"Man..." Alise scoffed as her eyes scanned over her members, happy that nobody was missing. "That was crazy."
Ryuu nodded her head and stepped forward. "No doubt a trap... but this one felt much more excessive. I-"
Her speaking was interrupted when suddenly, an ominous sound began to echo across the dungeon. It sounded almost like a... wail. A monstrous wail of pain and rage, one that drowned out any and all sound, audible across the entire floor they were on. It grew louder and louder, eventually reaching a peak volume that was so overtuning that the more sensible Beast Humans of the Familia had to cover their ears in pain. It continued to echo for almost a minute before it eventually stopped.
Alise, as the captain, had to make the call right away. "We need to get out of here. Whatever that was, it cannot be good" she started and turned to Ryuu. "Your instincts are, as always, onspot" She then praised Ryuu, then turned to her fellow members. "We are retreating! I don't know what that sound just now was, but it has to be something very bad! I don't want anyone here finding out what it is, so we are leaving at once!"
"""YES!""" The united chorus came once more and they made preparations to leave.
As luck would have it, they happened to come across the pathway that lead them to a floor higher, but the upper floor they are going towards, the 29th floor, was a system of rather large tunnels, a bit larger than their current, 30th floor, but both the pathways into the floor from the 28th and 30th floor came with a large open field which would prove disadvantageous to Astraea Familia.
"I don't like this at all..." Alise thought as she ran along with her fellow members along, going up the large stairway to the 29th floor. When they reached the exit of said stairs and entered the floor, they were however greeted by a sight that was made to turn eyes sore.
"RAAH!" One of the interceptors, a large, male Beast Human shouted. "Not one casuality!"
"But they are definetly exhausted!" Another said, this time it was a dwarf speaking. "No doubt will they lose a few if we attack now!"
"Evilus..." Ryuu cursed under her breath while drawing her shortblade, taking an offensive stance to prepare herself.
"NOW, EVERYONE!" Another of the interceptors, who looked to be the leader, a chienthrope, spoke. "ATTA-GUH!"
A sudden flash dashed before him, and a second later, his body was dismembered across the waist and neck, severing head from torso and torso from legs. What followed was 3 large, pitch black claws spiking three heads, one for each, before yanking itself upwards, completely obliteraring said heads and leaving the bodies to drop.
A deep growl echoed as the eyes of both parties turned to the source. A large, skeletal-esque monstrosity never before seen was clawing itself against the nearest wall, its eyes as red as blood, glaring holes into its victims. Its tail was swishing in all directions, the sharp end leaving cuts against the wall, drool dripping from its maw in anticipation for the killing.
"Wha-" One of the Evilus men was about to ask, when suddenly, the creature disappeared and re-appeared behind their ranks. His head was suddenly flying, detached from his body, as did a few more.
"Captain, your orders!" Iska, the Amazon, shouted as the members all took a defensive positions.
Alise was, however, terrified. "What is this thing...?" She asked herself as she gripped her sword as tightly as she could. "I almost couldn't follow it's movements... it is faster than I am, faster than all of us!" She thought. Her eyes then grew wider as it saw this... thing... turn its head towards their group.
"EVERYONE, RUN!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. "WE CAN'T FIGHT THIS THING SO ESCAPE!" She ordered and her members wordlessly obeyed, running along the wall of the Dungeon to race towards the nearest tunnel, but the beast had other plans. It quickly made a run for the group, claws stretched out to impale a few of them, only for Alise and Kaguya to intercept the attacks, their weapons taking visible damage from the sheer force of the attack. "GO! I SAID RUN!" She yelled once more.
"CAPTAIN!" Iska yelled once more, drawing her broadsword, ready to help her out, but the beast suddenly disappeared out of sight and re-appeared high above them on the wall. Iska suddenly felt pain like never before as her left arm fell down, severed by the elbow. "AAAAAARGHH!" She cried out as she fell to her knees, clutching her left arm tightly with her right hand.
"ISKA!" Ryuu shouted and ran towards her, only to see the Juggernaut disappear from sight again. She could barely make out a blur of black heading towards her, and it was out of sheer luck that she tripped as she ran towards Iska, falling to the ground and narrowly avoiding the claws of the beast that had aimed for her neck.
"RYUU!" Alise yelled in concern as she raced towards the black monster, swordarm stretched out for a large swing. It was blocked by the tail, which proved to be harder than anything she had struck against in her life, chipping her blade further and causing a rebound from the physical force, rocking her back.
"LUMINOUS WIND!" Ryuu yelled at the top of her lungs, firing off her magic towards the bestial predator, only for the magic to bounce off its skin and be fired right back into the group, wounding several of the Familia members and Ryuu herself as well. "GAH!" She coughed as a gust of wind gave a cut across her torso, diagonally from her left shoulder to her right waistline, downing her in one strike.
"NOOO! RYUUU!" Kaguya cried out before suddenly being struck by full force by the tail of the creature, being tossed against the nearby wall and creating a sizeable crater in it, knocking her out cold in one strike.
"No... nooo..." Alise all but whispered, tears building up in her eyes as she saw this... thing... easily overpower her members. It was faster than them, stronger, tougher, and it reflects magic. They had absolutely no chance. It began to sink into her that she and her familia were doomed.
The creature turned its attention towards the members still standing, its eyes seemingly scanning them all, marking their position for a precise attack. It growled audibly and disappeared from sight once more, moving faster than their eyes could follow.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Alise cried, seeing, if only barely, what it was about to do, how its claws were going to completely slice up her precious comrades.
THUMP!
The beast suddenly stopped mid-movement, the echo of a powerful step having taken its focus for some reason, slowly turning its attention to where it came from. Alise followed the motion and turned towards one of the 4 pathways, the one most left of their position, and saw someone approaching. A lone figure was walking towards them.
"What the hell is this commotion?" The voice, deep and male, with a rather soothing tone, asked, while stepping forth enough to be visible under the dungeon's artificially created light.
The man had long, purple hair, tied to a ponytail that went down all the way to his rear end, with some loose strands of hair above his ears being tied into two small braids that ran along in front of said ears like makeshift cotelettes. He had sharp, piercing green eyes that were narrowed dangerously, but did not hide that his eyes were rather small and thinly shaped. He had a thin face with an almost pointy chin, a tiny piece of a well trimmed beard forming a triangle on said tip of his chin, adorning his otherwise neatly shaved face with some facial hair.
He wore a traditional white Far Eastern Kimono with a purple overmantil covering his back and sleeves, reaching to the ground. On the back of the overmantil was a simple symbol drawn, two blades crossing themselves in front of a tower. He had two regular swords on his left side, two katanas on his right, and a long Nodachi (A katana but longer and without a wristguard) strapped to his back. Lastly, he wore no shoes, but sandals on his bare feet.
"I was hoping to take a nap and escape my duties for a couple of days, but soon as I find a good spot, somebody is crying their damn heart out" The male spoke before his eyes scanned the room. He saw a party of female adventurers, some wounded, others frozen in panic, one knocked unconscious against the wall and another crying on her knees a short distance separated. His eyes trailed off to the second party present, a group of male and female grunts, also paralyzed with fear, surrounded by the dismembered bodies of their fallen. Then, his gaze turned to the source of the terror, the pitch-black skeletal creature that was there to massacre both parties present. He narrowed his eyes even further, to the point of almost closing them and reached for the Nodachi on his back, slowly unsheating it. "Well well well... turns out somebody really is stupid enough to cause your birth."
The creature was completely fixiated on the new arrival. Its usually always-moving tail was stiff, its claws were lifted just slightly above the ground, a deep, feral growl escaping its throat. Then, it lunged at full speed towards the purple-haired male, its maw wide open, its claws stretched forward, aimed to impale him.
With a blur much faster than the beast's, the man suddenly appeared behind it, Nodachi striking forward as both hands held the hilt, his right leg forward, knee bent and his left leg was completely straightened in his stance. A second later, he broke his stance and sheated his Nodachi. The same second it made a small clank! against the sheat, did the beast's claws and its head sepaprate from its main body, its tail cut into 6 different pieces, its hind legs having each claw individually cut off. A moment later, it completely turned into dust.
Both parties could say nothing at the sight. This thing that was so strong it pretty much toyed with level 4 adventurers was taken out in what looked like a single movement from this new arrival.
His head slowly turned towards the remaining members of the Evilus group and he reached with his hands for the normal swords on his left hipside, slowly drawing them, then sheating them again. No sooner than that, they suddenly cried out as every last one of them had their legs cut off and a deep gush over their chests.
His attention then finally turned towards Astraea Familia and he eyed the wounded Iska first, then turned towards the unconscious and badly bruised Kaguya, then towards Ryuu, then to the others who were wounded by Ryuu's reflected magic. "Astraea Familia, correct?"
Alise wanted to answer, but she was too paralyzed, the fear of almost losing her comrades, the terror of that thing and the shock from seeing it being taken out just like that overwhelmed her. With all of the overload, the shock became too much and she passed out.
He turned towards the second of the two elves present, Celty, and pointed with his right index finger at her. "You, what is your name?"
The elven woman gulped nervously. "C...Celty..."
"Celty, huh?" He repeated before turning towards Iska. "Pick up her severed arm. We are going to re-attach it, then I will escort you out of here."
Celty couldn't respond, so she just wordlessly did as told, running to the Amazon's severed arm and picking it up, walking towards Iska and holding the arm close to the tanned woman's elbow, where it was supposed to be.
The male then closed in on the two and pulled up his right wrist, showing that it was littered with bite marks all over. "Press her arm together the way it is supposed to be. As you do so, the Amazon will bite my arm. During the healing process, I need you to give me a total of three Magic Potions or I will suffer Mind Down mid-procedure"
Noin was the first to successfully get herself out of the shock from the remaining members and walked over to their supporter, the pallum named Lyra, the pinkette of the group, and took three magic potions from her large pouch, running over to the man and kneeling besides him.
"Now!" He commanded. Celty pressed the severed halves of the Amazon's elbow closely together while Iska bit his hand a few inches above his wrist. He grit his teeth in pain and quickly became visibly tired. "First potion" He commanded, and Noin did as asked, uncorking the potion before putting it to his lips, tilting the contents into his mouth as he quickly gulped it down. Just a few seconds later, he looked just as tired as before. "Second" He commanded, which was followed by the second potion being emptied into his stomach. "Third" He spoke almost right afterwards and Noin obeyed once more, giving him the third of the three potions. Once downed, he stopped growing tired and his arm was released from Iska's mouth.
"It isn't completely healed yet, but joint, tendons and muscles are re-attached enough that it won't fall off immediately. You should seek mage with potent healing spells for further treatment" He commented.
Iska looked down at her arm and as Celty very slowly let it go, it didn't fall apart on its own. It truly had re-attached itself, but it was still visibly cut up all around it with some blood dripping from the still open wound.
"Bandage it properly and give her something, anything to keep her arm stiff and unmoving. Ideally a casket if you have one" The male commanded before slowly getting up, taking a few deep breaths before he turned around and took a few steps forward. "Pick up the unconscious and the wounded. We are moving out. I will take care of any monsters coming our way until we reach Rivira"
2 DAYS LATER
Some time had passed since the incident at the 29th floor and Astraea Familia had successfully made it back to Rivira, where they were recovering for a few days. The main priority had been to treat the wounded, and even with the severity of the situation, the healers still ripped them off at high prices.
The purple-haired man had temporarily left the dungeon village and gone towards one of the larger springs nearby, looking around to ensure nobody was following him or spying on him. He reached into his kimono and took out a small, crystalline ball, holding it up at the height of his face.
"...Was the mission successful?" A voice suddenly came, directly from the crystallized ball. The voice was rather high pitched, but no doubt male, probably someone younger if one had to guess at first.
"It has. Astraea Familia has been successfully saved with no Casualities, and I have ensured the demise of every single opposing force. If blood loss did not kill them, the dungeon monsters will have because I severed their legs completely, rendering escape impossible. I have also created cause for belief that my appearance was purely random. I followed your instructions on how to respond to any questions, so far it appears no one suspects the true nature of my presence."
"...Well done. We have altered the natural course of history for the better, but we have altered it all the same. No one can say precisely how things will go from here, but it is imperative for Astraea's children to be alive for what is to come."
The male nodded slowly. "Yes, my Lord. I shall escort them all the way to the surface and report to Ouranos once they have arrived at their Familia home. The Patron God must receive a full report of this incident."
"...Understood. Tell him about the Juggernaut as well. He will want to keep it covered up so Evilus does not get any funny ideas by spawning this thing repeatedly. As we have altered things, Evilus might react differently to this crushing defeat if we leave things as is. Once you have finished your report, take care of the remaining members of Rudra Familia, including their God. This part must not be altered, Rudra Familia must face extinction by the end of the week. I will see to it that the Guild does not put a bounty on your head for the massacre."
"It shall be done" The male answered before putting the crystal ball away back into his Kimono.
With his conversation settled, he turned around from the spring and walked back towards Rivira, the village inside the Dungeon.
Alise and her fellow Familia members were seated around a large table and eating lunch together, officially celebrating their safe retreat. To the captain, they had to, after the horror of witnessing that beast, her friends and comrades needed a break and some feel-good, and it only seemed the least to do to try and see things from the positive perspective.
Iska still had some issues with her left arm, but it was, visually at least, fully healed, as she rested it on the table, using her right hand for eating and drinking. Celty was helping her some, to which the Amazon seemed grateful if the soft look on her face was anything to go by.
"Alise..." Ryuu spoke, setting her fork down from her right hand. "I'm-"
"Nope, no!" Alise intercepted before giving her elven companion a big smile. "Nobody is to blame but Evilus. You just tried to protect us, you couldn't have known that that thing reflects magic."
"She is right" Came the sudden voice of the purple-haired male as he entered the pub they were eating within, arms crossed as he approached their table until he walked up behind Alise, standing behind her to her right. "Ignorance may not be an excuse from responsibility, but it is an excuse from guilt. You didn't know then, you do know now. So all you can do is improve upon this experience. You bear no guilt in the incident, but you have a responsibility to keep growing stronger for their sake as much as your own."
Ryuu slowly nodded at his words and gave an ever so small smile for a moment. "Thank you for your encouragement... er..."
"Ah, right" The purple-haired male spoke. "I haven't introduced myself yet. You can call me Yato."
"Yes, thank you, Yato" Alise spoke. "For saving us all from that... thing."
The male, now named Yato, shrugged his shoulders. "Just make sure not to tell others about what you saw. The last thing we need is Evilus trying to re-create its spawning. This is an official Gag order by the Guild."
Hearing this caused a few raised eyebrows amongst the Familia members. "The guild?" Ryuu questioned slowly. "You work for the guild?"
"Sometimes" Yato responded. "When things go out of control in the dungeon, they turn to me. Best way to describe it is a freelancing enforcer. When hired by the guild, so long as I have a single foot within the dungeon, my authority is as theirs. Knowing the bureaucratic morons at the top, they will want to keep this all a secret and you would be informed of a gag order later anyway, so I am telling you now ahead of time."
"Hired by the guild? But I thought you were here on coincidence?" Kaguya questioned, her eyes drilling into the man's skull.
"And right you are. I was there for a job, but it had no association with you" He lied as naturally as he breathed. "I was there to investigate some of the more unsavory rumors regarding Evilus, such as intentionally creating Enhanced Species by force-feeding them magic crystals and other experiments that put adventurers at unforseen risks."
The latter part wasn't a lie either. He WAS there to sabotage Evilus' doings, but the lie was in the priority. His directive was to save Astraea Familia first, and if he could help it, deal with Evilus too, which happened to be two things crossing each others.
"I see... still, we owe you our lives" Alise spoke once more. "We are deeply indebted for that."
"Please, no" Yato spoke, sounding almost serious with how he voiced himself. "I don't like having people be indebted to me. Just take your survival as a lucky coinflip and leave it at that."
"Aw, he's a shy one" Kaguya suddenly began to tease. "Don't be so modest, savior Yato"
On the outside, he seemed to be collected, but one look at his eyes and even a child could see he was crying for help. He did NOT like the teasing of a woman that has mastered her sultry voice like Kaguya did. "It would be in my selfish interest if you could spare me your humor" He responded before taking a step back. "Finish up, we are departing within the hour. I need to make a report to the guild about all this and you all no doubt want to go home and rest properly"
"Very well" Alise answered, getting up from her seat and reaching for a napkin to wipe her lips. "You heard him, everyone. Finish your meals and prepare for departure. We are going home!"