Ch 15: Mayhem (2)
ENJOY!
…
Going a bit back in time…
It was dark, hollowed cave the colour of grey with. A hollow cube of concrete, with a single entrance which also served as the exit with no windows around. In here, it was hard to discern the passing of time. No day. No night. Just darkness with the only source of light being small cracks in the ceiling through which, sunlight shone ever so slightly. Noise of sea water coming ashore could be faintly heard from the distance and the air itself had somewhat of a salty taste. Given enough time, a person could forget their own nature in here especially when in complete isolation with no one to talk to, with no one to communicate and share with. There was hardly any sound and light, with no such thing as a furniture of any kind. Cool, damp and wet atmosphere and nothing else.
Right now, someone could be seen in here, bound by chains with eyes covered by bangs. It was Bell who seemed to be asleep or perhaps not since from time to time, he tried to free himself from these bounds but to no avail. It seemed these chains weren't normal since even his stats weren't enough to break through. On top of that, he had used up all his mind and energy in the fight before so couldn't use magic or skills. He was just barely conscious as is on top of being severely injured.
He had truly taken a lot of beating and especially that frog woman was vicious. Her attacks were merciless with no sign of holding back even in that public place. He had managed to parry somewhat but his hand broke with bones even coming out from under the skin. That truly was a horror sight, seeing his own bones poking out. The pain he felt back then was so great that he lost consciousness right then and there. Now atleast somehow it seemed they had managed to put his bones back in and healed correctly. This couldn't be accomplished by any potion since potions only healed wounds and nothing else. That meant that even a broken bones person could use the potion to heal the wounds, but the cost was too great. Those connected bones would become weak and disoriented, something faar worse than just cutting them off so precise surgery was required in case of bones.
Still, the question was why? Perhaps they wanted him to not die or some other purpose but still, he hated that frog woman more than anyone else. It was due to her that the inn collapsed and so many people got hurt. That said, he did look up to her and others who were with her mostly due to how strong they were when compared to himself.
It reminded him of how many powerful individuals there were in the world whom he still couldn't match yet.
Did he make the wrong choice back then?
He couldn't decide. Perhaps it was right since he followed his convictions and didn't stray off from the path of a Hero or perhaps it was wrong since so much damage occurred all due to that impulsiveness of the moment.
Still, now he needed to get out of here and that too as soon as possible. He wasn't just going to just stay here to face more horrors. Who knew what they would do to him so better get out, but the question was, HOW?
There didn't seem to be any way for him to free himself unless perhaps someone from the outside gave him a hand, but his Familia wouldn't even know of his location. Even if they did, he didn't want them to come and save him since the amount of danger would simply not be worth it.
'What should I do?'
He didn't want to, but despair was taking over his mind, slowly but surely. The reason was because there didn't seem to be any hope left to get out of this mess.
'I just hope they won't be dragged into it'
'Still-', his though process was suddenly broken by some foreign noise which didn't seem to be here before.
He couldn't hear clearly what it was. Perhaps some rat had snuck in which wouldn't be surprising. This was a cave after all.
'Even rates are freer than me now. How ironic.' He couldn't help ridiculing his fate and current conditions with humorous smile.
"R-"
"Hn…"
Was he dreaming or something. It suddenly felt like a girl was talking to him, perhaps asking him something. Whatever it was, his half-conscious mind couldn't register it yet. Not long after, he felt as if someone had poured some liquid over him, and the pain started to go away. Yes, his bones were properly healed but the skin and muscle wounds remained.
Slowly but surely, he opened his eyes to see a red eyed girl standing in front holding a vial which likely possessed healing potion or perhaps pain removal, but it was now empty. Tears could be seen streaming the girls face like waterfall.
Seeing her cry like that made his heart hurt and so he tried to look the best he could in this situation. Afterword's with soft voice, he talked to her albeit stuttering a bit:
"D-don't cry…"
"But- but-"
"Everything is fine…"
He was trying to comfort her. This seemed strange and somewhat comical. There was a man bound in chains and bloodied all over trying to soothe the girl who was free and seemed perfectly fine. Looking at this scene, it was difficult to decide of who was the victim here.
"A-Anyway. Here! Please drink this" she took out a new vial which had some golden liquid, likely mind potion which to him was very important, perhaps even more so than the healing one.
With a bit difficulty, he drank the vial dry. It took sometime but slowly slowly his tired mind started to calm down. The liquid was doing its job well and not long after, he felt full of energy. Even though only about half of his mind had been recovered, it was much better.
Not stopping there, the girl also helped to untie him from these chains.
"I-" bell was just about to say something but stopped himself. She was too close. With hands above trying to free his arms, she was almost hugging him. He could feel her breathing, smell her aroma and hear her heartbeat which was increasing with every passing moment. Her eyes were looking above as if not wanting to meet his, but he could see her ears and tail twitching, swinging back and forth.
She was either too nervous or too excited and from the way she was acting, perhaps shy. He had ample amount of mind now so he could use either his skill or magic to free himself from these chains but there were reasons he wasn't and allowing her to do so.
Using skill or magic would inevitably invite others attention and the way she came inside and helping him, it could be seen she came over without telling anyone. He didn't want to gather attention so stopped himself.
Other than that, he was also a man!
It didn't take long for the chains to come off. They weren't exactly locked just tied with themselves with his arms in between.
Taking his arms back down, he looked at her directly, "Thank you"
Hearing him, she shook her head in denial, "No! I should be the one to thank and apologise. All this happened due to me"
"No! This happened due to my own self. You shouldn't take the blame. It's just… are you really part of Ishtar Familia?"
It was hard for him to fathom that point. Back when those amazoness broke the window and entered inside, they had introduced themselves and had asked for her to be handed over which he refused since she didn't look like being part of such familia and thus the tragic fight occurred. Even now especially after interacting with her, no matter how short, he could tell the kind of person she was so her being part of such familia was a bit…
"Hm! Hmhmm…", she nodded. There was nothing else since this was the truth she couldn't run from even after trying so many times.
Seeing her nod like that, he scratched his head asking with deep concern, "I see. Well, are you happy there?"
"What?", she seemed shocked hearing this question
"No well, the way I found you and the way they acted, you don't seem to fit there. If you need help than… I'll try the best, I can"
"No! I don't want to put you in more trouble. Please leave before anyone else arrives", this was perhaps the first time he saw such determination in her gaze.
Up till now, she was continuously shifting her gaze, not meeting his eyes but now was different. She looked straight into his eyes. This was a bit surprising, but she was right.
Even though he wanted to talk more, to get to know her but now wasn't the time. If someone else came over then things would turn dangerous, so it was better to leave as soon as possible.
"Alright. Take care"
And with that he immediately left using the map she gave him. It contained the way she managed to get till here without being noticed.
Seeing him leave, she heaved a sigh of relief as if a big burden had left her chest.
"You're digging your own grave you know"
Someone suddenly called out to her. She didn't even know of when or how this one came in.
"Wha-!? Oh! Miss Aisha it's you… thank you!", she was startled for a bit but immediately bowed a little in thankful manner towards this tall amazoness who had helped her in this endeavour by distracting the others.
"che! Who helped you. The boy somehow managed to run away and that's that. Do not mention what we did here or we're both dead."
Aisha's face was grim. Their captain had her eyes on the boy and yet here they were letting him go. If that woman found out, things would really get dangerous. Perhaps Haruhime would remain safe due to her importance, but Aisha wasn't certain she would be spared.
Surely Haruhime knew this as well and nodded her head:
"Y-Yes. I won't"
"Good but… hah!? Was this really necessary? You've already been reprimanded by Ishtar for that escape and the first thing you do after that lecture is this?"
"He tried to help me, and this happened so I couldn't just leave him alone."
"Oh! Is that so. Is that really the only reason?", she said in a teasing tone hearing which Haruhime couldn't help tilting her head a little,
"Huh!?"
Clearly, she didn't understand what Aisha was trying to say and seeing such oblivious and questioning expression on that face, Aisha sighed a little mummering to herself, "Seems you don't realize"
"What?"
"Nothing! Go and get ready. We need to leave soon. Ishtar's orders"
"Alright"
…
Now Present…
Zoro looked upfront where the inn had disappeared. Well, it hadn't exactly vanished, just had turned into rubble. That splendid structure was gone, replaced by heaps of dust and broken shards of walls, doors, glasses and much. It looked as if a massive storm descended and wiped everything.
"What happened here?"
"Yeah! How come?"
Lulune and Falgar were also confused. Everything was fine just few hours ago and yet now this! Things were just getting messier and messier, first there and now here.
Zoro also stood there, confused. Now he could only hope others were safe. Atleast nothing happened to Hestia since he would know and if she was safe than Lily and Emma should be as well but what about Leo? What about Bell?
He could see a lot of blood stains. Rather obviously multiple people had been gravely injured during whatever happened here and he could see them being driven out of all the rubble. It seemed the building collapsed while they were inside or perhaps, they simply didn't get a chance to escape in time. That said, the number of injured wasn't that much, atleast when compared to the amount that was present in the Inn.
Zoro looked around for a bit before turning towards another direction where a man stood with frustrated expression holding his tears back. He was both the owner and manager of this ruined inn. He seemed distraught and why wouldn't he? He had just lost his only way of income. This place was what he and his family depended upon.
Seeing Zoro coming over, he braced himself.
"What happened here?"
By now his expression was turning to normal but his eyes which had turned grave remained the same. He needed answers and only this guy seemed fine enough to provide him with, but the inn owner remained silent.
He himself had no idea of what happened. He was gone outside and by the time he returned, everything was gone. Still, it wasn't as if he hadn't seen anything. If nothing else, he had seen the supposed perpetrators. He took his time to organize the messy thoughts and answered in somewhat shaky voice,
"I don't know everything but… there were some amazoness"
"Amazoness?"
"Yeah. I can't be wrong. It was them and…"
"Speak up!"
"… they were carrying two injured people. One was your whitehaired friend while the other was some girl"
"A girl? who?"
"I don't know. I really don't know just…she had fox ears. Likely a Renard"
Renard? They were another race, but he had never seen any. They were quite rare it seemed. Still, what was a Renard doing here?
'What is going on?'
Everything sounded messy. Who were those amazoness? Who was that Renard? Why did they attack? Why did they kidnap Bell? Was all this due to that Renard or was there another reason?
There were too many questions and not a single answer. He looked at the sky which had started to get dark,
"Sigh… what about the other one?"
Bell was kidnaped but what about Leo who had stayed behind?
"He was found early on, right here" the place where the owner pointed at had blood stains signalling the condition of whoever had lied there.
"…. but… his injuries were serious despite not being buried under the rubble. He has been sent to a nearby hospital"
"Thank you!"
Zoro then turned towards Hermes familia,
"You guys stay behind and help them. I'll go take a l-"
"Zoro-sama!"
Before he could finish, someone called out to him from behind. Turning around, he could see Lily coming over in a hurry.
"Lily…"
Lily came and stood in front of him looking around, "Thank God, you made back in time. Look, what has happened!"
"What about the others?"
"Hestia-sama and Emma are with Leo. His condition… is very serious!"
"Hmm…, This was done by amazoness?"
"Yeah. That's what Lily and others heard. By the time we came back, Leo was being taken to the hospital but, Bell sama is…"
"I heard. Any hope if he'll make it?"
"Well yeah. His condition is much better than before. It's just… his wounds were a bit too deep, so a lot of blood was lost. It's good that the major organs weren't affected too much. He's still unconscious and hopefully will wake up soon enough"
Hearing this, he nodded: "I see!"
There was silence afterwards. It seemed Leo's condition was more serious than expected. He turned around looking at Hermes familia who had already gone ahead, helping those buried under rubble. No doubt there were some casualties among those buried, and some more could succumb to their wounds with passage of time.
His mood got even sourer looking at those dead and wounded.
"They were innocent" Zoro whispered softly to himself while looking at all this. He had strong sense of personal justice.
He had no problem with killing on war grounds and such even if the one's being killed were innocent and only following orders.
Didn't matter!
Once you pick up a weapon with intent to fight and kill then you should be ready to be killed in return. This was his personal philosophy, one he lived by but… unrelated bystanders lost their lives simply by being here which for him was unacceptable.
How many of them came here just to enjoy or perhaps to fulfil a dream, away from any conflict and yet this was the end result and the reason? They chose a relatively safe place to live which turned into battle ground and they were butchered.
Reality truly was cruel sometimes.
Still, now wasn't the time to be sentimental. What was supposed to happen had happened and there was no point on standing here, chatting or feeling bad. He needed to get to the bottom of this incident.
"Do you know who those amazoness were?", he asked Lily who was standing there expressionlessly. She had already witnessed to stuff like this and much worse during the era of evilus. To her other people's value couldn't be compared to those close to her.
She turned to Zero answering his question,
"Not exactly but… right now there are only two amazoness groups present in the city who could mobilize this level of force. One is Kali Familia and the other is Ishtar Familia and this… is likey done by Ishtar Familia."
"Ishtar Familia?"
Zoro was somewhat aware of power structure of Orario and thus atleast knew the names of some of the most famous familias. Ishtar Familia was one of those famous ones with a lot of name and wealth.
"Yeah. Hard to believe but there's a rumour of them being present here. Though… Lily hasn't seen them herself"
"Then how can you be so certain it's them?"
"Because of what I was told after asking around. They said a frog like woman was present here during this incident and Ishtar Familia's captain does look a bit like frog."
"A frog look-alike amazoness huh! Hmm… I'll go look around."
"Are you sure?"
"I need to find Bell"
"Let Lily tag along"
"No. Go and protect Hestia. We don't know what's happening and nothing should befall her."
"Alright but be careful"
"Go…, no wait. FALGAR!" suddenly he called out to the vice-captain of Hermes Familia who was busy helping people. By now, no one else could be detected below this mess but they still looked around just to be sure.
Hearing his name being called out, Falgar immediately left whatever he was doing and came towards Zoro. He didn't know why but there was something about the way Zoro talked and that was especially now. He felt compelled to listen and act on whatever Zoro said, like a servant listening to the king.
This was a new but strange feeling which could not be put into words.
"Yes?"
"Do me a favour and go back with Lily. I need you and the other three to guard Hestia until things settle down."
"I heard your talks. Do you not need our help to find Bell?"
"Protecting Hestia in this messy situation is more important and as for Bell, he should be fine…"
"… alright. We will"
By now other three had also come over. A familia was a familia because of celestials so it was natural to prioritize them over anything and anyone else especially in such dangerous situations.
"And yeah! take this with you" Zoro separated the cloth tied to his waist and handed it over to Falgar and other members of Hermes Familia present.
"Are you sure. I really don't want to touch this ominous thing. It gives me bad feelings"
This cloth had the Orb they had found there, and it truly gave off an eerie atmosphere. Falgar hesitated a bit before finally accepting it.
"…Fine…"
They would just deliver it to that Fels guy. He had told them of a secret location to meet after coming back so now was the best time to complete their mission or atleast it should be completed with this Orb.
"Stay vigilant"
With that last word, Zoro left. His destination was something he himself wasn't aware of. He just had to find some amazoness warrior to possibly track Bell. That was the only hope for now.
With that in mind, he started searching everywhere. Moving in and out of crossroads and streets, moving through labyrinth of dark alleys but to no effect. While moving about, he came across a rather bizarre place.
People were running around as if trying to avoid something and he could indeed hear faint sounds of fighting. He went ahead towards where it originated from and came across a spot. No one could be seen around but an uproar could be heard from a distance. It was a rather secluded space, and he could finally see what all the fuss was about.
Several silhouettes could be seen sprinting around here and there, encircling and attacking someone.
It was a woman being surrounded by several amazonesses. She was of relative good height with jade-coloured hair tied in a ponytail that reached till her waist, same colour as eyes, and long ears. She was wearing a green outfit with yellow borders, a white cloak over it, a black belt, a yellow sash, black leggings, and long brown boots. She was definitely an exceptional beauty, rivalling even the celestials.
Holding a wooden staff, she was constantly parrying attacks from all around although she didn't seem to be a good fighter as obvious from those movements. They were simple and direct which did their job but still, it was obvious of how she was being cornered bit by bit.
This woman was Reveria Ljos Alf, an elven royalty as well as the best magic caster of current Orario or perhaps even the world. Her skill with casting spells was great and phenomenal since she could easily intervene and mix certain chants at any given time to bring about exceptional effects. This alone proved her ability since doing that would require using magic power in separate wavelengths at the same time, kind of like mixing oil and fire together and hoping to control the resulting situation. If the control over magical energy itself wavered even a little, huge explosion could take place bringing the caster down, but she was master at it along with many other abilities common among top-tier mages.
She was considered best and was lvl 6 but now was in a dilemma. The problem here was the place of fighting. She could chant even in this situation while solving all those attacks and even control the amount of magic energy invested to the minimum to reduce resulting effect and thus the damage to minimum, but it would still accumulate and in case some structure fell around and those living inside died, that would be disastrous. Atleast she wasn't willing to risk it, so she just fended off their attacks while chanting magic to empower herself. Still the number fighting her was great. Several dozen attacks would come at the same time leaving almost no room to manoeuvre around for her. As if that wasn't bad enough, the ones fighting her were amazoness who were famous for their fighting capabilities and each of these amazoness was lvl 3.
She herself was double their level but her forte lied in magic and even though her physical stats were quite good, but she still lacked this sort of fighting experience. So atmost, she was able to throw them around a bit without being able to deal any serious damage.
Seeing this, Zoro got excited. From what he knew, Bell was taken by some amazoness and here he found some each of whom seemed troublemaker.
He moved forward unsheathing his swords and threw himself in that turmoil.
After some time…
Amazoness warriors could be seen lying limp in the middle of the road, bloodied all over. He had taken care to not kill them but, in this condition, it wouldn't take long for them to succumb to their injuries if not treated in time.
Zoro could be seen grabbing one by neck, lifting her off the ground,
"Hey speak. Where's Bell?"
He was using intimidation tactic here since Amazoness were made up of tough material. It wasn't easy to make them talk but he needed her to open her mouth and fast.
While he was interrogating her, the answer came from someone else, "I know where he is!", it was Riveria.
"What?"
"He is in the hospital. We found him in a rather bad shape and transferred him there along with others"
"Others?"
"My familia members."
"Where?"
"They-", she was just about to tell him but then remembered a rather bizarre rumour. It wasn't common knowledge or anything, but she had heard of him having direction problems, "Never mind. Follow me" even though she didn't have time, she decided to lead him there. He had helped her out and so did Bell so it wouldn't be right to just let it be.
Anyway, it wasn't far from where she was going so why not.
…
It was a rather spacious room with several beds lined up in proper order along the walls on both sides. Several individuals, all female except one could be seen lying over these comfy mattresses with one thing in common. All were bandaged to some extent with one seeming more serious than the others but not too much.
It was Bell. It seemed his bones had been broken once again but then again this might even be better. Last time, his broken bones had been fixed by someone he didn't know who neither how. On top of that, he wasn't healed properly afterwards and no rest either. That could easily make his bones weak and vulnerable, and this was indeed result of said weakness.
Now his bones had been fixed once more and in precise way as well. On top of that, powerful healing magic had been used which was much better than using any number of potions along with good rest.
There was one problem though which wouldn't be solved even with strongest of healing magics and that was loss of blood. Indeed, he had lost a lot of blood due to which had weakened his body. Although blood transfusion was in act right now, it would still take some time for him to get better and healthy.
Zoro came over and sat beside him and only then did Bell noticed him and opened his eyes, calling out to him,
"Captain!"
Zoro looked him up and down, finally speaking, "You seem to be in pretty bad shape"
Hearing that, Bell shook his head in denial, "No. never. I'm perfectly fine" He was smiling as if nothing had happened.
"Hahahaha indeed that's how a man gotta act" Zoro too was relieved seeing that. The light in his eyes shone ever so brightly even after whatever he had gone through. Nothing could be better. After laughing a bit, his eyes turned serious!
"Now tell me, what happened?"
"Before that. Is Leo alright?"
"Yeah. He should be fine. Last I heard from Lily, he seemed to be in better condition albeit unconscious"
"I see. That's good" Bell sighed in relief hearing that. If there was one thing he worried most, it was Leo. That guy had also fought alongside him, risking his life despite not knowing the reason.
He was truly a loyal comrade.
"So, I found this gir…"
He started narrating all that had transpired…
He had come across Loki Familia members who were vastly outnumbered and being bombarded from all sides by some amazon warriors. To help them, he intervened despite not being fully healed and the result, he managed to take down quite a bit of lower-level ones but got thrashed afterwards and he was here the next time he opened eyes.
Hearing all that, Zoro stayed silent. If seen from correct perspectives, Bell was responsible for everything that had happened to him. His Hero complex was what brought him here.
Then again, if it was Zoro himself then indeed, he too would have fought to protect that sick girl without knowing the truth especially because of their bad reputation. There were stories of Ishtar Familia kidnapping beautiful girls and forcing them into this nightly business. Although there was never a proof, but rumours were enough to become vigilant.
As for intervening for Loki Familia, he probably wouldn't have since that was their fight and he still wouldn't intervene in their matters but as for Berbera (Ishtar Familia Amazoness), they needed to be taught a lesson.
Especially that captain of theirs who had caused deaths of many innocents and had even kidnapped Bell. If not for that Renard, who knew what would have become of Bell under that woman's hands.
"Rest Well. I'll be right back", Zoro said, patting Bell over the shoulders and left. From what he knew that captain of Ishtar Familia was lvl 5 and he probably wouldn't be able to deal with her but atleast some interest had to be collected, both for Bell and for the deceased.
The problem now was, where? He left the hospital and started searching but he wasn't alone. Some Loki Familia members who had relatively healed had also joined him since this was a troubling matter to them as well. Two Amazonian familias were present in the city at the same time. There was very high chance of collusion between these two Familias which could be dangerous especially in current conditions. Due to which, these members came along with Zoro with the main purpose being to know the situation their members were facing.
There weren't many, just about five people, 4 females and 1 male and no one said anything. Tension was evident in the air, and it came from Loki Familia members. Things were going bad today.
They were attacked and Lefiya was kidnapped. As if that wasn't bad enough, their two amazon sisters had disappeared to who knows where and the whole familia had gone out in search of them. And now they were continually getting news of their members being attacked including even Riveria and the worst, they weren't able to help much due to injuries.
Now their conditions were much better and atleast wouldn't become a burden, so they decided to act.
After asking around for some time, they finally got a clue. Apparently, someone was fighting a monster in certain direction hearing which, the group moved on towards it.
After passing through some corridors, they came across a rather heated confrontation out in open big street. Several fights between Berbera and Loki Familia members could be seen taking place here and there with most heated one being the one between Aiz and Phryne.
This was his first-time seeing Phryne and yes, she did look more like a monster than anything else. She was a huge fat woman with frog like face and hideous expression. He heard her saying something about being beautiful and what not but from where he stood, her beauty was atmost comparable to Catarina Devon and that wasn't saying much.
Regardless she was strong and was fighting in direct one-on-one confrontation with Aiz. They were fighting in a dimension of their own with no one daring to come close, else be injured. Phryne could be seen quite injured while Aiz wasn't exactly in great shape herself.
"H-How?", seeing this battle shocked Loki Familia members who were with him. They couldn't understand of how Phryne was fighting somewhat on par with their role-model Aiz despite the level gap between them.
And the gap wasn't just about level but also techniques and skill. Aiz was no doubt superior to Phryne in all aspects of combat safe for maybe endurance and yet this was happening. Perhaps the rumours were true after all, that Ishtar Familia falsified their official levels, but Zoro didn't quite agree.
His attention was taken by someone else, 'so that's the one…'. He was looking towards the roof of one of the houses. Some hooded individuals could be seen standing there with three amazoness around. It was as if said Amazonesses were protecting the hooded individual but why? Amazonesses were fight thirsty warriors who would do anything to get a good fight and to get a strong man. Anyway, such fierce battle was taking place down below and yet they just stood, watch protecting whoever that was.
The only reason could be the importance of said hooded individual but what was that importance?
Answer was obvious just by looking at Phryne Jamil. She had some golden lights surrounding her which was probably what helped her in fighting on-par with Aiz. Perhaps it increased her stats but from where he stood, it was probably something like level up since only then could that woman bridge the gap and said miraculous powerup could only be the result of some skill or magic and this skill or magic probably originated from that hooded individual.
Still,
'What's the hurry?', Aiz should have been able to deal with Phryne Jamil even now. She was a good fighter, much better than Phryne who was for the most part relying on brute force. The only reason Aiz was being pushed was probably due to some urgency that he could feel from her movements. Perhaps she wanted to go somewhere fast, so her focus wasn't on the fight at hand.
Seeing that, Zoro sighed, whispering to himself, "She has much to learn", Aiz was no doubt talented, but she lacked experience.
Even if she wanted to end it fast, she should focus on the enemy at hand and not something else since only that way would she succeed but her mind was filled with other thoughts.
Then again, she was young about 16-17 years old so she should get better with more experience.
"Are you just going to keep standing here?", Zoro then turned to girls beside him who just stood there, gawking at the sight. It seemed it was hard for them to accept what was taking place but now wasn't the time.
Hearing him, they too woke up from their stupor and joined their other members in battle. There was imbalance in numbers before which still existed but atleast the burden was eased by quite a bit by their entrance.
Zoro himself un-sheathed his swords and sent a compressed air slash towards that hooded individual. He had a doubt he wanted to confirm and so the roof became his fighting ground.
That slash was intercepted by one of the amazons protecting the hooded but jumped back right after since rain of slashes descended upon her from below. Seeing this almost frantic attack, the three protectors came into action and started intercepting all slashes but, they were being overwhelmed by pure number of them. Zoro just stood at place waving his swords as fast as possible, each wave would send a slash.
These slashes weren't powerful but were great in number and as expected. Not long after, the hood of the hooded individual was blown apart. He never targeted her, only the hood and yes. His suspicion was proven to be correct.
"That should be the one", he was looking at the true face hidden beneath the hood. It was the Renard Bell had told him about. He had a doubt before so didn't target her and that doubt originated from atmosphere she gave off. Even while covered, her atmosphere was pure and innocent like a child which was completely unlike all the amazonesses present here and this matched with what Bell had told him about.
"You'll pay for this!", said one of the protectors, screaming her throat out. She was quite tall and well-built for battle but even though she said that didn't descend. She simply picked up the Renard and left along with other two.
Seeing them leave, Zoro didn't pursue and shifted his attention to the real target.
Phryne Jamil!
That's the one he came to handle, and it seemed his work had been made easier thanks to both Aiz and that Renard.
He could feel the light shimmering around her vanish bit by bit, weakening her in the process and getting beaten by Aiz.
And so, he also moved with all three swords coded in armament, running towards them while warning Aiz,
"GET AWAY!"
At the same time, he held two of his swords in hands horizontally above his shoulders and lined up the one in mouth in the same direction as the ones over shoulders and jumped in the air, performing a powerful circular swing…
(Three swords Style: 360 Calibre Soaring Phoenix…!)
Three slashes got launched in the air towards Phryne Jamil with each slash empowering the other, like birds moving in a flock. This was a stronger version of the same technique he had used to cut through the sonic field during War game.
Aiz who was close to Phryne jumped away and this attack landed straight on her face or atleast it should have but she managed to bring her battle axe in between whose flat surface deflected his attack towards the sides.
This attack went useless, but he never expected it to succeed to begin with. If it had succeeded then Phryne, simply wouldn't have been capable of reaching lvl 5.
Zoro nonchalantly came forward, "I can feel you're in a hurry so go! Leave her to me."
Haring him Aiz got confused.
"Are you sure? She's lvl 5"
What was this guy talking about? Phryne wasn't some soft permission. She was a genuine lvl 5 and yet he was saying this?
Hearing her, Zoro once again motioned, "I'll manage. Go!"
What she was seeing was confidence. This guy was really confident in this wasn't he. Still, if he had this much belief in his abilities then why not?
"Be careful", with that last word, she left towards where she should be.
Seeing Aiz leave, Phryne was furious, but she had no courage to follow after. The effect of that magic was gone and without that, she wouldn't even be able to make Aiz serious but there was this one thing angering her.
"You think you can handle me, hm boyy!"
That confidence in this guy's tone was irritating her. Just where did this confidence come from, she didn't know, and she had no wish to know.
Her only source of happiness now would be to completely destroy this guy.
"You're that baby boy's captain isn't yoouuu!"
"…"
"Not gonna speak then so be it. You'll be with him soon enough!"
It seemed she didn't know of Bells escape but her tone irritated him as much as she was irritated by him.
He walked forward, step by step towards her and he was indeed confident. Even if his chances of beating her weren't high, he could still give her some rather memorable scars especially in the condition she was currently in.
On top of being injured by Aiz, the side effects from that magic had also started to appear.
Zoro had no idea of what it was, but he was certain that there was a price to pay for every temporary powerup especially if said powerup originated due to someone else and not one's own capability. In that case, it became borrowed power and thus, there was a cost to be paid. Based on what it did, he could assume the cost to be opposite about which he was right.
Yes! No doubt that magic allowed Haruhime to level up a person temporarily, but the draw back was also quite severe. After the effect of that magic wears off, the person loses a level temporarily and that was happening to Phryne.
But that said even though she lost a level and became lvl 4, she was still strongest within said level with maxed out stats. Minimum stats for powerup and maximum stats for powerdown, that's what Haruhime magic revolved around.
So, even though Zoro could tell she had weakened and she herself also knew said fact, didn't matter. She was still much stronger than him in pure stats wise and from her perspective, that was enough to plough him down.
She readied her battle axe and ran full speed towards Zoro, as if to ram into him. Seeing her mad bull like sprint, Zoro too sprinted towards her with swords ready to strike at moment's notice. Bit by bit, the distance between them reduced within a second and she swung her battle axe. She swung it with such force that the air around screamed and was blown away.
The result, nothing. She couldn't feel having hit anything except for empty air. Before her mind could properly process,
Cuuttt!
"Aaaahhhhh!..."
She screamed after feeling immense pain from left part of her stomach area. She immediately jumped to the right and saved herself from another gruesome attack from the back.
Zoro had attacked her from a blind spot. In her mad dash, she either forgot or never considered such scenario. Zoro who was running towards her didn't clash head on. That would have been a suicide so rather than doing that, he took advantage of the time she was fully focused on her swing.
There was a saying, one is most vulnerable while attacking and that couldn't be truer. He had timed everything perfectly. If there was even a bit of delay, his head would have gone faar away.
He ducked to the left while she was halfway through the swing which she noticed but couldn't act immediately. Afterwards, he used both of his swords in hands to leave a deep wound on the left part of her stomach, but he didn't stop there. Moving behind her, he attacked once again but she jumped away in time and managed to save herself.
Seeing her getting away, Zoro smirked, and he extended his arms holding the swords and cut them through air.
Slash slash!
Fierce wind blades formed and got hurled towards her at the speed of formation which was instantaneous. They tore through the air, cutting everything in the way apart and reached her in lightning speed.
"Humph!"
Seeing this, she suppressed her pain, and her body shook. Her battle axe transformed into several afterimages which intercepted all of the projectiles coming over. There wasn't exactly any precision here, just brute force and speed which destroyed all of these wind blades.
Zoro wasn't surprised, seeing none of them reaching her or doing any damage. He moved forward and closed the distance, starting close quarter combat against her. Using superior tactics and patterns, he was able to neutralize many of her attacks while landing many of his own but to no avail. She kept her guard up not giving him any chance to exploit any weakness. The attacks that did managed to make it through could atmost leave shallow marks and nothing else.
That said, both of them kept each other in check. He took full advantage of any opening while she also took full advantage of her superior stats to battle him. That said, none of their attacks properly connected even once except for when defending.
Their fighting styles were similar but now, different. She attacked many times, but he managed to dodge or parry most of them. There was one which made it to him, but he managed.
On the other hand, He attacked from several different directions with even more variations and yet most were blocked.
This battle kept on going like this for quite some time. This was a battle of resilience and endurance. Whoever kept on their game would win.
If seen from another perspective, this battle should have ended long time ago. There was a difference of two levels between them and there was no doubt that she was much stronger than him in terms of stats, but she lacked too much.
Her technique was sloppy, her reactions delayed, and the way of fighting was faar too impractical for someone at her level. Perhaps she was a great fighter once, but she was rusted, probably due to relying too much on borrowed power.
Zoro on the other hand was complete opposite. Save for physical stats, he surpassed her in everything else.
Still, as time went on, he noticed an anomaly. Her wounds were healing, and they were healing at a bit too fast a speed. Even the deep scar on stomach had stopped bleeding. This confused him since he didn't see her using any healing magic, skill or item then how?
Seeing his confusion, she taunted,
"Come. Use your best move else once I've recovered, you're dead!"
"Really? Sure, your physical wounds are healing but what about mind power. I wonder how long you'll be able to keep this up"
The only explanation for this oddity would be some sort of passive skill or development ability but that was also fine. Sure, her physical wounds were healing but that consumed her mind power, so it was an equal trade-off.
Still, he needed to finish this fast since there was a high possibility of her recovering her level back. He didn't know of for how long it would take but if she did, he would have no choice but to retreat. That said, he didn't become impatient. Till now, he was measuring her patterns of attack and defence and it wouldn't be long until he would be able to land a strong hit, but he would probably have to face great danger to do that, but it was fine.
An injury for an injury was more than acceptable for him.
Both of his swords moved to and fro, attacking, parrying and sometimes blocking but each of said blocks would send him flying a few feet back which she would follow up by attacks at which point he would again dodge. He tried to find an opening during that interval and there indeed were openings during every one of those scenarios but he could make use of them.
Every time she attacked him like that, she would also jump back the same instance. Many-a-times he rolled on the floor to deal some sort of damage during those instances, but she was a bit too cautious, so nothing worked.
'Since this is the case…'
He decided to use another tactic he hadn't used for quite some time now. He once again attacked her, and she once again blocked. He did so again just waiting her to attack. For a moment where he wouldn't be able to dodge, and she would be certain of that as much as he would.
It didn't take long, he himself presented himself in such position and she took advantage of that, launching a full powered attack. Everyone of these attacks would produce thunderous sounds due to the amount of power put inside. Seeing her hands moving back for said attack, he changed the direction of the blade and waited. Right now, she was vulnerable no doubt, but he wouldn't be fast enough to launch an attack, atleast not till her attack would reach him. Just being able to see and predict an action didn't mean it could be neutralized or be taken advantage of so he gave up such thoughts and waited.
Just when her attack reached halfway through, he used the very tip of his blade in right hand and positioned it to strike right at the centre of power accumulation on this battle axe.
"Uh! Wha-?" she couldn't understand what had happened. It seemed as if all the power she had put inside that battle axe was wasted, the impact force was gone and for a moment, she couldn't move, and he took advantage of that.
Stab!
The sword in his left hand stabbed right through her body at stomach area.
They weren't standing at too much a distance, especially now when she herself had gotten closer to attack.
"Gah-!"
Feeling such pain, her mind went blank, but he wasn't finished yet. He wanted to slash her off from stomach but she, without caring for anything attacked him. He immediately ducked to dodge the attack only to be smashed into the ground by her feet.
"Guh-!"
He couldn't help spitting a mouthful of blood.
This was the danger he had to face to launch a successful attack. People usually become aware of much at the time of extreme danger, and it seemed she did as well. What she did just know was without thinking, just pure instinct to save her life and he was down.
Without giving him any chance, she stomped once again, burying him half in the ground. It was good that he applied armament all over otherwise he would have been turned into a pulp, but her attacks didn't stop. While keeping her feet over him, fixing in place she raised her battle axe and it came crashing down on his head,
Stab!
Slaaasshhh!
Only to miss the mark due to sudden imbalance. While on the ground, fixed in place, he stabbed her leg at knee and slashed upwards with full force, making a huge cut which seemed hideous.
"Daammnn yoouuu!"
With one sword stabbed in the stomach while the other almost slashing off one of her legs, she couldn't even properly scream, only cursing which in itself sounded like a scream.
She stepped back, covered in blood falling to the ground.
"Cough! Cough...!"
Zoro too stood up, patting himself. His chest had grown red due to spitting blood. He felt as if several of his organs had been smashed. Standing, he started walking towards her, staggeringly.
"NO! DO NOT COME OVER! I GIVE… I GIVE… YES! You can have it. My body is yours from now. You won't find beauty like me anywhere. PLEASE! PLEASE!"
Seeing him coming over, she started bawling like a child only to start making what she considered to be seductive movements.
"This Vermin!"
Zoro rarely cursed anyone, and she became one of them.
This disgusted him. Perhaps Zoro would have let her go after she gave up, but her next words and acts offended him a lot. Sure, she could give up but why talk like that? Not a shred of sincerity.
So, without caring for anything, he went ahead and slashed off one of her arms.
"Aaaahhhh! Yoooouuuuuuuuuu!", and she lost consciousness.
Seeing her lying there, unconscious, he un-ceremonially went ahead and took his sword back which resulted in gush of blood.
"You should be thankful for that Renard who saved Bell otherwise today would be your death day"
With that, he stepped back. By now, the fights taking place around were over. It wasn't because one side defeated the other but rather due to her Phryne last scream. It was so loud that even the sound of battle had been overshadowed due to which they were forced to stop.
Everyone present watch in horror at her, bathing in her own blood with one arm lying elsewhere and then at him who seemed like asura with that piercing gaze he was directing towards them.
"You there! Take this and leave. Don't force me to kill you all"
This was a clear-cut warning for all amazoness present on the scene and they didn't even squeak for a moment before coming back to their senses. They immediately ran and picked her up.
Even now at deaths door and unconscious, Phryne was making it hard for others to save her due to that weight. Still, even with a ton weight, several amazoness together managed to pick her and her arm up and immediately left for some nearby hospital or medical centre. Things would get out of hand if she died after all.
Seeing them leave, Zoro turned towards Loki Familia members.
"Let's go!", he wasn't asking them to come with him but rather for them to lead the way towards that hospital. As it was, he had already forgotten the way back so…
"Y-yes…!"
They also needed to go back since the injuries accumulated were quite deep. And even if they wanted to go and help others, what could they really do in this situation except for becoming a burden.
And they headed back. From time to time, they would glance at him, up and down in rather curious manner.
"Is there something on my face"
"N-No! Nothing like that. It's just… are you really, like really really only lvl 2?"
This was hard for her to believe. It had to be known that she was known as one of the five strongest Lvl 4's in Orario an yet even she wouldn't be able to beat him who was supposedly lvl 2. That had to be a lie… right?
"Think what you want!" and that was his only reply after which, he became silent. He was feeling sleepy and hungry so wasn't in any mood to talk around with anyone. It didn't take long for them to arrive back at the hospital and lo-and-behold, Hestia had come over.
It was Loki familia who had informed them of Bell being here, so they came. Another good thing was that Leo had also woken up and should be fine but wasn't here at the moment. Not just him, no one including Bell was here. Before he could ask Hestia anything about them, she asked him the first question, to brief all that had happened.
Hearing what he did had shocked her to no end, but he didn't dwell on that further and decided to inquire her about others.
"So, where are others?"
Hearing him, she couldn't help taking a deep sigh, "Hah! They got another mission by that Fels fellow and left with Hermes Familia. I wanted to stop them but…"
"Well, it's fine. They're not children so let them brave some dangers but… is Bell alright"
"Alright? More than that. He's already levelled up and boy was I shocked. He didn't tell me the details of what happened but whatever it was, boosted his growth by a lot but…", she looked at his stats sheet and sighed, "Forget it!"
"Hm… then that's good", Bell had gone through two highly intense battles back-to-back and had managed to survive both even though the chances of that happening were slim but still. Since he succeeded and that rooftop interaction, it was no surprise for his stats to rise.
"Still… you've really caused a lot of trouble. Just beating her would have been fine and yet you…!"
"Couldn't be helped!"
"Fine Fine… I'll deal with Ishtar later. Come, rest for a bit. You must be tired"
"Yeaahhh…Zzzzzzz…..."
And he fell asleep right after falling on the couch…
Stats sheet:
BELL CRANEL (level 2)
Human/Male/15
Stats:
Strength: SS1091
Endurance: SSS1400
Dexterity: S936
Agility: SSS1200
Magic: SS1075
Luck: H
Tenacity: H
Skill(s):
Liaris Freese (Hidden)
Fast growth as long as a desire lasts. Stronger the desire, the faster the growth. Extremely Intense desires could help break past certain limits.
Argonaut
A chance at victory
Magic:
Firebolt
…
BELL CRANEL (level 3)
Human/Male/16
Stats:
Strength: I0
Endurance: I0
Dexterity: I0
Agility: I0
Magic: I0
Luck: H
Tenacity: H
Skill(s):
Liaris Freese (Hidden)
Fast growth as long as a desire lasts. Stronger the desire, the faster the growth. Extremely Intense desires could help break past certain limits.
Argonaut
A chance at victory
Magic:
Firebolt
…
AND END!
So here is Ch 15, also the last ch of this arc. Next chapter, we'll probably meet back in Orario since adventures here are over. As for all of Loki Familia fights and stuff, that's their matter not mine so I didn't add them.
Now you might have noticed of how small a role was played by Bell in this arc, except for I suppose being thrashed around. I did that since Bell is going to be the main character of next arc alongside Zoro ofcourse. I mean I brought the guy over from One Piece so it wouldn't sit right with me to just have him sit on the side-lines.
Anyway, for Bell and Leo, this was character progression and also for Zoro to finally act like one belonging here and not there so there's that. Then I've sowed the seeds for conflict between these two familias which I hope I'm able to have them bear fruit.
Also, as you've noticed, I've stopped 'Bold'ing every single spoken sentence or though process. Do tell me if you would rather have it like before and I'll fix it.
So, did you like or did you not like. Perhaps you think it would have been better with something more or any fan ideas for next arc, all are welcome. I'll try to see how to implement ideas given by you fellows.
Anyway, this is also completed, and I'll meet you fellows in the next chapter.
REGARDS.
