Yahallo everyone! I'm here to deliver yet again a chapter of our most belvoed's renard story. Now while making this chapter I have made some adjustments to the previous chapters. The changes I have made are:

Hyakinthos is not in the second chapter anymore and they are not revealed to have connections to Evilus quite yet.

Bell's shield spell has been removed and added now due to circumstances that you will see later at the end of the story.

While I mentioned to a few people that I was going to add Welf at the end of this chapter, I made some changes to the chapter which in the end result with no Welf. But don't worry, he will be presented in the next chapter. Now considering that his situation hasn't changed, and by that I mean that he is a solo adventurer who can't form parties, he will be high level two, though that will quickly change.

Now, that this chapter is done, I'd like to inform that the next story I will work on is the dragonoid story.

With that being said, stay safe and I hope you enjoy the chapter!


Chapter 4 – First Class Renard

Anya began stirring from her sleep, the time for her guard shift was about to approach. The cat girl groggily rubbed her eyes as she awoke. She lazily changed her clothes and stretched before opening the flap of her tent and heading to the campfire at the centre of the camp. As she stumbled to the eye of the camp, the girl completely woke up as if someone dropped a bucket of ice cold water on her.

But the reason for that was what she was witnessing. Walking in on Alise and Bell making out was shocker for Anya. She knew the two were a couple, that much was obvious after the confession at the Hostess. But catching them in the act caused the poor innocent girl to blush brightly. She didn't want to interrupt them but at the same time she incredibly curious. So, after standing out in the open for nearly a minute she dove for cover, not wanting to be spotted by the two.

Hiding in a bush very close to the couple, Anya laid down and watched as the two continued without being aware of the cat girl spying on them, too concentrated on the new experience. Anya watched as the two sat next to each other. Bell's hands were around Alise's waist while the red haired girl latched her hands behind his neck. Their lips pressed against each other and as they lost themselves in the moment the two got more and more daring.

First Alise then Bell as their hands began wondering and exploring each other's bodies. Then Alise decided to push on and proceeded to tap Bell's lips with her tongue, which Bell quickly allowed entrance. Anya watched in stupor as their tongues swirled around each other and their love for each other just kept on increasing.

The red haired girl got up a little, without ever breaking the kiss, and moved to sit on Bell's laps still facing him. Her legs on each side of his waist as her pelvis grinded against his own. One of Alise's hands held onto the back of his neck while one of them grabbed Bell's left hand and guided it to her unarmoured chest.

Bell followed Alise's lead and let her place his hand on her breast, feeling a softness that he didn't believe could be possible. Without thinking, he began gently squeezing drawing out cute yelps and moans out of Alise. Bell too began being more aggressive and moved his right hand over Alise's butt, groping her left cheek.

If not for the fact that they were in the dungeon and other people were around, Alise would've loved to just strip down here and make Bell hers. But she resisted the urge and just decided to satisfy herself with the warm touch of Bell's hands and lips.

Bell kept gently kneading Alise's chest and butt as the two kept on making out, revelling in the newfound feelings. Joy, pleasure and satisfaction that the two had never experienced beforehand. Alise then pushed Bell down to the ground and deepened the kiss as much as she could, her hips never stopping to grind against Bell. Her own hands began cupping his cheek and exploring his muscular abs as she felt herself want more and more, her core heating up.

Anya kept watching silently from her bush as the two kissed and caressed each other intensely without ever taking a break. Lost in their constant adoration for each other, the two never noticed Anya, who began unknowingly slowly make her way to them. The couple too lost in their bliss only noticed her as she stumbled and landed face first into the ground with a yelp just a meder away from the two adventurers who had been making out until now.

"Kya!"

As the cat girl slowly looked up to them a deathly silence took over. Anya quietly stared at the couple, blushing as much as the two caught red handed.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"A-Anya?"

"Hehe, g-good m-morning nya?"

.

"And please remember to not tell anyone. Absolutely no one, you understand Anya? If you do I'd die of embarrassment, it would be the absolute end of my life. And don't think that you won't be accompanying me to the grave."

Bell was right up in Anya's face, desperately making her swear that she will keep silent.

"Isn't it fine?"

Anya and Bell turned to Alise who had quickly calmed down.

"We're a couple, it wouldn't be that unusual."

"Still, I don't want anyone to know. It'd be too embarrassing. How would I face Takemikazuchi? And Astraea?"

"I'm sure my Goddess wouldn't mind so much. Might soon be part of it."

The red haired girl whispered the last part causing Bell to raise an eyebrow.

"What did you say?"

The girl however beamed and simply shook her head.

"Nothing~"

Bell looked at her confused before turning back to Anya.

"Nyon't mworry white hair, I'll nyeep it a secret nya."

"T-thank you Anya."

The flap of the other tents then fluttered open as each member came out wearing casual clothes. It was somewhat unusual for Bell as he had only seen them in their waitress uniform up until now.

"Good … morning?"

Lunoire looked curiously at Anya and Bell who blushed a little while Alise glowed with an ever bright smile.

"Nya? I-it's nyathing. Ye, it's really nyathing."

Chloe looked at her suspiciously before turning to Bell who was now looking normal. Though still very innocent the boy was quick to calm down and act according to the situation.

"As Anya said it's nothing of important."

Mia was the first to dismiss the situation. She didn't buy what the two said but it wasn't hard to guess that the dumb cat had walked in on the couple.

"Whatever you say boy. Let's get a move on. We still have monsters waiting to drop items for us. We can't hang here forever, we gotta go down to the thirty fifth floor eventually."

.

The group spent the next several hours fighting hordes of monsters. Deadly hornets, bloody hives, green dragons, hobgoblins, moss huge, metal rabbits, poison vermis, drag octopus, carbuncles and raider fishes were amongst the most common monsters appearing at the beginning.

Bell was quick to adapt and easily dispatched dozens of the various types of monsters along with Alise, Anya, Lunoire and Mia. Chloe who decided to tag along this time, offered support from the rear, occasionally sneaking behind large group of monsters and launching surprise attacks.

Bell proceeded to fight with large powerful swings, wiping out waves of monsters every time he swung the longsword that Tsubaki provided to him. Occasionally they'd meet some rarer monsters like sirens and aqua serpents. Bell dodged the tail of one of the serpents and before the monster could go for a second attack, Alise arrived behind it, cutting it down.

The fight was also proving to be an efficient training method to improve the party's teamwork and ability to coordinate with each other. The group went from floor twenty four down to twenty five. There they began meeting harpies, devil mosquitoes, blue crabs as well as crystal turtles.

Despite there being a lot of high levelled monsters, the waves proved useless against the group of first and second class adventurers. And it seemed to have irritated the dungeon as it suddenly spawned a mixed group of light quartzes, crystaroth urchins and a flock of iguazus. The large group of monsters spread out and surrounded the renard, much to the surprise of the adventurer's.

The Iguazus shot down, the light quartzes fired their lasers and the urchins rolled with their claws out towards the renard. The girls shouted Bell to watch out, but he once again surprised them as he dove nose first into the ground. But instead of crashing into the ground face first, he vanished in a mist of ice.

Monsters and adventurers alike watched confused before the mist of ice began moving around. The monsters huddled together as the white mist flowed over the ground in a circle around them, encircling them like the monsters had done to the renard before.

As the monsters were all gathered together, the renard materialized out of the mist right in the midst of the group of monsnters, spinning with his sword in hand as he shot upwards. The misty vortex that was Bell's sword cut up all the monsters in an instant. The attack came to an end as the mist dissipated and Bell landed on the solid ground.

"What … was that?!"

Alise came running to him with an excited glint in her eyes.

"Oh … that? It's one of my skills. It's called Senho. Allows me to turn into an icy mist and travel at much faster speeds."

"That is sooo coool!"

Behind Alise, Anya also looked at him with starry eyes.

"Kuh! Nyot fair. Meow also nwyants a cool skill nya!"

Mia also showed a little surprise and wondered what other surprises he has in store.

"Well I do have a few aces up my sleeve. Actually there is a spell that I have never used before. My previous God said that it was incredibly powerful and dangerous. So I shouldn't use it unless really necessary."

That caused the eyebrows of his fellow party members to arch up. They didn't pry any further but couldn't help but wonder what kind of spell it was. If even a God deemed it dangerous then the power of said spell must have been beyond anyone's imagination. Unknowingly, the group would learn of the magic's omnipotent power later in the expedition.

.

The following two days, the party continuously hunted down monsters across the twentieth to twenty ninth floor. The required drops were quickly and easily gathered thanks to Bell's developmental ability. During this time, Bell learnt a lot more about fighting with monsters and their different characteristics. Alise and Mia were also surprised by the adaptability of the renard.

The expedition that should have lasted for nearly a month, was seemingly going to be completed by the end of the first week, all thanks to Bell's developmental ability which raised the chances of getting drop items from the monsters.

"I think that's all and extra."

Lunoire checked their inventory, making sure that they had all the required drop items. Not only did they meet the requirements, but they had extra as well and it never hurt to have more than the required. It just meant more money for them.

"Good then I say we proceed further down, how about it boy?"

The renard looked at Mia and nodded.

"You also said that you wanted to fight against Udaeus, right?"

"You heard me right boy. With me and Alise as frontliners and the rest of you providing support. One of the most troublesome features of the old skeleton is that he summons spartois, warrior type monsters. They are as strong as level four adventurers so be careful."

The group then headed back to camp and packed up the tents before resuming their way down. Passing by the boss room that still had signs of Bell's and the Amphisbaena's fight, they proceeded down to the twenty ninth floor where they ran into the first signs of life other than monsters. A group of adventurers.

It was surprising to find a group of adventurers there since there weren't many who could get this deep in the dungeon. The few Familias that could were the Astraea, Ganesha, Loki, Freya and occasionally the Ishtar Familia. But the group in front of them didn't look to be part of any of the aforementioned Familias.

They didn't wear the black armour of the Freya Familia, they didn't look like Amazon berbelas from the Ishtar Familia nor did they wear the typical orange uniform of the Ganesha Familia. They couldn't be members of the Astraea Familia since there were only few members and Alise was sure they were all on the surface, besides the obvious fact that she would recognize any of the other ten members.

The only possibility was that they were some low ranked members of the Loki Familia, but at the same time it seemed weird since the Loki Familia was well organized and wouldn't allow people below the twenty seventh floor without at least a level four and Alise and Mia didn't see any of the level fours or executives among them.

That caused Mia and Alise to grow alarmed as there was only one other group known to be able to appear around the lower and deep floors. Evilus. An organization Orario had been fighting for years.

"Bell, let's be careful."

The renard's ear twitched.

"Why is that?"

Bell noticed her wary look as she stared at the group approaching them from the front.

"They might be members of Evilus."

The white haired boy turned his eyes back to the group of men thug looking men closing in on them. Hearing a metallic whistle, Bell's ear twitched slightly. His eyes narrowed and glared at the approaching group.

"Let mine tails bring forth the cold of snow."

Bell began the chant to his spell, whispering it to the point where even Alise didn't pick it up.

"Display the beauty of thy mold and flow."

Meanwhile the two groups now stood in front of each other, with Mia standing at the front confronting the leader of the opposing group.

"Merciless are the frozen blades of nature's storm."

Mia looked wary of the group as the leader spoke. His gestures suggesting less than appreciated ideas, reinforced when Mia frowned and gave the man a glare.

"With flawless poise and elegant form."

By the violent gestures it looked like things were getting tense, Mia looked angry and the opposing leader acted cocky.

"The blizzard veils mine belief."

Bell began chanting louder as the spell came up, the magic circle faintly forming under his feet as the renard poured more mind into the spell. At the same time the thugs brought out their weapons. In the hands of some of the members were orange coloured orbs, orbs that Bell knew were called kaenseki, an explosive, it seemed like they had planned this ambush. The group tried to throw the rocks but didn't get the time to do so.

"Pity is the sight of thine grief."

Alise being the first to notice Bell's spell, as his magic circle became brighter and brighter, pushed everyone out of the way. It was at that moment that the group of adventurers noticed the renard, but it was too late now.

"Yukisho Soumetsu."

Bell finished the spell that made his tail glow a bright azure color. He turned around and generated a storm, with thousands of ice blades spinning within the storm, with his tail that propelled forwards against the group. The arrogant leader was immediately engulfed and was soon joined by the rest of his companions.

The freezing temperature and the spinning ice blades made short work of the group and cut them into pieces along with the bombs. No screams or shouts were heard as they died instantly inside the spell. Their skin was frozen, showing signs of frostbite, and their limbs torn apart with clean and precise cuts.

Everything in the path of the spell had been frozen and torn apart. Not only the adventurers but the floor and any landform that stood in the way as well. As the spell's effect ended the storm simply dispersed as it had never been there.

At Bell's side the girls looked shocked at the result of the white haired boy's spell. Yet they could tell that the spell Bell talked about before was not this one. Which made them question what kind of spell he still had up his sleeve.

Alise turned to look at Bell's face, but he seemed completely undisturbed by the sight of the corpses in front of him. She kind of expected that, but at the same time she couldn't help but be surprised at how the normally shy and innocent boy seemed indifferent to death.

Then again he did show to have a much more serious and dangerous side when in battle or confronting his enemies. Nothing like the usual blushing renard. Then again, that was one of Bell's charms and a reason why she loved him dearly. The thought brought a smile to her face.

While Alise observed Bell with admiration and awe, despite the carnage he just caused, Mia had walked over to the bodies and checked them. As she had expected she found magic items and identifications that showed their affiliation to Evilus.

"Nya! That surprised me!"

"I didn't think you'd kill them honestly. Not that I have anything against that."

Mia agreed with both Chloe and Lunoire.

"Ye, really didn't expect you to have that in you boy. And you're right Lunoire, there is no need to think about it. These were Evilus scum."

Bell looked at Mia with a serious look as he spoke with a cold tone.

"As you said they are members of Evilus. People who are evil and commit crimes for the pleasure and fun of it deserve not any kind of pity or mercy. Even so I don't normally take someone's life, it is precious and should be valued greatly. However, one can tell by their smell the weight of their actions. They were beyond forgivable."

Alise curiously looked at him as a question popped up in his head.

"Could it be that you have met members of Evilus before?"

"Yes. They once tried to release monsters on my village far up north. Apparently it was a fun hobby for them."

The red haired captain frowned at that. Normally she left the judgement of one's sins to her Goddess. But when she heard that, she couldn't believe that she'd have been able to forgive those people. She probably would have killed them just like Bell did. Suddenly Bell's ears and tails went stiff for a moment as he recalled something else.

"Matter of fact I remember they said it was a part of a plan to divert Orario's attention away from the dungeon."

That certainly caught Alise's attention as she looked at the renard worriedly.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, pretty sure."

The red haired girl put a hand to her chin as she began thinking. As the captain of the Astraea Familia it was her duty to think about Orario's safety.

'Hmm, I'll have to report this to Astraea and Shakti.'

"Hmm Mama, Alise nyan?"

The red haired girl was brought out from her thoughts as she looked at the brown haired cat girl, who was pointing at the bodies.

"What do nya do with nyese?"

"We dump them of course."

Mia's answer came immediately as did the smack on the back of Anya's head.

"I agree with Mia. These are members of Evilus and don't seem to be important members or anything of the sort. We have no obligation to bring them with us. Besides we're halfway through an expedition and I certainly won't bring the bodies with us down nor up.

Though it's not my style, there is little we can do without putting ourselves in danger. It would slow us down and there is no reason for us to do so. Unless you want to personally cary the bodies back, they might as well be left for monsters to feed on them or rot here in the dungeon."

"Nya. I guess."

The brown haired girl simply shrugged her shoulders as if it was a normal occurrence before turning to proceed down to the thirty fourth floor. Lunoire, Chloe and Mia followed behind her soon after.

"What's the matter Bell?"

The red haired girl had stayed behind as she saw the reflective look on the renard's face, his ears slightly twitching every once in a while.

"I … I don't know. I just feel like there is more to this than it looks. I think we're missing the bigger picture. Why would Evilus members suddenly appear before us?"

"Well it looks to me like a badly attempted ambush. They didn't expect to have someone like you to freeze their bombs. But you're right. No matter how useless and idiotic most members of Evilus are, the leader is a mastermind and each plan is always carefully laid out. They are always cautious and their ideas truly ingenious. It's hard to think he'd make a mistake like this. It would mean that they were either working alone …"

"Or he was testing to judge our combat strength?"

The renard finished Alise's sentence to which she nodded. Alise noticed how Bell's ears twitched adorably. She could barely hold back from jumping on the renard but quickly recomposed herself as she remembered where they were.

"We just have to be careful and not get too reckless. Such as you trying to fight Udaeus alone."

Alise gave the white haired boy a blank stare, puffing out her cheeks as she cutely prodded him. Bell simply giggled brining her head close and giving her a kiss on the forehead. The action immediately drew a blush out of her though it did little to alleviate the pout on her face.

"Don't worry. I'm not as dumb as to challenge Udaeus to a fight by myself. I heard the Sword Princess challenged it alone in order to level up to six and she barely managed."

"Hmm, good."

She gave the renard a tight hug before grabbing his hand and dragging herself and Bell back to the party. Unbeknownst to them, a cloaked figure had listened in from a distance, never having directly laid their eyes on the couple, noticing how sensitive the renard was to someone's gaze as his ears seemed to twitch and his eyes began to scan the surrounding whenever she looked at the renard.

.

After several hours, the group made its way down to the thirty sixth floor. Unlike the Amphisbaena, Udaeus was known to not be able to move from where it spawned. This made it safer than the twenty fifth and twenty sixth floor, allowing the party to camp out on the thirty sixth floor and use it as a base to move up or down the floors.

"All done nya!"

Anya rubbed her hands to shake off the dirt on them as she looked at the efforts of her work. Her tent, which wouldn't have been set up if not for everyone else pitching in to help her. Behind her, the group looked exasperated as the memory of the clumsy cat girl trying to set up a tent came back to them.

"Anyways, with this we will move between the thirty seventh floor and the thirtieth floor. Boy, before we go around slaying monsters for their drop items, I say we go give Udaeus a beating. How about we go after we rest for tonight?"

The renard thought about it for a little before nodding.

"Very well. Like that we wouldn't have to worry about the monster rex spawning while we are venturing the thirty seventh floor."

Seeing everyone smile, Bell couldn't help but be encouraged.

"Thyen tomorrow nya, let's nyo kick nyome monyster rex nyass!"

Everyone laughed at Anya's determined declaration before retreating to their respective tents after confirming the guard duty shifts. Bell and Alise had stayed behind for a moment while everyone else vanished in their tents. The two made sure to check that all of them were in and weren't peeking before turning to each other.

"Hehe, goodnight Bell."

"Goodnight Alise."

The two shyly gave each other a peck on the lips before Bell returned to his respective tent and retiring for the night. Alise on the other hand, sat in front of his tent and prepared herself for the boring role that was staying on guard duty.

.

"Nyaa!"

Chloe stretched her arms out, letting out her characteristic feline yawn. Behind her, the flaps of the tents began fluttering as the rest of the party all came out. Like her they stifled a yawn or stretched their slumbering limbs.

"Morning everyone."

Bell politely greeted them, already awake for the past two hours as he had the last guard shift. The renard sat around a fire as he was already preparing breakfast for the entire battle group. The delicate perfume that was Bell's food reached the noses of the group, causing them to drool.

"Nyou making breakfast nyor us, white nyair?"

The renard chuckled as he saw the glint in Anya's eyes and nodded.

"Yup. We can't go beat a monster rex without a full stomach after all."

The entire party soon found themselves around the fire eating and laughing together. Mia on her side was impressed with the improvement Bell made when it came to cooking under her and May's supervision. Even more so after she tasted the food Bell served her.

"Not bad boy, you're improving."

"Hehe, I can't let down the Hostess' name down after all."

That caused a massive grin to grow on Mia's face.

"Well said boy. Now let's go kick that old skeleton's ass."

.

The party ventured down and found themselves in the White Palace in less than an hour. They had stopped right before the entrance to the main room, where the monster rex would spawn in. A last strategic meeting before facing the monster.

"Remember, me, Alise and Bell will be the front liners. The rest of you provide cover. Chloe use your potions to cover us, Lunoire and Anya you two take care of as many spartoi as you can. Bell you will have the task of clearing a path for the two of us. While Me and Alise will charge and distract the monster rex, you will then use the change to sneak behind and land the final blow to Udaeus."

Everyone listened as the owner of the Hostess assigned them a role and explained the plan. The party nodded as Mia scanned to see if anyone had any questions. Alise now recognized that Mia hadn't been the captain of the Freya Familia for nothing. She made resolute choices after assessing everyone's strengths and weaknesses. And more than anything she knew exactly how to lead people into battle.

"Good, then let's go."

The party unsheathed their weapons and entered the White Palace maintaining a tight formation. As they arrived in the center of the room, the ground shook. As if the dungeon recognized them as challengers it gave rise to the monster rex of the floor. The ground shattered as a massive black frame rose from the earth and towered over the group of adventurers.

It's skeletal form was black, causing two features to stand out. A humongous magic stone protected by its rib cage and the pair of bright red eyes that now fixed its gaze on the group of adventurers.

"Here we go everyone!"

At the noise of Alise's shouting, Udaeus met her with a ferocious roar that spawned dozens of armed spartoi. The first to charge were Anya and Lunoire who met the force of spartoi head on. Lunoire was the fastest to strike, landing a blow to the head of one of the spartoi. Bell not having fought them before but knowing how strong Lunoire was, was surprised to see that the spartoi hadn't died, but it took two more hits to collapse, attesting to their high defense capability.

Anya on her side poked one of the black warriors in the eye killing it, though the trick didn't work a second time as the second spartoi used its shield to protect itself. Just like an adventurer would, fighting with the same style and efficiency that an adventurer would.

'The dungeon truly is a terrifying place.'

Bell however didn't let himself be distracted and prepared to charge in as Chloe threw a couple burst oils and kaenseki bombs that she had gotten from Asfi. The frontline of the spartoi was broken just then allowing the three main attackers to charge through.

With Bell at the head of the trio, the renard performed wide swings. With his long sword and the abnormal status that could rival a level five, any spartoi that found itself within the range of the arc of Bell's blade was trounced instantly.

Udaeus who until now only observed the battle focused on the three approaching, recognizing them as the worthy challengers. It roared ferociously before punching the ground. From the place Udaeus had punched, giant spikes begun shooting out of the ground and spreading forwards. Spike after spike, more kept jutting out of the ground until the attack stormed forwards towards the adventurers.

Bell, Alise and Mia jumped out of the way as the attack threatened to injure them. The entire path from the skeletal fist to the adventurers was now a wall of spikes. Bell was shocked to see such a devastating attack. There was no doubt inn his mind that even he wouldn't survive if he were to try and take an attack like that head on.

The white haired boy turned his attention back to the front where another wave of spartoi charged at him. Keeping the warrior type monsters busy, Alise and Mia rushed past him and attacked the floor boss. No matter how big his body was and how slow he was due to it, the duo could not get close enough and was forced to chip away at the fists of the black skeleton as it tried to crush them with his fists and a barrage of spikes.

That however was part of the plan. Bell had left the remaining spartoi to Anya and Lunoire who had now caught up. Instead, the boy covertly rushed around the monster rex. Running up from behind it, Bell was surprised when he felt the earth rumbling and wisely decided to jump back. The next instant, the place where he stood was filled with razor sharp spikes jutting out of the floor.

The renard looked up at Udaeus just to see that the skull had turned slightly and was looking at him with the corner of his eye. It was at this point that Bell understood what Zeus intended by saying the deeper he went the smarter monsters were. Not only smart but sharp and intuitive.

Alise and Mia were surprised to see their plan fall apart but not entirely unexpected. Everyone came to a standstill as both monsters and adventurers revaluated their opponents. The brief pause however lasted a second and soon the fight resumed. The renard was forced back by the spikes while Mia and Alise jumped away as Udaeus cleaned the area in front with a swipe of its massive arm.

Bell, however, didn't relent and jumped from spike to spike, rapidly closing in on the monster rex. As the arm moved to intercept him, Bell jumped on it and ran up the length of Udaeus' limb. Whilst running up, the renard quickly weighed his options. Attack the magic stone or go for the head.

He knew instantly that if he aimed for the magic stone there was a high chance that he'd miss, his would be blocked or that the monster rex might even get the chance to land a devastating blow to him. With that in mind he opted to weaken the monster instead. Running past the height of the monster's rib cage, the white haired boy rushed up and dashed up its shoulder, aiming for the eyes of the monster rex.

With a burst of strength Bell propelled himself forwards, cutting across the empty space between him and the black skull. Before the floor boss could react Bell shot past, leaving behind a slash that cut across both eyes of the monster rex. Losing its vision Udaeus roared in pain and anger, its arms thrashing around. Unknowingly crushing many spartoi.

"Nice job Bell."

Alise praised Bell rebounded off the wall and elegantly landed next to Alise and Mia. Sneaking a peak behind him, he could see Chloe, Anya and Lunoire still fighting with countless spartoi nonstop.

"My turn to shine. Can't have my beautiful renard hogging all the glory. Otherwise he won't get to see the amazing Alise in action. And I must do this so as to show him how incredible I can be. Only through that will I capture his heart."

Before the red haired girl could continue any further, she was promptly smacked by Mia who shouted at her to get a move on.

"Geez, don't make me look bad next to Bell."

The girl grumbled before activating her fire enchantment, just as the monster rex shot one of its hands towards them. Instead of moving to dodge it, Alise charged straight towards it and speared at the hand with her flaming sword.

Bell was surprised to see her charge like that but was not afraid to let her do so. He trusted Alise knew what she was doing. His surprise however, reached a new level when upon contact with the sword of justice, cracks expanded over the giant hand of Udaeus before it shattered and Alise's charge broke through.

"Hahaha, see that my love?!"

"Alise! Pay attention!"

Hearing Mia's shout the girl looked back and spotted the other hand heading towards her. She prepared to meet the attack head on but it never came as instead a fluffy white wall smacked the hand away from her.

"Eh?"

"Yes, I saw that very well my love. And you truly are the most beautiful and fantastic."

The girl turned to see Bell standing next to her with a heart warming smile. Unnoticed by her, Bell was once again surrounded by a set of 'mini-moons', granting him a massive boost in power. Judging by the strength of the effect Bell guessed that it must have been night on the surface because he could feel power coursing through his veins.

"Hey you two! Stop flirting and focus on killing the old baldy!"

The two turned to Mia and nodded, albeit not without sporting a bright red blush on their faces. The ruby eyes of the renard then focused on the magic stone of the monster. Unlike the other monsters it was in plain sight and very much undefended.

It was by no means easy, the bones of the rib cage were thick and nearly unbreakable, but compared to the Amphisbaena and the Goliath, the moment that the defense is broken getting to the magic stone seemed much easier, as long as you don't mess up and end up hitting the bones that is.

"Hey Alise, can you shoot me towards the monster?"

The girl looked at him with a raised eyebrow before grinning madly.

"Of course, I can do anything for you."

The renard only smiled and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. Behind them the staff of the Hostess couldn't help but groan as they defended the couple from the hordes of spartoi while they had their moment. Alise lowered herself in position as Bell placed a foot on the flat side of her sword. Receiving a nod from the renard, Alise pushed forwards and swung with all of her strength. Bell was sent flying forwards, right towards the hand of the monster rex.

The girls watched while the renard missile rapidly approached its seemingly imminent end. Just before Bell could be hit though, the boy dissolved into a mist of ice accelerating at even greater speeds. While before it seemed like he would crash into the palm, the white mist shot past, right in between the bony fingers and straight towards the heart of Udaeus.

Just before he arrived and made contact, he returned back into its normal form and with enhanced strength from his skills' effect, the boy swung down on the magic stone. The large crystal fell in two different directions as the floor boss roared. The mighty roar of pain dimmed to a screech before dying down to a growl. Then came silence. A symbol that the monster rex was dead.

"Yeah! Let's go Bell!"

The red haired captain jumped on the renard, resulting in a cute yelp from the white haired boy. Mia came from behind with the rest of her staff and slapped him on the back.

"Good job boy. Though you'd better tone down the flirting. Save it for when you are home."

That caused both Bell and Alise to blush, while the waitresses all laughed at their expense.

.

"Apologies my lord. All our plans to kill the Scarlet Harnel have failed."

The person who spoke had a feminine voice but it was devoid of any emotion. Cold and distant, it spoke to another mysterious being.

"Umm, the adventurers, the suicide bombers and Udaeus seemed to be no match for them. As expected of the captain of the Astraea Familia and the former captain of the Freya Familia. Though I wonder who that renard is."

A man spoke whilst hiding in the shadows. His body like that of the woman was clad in a black cloak, his face covered by a mask. Its gaze never losing of the white renard and the red haired adventurer.

"My apologies for my incompetence. As for the renard, he is a new level four of the Takemikazuchi Familia. Apparently there is a rumor going in the Guild that he will level up to five on this expedition."

"I see. Anyways don't worry about that. We are dealing with two first class adventurers as well as four second class adventurers. Yes, we could send Revis but even she is not strong enough as of now. A single level six would be enough to defeat our little tool. She's too weak. For now we must let her grow.

We can't send a demi-spirit yet either. It's not the time either for that. On the other hand, I do have one last resort for now. One last challenge. Somehow I wish I could see them die painfully yet at the same time I want to see them succeed. Just so that they can despair on the final act. But perhaps we can make use of the renard."

The God unleashed its divinity making the dungeon react. It was known that the abyss despised Gods and would do anything to remove their existence. The dungeon rumbled as it began taking action to remove the undesired guest.

.

The dungeon shook and it screamed. Its wrath could be felt through its trembling. The monster rex had just been defeated but the dungeon cared not. It was a living system and when angered it would react in unpredictable ways. In this case it summoned another Udaeus, bigger, stronger and more resilient.

"What is going on?!"

Lunoire shouted never having heard about the dungeon acting like this.

"Everyone gather around! We don't know what's going on!"

Alise shouted at everyone, she too never having experienced this kind of behavior from the dungeon. But she didn't let panic take over, nor did the others. Their attention was then drawn to the place where Udaeus had died. The ground cracked and a black skeletal hand emerged. While Udaeus was greyish black, this skeletal hand looked raven black.

Following the hand was the arm which it then its other arm. The two hands came crashing down with so much force that it sent a shockwave across the floor. Using its arms, it pulled the rest of its body out of the body.

A nasty and enraged looking Udaeus with a raven body rose. What was shocking was to see that unlike the usual Udaeus, this black version seemed to be bigger and now that it rose it didn't seem skeletal at all. No rather it felt like looking at a giant stone statue of a human. Its arms not scrawny but large and robust.

And as if it wasn't enough that most of the weaknesses that the regular Udaeus had weren't there anymore, it also appeared to be wearing armor. Thick stone slabs that covered arms, shoulders and chest. Its head was covered by a thick cloak and its face invisible, only the ominous red eyes glowed through the void that was its face and in the place of his pair of horns he wore a crown. A crown made from its horns. But the truly shocking part came next when the ground shook once again and the monster rex rose to its feet.

"What the hell?!"

"Nyat in nya nyame of Freya is happenyng?!"

The group stared as the giant now towered over them even more than before. Its head nearly reaching all the way to the ceiling. The monster growled before turning to the wall next to him and punching it. Its fist struck right through the wall, but when it came back out, the hand now held a massive cleaver looking blade.

"Lothric."

Alise and the rest of the girls looked as Bell calmly and coldly gazed upon the figure of the monster before them.

"Lothric?"

"The place where the transitory lands of the Lords of Cinder converge. In venturing north, pilgrims discovered the truth behind the ancient words of the Lords of Cinder. The fire fades … and the lords go without thrones. When the link of fire is threatened, the bell tolls, unearthing the old Lords of Cinder from their graves. Amongst the ones awoken from its slumber by the tolling of the bell was Yhorm the giant."

"Bell? What are you talking about?"

"Simply an old tale this giant reminds me of."

"Then you can guess its weakness?"

Bell turned to Lunoire and nodded but before he could explain the giant let out a blood chilling battle cry before it charged forwards with its cleaver. The group however was shocked by the speed of the giant. Before they had time to react, the massive monster swung its blade sending everyone flying.

"Ahhh!"

Everyone landed with earth shattering force, causing several pillars in the room to collapse.

"What the hell?!"

"It's so fast!"

Bell was the first to move as he was the one closest to the giant and therefore the first targeted. Just in time, the renard used his ability to turn into mist and dodge the blade as it completely devastated the area he was sitting on just a moment before.

"Mia we cannot risk fighting this monster any more or any longer than now!"

The owner of the Hostess turned to Bell and nodded.

"But we can't just run boy. It will tear us apart the moment we show our back!"

"That's why I'll end it in one go."

Alise, Lunoire, Anya, Chloe and Mia all got the message instantly.

"Go for it then!"

Before Bell had even begun the chant, a colossal magic circle appeared beneath Bell's feet. Alise looked with wide eyes at the spell Bell began to cast. The level of magic converging around Bell and the size of the magic circle was beyond anything she had seen before.

Not even Riveria matched Bell in this aspect in the eyes of Alise. Looking closer she also noticed that the massive magic was incredibly complex and that it was comprised of many more smaller magic circles within it.

As the chant progressed the circles expanded until the radius could line thirty people in it. And layer upon layer of magic circles appeared. The first one below Bell's feet, the second above his head, the third just above the second one and so on until there ten. The display of the spell was worthy of the mighty grandeur that the grand magic was about to demonstrate.

"Order has fallen and with it has justice. The lands are now wrought with rampant malice."

The monster rex moved to strike Bell, but was intercepted by Alise and Mia who used all their strength to counter the attack, just barely managing to block it.

"Too long has it gone the suffering of the innocent. For I have been naively munificent."

Chloe threw half of her remaining potions at the monster's head only to be shocked when they had no effect on the beast.

"My love for this world has long ago wane. Thou existence is this realm's bane."

Anya activated her skill and used all her strength to launch the golden spear, hitting the monster square in the chest. Only for the spear to completely bounce off the chest armour.

"It is mine duty as the guardian of order to act. Divine retribution is what mine decision enact."

Lunoire moved fast and struck the feet of the monster only for her fists to rebound without even denting the stone giant.

"I feel not the pain as mine actions this world it destroys. The countless aeons have left me of my emotions devoid."

Having sensed the danger of the spell and getting annoyed by the adventurers barely scratching him, it swung its cleaver sending everyone flying again. With an aggressive roar it charged straight at Bell as the magic circles glowed brighter than ever. But what caught everyone's attention, adventurers, monster, cloaked beings and dungeon, was the bright glow that emanated from Bell's tail.

Following his instincts Bell unfurled his tails revealing the ethereal sight of the nine flickering tails. As the magic power charged, the tails began pulsing from base to tip. Each second the pulsing grew stronger, brighter and faster. At the tips of the now glowing tails spheres of light brilliantly shone like stars.

"By mine will have I now chosen to mend. The arrogation of mankind now comes to an end."

The sound that could be heard as the magic power converged terrified even the dungeon. The sound of the energy gathering was a foretelling to the destructive power that was about to be unleashed. The tails stopped pulsing and stayed glowing brightly, while Bell aimed all nine tails at the monster.

At that moment the giant knew it had no chance. Its end was imminent. From their hiding spot the God and woman watched fascinated by the almost divine glow. The adventurers on the other hand took cover, knowing to expect one hell of a spell to be unleashed.

The nine spheres glowed more luminous than ever before as they were about to be released. Bell's rubellite eyes looked at the monster with a gaze that would have frozen any second tier adventurer with fear.

"Ten Rai No Hakaisha!

Nine beams shot out from each tail, the white light that filled everyone's vision was blinding. Not only their eyesight, everyone was left confused as they could no longer hear anything as if nothing around them existed. Like everything around them had perished. The ray sliced the monster apart from its sheer strength but that was not the end. Before anyone could register what happened or recover their eyesight, a massive explosion detonated as the spell came to an end.

The explosion blast everything on the floor and completely levelled the entire floor. All pillars and boulders were cleared out, leaving behind a flat plain. Where the monster once was, now there was a crater. A crater that laid two floors below their current floor. The explosion had torn through a total of four floors, two below, two above. All monsters across the thirty ninth floor all the way up to the thirty fifth floor had vanished.

Alise looked stupefied at the scene before her, having survived only after she, along with the rest of the party took refuge behind the renard, who had wrapped them in his tails, that unleashed the spell. The previous God of Bell's Familia was not joking, this spell was beyond ludicrously powerful. Bell too stood with his mouth hanging open, no words coming out of his mouth at the results of his actions.

Mia looked around to see if the dungeon would react in some manner but there was nothing but silence greeting them. While ferocious and merciless, always baring its fangs at you when you less expect it, the dungeon wasn't a petty being. It knew when to back down.

It saw Bell's power and acknowledged it. Hence, deciding to admit defeat and let the adventurers walk away victorious. It was an exception it made for Bell, for normally it would unleash an even more terrifying monster known as the Juggernaut. But not today. Today the adventurers earned their rest.

"It seems like we're in the clear. You good boy?"

"Yes, but the spell took out all of my mind. I probably won't be casting much of anything else today."

"Honyestly, I am surprised nya. With how stryong it was, thyought it would cyause a meownd down."

"No kidding. This spell is hilarious!"

Anya nodded in agreement with both Chloe's and Lunoire's statements.

"Try not to use it again Bell. Wouldn't want half of Orario to suddenly disappear one day."

The renard pouted as Alise poked fun at Bell.

"Mou, don't joke about that Alise. I wouldn't do that."

"I know you wouldn't. Let's all head back. It's been a pretty eventful day after all. If our camp is still there that is. Bell might have flattened it along with the rest of the floor."

Bell paled while the girls allowed themselves to relax and giggle at the renard's desperation. It would be a waste if he blasted all of the drop items they had gathered after all. The party then retreated back the way they had come, not noticing the duo that watched them from afar. Just before leaving, Bell noticed a glint coming from the ashes of the irregular boss, he rapidly picked it up before catching up with the others.

.

"Oh … damn … that nearly killed … us. Huff, huff, haha, hahahahaha. Amazing, such destructive power. How marvellous! Hahahahaha! Did you see that?! A divine image! Like the legends of old! A fox with nine tails that lays waste to the lands! HAHAHA!"

The woman was sat by her God and watched as the delirious deity gained a new object of interest. The source of power that could annihilate anything that stood in its path. She, along with the God were covered with dust and cuts.

The blast alone had nearly killed them, then as if that was not enough boulders as big as buildings fell down and almost crushed them. She was a creature and was high levelled yet she was about to meet her end. How her God managed to survive that with just his human body is a mystery to her.

"That was dangerous Enyo-sama. I'd say it was pure luck that we got out of that alive. We should be more careful."

"You are indeed right my dear Ein. That should've totally killed us there. We just happened to be lucky. It seems fate has chosen to support my endeavour! Now, if that couldn't kill them, then nothing can. However, we can always target someone else to harm them. You said he was a new member of the Takemikazuchi Familia right? Find them and give them a little gift. No need to kill them, we would run the risk of getting too exposed, but let them experience the despair of the dungeon."

The woman nodded before turning to look at the retreating figure of the renard and hoped to never have to face him in a fight. Even her strongest barrier was completely blown away. How she was still alive, she herself had no idea.

.

Unknown to the group of adventurers on the thirty seventh floor, the explosion was felt throughout the entire dungeon. Not only that but Orario too felt the explosion shake at the foundations of its city, causing wide spread panic to spread through the city.

Loki, Astraea, Ganesha and Freya Familia were soon after ordered to investigate and set up a meeting in order to discuss what to do. The Gods of the previously mentioned Familias all rapidly met up with their executives and captains present.

"Why do I feel like this is Bell's doing?"

Everyone turned to Astraea with a shocked look before the Goddess herself realized she said that out of her intuition. She didn't know why or how, but something told her that the renard was somehow involved and thus was her captain, who was now down with him.

.

Bell stood staring blankly at their camp, which was now set up right next to a massive hole that had tore through the floor. Totally not Bell's spell. Luckily, the drop items and all their resources were fine. The hole had just barely scratched the outer perimeter of their camp.

Unfortunately there was one thing that got blown apart with the explosion. And that one thing just happened to be Bell's own tent. Behind him the girls were all giggling at the renard's misfortune, having long gotten over the fact that Bell had nine tails. Bell had explained to them, on their way back, just like he had done with Mia back when he first got hired.

"Well, it would seem like you have to sleep on the floor today boy."

Mia gave him a slap on the back.

"W-well, he c-could s-s-sleep with m-me. My tent has space for t-two."

Alise blushed brightly while her hand fidgeted as she proposed an alternative to Bell's current predicament. The red haired girl was met with silence and her face turned the same shade of her hair as everyone stared at her with wide eyes.

"It's late, let's go make lunch girls."

Mia led her staff away, grabbing Anya by the collar as she didn't move of her own volition. As Bell saw them leave, he turned back to face Alise, his ears twitching continuously.

"I-I mean. I g-guess we c-c-could do that."

The renards tails swished shyly as he accepted her offer. It would have been rude to decline anyways and it was a good excuse to spend some more time with the love of his life. As he answered, the two then stood there quietly staring at their own hands. The seconds turned to minutes and it would have continued if not for Mia calling them over to eat.

The two awkwardly made their way to the rest of the group where lunch was being served. The delicious treat that Mia served helped relieve the two of their awkwardness, but even that couldn't solve everything and as lunch came to an end, they still couldn't look each other in the eyes without a massive blush making its way on their faces.

And like that, the rest of the day went. During their lunch for the next few hours as they slayed monsters right and left and even once they got back and relaxed. All the way until night came and everyone returned to their own tents for the night, except for Lunoire who stood guard far away from the two, practically leaving them alone.

"So … w-we should g-go to s-sleep."

"Yeah."

Alise and Bell just stood there for a moment before Alise made the first move and entered her tent, followed by Bell as he noticed her moving. The two sat on the small blanket the two would use as a bed.

The two then began changing into their night wear, never turning around as their eyes was fixed on the spot in front of them. It went like that for a couple of minutes before Alise being the older one decided she should be the one making the first move. The girl turned around and was met with a wall of nine fluffy tails.

"Umm, B-Bell. C-could you … turn around?"

The renard yelped quietly before slowly turning around his rubellite gaze focusing on Alise's emerald eyes. Their faces lit up by the single lantern inside the tent, providing what little light it could. Before they knew it, the two leaned their foreheads against each other.

"We really are a silly couple aren't we?"

"Hmm, I think cute is more adequate Bell."

As silence returned the two couldn't suppress their instincts to lean in. Their lips gently pressed against each other. A kiss full of love and tenderness. The two hugged each other as they stayed there, sat on the blanket with their lips locked in position. Slowly Alise pushed Bell down on his back, never breaking the kiss. Her nightwear, being thin, left little to the boy's imagination.

"Mmh~ Bell~."

Alise leaned back, interrupting the kiss for the first time since it had started. The two stared at each other for a moment before Alise placed her head between Bell's neck and shoulder.

"Good night Alise."

"Good night Bell."

His nine tails wrapped around Alise as their arms tightly embraced one another. Bell's face rested on Alise's red hair as they fell in a deep slumber.

.

"What was that?"

"No idea, but let's keep our guard up."

"Are you sure we shouldn't head back? Whatever that was, it could be dangerous."

Answering the question was the leader of the group.

"Whatever that was, it came from the deep floors. Where Bell's expedition currently is. We are not even close to his level and we're already going to give up? Do you know, Mikoto, Chigusa? I asked Takemikazuchi about how powerful Bell looked to him and he told me that even if I was level five and him level four I would still loose the fight.

I don't expect to match him in combat prowess. Not with him likely becoming a level five. But to become strong enough to support him and help him. And I expect the same of the rest of our Familia. To do their best to help Bell."

The purple clad Mikoto and Chigusa stared at their captain alongside the rest of their Familia. They all remembered as the renard took on the expedition without them, truly showing how weak they were. They were too weak, they knew that but it didn't make it any easier to swallow the fact.

"Ouka-dono is right. We must press on. What kind of samurai, what kind of warrior would run away from a challenge?"

The Takemikazuchi Familia shouted in unison before pressing forwards, deeper in the dungeon towards the twentieth floor. The group of warriors unknowingly dove into the enemy that laid expecting them.

.

Bell and Alise had gradually got accustomed to sleeping together following the last two days of their expedition. During those final days, the party of first and second class adventurers had mercilessly slaughtered hundreds of monsters, eventually finding all the required drop items.

"That's the last one. Phew! And with that we've met all requirements."

Lunoire spoke as she sat down on a nearby boulder and relaxed, finally having finished farming the monsters of the thirty second floor and having at last met the Guild's quota.

"Then we head back home."

Mia declared loudly with a smile. Luckily the group had packed up their camp and were heading up whilst hunting monsters when they realised that they had gathered all needed drop items, thus their time in the dungeon coming to a conclusion.

Getting a nod from everyone, the party scrapped their plan to set up camp on the twenty fourth floor and instead decided to head all the way back to the safe haven that was the eighteenth floor. There they'd set up camp for the night before returning to the surface the day after.

They didn't know at the moment of their decision, but their choice would end up saving the members of the Takemikazuchi Familia from facing a devastating defeat. A turning point as it would later reveal that the battle the Takemikazuchi Familia faced before reinforcements arrived, would benefit them greatly despite the near despair it had brought to them.

.

"What's going on?!"

"This is bad!"

"Everyone group up!"

"Prepare for battle!"

Arata and Hiroto panicked while Mikoto and Ouka gave orders. Asuka and Chigusa quickly joined the group as they formed a circle, their weapons at the ready as swarms of monsters rushed towards them. The horde of level two and three monsters had surrounded the party and was looking eager to devour them.

What caught their attention, however, was the monster leading the horde. A massive lizardman, nearly twice as big as the average size. Its scales a vivid violet, its normally cream skin now a blood red colour. It was unlike any lizardman the experienced adventurers had seen.

What was even more shocking was that it wore armour made from the bodies of obsidian soldiers, famous for its incredibly tough skin, over its body. In its hand, the lizardman held an imposing raven scimitar. The weapon wielded by the monster was nearly an arm in length and it radiated a sense of danger, as if it would cut through anything that stood in its way.

"Is that a lizardman?"

The pure fear and confusion was evidently displayed on Asuka's face as she questioned the identity of the monster. Next to her Chigusa answered the question with a small nod of her head, she too, not knowing what to make of their current situation.

It was a truly terrible situation. Surrounded on all sides, in a cubical room that had only one entrance. Of course, the lizardman stood right in the entrance, preventing anyone from running away. Its blood red eyes glowed menacingly as they zeroed in on the Takemikazuchi Familia.

"Rrrraaghh!"

The lizardman let out a powerful battle cry as it raised its sword to the sky. Hearing that the monsters around obeyed and began the attack on the Takemikazuchi Familia. The first wave was easily wiped out by a swing of Ouka's axe, the second by the swift movements of Mikoto and the third by the combined efforts of Chigusa, Asuka, Arata and Hiroto.

The group did its best to hold out, but even with the six high levelled adventurers, there were just too many monsters for them to deal with. That was without considering that all the monsters were from the fifteenth floor to the twentieth floor. That meant there were many monsters that could match a level three adventurers in a fight. Asuka, Hiroto and Arata had to back off against some of the stronger monsters, due to their lower level. Chigusa as well didn't take the fights head on being more of an archer than a vanguard.

As things were going, it didn't seem like they'd last long. Ouka looked around while everyone fought and felt the panic and despair grip his heart. As the captain and brother figure of his fellow Familia members, he couldn't let them die. He wouldn't let them die. Yet the situation seemed to become more desperate by the minute.

Losing concentration, however, came to bite him back. Literally. While looking elsewhere, a dungeon worm shot out of the ground, biting the captain on his dominant hand. Ouka shouted in pain, dropping the axe while at the same time causing everyone fighting to focus on him. Ouka's vision then turned black as he was knocked out by a minotaurus' punch to the face, sending him flying to the centre of the formation.

In that instant the whole Familia's formation fell apart. Chigusa looking down at her captain didn't notice the firebird which shot a fireball at her. In an attempt to save her, Mikoto jumped in the way. The blast sent her flying to the ground. With the two strongest members down, the others quickly began succumbing.

The remaining four members dragged Mikoto back to the centre of their circle and tried their best to defend them. The young samurai, however, didn't give up. Mikoto sat up and leaned against a rock behind while she clasped her hands together and started chanting.

"I pray to you, the God of War who destroys all things. Lead me from the highest heaven. Grant my puny mortal body the almighty power of the divine. Rescue them light of purification, sword of crushing evil. Sweep sword of suppression, sacred sword of conquest. Descend from the heavens and rule over the earth. Shinbu tousei. Futsunomitama!"

As she finished the chant, a pink blade materialized above the monsters. The point descended until touched the ground, a magic circle expanding out from the tip. As the magic circle finished growing bigger, all the monsters within the area fell to their knees, unable to move as a gravity barrier held them down.

Mikoto held the barrier in place while the other members, minus the captain, killed the monsters that had been outside the range of effect of the spell. The spell was big enough to block their half side of the room from the entire horde of monsters coming from the entrance. This cut off the reinforcements and allowed the others to have a much easier time fighting off the monsters that were too close for the barrier to catch.

.

From the back of his army of monsters, he watched as the gravity barrier held his army in place. The lizardman however, wasn't just stronger, it was also more intelligent. It growled in anger before noticing that the spell didn't go all the way up to the ceiling. A grin made its way on its face at the realization.

.

"How much longer can you hold it Mikoto?!"

"A few minutes!"

Asuka, Chigusa, Hiroto and Arata hurried to kill the remaining monsters before the barrier would collapse. Mikoto from her laid down position and with her concentration all focused on maintaining the spell, didn't see the lizardman crawling on the ceiling, moving across the battlefield.

Too late did Mikoto spot a metallic glint sailing through the air towards her. The black scimitar struck the girl, spearing right through the shoulder and lodged into the stone, pinning her to the rock.

"Mikoto!"

The group had heard both her scream and the impact of the scimitar cracking the stone rock. Even so, Mikoto persisted and tried to keep the spell active.

"It's … not going to … last!"

Mikoto squeezed her warning out as she struggled with all her might to keep the gravity barrier on. She fought the pain of the weapon in her shoulder, but combined with the resistance she met from all the monsters under the effect of her barrier, it proved too much for her to handle with her injury. The spell vanished and the barrier shattered like a glass pane.

The lizardman let go of the ceiling and landed before the young samurai. It grinned madly before grabbing the hilt of its weapon and pulling the blade out Mikoto, causing her to scream as she felt the searing pain of the sword leaving her arm and tearing through her skin.

The four standing members of the Takemikazuchi Familia could only watch as they were suddenly met with a wall of monsters charging at them. Meanwhile, Ouka had also awoken just in time to see the lizardman standing over Mikoto with its scimitar now raised over its head, ready to finish off the adventurer.

"MIKOTO! NO!"

The samurai looked up with fear in her eyes as the monster seemed gleeful to see her expression. It raised its raven scimitar and brought it down, aiming to cut her down straight through the centre and split the body in two. Mikoto could only shut her eyes close as she imagined this would be her end.

'Is this how it ends? I wasn't able to find Haruhime, nor be of help to Bell! I won't be able to do anything for my Familia become strong enough to support the orphanage either!'

.

'?'

The party was on their way back from the expedition and it was around the time they crossed the twenty second floor that Bell's ear twitched. The renard boy kept on walking silently with Alise and the other girls laughing and chatting right behind him. His gaze on the other hand, turned to the ceiling as he curiously wondered what it was that he heard.

"Futsunomitama!"

"!"

Bell's ears stood up as he could hear it faintly, like a tiny droplet falling to the surface amidst a battle. A spell he had seen during his time training with Mikoto. Before anyone knew it, the walk turned into a dash, a sudden burst of strength that emanated from Bell's foot propelled him at speeds that even a top level five would be hard pressed to keep up with.

Alise and the others were startled when the renard suddenly took off but didn't hesitate to follow. To any monster on the floor, it would look like a white arrow just darted through. The unfortunate monsters that happened to be in the way, however, had no chance to even react before they turned into dust.

The white dart then turned to a ball of icy mist that suddenly accelerated to a speed that a level two wouldn't be able to pick up. Behind him, Alise and Mia were the closest with the staff a little bit behind them. With the head start he had, the two level six lost track of the renard the moment he took on the mist form and simply resorted to following the trail of frost left behind.

.

The adventurers did not notice in that moment that the temperature in the room suddenly fell by a few degrees. Before the blade could strike Mikoto a white orb flew into the room at record speed. The lizardman spotted the white misty orb fly right in between his sword and the adventurer girl.

The renard then appeared out of the mist meeting the swing of the lizardman with one his own. The strength behind Bell's strike being much superior sent the scimitar rebounding back. Unable to keep up with the boy's speed, the lizardman didn't see the kick that struck it in the stomach and sent its body flying back to its starting point by the entrance.

Mikoto opened her eyes the moment she heard the blade being blocked and watched as Bell stood over her. His tail glowed white before he twirled and casted the spell he had been chanting whilst travelling at a high speed.

"Yukisho Soumetsu!"

Unlike the first time he had cast it, this time, instead of one snowflake, there were three, each snowflake was unleashed in different directions completely wiping out the remaining monsters in the room.

"Bell-san!"

The four members that were still standing all called out to the white haired adventurer in amazement having witnessed his power. Mikoto too watched in awe as the renard wiped out the entire army of monsters with a single spell.

"Are you okay?"

Bell looked at her worriedly as he pulled out a potion and applied it to her shoulder. Mikoto couldn't stop the blush growing on her face. It was just like in those stories that Haruhime had loved to tell her about, all those years back.

"I-I'm okay. Thank you B-Bell-dono."

"What about you guys?"

Bell looked at the members of the Takemikazuchi, whose bodies were covered with scratches and their looks told of how exhausted they were.

"We're mostly fine."

The renard then turned to the captain of the Familia who was looking at the ground in shame and frustration for his weakness.

"Ouka, everyone makes mistakes."

"But this was my mistake and it could have gotten all of them killed! It-"

"Enough Ouka. Not now. We're still in the dungeon after all. We can talk about what things you did wrong and whose to blame after we get you out of here. For now, focus on staying alive and keeping your Familia alive. Alright?"

The captain shut his mouth and silently give a slight nod.

"Thank you Bell … for saving us."

The renard gave a gentle smile and nodded before his twitching ear turned his attention back to the lizardman getting up. Bell handed Mikoto a couple of potions and got up to confront the irregular lizardman.

"Use the potions on the others, I'll finish the irregular in the meantime."

Bell only took one step before Ouka made a request.

"Please wait!"

Bell turned to Ouka with a raised eyebrow.

"I know this is a pretty selfish request, particularly after our pathetic fight against it a few moments ago. But I would like to ask you to not intervene and let us deal with the monster."

"The monster is at least mid level four, you think you can beat it?"

"I can only dream about beating that monster alone. But with all of us together I believe we can kill it. As adventurers and members of the Takemikazuchi we need to prove ourselves worthy of those names. Not only that but we will never grow stronger if we don't push our limits and break past them. We want to become a Familia that can compete even against the top Familias of Orario. To support the orphanage back home, to prove the strength of the Far Eastern warriors and to honour Takemikazuchi-sama.

It may sound like a dream, but we can only try … and we won't get anywhere if we run from every fight that seems impossible to win. We are members of the Takemikazuchi Familia, we are warriors and samurai. Our pride is our honour and righteousness. To help and protect those who need help."

The renard watched the captain with an emotionless stare. It told not what he felt and made it impossible to guess what he was thinking. The other members of the Familia watched worriedly, wondering what the renard was going to say.

Bell on the other hand, was thinking thoroughly about what Ouka said. There was no doubt in his mind that what the captain of the Familia said was true. Bell too had always fought impossible fights, where all odds were against him, only to prevail in the end. It was true that he had pushed himself far beyond his limits every time and it would be hypocritical of Bell to impede them. Not only that, but they seemed to have heroic aspirations just like him.

"Alright. There are no monsters to get in the way. Just you and the irregular."

It took everyone a moment to register what he said, but once they did the Familia smiled, knowing that he trusted them and believed in them. They had to show him that they could overcome this hurdle so as to not fail him or Takemikazuchi.

"Let's do this every one!"

Ouka and the rest of the Takemikazuchi Familia healed and armed themselves. The lizardman had recovered by the powerful hit that Bell had delivered and was looking around to try and understand what had happened to all the other monsters under his command. What it observed was dead monsters across the entire room, its plan ruined. And while it had gained intelligence it had also developed other emotions.

Like Ouka before, the monster began to panic. The feelings were overpowering its decisions and it turned to bitter wrath, focused on the adventurers. The lizardman stared with seething rage at the group of adventurers that it thought to be easy pickings and were the cause of its distress.

"Rrraagghh!"

Ouka and the rest of the Takemikazuchi Familia wasted no time and deployed into a formation. Chigusa and Hiroto positioned themselves at opposite ends far behind the vanguard line with their bows at the ready. The front line was composed by Ouka wielding his axe, Asuka with her spear and Arata with a katana. Between the vanguard and the support was Mikoto who was preparing her gravity spell once again.

The monster charged intending to break through the frontline. The monster, however, was forced to jump as an arrow lodged itself where it was running to. Spear and axe then shot towards the lizardman that could only block the attack, landing on its back from the strength of the impact.

With that chance even Arata manged to strike the downed monster. Though it wasn't a deep cut, it tore across the monster's chest from the right shoulder to the left hip. Before the monster could cleave him in half, Arata retreated. Like the level two adventurer, instead of pushing their attacks, the Familia fell back into formation, taking a defensive stance.

The lizardman had barely enough time to get to its feet before it had to dodge another arrow. The formation was starting to annoy the monster and it showed as it targeted the archers in the back. What no one was expecting, was for the raven beast to unleash a fireball at Chigusa who despite dodging, the flames grazed her arm, slightly burning her.

"What?!"

The Takemikazuchi Familia was shocked by the sudden move, but Mikoto didn't let that interrupt her chant. The lizardman took a step before the gravity barrier was once again activated, holding it down. With only a single target, the area of effect was reduced to increase the strength of the barrier.

The strengthened barrier forced the monster down, but not quite bringing it down to its knees. No matter how much Mikoto tried, the monster was too powerful to knock it down. In addition, the downside to the barrier was that you could not attack someone inside the barrier as the gravity barrier would affect anything that enters its effective range, allies and spells alike.

Ouka, Asuka and Arata spread out around the monster, surrounding it while it was immobilized. As the three got in position, Mikoto released the barrier before moving out of everyone's sight, using her ninjutsu skills.

As soon as the monster was freed, it stood up and roared defiantly. It didn't wait a moment to swing its scimitar in a wide arc towards the closest adventurer. That adventurer being Ouka, the man foolishly tried to block the attack, only to be sent crashing onto his back.

Moving to protect her captain, Asuka intercepted the monster with her spear, thrusting at it from the side. The lizardman however saw her coming with the tail of his eye and dodged before kicking her away. Arata barely had the time react before the tail slammed into his stomach, landing him right next to his captain, who was now getting up.

Behind them, Hiroto and Chigusa kept on providing support, unleashing volleys of arrows. One of the arrows shot by Chigusa finally struck the monster, lodging into the side of the lizardman, between its scales, causing it screech in pain.

It blood red eyes glared at the small archer before blasting a fire breath at her. Chigusa rolled to the side, avoiding the flame that melted the rock she was standing on. Out of the shadows and into its blind spot, Mikoto silently swung the blade in a fast arc, going for the neck of the scaly beast.

It took Mikoto by surprise when the armoured tail swatted the blade deflecting it away from its neck, causing it to cut only empty air. Mikoto was quick to back away as the scimitar carved into the air where she stood moments before. Even so, she did not fully dodge, as the raven blade left a shallow cut on the ninja's left arm.

It didn't seem like either of the sides was gaining any ground. The Takemikazuchi with its superior numbers could try to take it slow, making it a battle of attrition, but that wouldn't guarantee a victory, or at least, one without casualties. Even because, it wasn't clear who would prevail in a contest of endurance. But more importantly, Ouka was getting impatient, something that whilst it worked out this time, it would come to bite him back and get him into trouble, far more than he could imagine.

"Damn! Change of plans! Chigusa, pass me my shield!"

The small black haired girl hesitated for a moment before she threw the large human sized shield at the captain of the Familia.

"HAAA!"

Ouka then recklessly charged the black lizard with its shield. The others, however, didn't miss out on what Ouka had planned. They charged from different directions, aiming to overwhelm the monster. Ouka was the first to arrive, blocking the scimitar with his shield, the large man punched the lizardman before raising his shield again.

Ouka's face soon showed disbelief as he blocked another swing of the monster, only this time, the scimitar cut into the shield, going halfway down, nearly cutting into his hand. Luckily, this helped Ouka's plan of keeping the monster immobilized, white Arata and Asuka moved on each flank and thrusted their weapons into the reptile's legs.

The lizardman roared in pain before swatting the of them away and using its strength to push against the shield. Ouka poured all his strength and shouted defiantly, trying to keep the monster pinned. Thankfully, Mikoto brought it to an end. Jumping over the large captain, the girl performed a front flip before using her sword to pierce straight through the monster's scaly skull.

It screeched before slowly falling silent. Its red eyes ceased glowing as its life came to an end. Mikoto sheathed her katana and breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone lowered their weapons, arrows going back in their quivers.

"We did it!"

The group celebrated while behind them, Bell stood watching, Alise, Mia and the staff next to him. Upon arriving, they were greeted with the Takemikazuchi Familia fighting. They were going to intervene before Bell stopped them, explaining to them why they shouldn't interfere.

"They did it."

"That they did."

Bell and Alise waited for their euphoric cheers to end. When the group of level three and two adventurers finally calmed down, Mia provided them with potions to heal their wounds. The staff congratulated the adventurers for their achievement, which the Takemikazuchi Familia received with blushes.

"Congratulations everyone!"

Alise smiled brightly as she stood, leaning her head on Bell's shoulder. Despite the moment, Ouka, Arata and Hiroto couldn't help feel a little jealous. No, they were positively seething with jealousy.

They had tried so hard to get a girlfriend, Hiroto and Arata had even asked Chigusa and Mikoto respectively, which obviously was received with a disappointing rejection. If only Ouka knew that had he been the one asking Chigusa he'd be in the same position as Bell. Yet the renard had come one day and in less than a hundredth of the time they spent, the renard landed himself one of the world's top beauties. Without even trying at that!

'Damn, how does he do that?'

The three couldn't help but wonder.

.

From afar, a cloaked person kept on watching. A click of the tongue escaped her as she watched the adventurers. While she wasn't meant to kill them, the plan was to bring them to despair. But even that plan seemed to have failed miserably.

"Oh well."

The shadow clad figure shrugged, deciding to not care anymore. There was no need to kill them and she certainly wasn't about to fight the renard and two level six adventurers alone. Even for her, that would just be a suicide mission.

.

Upon reaching the eighteenth floor, the Takemikazuchi Familia along with Bell and Alise split off from the staff of the Hostess. Mia and her girls dropped the bags with the drop items and magic stones to the group before heading out first, under the cover of night.

The joint expeditionary force, now only Bell and Alise, and the Takemikazuchi Familia group, rested for the night on the eighteenth floor, where Bell drew the jealous stares of his comrades as he shared a tent with Alise.

The night went by quietly without irregulars appearing any further. Following the next morning, the group packed up before making a speedy return to the surface, made much easier as most monsters stayed away from the group.

Upon reaching the surface, the remaining group met a waiting Takemikazuchi along with Astraea and her Familia. The girls of the Astraea Familia rushed to their captain, to greet her, having missed her cheery attitude.

"Welcome back Alise!"

The girls soon started sharing stories and giggling while Astraea and Takemikazuchi approached Bell. There, the two asked what happened down in the dungeon, particularly interested was Astraea, as she was still on the case on behalf of the Guild.

There Bell told them the entire story, from how he defeated the Amphisbaena, to how they beat Udaeus, before beating an irregular version and later meeting the Takemikazuchi Familia on their way back. Finally finishing the story with Mikoto killing the monster, Astraea and Takemikazuchi were shocked to discover that so much had happened on their expedition.

While the Far Eastern God went to check on his children, Astraea stood there, deep in thought. The renard swished his tail slowly as he tilted his head, quietly wondering what was troubling the Goddess' mind. The Guardian of justice must have noticed the renard staring at her as she turned her attention back to him.

'Hmm, Alise is right. He really is adorable. Heavens what am I thinking.'

"Curious Bell?"

The white haired adventurer simply shrugged.

"Just wondering what was troubling your mind Kami-sama."

Her face turned serious as she let out her worries to the renard.

"It's about Evilus. With them on the rise again, Orario is in danger once again. Just about seven years ago Evilus launched a massive attack on the city, nearly defeating the adventurers and unleashing the horrors of the dungeon on this world. Just like the time before the Age of the Heroes."

"If I may Astraea-sama, I don't believe Evilus will make another appearance for a while, though they will probably have worse plans than ever before."

The Goddess was glad at the same time worried as she heard the renard speaking. Particularly after she heard what he had said about his previous encounter with Evilus outside of his village while he was recounting about the expedition. However, she couldn't come up with any good ideas.

"Well, let's leave them for later. How about you go find out if you have levelled up before terminating your expedition?"

"I think that's a brilliant idea."

Responding to Astraea was Takemikazuchi with the rest of his Familia behind.

"You can follow us to our Familia home. Alise will probably come anyways."

"Thank you Take, I'll gladly take that offer."

.

On their way back, the Takemikazuchi Familia and the Astraea Familia had invited the staff of the Hostess so that all groups involved could be present. Due to that the hall of the residence was now filled with adventurers. One by one, the members of the Takemikazuchi Familia came out, all with smiles as each and every member levelled up.

Hiroto Inoue

Age: 15

Familia: Takemikazuchi

Race: Human

Alias: none

Level: 2 – 3

Strength – E445 – I0

Endurance – F387 – I0

Dexterity – C654 – I0

Agility – B733 – I0

Magic – I0 – I0

Skill:

Taka No Me – Sharpens user's vision allowing them to see much further than normal.

Magic: none

Developmental ability:

Abnormal Resistance: I

Hunter: I

Arata Tanaka

Age: 16

Familia: Takemikazuchi

Race: Human

Alias: none

Level: 2 – 3

Strength – C627 – I0

Endurance – D553 – I0

Dexterity – A833 – I0

Agility – C646 – I0

Magic – I0 – I0

Skill:

Gugen – User's feelings to win are incarnated and envelope the user's blade. The incarnation increases the sharpness and size of the sword as well as the user's strength.

Magic: none

Developmental ability:

Abnormal Resistance: I

Swordsman: I

Asuka Suzuki

Age: 17

Familia: Takemikazuchi

Race: Human

Alias: none

Level: 2 – 3

Strength – C698 – I0

Endurance – D599 – I0

Dexterity – A831 – I0

Agility – C652 – I0

Magic – I0 – I0

Skill:

Sorasen – Allows user to convert all stats into strength for a single throw of the user's spear. It has an active trigger and can be used only once every six hours.

Magic: none

Developmental ability:

Chigusa Hitachi

Age: 16

Familia: Takemikazuchi

Race: Human

Alias: none

Level: 3 – 4

Strength – C625 – I0

Endurance – D579 – I0

Dexterity – S911 – I0

Agility – B743 – I0

Magic – I0 – I0

Skill:

Rita Shugi – Ability that increases the dexterity and senses of the user when supporting a vanguard unit. Ability increases corresponding to how many vanguard units are being supported.

Magic: none

Developmental ability:

Abnormal Resistance: I

Hunter: I

Mikoto Yamato

Age: 16

Familia: Takemikazuchi

Race: Human

Alias: none

Level: 3 – 4

Strength – B734 – I0

Endurance – D587 – I0

Dexterity – S999 – I0

Agility – S954 – I0

Magic – A869 – I0

Skill:

Yatanokurogarasu – Allows user to search enemies within a determined range, including hidden enemies. The skill only works on monsters that user has encountered before and will consider any clones to be a different monster. Has an active trigger.

Yatanoshirogarasu – Enables user to search for members of the same Familia within a determined range. Has an active trigger.

Yasei No Hon'no – Sharpens user's instincts and raises agility and dexterity. Makes user's body act and fight independently of user's thought as the consciousness is separated from body.

Magic:

Futsunomitama – Gravity barrier that affects all who enter its effective range, user and allies included.

I pray to you

God who destroys all things

Lead me from the highest heaven

Grant my puny mortal body the almighty power of the divine

Rescue them light of purification

Sword of crushing evil

Sweep sword of suppression

Sacred sword of conquest

Descend from the heavnes and rule over the earth

Shinbu tousei

Developmental ability:

Swordsman: H – G

Abnormal Resistance: I - H

Chain Attack: I

Ouka Kashima

Age: 17

Familia: Takemikazuchi

Race: Human

Alias: none

Level: 3 – 4

Strength – S921 – I0

Endurance – A866 – I0

Dexterity – A839 – I0

Agility – C658 – I0

Magic – I0 – I0

Skill:

Berserk – Taking a certain amount damage allows user to activate the skill. The skill drastically increases strength and endurance but it comes at the cost of lowering the dexterity and rationality, leaving the user in a crazed state. Deactivates once stamina is depleted or when there are no more threats.

Hogo-sha – Increases endurance and agility when using shield and is proportional to user's feelings to protect people. Increases strength and dexterity when using axe and is proportional to user's feelings to protect people.

Magic: none

Developmental ability:

Hunter: G – H

Abnormal Resistance: I

Strong Body: I

The group all sat down as they waited with bated breath for the last member to come out. It took a few minutes, but finally the door slid open revealing the renard and the God of War standing there.

"Please welcome the now first class adventurer Bell Yamato Katsuki."

Everyone cheered and congratulated the Takemikazuchi Familia.

"I'm beyond proud to say that everyone here has levelled up and everyone in the Familia is a second class adventurer except for Bell of course."

There was no doubt that their rank would increase again, but more importantly, the seven level ups would shock the Guild and cause an uproar at the upcoming Denatus. Even so Takemikazuchi couldn't help but beam as he watched his Familia grow.

Bell Yamato Katuski

Age: 14

Familia: Takemikazuchi

Race: Renard

Alias: none

Level: 4 – 5

Strength – SSSSS2000 – I0

Endurance – SSSSS2000 – I0

Dexterity – SSSSS2000 – I0

Agility – SSSSS2000 – I0

Magic – SSSSSS2000 – I0

Skill:

Tsukikage No Gensoku Iji-sha – Active skill that grants eight spere that orbit, perpendicular to the ground, behind the user. Activating the skill strengthens all basic abilities. Each illuminated orb, which corresponds to the current moon phase stage, provides a 20% point boost. It adds 20% of each basic stat points to corresponding state at a new moon phase up to 100% at a full moon phase. Each sphere represents a stage of the moon phase. The spheres provide a direct link to the moon. Due to this, moon empowered skills have effect even when not under direct line of sight of the moon.

Ten No Kitsune – Passive skill that grants regenerative ability to heal injuries. Power greatly amplified under the moon. The amplification is exponentially proportional to how close the moon is to being a full moon.

Argonaut – A heroic strike to turn around the situation able to overcome all aversity. An attack that charges up with time, white and blue sparkles appear when active, the longer it charges the stronger the power. Current maximum charge time: 9 minutes. Concurrent Chanting: Achieved

Senho – Allows user to turn into a frozen fog and move around at fast speeds.

Kodai Jinshu – Skill increases magic spells that can be learnt. Increases mind and strengthens effects of magic and their power.

Magic:

Ten Rai No Hakaisha – Forms a sphere of light at the end of each of the nine tails. Each sphere shoots a powerful ray that causes a massively destructive explosion.

Order has fallen and with it has justice

The lands are now wrought with rampant malice

Too long has it gone the suffering of the innocent

For I have been naively munificent

My love for this world has long ago wane

Thou existence is this realm's bane

It is mine duty as the guardian of order to act

Divine retribution is what mine decisions enact

I feel not the pain as mine actions this world it destroys

The countless aeons have left me of my emotions devoid

By mine will have I now chosen to mend

The arrogation of mankind now comes to an end

Reito Furawakeji – Summons a blooming sakura at the user's feet from which ice vines sprouts and wraps around target. User can use one of two effects. One: by saying 'Kankyo' the vines can grow long spikes stabbing into the enemy which drains vitality, mind and stamina of target. The absorbed energy is then passed to user, replenishing his own vitality, mind and stamina. Two: by saying 'Toketsu' can freeze the area wrapped by the vines. Once frozen he can then break the vines which shatters the ice and anything encased in it or simply melt away the ice and release the target from frozen state.

Bloom forth sakura of the East

Let thee be free and released

Yukisho Soumetsu – Summons forth a snowstorm with the nine tails, unleashing a frosflake that moves forwards continuously cutting up anything within its range.

Let mine tails bring forth the cold of snow

Display the beauty of thy mold and flow

Merciless are the frozen blades of nature's storm

With flawless poise and elegant form

The blizzard veils mine belief

Pity is the sight of thine grief

Inari No Aegis – Forms a giant frozen sakura flower that blooms and acts as shield.

Bestow to the kitsune who face danger

The protection of this world's nature

Developmental ability:

Hunter: D – C

Mage: E – C

Luck: E

Strong Body: I

~To Be Continued

That was the end of the chapter. Initially I intended to make Bell go to the Guild to report the expedition, which is where he'd meet Welf but that changed. The story was being dragged too long and I was afraid I'd rush it too much if I stretched it any longer by going to the Guild before levelling the Familia up.

As usual leave reviews or PM's to ask questions or share thoughts.

See you on the dragonoid's story and stay safe :)