Chapter 15: Unlimited Blade Works
"Oww…" Bell groaned as he dragged himself toward the dining table before thumping his head on the table.
He seemed to have been the last one to arrive for breakfast as Saber and Caster had already been seated while Hestia and Lily were handling breakfast with Assassin clinging onto Hestia.
"What is this, so early in the morning?" Caster demanded as he glared at Bell from his seat at the head of the table with one hand on the arm rest propping his head up.
"My body's been aching ever since I woke up…" Bell replied as he looked up. "I think I overdid it in the Dungeon yesterday…maybe I'm also coming down with something. Everything feels hot…"
"Are you sick, Mommy?" Assassin asked as she appeared beside him and pressed a glass of cold water against Bell's cheek, causing the boy to let out a relaxed smile as the cold seeped into his body.
"Ahh…that feels nice…"
"Bell did fire off a massive Firebolt at the end yesterday," Lily pointed out. "Maybe his Mind has not completely recovered?"
"Hoh."
Rather than looking at Bell with annoyance like Bell had expected, Caster suddenly looked rather pensive.
"…You are not to go into the Dungeon today," Caster suddenly ordered, causing Bell to sit up straight and for the others to look at him. "Most likely, Archer is in the middle of a battle and he is expanding much of his own resources to survive."
A loud thunk sounded from the table as Hestia slammed a plate onto it, her face looking rather pale.
"…At this point they should be around the Fiftieth Floor at the least, right?" Hestia muttered. "He's stopped there, right? He didn't go with them all the way down, did he?"
Like a mother worrying about her child running an errand to the grocery store for the first time, Hestia could do nothing but fret at the though of her Second Child all on his own in the Deep Floors where even the legendary Zeus Familia failed to pierce through.
"Dragons are indeed not something one should underestimate," Saber nodded. "But if he truly is a Hero, then he will not be stopped there."
Saber then turned from Hestia to Bell.
"I agree with Caster. We should postpone going into the Dungeon today. You should rest your body so that Archer can fight properly and so you do not suddenly fall unconscious in the Dungeon."
"I will not restrain you to the home," Caster added. "Have the Smith make you some new equipment today instead. Perhaps the longer sword that you wish to use?"
"Oh, that's right…" Bell muttered, recalling the conversation back at Saber's welcoming party.
"If everyone is not going to the Dungeon can Lily request the day off?" Lily asked with a raised hand. "Lily wishes to check on her friend. He's old and works in a pawn shop all by himself so Lily is worried he might be overworking himself again."
"I do not mind," Caster nodded. "I shall use this time to investigate some rumors as well."
"Rumors?" Hestia asked. "Since when did you care about something like rumors?"
"Since they started talking about a Black Minotaur roaming the Lower Floors wearing armor and stealing equipment from Adventurers."
"M-minotaur?" Bell asked as he shivered at the memory from barely a week ago. He turned toward Lily who met his gaze with a similar expression.
"Indeed," Caster nodded. "So the story goes, there is a Black Minotaur that is roaming the Dungeon attacking Adventurers with the intent of taking only their equipment rather than their lives. Blades and armor from the looks of it. So far it has only been encountered around the Twenty-Fifth floor but on the day of the Denatus, I overheard a Second Class Adventurer saying that their Familia member was attacked by a Lizardman which then made off with her shield."
"Not just a Black Minotaur but other monsters are stealing weapons?" Lily asked in confusion. "Lily knows that some monsters would take weapons off of the dead bodies of Adventurers but most Monsters make do with Landform weapons…"
"Landform weapons?" Bell repeated, unfamiliar with the term.
"Remember how sometimes we fight monsters with clubs or axes made entirely out of stone?" Lily asked and Bell nodded. "Those are considered Landforms. Basically, they are natural weapons grown by the Dungeon itself and some Monsters, like Minotaurs or Orcs, are smart enough to pick them up and use them as weapons. And because they are naturally grown by the Dungeon, they will keep regrowing, allowing more and more Monsters to keep using those weapons over and over. The trees on the Tenth to Twelfth floor are a good example. The Dungeon would grow them back immediately for Orcs and the like to use as weapons which is why no one bothers to cut them down anymore."
"Uwwaah…"
Bell let out a shiver at that information.
"That is why a part of any good Adventurer's duty is to destroy any Landform weapon as soon as they see them," Lily said, holding up a finger. "It saves everyone the trouble of fighting a stronger monster in the long run. If Lily sees any of them in the Dungeon, Lily will let everyone know right away."
"Thanks Lily," Bell nodded, once again happy that he had such a knowledgeable person in his Familia.
"Lily can't do much on the frontlines so Lily will make up for it by learning as much as she can about the Dungeon," Lily said, placing her hand on her chest with pride.
"Oh? Are you requesting a change in your training, Arde?" Caster asked with a smirk as Lily froze up a bit. "We should see if you cannot increase your proficiency with your daggers. You have several examples to learn from after all."
"N-no…Lily is fine for now," she replied quickly. "Lily will now quickly excuse herself to visit Mister Bom!"
And with that, Lily grabbed her dishes, deposited them in the sink and ran for the exit.
"Then I'll go let Welf know we're taking the day off," Bell said as he stood up as well.
"What do you want to do, Jackie?" Hestia asked the newest member of the Familia. "Do you want to go with Bell or hang out with me today?"
"Smithies are hot, right?" Assassin asked and Hestia nodded. "Then We'll stick with Mommy Hestia today."
"Taking her to work?" Bell asked and Hestia nodded.
"Yep!" The goddess said with a bright smile. "With two mascots, I'm sure we're going to sell even more today!"
"If you have time to come up with useless ideas for your part-time job then use that thing on your neck that you call your head to design an Emblem for the Familia," Caster said irritably.
"Grk…"
An Emblem, or a flag that the Familia could unite under. Nearly every Familia in Orario had one as it was a display for the city that one was an Adventurer. Hestia had yet to decide one, even though she had been leading a Familia for nearly two months and had several members already.
"I-it's hard to come up with something, okay!" Hestia said defensively. "It's something that will stick with me for my entire life in Gekai!"
"Then why not consider something that would remind you of the time right now?" Saber suggested. "We will not be here with you forever, one way or another after all."
"Guh…uuu…"
Hestia let out a sad whine as she lowered her head.
As a Goddess, Hestia was effectively immortal. Any fatal wound she would suffer down on the Lower World would be healed instantly by her divine power. Even if her head were to be severed from her body or if every bone in her body were to be crushed, her Arcanum would heal her back to perfect health. However, this would mean she would be sent back to Tenkai, never to return to the Lower World or to Bell and the others again.
Barring such things however, Hestia would without a doubt outlive Bell and the others, even the Servants who were tied to Bell will disappear along with him as Hestia alone would not be enough to anchor their existence to the world even with the help of the Grail.
"There is no need to be filled with such sorrow, Goddess Hestia," Saber continued. "The memories you make here and now will become the greatest of your treasures later on in life."
"…Who would have need for such immaterial treasures?" Caster muttered as he glanced to the side while Hestia seemed to have cheered up a bit. "In any case…do not do anything strenuous today. I have not had my fill of this world and I do not need it being cut short because you decided to die early."
"Don't worry Caster," Bell said with a smile. "I'll just be hanging out with Welf. What sort of dangerous things can happen inside a forge?"
No sooner did Bell say that did his body slump over with his head hitting the table with a loud bang, causing everyone to jump up, as his body fell onto the floor, writhing in pain.
"This is…!" Saber began before his body quickly dematerialized.
Assassin quickly looked back and forth between the now invisible Saber and the collapsed Bell before letting out a pained and tearful wail and quickly dematerializing as well.
"Hestia, give him the Mind Potion now!" Caster shouted as he pulled out a bottle and tossed it to Hestia before dematerializing himself.
"R-right!" Hestia nodded as she caught the bottle and ran over to Bell and force the potion down his throat. "Aggh! What a time for Miss Supporter to not be here! I don't know who I'm more worried about! Archer or Bell now!"
With that said, Hestia started dragging Bell's collapsed and burning body out of the kitchen and onto the couch so he could rest before running back into the kitchen to prepare some ice and a fan.
"Ahhh…I hope I don't get fired!" Hestia cried as she placed the bag of ice on Bell's forehead and started fanning his body. "Wait, I know!"
Flipping the still groaning Bell onto his stomach, Hestia carefully pulled off his shirt before running to get a knife. She then pricked her finger and ran her blood across his back.
"I'll keep updating your Status until you wake up. This should help with the strain and…"
Hestia's voice trailed off as she stared at the numbers on Bell's back and Status.
"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!?"
X-x-X-x-X
Fifty-Eight levels below the surface, a battle was raging between three different factions.
The Dragons of the Dragon Urn, the unknown New Species and Loki Familia's Adventurers plus one.
"So we agree that these New Species are an anomaly, right?" Archer shouted as he fired an arrow toward the mob of caterpillars which exploded on impact, taking out over a dozen of them in an instant. "This can't be normal!"
"Less talking more Magic Swords!" Bete shouted back as he ran through the caterpillars, slicing them open with his Dual Roland daggers while the ice magic contained in his boots froze the acid before it splashed anywhere near him. The Magic Sword used to enchant them however had already crumbled to dust. "Damn it! I need another one!"
"Fire or Lightning!?"
"Use fire on dragons on your own damn time! Lightning!"
A purple Magic Sword appeared in Archer's hand as he tossed it in front of him with Bete blitzing through the monsters to catch it as he passed before a trail of lightning started tearing its way across one of the Valgang Dragon's stomach.
"I know it's convenient but don't over rely on Archer's swords!" Gareth called out as he slammed his axes into the floor, sending up a line of spikes, knocking over the aforementioned dragon over into the mob of New Species, which immediately began to crawl over it and start devouring it.
"Ugh…" Lefiya groaned as she turned away from the grotesque sight and finished up her chant. "Fall like rain, burn the savages to ash! Fusillade Fallarica!"
Under the cover of Archer's watchful eyes, Lefiya's magic shot forward. Although it was not enough to kill any of the Valgang Dragons, it was enough to take out the wyverns and the caterpillars and knock the Valgang Dragons over.
Any caterpillars that changed target toward Lefiya were quickly dealt with by a an angry Amazon.
"Lefiya! Are you doing okay?" Tiona asked.
"Somehow!" Lefiya replied as she started running again.
How long has it been since they fell after Archer?
Lefiya had lost track of her internal time a while ago. Hopefully the others were closing in on them soon.
"Hey Gareth!" Archer called out to the dawrf fighting on his own in the midst of the caterpillars. "Doesn't something feel off?"
"Everything down here is weird!" Bete cut in. "Be more specific!"
"We're being pushed to the center of the room," Gareth replied. "Ever since these the New Species appeared from the entrance, they've been trying to make their way to the exit to the Fifty-Ninth Floor…"
"…What the hell is waiting for us down there?" Bete muttered before being shaken by a massive quake. "What now!?" A section of the Dungeon Wall suddenly burst open and revealed yet another Valgang Dragon. "Of for f-"
"Scatter!" Gareth ordered as the Dragon stomped forward and fired a massive ball of flames toward the caterpillars, incinerating them to dust.
"One thing after another!" Archer cursed as he ran as fast as he could with Lefiya over his shoulder. "You all right?"
"S-sorry!" Lefiya apologized before he tossed her forward and she started running under her own power. "Hopefully the others will be here soon!"
No sooner did Lefiya say that did a mass of crystals made of ice and snow burst through the entrance toward the Fifty-Seventh Floor. The ice froze over all the monsters that had gathered near the entrance as well as the newly spawned Valgang Dragon.
"About damn time!" Bete shouted with a smirk as the new dragon ice sculpture was shattered, a golden-haired, golden-eyed girl having shot through it like an arrow.
"Tiona!"
Tione came busting through the monsters, her halberd slicing through all the monsters in front of her as she made a beeline for her younger sister.
"Celebrate later!" Finn shouted. "Finish off the remaining monsters first! Archer, if you can, replenish our Magic Sword supply!"
"Got it!" Archer nodded as he and Lefiya ran toward Raul and the other Supporters.
"I'm really sorry!" Raul apologized the moment Archer and Lefiya got within earshot of him. "Because of me you two…"
"It's fine," Archer said quickly as he started giving his projected Magic Swords. "We're all alive and no worse for the wear. That's what matters right?"
"Indeed," Riveria nodded as she patted Raul's shoulder. "If you still want some sort of punishment, wait until we are back on the surface."
"Eek!"
Raul let out a shiver before taking the Magic Swords and moved on to support Ais and Bete.
Thanks to the reappearance of the main group, Archer and the others managed to find their second wind and within the hour, the battle was over. All the monsters on the floor had been reduced to corpses or ash with various Drop Items and Magic Stones littering the floor, which Tsubaki was happily running around gathering.
"Are you sure you are all right?" Riveria asked Lefiya who nodded.
"Yes, thanks to the others," Lefiya replied. "My apologizes for worrying you."
Lefiya turned to look toward Archer who was on the ground flat on his back as a rather angry Gareth was lecturing him after having "knocked some sense into him."
"What do you think?" Riveria suddenly asked, causing Lefiya to jump.
"Umm…about what?" Lefiya asked.
"Archer. What do you think about him?"
"Umm…just the usual 'Is he really Level 1?' I suppose. It wouldn't be surprising if he were actually a Level 5 at the least."
"I see. Then, do you think he is the same as Revis and her allies?"
"No."
Lefiya responded to the question so quickly that it surprised even her.
"Someone like Mister Archer would definitely never align himself with people like Revis. In fact, I would even go as far as believe he would challenge them alone if it would keep them from hurting others."
"Is that so?" Riveria asked with a smile. "Then I suppose Finn can rest easy now. Good work."
"Yes?"
"Everyone!" Finn called out from the exit leading to the Fifty-Ninth floor. "We're going to rest for an hour before descending to the next floor. Oh and Tsubaki…leave those Drop Items behind for now. They'll just get in the way. You can grab them on the way back up."
The female smith put on a heartbroken expression as she dropped the fangs and scales she had collected.
"Something wrong, Finn?" Gareth asked, finally releasing Archer from his verbal torture.
"According to the records left behind by Zeus Familia, the Glacial Territories await us beyond that passage…" the parum muttered as he bit at his thumb.
"That's right," Tione nodded. "It's said that glacial streams run across the land, making it hard to advance, and bitterly cold winds make it hard to even move your body…"
"W-we brought plenty of salamander wool! We had to request some from other factions, but we should have just enough for all of us, supporters included." Raul stood up in a hurry, snatching the crimson fabric from his backpack.
Salamander wool was a type of fire-element armor with cold-resistant properties. Like the name implied, the wool was infused with the power of smaller spirits known as Salamanders for Adventurers as they ran through the Dungeon. Though they were rather expensive, even a Third-Class Adventurer could purchase it if they saved enough money.
However Finn didn't move or respond to the other two. His eyes were still fixated on the passage in front of him.
"If the cold is so intense it can freeze even First Class adventurers…why can we not feel it now? Sitting here with the entrance in front of our eyes?" Finn asked, causing everyone to fall silent in worry.
Indeed.
Despite standing right in front of the passage that would lead them to the Fifty-Ninth floor, none of them felt even the slightest breeze of chilled air from the large hole before them. In fact, it felt rather warm and humid instead.
"You saying something's fishy?" Bete asked as he inserted new Magic Swords into his holsters.
"Zeus Familia wasn't the type to exaggerate their findings," Gareth muttered.
"W-what should we do, Captain?" Tione asked.
"…For now we probably won't need the Salamander wool," Finn replied. "Everyone double check the supplies. Those who fell down the Dragon's Urn, make sure you rest properly and take potions as needed."
Everyone nodded and split off to do their own things, either resting or keeping a look out for ay monsters that might spawn out from the Dungeon walls.
As Archer chugged down the Mind potion, Ais suddenly came up to him.
"Hmm? What's up, Sword Princess?" Archer asked.
"I wanted to thank you…for saving Lefiya," Ais said.
"It's fine," Archer waved off the gratitude. "I did it because, as Gareth puts it, I'm an idiot."
"Still…thank you."
Archer simply smiled and shrugged before glancing toward the exit to the Fifty-Ninth Floor again.
"…Do you feel something?" Ais asked.
"Yeah…you too? Like something familiar is calling out?"
Ais nodded as she turned to look at the exit while Archer looked down at his hand as he opened and closed it repeatedly as if he was desperate to grasp onto a blade. He was being uncharacteristically agitated right now.
Something bad was going to happen, that much was obvious.
"Sorry Bell…" Archer muttered under his breath as Ais attached a small crystal to her her loin guard. "It's probably going to be tough in a little bit."
X-x-X-x-X
After the rest period and Archer replenished the Magic Sword stock, they made their way down to the dreaded and mysterious Fifty-Ninth Floor.
"…Who the heck said this was supposed to be cold?" Tiona muttered as she wiped the sweat off her brow. "It's like a freaking…jungle…"
As soon as they exited the staircase, rather than mountains of ice and frozen streams of blue, what they found in front of them were masses of plants and green but not any kind of plant they had seen before. At their feet were a lush green bed of grass and trembling rings of richly colored, poisonous-looking flowers. It was an enclosed room even bigger than the Fifty-Eighth floor with four far-off greenish walls towering high, and all shapes and sizes of flower buds dangled from the greenery.
"This is just like the Twenty-Fourth Floor…" Lefiya muttered as Archer turned to her in curiosity.
"The plant monsters appeared there too?" Archer asked and Lefiya nodded.
"…Does anyone else hear that?" Raul suddenly asked.
It sounded like something chewing. A crumbling noise followed by an occasional high-pitched, trembling voice.
As the mysterious noise continued, obscured deep within that dense jungle, all eyes of the frozen party went to their parum leader.
Spear in hand, Finn gave the order,
"Forward" and the party continued moving immediately.
Bete and Tiona took the lead as they made their way along the jungle's one road, almost like a pathway carved through the trees.
Everyone's eyes shifted back and forth from one tree to the next, keeping watch lest something spring forth lest they lose their minds.
A phosphorescent glow shone down on them from the ceiling some ten meters above their heads. This tiny glimpse of the Dungeon walls peeking out from so much green thickness was all they had to remind them that this strange floor was even in the same labyrinth they'd come to know.
Time passed slowly as they continued through the trees, the ever-loudening sound in front of them drawing them forward.
Then, all of a sudden, the jungle disappeared around them to reveal barren ashland devoid of all green except for the mass of caterpillar monsters, which Archer learned were called Virgas by a tamer that was controlling them that the others met a few floors above, and the plantlike Violas.
Standing in the center of it was something that looked like a feminine blob of fat and tentacles with a giant plantlike lower half in the shape of countless twisting roots.
The Virgas and Violas around it were opening up their mouths and offering up their Magic Stones to the strange creature who fed upon them with vigor, reducing the monsters to ash after they were consumed.
"Oh crap, it's already gobbled up that many monster!?" Tsubaki gasped as Archer realized that all the ash piles around the area wasn't natural and were in fact corpses of the monsters that already had been devoured.
Then, Archer could feel it. The sudden gathering of magic toward a single point in the room.
"Ah…"
The faintest noise rose from the creature's grotesque head as it raised its upper body.
Only halfway through its feast on the surrounding monsters, it began to writhe like a worm.
"Ahhhh…"
The repulsive-looking upper half still trembling and squirming, its flesh suddenly bulged as the most beautiful woman they'd ever seen was born, emerging from all that ugliness like a butterfly from its cocoon.
"AhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" came the scream of pleasure.
As the others flinched and slammed their hands over their ears in the face of such a powerful scream, Archer and Ais remained standing as if they couldn't actually hear it, their eyes locked onto the creature.
The creature, having risen from that husk of flesh, bent backward and directed her eyes to the heavens.
Long glossy hair descended along the curve of her back with a gown of brilliant colors covering her supple arms, her curvaceous chest. The gorgeous face of the woman gazing up at the ceiling, still shuddering with pleasure, could rival even a goddess's.
She was green. Every inch of her, from her hair to her skin. Everything apart from her eyes, which were pools of gold that lacked pupils and irises.
It wasn't only her upper, human half that changed, either. Her abnormal lower half also underwent a transformation, now sporting enormous petals and a multitude of tentacles.
"W-what is that thing?" Tiona screamed, still covering her ears.
"..A spirit?" Ais gasped as the creature turned its eyes towards them.
"Aria…! Aria!" It spoke in a voice filled with glee.
"A spirit?! That freaky-looking thing?!" Tiona shouted in response to Ais's muttered words.
The group of adventurers couldn't help but tremble as their were locked on the sight of the hauntingly, venomously beautiful creature.
It was almost as if she'd forgotten who she really was, wrapped up in her gown of many colors and residing atop the colossal chassis of a monster. It was a strange combination of repugnant beauty and odious sanctity.
The party found themselves at a loss against the sheer dignity of the corrupted spirit and the overwhelming sense of aversion it engendered.
"Those new species…those Violas and Virgas…were they merely more of that thing's tentacles?" Finn narrowed his eyes at the some ten-meder aberrant standing before them.
It was a good guess, considering how the caterpillars and violas had focused their attacks on other monsters. Perhaps magic itself was the necessary energy for this creature to survive.
Preying on monsters, collecting magic stones, and finally returning her to her true form. They really were nothing but "tentacles," extra appendages doing the spirit's dirty work.
Across from Finn, she continued to laugh. Again and again she called out to them.
"Aria! Aria!"
Her voice, almost childlike as if it had trouble forming the proper words.
"I missed you! I missed you so much!"
Archer's fists were opening and closing at a rapid speed as Ais's breath hitched.
"Don't you want to be together forever? Together with me and your Hero?"
Tiona's and the others' heads turned instantly toward Ais at the words. Lines of tension appeared across their faces as though they already had an idea of where this was heading.
"Won't you let me eat you both?"
Instantly, the remaining Virgas and Violas turned toward them with ferocious jerks, setting their sights on the Adventurers, seemingly two of them in particular, as though the Spirit was using them to exert her will.
At the same time, there was a thunderous boom from the direction of the exit as the opening closed up with green flesh.
"Everyone, prepare for battle!" Finn instantly commanded. "Lefiya, aim for that thing! Everyone else, use the Magic Swords against the swarm!"
It was now do or die.
It was enough to stir them despite the confusion, and the party was unwavering despite their lost escape route. As they readied their weapons, Tiona glanced over at Ais and Archer.
"F-Finn, they aren't moving!" Tiona called out as the Pallum wheeled around.
"Ais! Archer! Get your head in the game!" Finn bellowed, causing the two of them to jolt.
Archer held a hand against his face as Ais started clutching her head.
"That thing…that thing…" Ais muttered.
"It's dangerous…" Archer whispered as well. "It's coming!"
Finn stared at them wide eyed before shouting, "Riveria! Hold off your spells!"
"What!?" The High Elf turned at him in shock as Gareth, Tione, Bete and Tsubaki moved to intercept the surge of monsters
"Something made the two of them like this," Finn pointed out without looking at her as he turned back toward the Spirit, his hand shaking. "And my thumb won't stop shaking. We have to be ready for-"
Before he could finish the Spirit…the abnormality smiled a heavenly smile at him and spoke.
"Arise, flames."
No. It chanted.
With those simple words, a blood red light shone from the ground where a massive and ominous magic circle appeared.
A monster was casting a spell. Something that was supposed to run on pure instinct had the capability of thought and the intelligence required for magic.
"Everyone fall back!" Finn ordered immediately. "Riveria, Barrier, now! Everyone else, fire at that thing! Archer! Get a hold of yourself!"
Finn spun around and decked Archer in the face.
The man staggered a bit before clarity seemed to return to his eyes and lightning arced down his arms at the same time as a dozen of Magic Swords appeared on the ground.
As the others regrouped, they all grabbed a Magic Sword as the Supporters aside from Lefiya pulled out their own.
"L-let her have it!" Raul shouted as they all shot their spells forward and Lefiya finished her chant.
"FUSILLADE FALLARICA!"
But the magic never reached the Spirit.
The lower half of the Spirit which contained large growths in the shape of massive flower petals simply curled around it and blocked the magic without any problems
When the petals opened up again, the smile was twisted into an evil sneer.
Not even Lefiya's tremendous firepower which had incinerated the Wyverns in one shot and hammered the Valfang Dragons into the ground could penetrate the Spirit's shield.
"Dance, spirits of the air, keepers of the light!"
"Rage, rage, RAGE! Vortex of fire! The crimson wall! Hellfire's roar!"
Riveria's chant was matched alongside that of the Spirit's.
"Forge thy pledge with the forest's protectors and envelop us in the psalm of the earth! Surround us!"
"May the ardor of the gale plunge the world into grief and misery! The sky shall burn! The earth shall ignite! The seas shall boil! The fonts shall churn! The mountains shall erupt! All life shall turn to ash! May the lives of the great ones serve as atonement for the coming choler and grief—!"
But even though they chanted at the same time, the Spirit ability to chant was twice as fast as Riveria's.
"Your envoy beseeches you, Salamander! Incarnate of fire! Queen of flame—!"
"Materialize, mighty barrier of forest's light, and lend us your protection. Mine name is Alf! Via Shilheim!" With a wave of her hand, Riveria completed her chant and a jade-colored magic circle formed beneath Riveria's feet, the light gleaming before transforming into a dome-like green structure and covered all the Adventurers.
Not a moment later, a small wisp of flame appeared in the Spirit's hands and it moved as if to blow at it like a candle, causing the flame to float outward and fall to the ground.
"Fire Storm!"
A massive inferno raged across the floor burning away everything in sight. The monsters. The jungle plants. All were turned to ash aside from the Adventurers being shielded by Riveria.
But the sound of despair came soon after.
Crack.
A small splinter appeared on the dome that soon began to spread out like a spiderweb as the hellfire raged all around them.
"Gareth! Protect them!" Riveria screamed before the shield shattered and the flames engulfed her.
Alicia, Lefiya and Ais screamed out her name but they were drowned out by Gareth's roar as he leaped forward, two giant shields in hand.
"Gareth!"
"Old man!"
Archer and Bete called out as the Dwarf braced the two shields taken from the Supporters and let out a war cry as he stood against the raging inferno.
Tiona jumped on Archer as he tried to reach out toward the dwarf and tackled him to the ground, the searing heat scorching over them not a second later making Archer feel like he had been shoved head first into an active volcano.
In front of Archer's eyes, the shields began to melt as if they were large sticks of butter within a volcano. Even Gareth's armor and helmet liquified off of him.
With no other choice, Gareth flung out his arms to catch as much of the flames as he could, his Adventurer body which had been given the Grace of the Gods being sturdier than anything else he had on him…or any other Adventurer really.
But even so, his body was not enough to block everything as the world exploded, sending everyone flying back in a sea of red. Again and again Archer tumbled across the ground with Tiona, both of them unconsciously trying to shield the other as the flames scorched their bodies and sent them skidding across the dirt floor.
When the storm finally cleared, it was with Archer on top of Tiona's body as the two of them lifted their heads up.
Nothing on the Dungeon floor remained but ash and the Adventurers' bodies scattered around like corpses.
"Tione? Ais? Lefiya?" Tiona asked as she pushed herself up, grabbing onto Archer as she did to help him up as well.
Around them, everyone else was standing up without a word, aside from Riveria and Gareth who had taken the blunt of the flames.
"They're still alive…" Archer said, his voice dry and hoarse as one he pressed one hand against his waist where a single bottle remained miraculously undamaged in his pocket.
"You will most likely do something foolish down there so do not waste this."
Caster had given him the small bottle shortly after their assault on Freya Familia.
An elixir.
Unimaginably expensive for a normal small Familia, it was powerful enough to heal all wounds and return an Adventurer back to full strength aside from their Mind.
He could use it now…but on who?
Before he could decide, the Spirt sneered at them once more.
"Moan, mighty earth…"
Another chant.
One so soon after that raging inferno, it was already casting a completely new spell, one with a black magic circle this time.
"Rise, rise, RISE! Husk of the earth! Sheen of iron! Hammer of the cosmos! May genesis's pact upheave rock and stone! The sky shall burn! The earth shall split!"
It was another long chant, one just as fast as the previous one, causing Archer to break into a run, straight toward Gareth.
"Archer wait!" Tiona shouted.
"Get Riveria!" Archer shouted back as he slid to a stop between Gareth's unconscious body and the Spirit. "…I'm paying you back old man…"
And he held out his hand toward the Spirit.
"I am…the bone of my sword…"
His magic was swirling, an image formed in his mind. Whether or not it would suffer the same fate as Riveria's shield would be up to Archer's own strength.
Behind Archer, Finn realized what he was trying to do and decided to take that bet.
"Sorry!" Finn let out an apology as he turned to the others. "Grab Riveria! Get behind Archer!"
"The bridge shall rise! Heaven and earth shall become one! May the axes of the ether rain down and bring about calamity's ruin!
Your envoy beseeches you, Gnome! Incarnate of the land! Queen of the earth—!"
"Steel is my body. Fire is my blood. I have created over a thousand blades. Unknown to death, nor known to life!"
Tiona grabbed Riveria and ran with all her might to reach Archer's side as everyone else gathered close as well.
"METEOR SWARM!"
"RHO AIAS!"
The Spirit's magic converged, and thousands upon thousands of meteorites formed in the mass of darkness as a massive shield in the shape of a flower bloomed to meet it.
The meteors came down all over the floor. Most of them didn't even fall close to where Archer and the others were. It was not an attack meant to hit a single enemy but to rush an entire army underfoot. Though the Floor was filled with enough craters to make it look like the surface of the moon, only a few actually landed on the shield.
But even so…
Archer's body burned as he forced himself to remain standing as little by little, the layers of Rho Aias were being stripped away, with the backlash burning his arm and his sleeve being stripped away by the magical backlash.
"This is…" Lefiya gasped as she watched Archer's arm ruin itself from the magic.
"Have withstood pain…to create many weapons…" Archer grunted as the fifth layer shattered like glass.
Then, he felt two pairs of hands behind him, pressing on his back to steady him.
"Archer!"
"Don't lose! You're not alone here!"
Ais and Tiona were right behind him, supporting him.
The sixth layer shattered.
But Archer would not fail.
"Yet, those hands will never hold anything!"
With a massive roar, he forced the final layer to hold out as the storm ended once more…with a single flower blooming in the desolate wasteland.
"…Motherfucker held out…" Bete muttered as all eyes were on Archer as he finally slumped backward into Tiona's arms.
"Archer!" Tiona shouted. "Hang in there!"
"You're…loud…" Archer groaned as his right arm hanged loosely at his side. "Not…over yet…"
As he said, the Spirit was still standing, the smile having faded slightly as it narrowed its eyes at them before it spread its arms out and light began to gather into its body.
"It's…absorbing the magic…" Lefiya realized, her face etched out in fear.
Archer had Tiona help him back to his feet as he glared at the creature in front of him. His left hand dug into his pocket and pulled out the golden bottle he had been entrusted with.
"…Sorry Bell…" Archer said as he opened the top with his teeth and drank the potion. "Hang in there a while longer…"
"Bell?" Tiona repeated as Archer stepped away from her. "Hey…wait a minute!"
Tiona made to grab his hand but he pulled it out of her reach as he strode forward toward the Spirit. He had only took a few steps when he saw Ais walking by his side.
Neither of them knew who made the first move but in the next instant, ignoring Tiona's cry, both of them charged forward toward the Spirit. They had no time to lose. If it managed to absorb the surrounding magic and regain its reserve, there was no hope left.
Seeing them coming in, the Spirit let loose a small melody from its lips as countless Virgas started swarming in from the massive hole behind her, the one leading to the Sixtieth Floor.
They moved pass the Spirit and made a beeline toward the two Adventurers.
Even though they hadn't really fought side by side outside of the single instance against Ottarl, Ais took a half step back, letting Archer take the front as the mass of Virgas swarmed toward them.
Magic surged throughout Archer's body while offering another silent apology to his young Master.
A purple magic sword appeared in his hands its blade altered and extended far beyond normal as he swung it, sending lighting surging forward into the swarm of monsters, turning them to ash in an instant as the blade shattered, only to be replaced by another sword with an azure edge that froze the monsters before they were shattered by a replica of Finn's spear.
"Tempest!"
With the quick chant, Ais then overtook Archer, taking advantage of the hole he had carved through the swarm. As the magical wind surrounded them, the acid from the Virgas did not reach them.
Above them, they could see balls of flame, spears of ice, bolts of lightning and arrows of light shoot from the rest of the party's Magic Swords and Lefiya's Staff toward the Spirit only for a mass of tentacle-like roots to rise up like a massive wall and shield it from the magic.
Finn's spear disappeared from Archer's hands as it was replaced by a black bow and a twisted drill-like arrow, the reshaped sword Caladbolg II.
Doing a flip, Ais sent a burst of wind forward, clearing the firing line for Archer's arrow as well as removing herself out of the way.
The arrow was launched and smashed into the wall, splitting it open, much to the apparent surprise of the Spirit behind it. But it lasted only for a moment as a twisted smile replaced it.
"Rage, rage, RAGE! Vortex of fire! The crimson wall! Hellfire's roar!"
Another blood red circle appeared below it as it prepared its flame spell once more.
However, both of their eyes were only facing forward. The two of them had eyes only for the Spirit as if in a synchronized trance from some outside force.
Thus they were surprised when a small figure barreled past them.
Finn sped forward with speeds faster than both Archer and Ais. His eyes were clouded by madness and strength as if he had willingly robbed himself of all reason with a spell in order to increase his strength tenfold.
It was Finn's magic spell, Hell Finegas, one that sacrificed his mind of a commander for sheer power.
Then Finn jumped.
Gripping his gold-tipped spear and grinding his teeth together, he hurled himself at the spirit like a parum cannonball. Then, with a mighty roar, he hurled his spear forward toward the Spirit, shooting through the air as fast as Archer's arrows through the hole in the wall of tentacles where it reached the Spirit's head before it could close its petals fully like it had done to the first barrage, tearing right through its face before the Spirit detonated in flames.
Ignis Fatuus.
A situation where a spell's chant was interrupted, causing the caster to lose their focus. The magic stored up inside would then rebound upon the caster as it had no where else to go, dealing damage to them.
"You two aren't leaving us behind!" Tiona's voice called out as the two turned around.
Beside them, Tiona, Tione and Bete managed to catch up to them while the rest remained at the rear to protect the downed Riveria and Gareth and the Support them with the Magic Swords.
The spirit's body was charred and blackened from the self-destruction but only for a moment as their head reformed with a rather disgusting frown.
"Pierce, spear of lightning! Your envoy beseeches thee, Tonitrus! Incarnate of thunder! Queen of lightning—!"
A third spell, one with a chant even shorter than that of the previous two.
But it was still too long.
Another spiraled arrow shot forward, crashing into the petals of the Spirit, twisting their form and exploding, causing yet another Ignis Fatuus.
Even with the fired arrow, none of the vanguard stopped moving as they moved to clear the last fifty meters between them and the Spirit.
And that was when Archer and Ais felt it, a swarm of magic gathering behind them all the way in the rear.
The High Elf Queen had awaken. Surrounded by the Supporters and Tsubaki, Riveria, body still charred and burned from the initial spell had been channeling her magic once more, this time as a way to strike back at the Spirit rather than merely defend.
"Fading light, freezing land. Blow with the power of the third harsh winter—advent of the end."
It was supposed to have been a chant for her ice spell, but Riveria did not end it there.
"A blaze shall soon descend. Approaching flames of war from which this is no escape. Battle horns blaring on high, all atrocities and strife shall be engulfed."
Concatenated Chanting.
It was a special magic Skill possessed solely by the high elf queen, Riveria Ljos Alf. A type of chant that could encompass any of the three spells expressed in her Status.
Just as different levels could exist within a single Status, so, too, did three levels of spell exist within her Magic. From ultrashort chants to short chants, from short chants up to long chants, and from long chants all the way up to protracted chants. By connecting the respective levels of chants, one could bolster the total magic output, change the magic's effects, and amplify their destructive power.
"Come crimson pyre, merciless inferno. Become hellfire. Purge the battlefield, end the war. Incinerate, sword of Sutr, Mine name is Alf!" Riveria declared. "REA LAEVATEINN!"
An inferno erupted on the other side of the tentacle wall. This was no unguided bombing. The spell was selective in its targets as it reduced all the surrounding Virgas to ash while leaving the Adventurers untouched from its fury. All the monsters were burned away leaving only the Spirit behind as it let out a roar of rage and raised another wall of vines from below the ground.
Bete, Finn and the Amazons crashed head first into the wall with their weapons but couldn't do anything to it.
Before Archer could prepare another arrow, a roar raged behind him.
"AXE, BOY!"
And instead of an arrow, a massive axe appeared in Archer's hand as he held it out, where it was taken by a roaring and enraged Dwarf Soldier back on his feet and more.
"ARE YOU ALL TALK FINN!?" Gareth shouted as he smashed into the wall with his axe.
"I just knew that you'd show up eventually," Finn said, his voice slightly distorted as his mouth broke into a smile.
With a roar, Gareth ripped a massive hole in the wall, even larger than the hole created by Archer's Caladbolg as Finn Bete, Tiona and Tione shot through first, clashing with several roots that shot toward the dwarf and cutting them down before they could skewer him.
A rain of blades shot forward through the opening created by the others, clearing a path for Ais and Archer.
The two of them were right in front of the Spirit now, only to be met by yet another spell, hidden in the Spirit's mouth. A massive icicle pointed at them.
"Icicle Edge!"
But a single arrow of light, shot from a sole elf girl, appeared in front of them and shattered the icicle before it could be launched.
In a last desperate attempt to keep the Adventurers away, the Spirit brought its arms up to defend itself before a mass of roots shot up from the ground, sending Ais and Archer flying into the air.
But just as they were about to hit the ceiling, his chant was finished.
"So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works."
The world around them burned once again…and this time, the Spirit, along with Archer and Ais, were gone, leaving only the tentacles behind which slowly started crumbling to ash.
X-x-X-x-X
Ais looked around.
Gone was the barren ashland of the Fifty-Ninth Floor and in its place was a wasteland filled with countless blades embedded into the ground like gravestones. Far above her head were massive spinning gears not unlike the ones she saw in Babel tower. It looked like a dead world. A world of rusted iron.
Around her she could see Tiona's Urga, Tione's Zolas daggers, Finn's Foria Spear and Gareth's Grand Axe planted on the ground. Not only those but her Familia's Durandal Roland series weapons were also scattered about as well as Ais's own Desperate, propped up right in front of her.
Hadn't Archer had told Gareth and Tiona he couldn't create weapons with the Durandal Trait?
Nevertheless, Ais pulled out the false Desperate sword and looked up at the hill in front of her. There she saw Archer, standing tall with his back toward her as a wind blew against him, blowing his waist-coat outward.
For a moment, she thought she saw him standing in front of her again with his red scarf flapping in the wind as he turned his head toward her with a smile.
"Are you ready to finish what we started?" Archer asked, bringing Ais back to the present.
She nodded as she climbed up the hill and saw the Demi Spirit in front of her. It was trembling on the ground, having been separated from its lower half and the majority of its vine-like tentacles. It looked around in fear at the foreign scenery…then its eyes fell on them.
With a scream, what was left of it's tentacled body lashed out but Ais shot forward, both Desperates in hand and batted them away, keeping them from striking at Archer and herself.
Archer held his hand up in the air, bringing up dozens of blades around them, and shot them forward.
Most of them bounced off the vines but they were flung with enough force to blast the vines away. Some blades managed to cut clean through while others froze, burned or simply outright removed the obstacles, clearing the path for Ais to run forward toward the crying face of the Spirit.
"Ari…a…" the Spirit croaked out in desperation as a blade lodged itself into its mouth to keep it from speaking or chanting anything else.
"I am not Aria," Ais said as she drew closer. "I don't know who you are. In the past, there were spirits who helped the mortal races and their heroes, but they were lost in the Dungeon and turned into Monsters."
She was right in front of the Spirit, looking down at its weak body and sickly green face.
"But I do know…that you shouldn't exist."
She raised both blades into the air.
"Li'l Rafaga. LIGHT BURST!"
A massive hurricane erupted from both of Ais's Desperates as she slammed them into the downed Spirit, destroying the remains of its body in a single strike, reducing all trace of the spirit to Ash alongside its Magic Stone.
As she did, the false Desperate in her hand vanished along with the world around her, bringing her and Archer back to the Fifty-Ninth Floor.
There was a loud thud behind her and she wheeled around to see that Archer had collapsed onto his back, unmoving.
She took a step out toward him, only to feel the strength in her arms and legs leave her, sending her crashing to the ground as well.
"But at the very least," she thought as she heard the voices of her Familia running over to them. "It was over."
For now at least, they had won.
