Chapter 39

Sometimes Haruhime wondered if getting disowned by her family was worth it. With the panic that was being caused by a large number of things and a bunch of hooded individuals going after her and her goddess, the Renard was a bit disinclined to saying that it was absolutely worth it. Worth it for sure, but not a hundred percent, as fighting off several assailants at once was not what she considered a relaxing vacation. Everything happened so fast. The shift in the air, the very same she felt when the two factions back home were about to butt heads with each other. When she and Lyra spotted the suspicious individual on the rooftops, casting magic so fast she could barely process it. The loud monstrous roar. The shaking of the air and earth. And now being assaulted by many hooded individuals, brandishing knives, swords, axes and the like at her, as they tried to get to her. No. Not her. Their fanatic looks, barely hidden by their hoods, stared past the martial artist.

"Uhm, Haruhime?"

"Stay behind me, Lady Hestia!"

Haruhime grit her teeth. She knew she moved terribly as she extended her arm, shakingly, as she covered her goddess. Too nervous. As if an invisible force was grasping her body and restricting her very movements. Yet she exhaled slowly and held her arms up, palms open. She was the only thing standing between those maniacs and her own goddess. Her eyes widened when she saw them take in some sort of medicine, throwing the pills down their throats. Then she felt a shiver down her spine when they began to twitch and scream, as if their very bodies changed. Veins pulsated greatly on their skin where she could see it and their sclera turned red, replacing the human white. Something tickled in the back of her head, as if this was a familiar sight. But before she could follow up on that thought, the maniacs rushed her.

They weren't trained. That much was clear. Thugs at best. With her training, she could beat them up in her sleep. However... the issue wasn't the skill gap. She winced as the blades dug into her skin a bit before stopping due to her hardened muscles. With a shout, she flipped two men with sword and axe to the ground before stomping on their faces. With those performance boosting drugs, they were somewhere between a level one and a level two. With their lack of combat skills, this should've been easy. Yet there were three factors working against the Renard. The first being, she thought in frustration, was the goddess. She had to retreat with her against a wall, something that one never wanted to do in combat. Yet it would lessen the chance of being flanked by those attackers. The second factor was just part of her nature.

Tear out their jugular. Poke out their eyes. Break their legs and arms. None of these things would be particularly hard to accomplish. Yet instead, she focused on redirecting their attacks instead. Their weapon swings were directed at the walls. She was like a Matador, slamming a rushing assailant into the wall with a simple grab and pushing ever so slightly. Jumping forward to take the initiative for a second, she wrestled someone down, held their arm and dislocated their shoulders with a swift twist, before standing up again and sweeping someone's legs before they could reach Hestia.

She didn't want to kill them. Both for practical and emotional reasons. The former because they needed information. The latter because taking a life did not sit well for her. And that wasn't taking account the third factor that made her hesitate. A blade came too close to her goddesses face to her liking, forcing her to overextend and take a blade into her flesh before she could harden her muscles properly. With a hiss, she moved with the axe's motion, lowering her arm while throwing a jab at their chin, knocking them out instantly. The third factor was simple. It reminded her too much of her kidnapping. The time she was completely helpless. The time she was weak and could've been killed at any moment.

"Haruhime, watch out!"

Before she could sink into that trauma, she returned to reality thanks to Hestia's voice. With a shout, she threw a wide high kick, even hitting some people before quickly pulling it back as someone stabbed after it with a spear. With no escape route left, Haruhime had no choice but to begin parrying the weapons, as they surrounded them completely and pushed them against the wall. As her hardened muscles strained under the hits of the fortunately weak steel, Haruhime glanced up. She was worried about Lyra. She leapt up the moment the figure turned their head around. The rooftop was easily destroyed, creating a dust cloud, but the sound that followed was unmistakably one of steel clashing. Meaning Lyra's surprise attack failed, which was unbelievable. She moved like an assassin, with near zero presence when she made her move. Yet the opponent managed to block an attack from a blind spot.

She threw an elbow, wincing at the jaw giving in to the force of the attack. She would apologize later, after she dispatched all those enemies. With blood dripping from her arms, she exhaled slowly before starting her counter offensive, as she flipped two men onto their faces after spinning them in the air, Hestia wisely right behind her as she followed as quickly as she could.

Hopefully Lyra and the others were doing better than them…

/

Bell only hoped that Lyra and the others were doing better than them. Things happened so fast. First they felt the surge of magic and the magic seal in town. Before they could rush to Hestia and the others however, the spell was already cast. Then far off in the distance, the ship was bisected with ease. Before they could worry about those individuals however, the worst arrived. Not the many Violas that appeared in the sea and moved towards the ruined ship. Not, it was the massive sea serpent. It roared, rising from the depths, before moving towards all the ships still in the harbor. With the moonlight shining on it, it was a dark blue, like the deep abyss itself. It had several tendrils attached to it, wiggling with what could only be described as a top quality fang attached to each and every one of them.

There was only one reaction Solaris had at the face of such a beast as it was still ignoring them completely.

"Kill it with fire!"

Bell naturally followed that order without hesitation. At once, both of them fired their spells, straight at its face. The monster roared in pain, its body twitching before it growled and turned to them. Its tendrils tensed up before its fangs pointed at them. Their eyes widened at the sight and Solaris snarled.

"Incoming!"

"Leave it to me!"

As Bell and Solaris stepped back, Kojiro stepped forward, exhaling before his arms became a blur, parrying the attacks as best as he could, his eyes never stopping as they predicted and kept track of the next fanged attack. Of course while the majority was concentrated on him, the other tendrils, showcasing incredible range, aimed for Bell and Solaris, who blocked and parried the blows with their own weapons. Bell knocked one tendril up and immediately followed with another slash as he slid underneath it, cutting off a fang. The monster screamed once more after Solaris stomped down on another tendril and burned it off. Their smiles vanished when it held its damaged tentacles in front of its face... and grew new fangs back, as well as reversing any damage their fire did. Solaris screamed in frustration before leaping away.

"I am so sick and tired of monsters regenerating!"

Bell had to agree with that. If monsters always regenerated like that, that would be more common knowledge, which meant that he and the others just had awful luck when it came to these kind of creatures. He also realized that if he didn't charge Argonaut, they would run out of steam long before the monster did. Yet as he leapt away, blocking and cutting as best as he could, he couldn't find the right time to begin charging.

Kojiro on the other hand was in his element. He didn't retreat. He didn't stumble. Slowly but surely he pushed forward, his sword moving like a protective dome around him. Even as sweat ran down his skin, even with the ocean water splattering on him, he withstood the rain that was the sea serpent's attacks. Then, after what felt like an eternity, he got close enough, right at the edge of the bay.

"Tsubame Gaeshi!"

The three cuts dug into the flesh. Yet the swordsman clicked his tongue when the monster roared and dove into the water. But it didn't stop its attacks, swinging wildly from underneath the surface. Its accuracy suffered but Bell and Solaris winced when some of the blades cut their flesh. It made up with quanitty, the speed increasing. Kojiro was forced to back off, a laugh escaping him.

"My apologies, it was not deep enough!" He rolled his shoulder as he stood between Bell and Solaris, working as one unit to defend against the onslaught. "Well then, that is quite the predicament. I do not know how to walk on water nor to fight under water."

"Neither can I!" She hissed as a blade cut her shoulder, overcoming her shield. She cracked her neck when Bell backed her up before letting out a snarl. "New plan! Kojiro, make me a path! I'll force it out and then Bell shoots it with a good ol' Argonaut!"

"How do you want to force it out?!" Bell shouted, his breath becoming heavier. Solaris laughed like a maniac before pushing forward, with Kojiro in front of her. She flexed her fingers as her flames started to turn white.

"It's gotta have some sort of heat limit!" Raising her shield over her head as Kojiro deflected the blows for her, she glanced back with a snarl. "Start charging!"

"But I didn't figure out how to do it on the move yet!"

"Then figure it out now!"

Bell grit his teeth. Well, no time like the present then. He flipped the switch in his mind and the white particles appeared around his arm. At the same time Solaris roared as they reached the water and put her hands into the water. The flames were nothing compared to the ones she wielded back against the Demi Spirit, but she made up for it with explosive anger as Kojiro protected her as much as he could. Yet even Bell could see that his arms were beginning to strain. He couldn't focus on their trouble anymore when he felt the presence of two fangs aiming for his throat. He didn't even think about it. The live and death situation pushed his senses to their limits and his body moved on his own, even as he focused on Argonaut. He almost laughed. It appeared Ryuu's training paid off after all. While only his legs moved, it was more than enough. With the hops and speed of a rabbit, he made the tendrils chase after him. The fact that they were wiggling and twisting in pain made it far easier.

"Come oooooon! Get to the cool air, you bastaaaaaaaaard!"

By now the entire area began to steam, the water sizzling and bubbling like crazy. Then, just as hoped, the monster rose up, its skin bright red by now. Solaris pulled her arms out, hissing in agony before snapping her head up with a laugh.

"Hahahahaha!" She snapped towards the White Fool. "Bell?!"

By now it was like a church was celebrating a festival. The sounds of the gongs were echoing in the area. Yet Bell grit his teeth, keeping his feet moving.

"Not yet!"

Three minutes. That was his maximum output. He was no Artoria, but he had to make sure his firepower came as close to the ideal monster killing magic he saw as it could. Solaris snarled, crawling backwards as the monster focused on her with renewed hatred. That was a mistake on its part. In a twist of his usual personality, Kojiro let out a battle cry before jumping on top of its head. Finding his footing somehow, he began to hack away at its head, as if wanting to split its skull and reveal its brain. It was dangerous. Foolish. Yet it worked to distract the monster, who put its all, ignoring Bell and Solaris, to attack and kill Kojiro. For the first time, it was drawing blood from the man as all of it fangs aimed for him. Eventually, it cut his side, deeper than any other attack. Kojiro stumbled and a tendril immediately wrapped itself around it.

"Damn it!"

Yet before it could bite down on Kojiro, as it opened its maw, a projectile entered its mouth and exploded, cutting the tendril in the meantime. Kojiro rolled on the ground, gasping for air before nodding at Solaris.

"Much obliged!"

The monster, its mouth steaming by now, shook its head, heaving. Then it lowered its serpent body into the ocean, causing Solaris' eyes to widen.

"It's getting away!"

No, it wasn't! Bell roared, sprinting forward before leaping over the water. He twisted his body, aiming downwards. The monster turned its head, snarling under the water as its tendrils aimed for him. But it was too late. Bell pulled the trigger as he aimed his palm at it with a scream.

"Firebolt!"

It was like he shot out an explosion. It propelled him into the air, the recoil on his body and mind too much as the pain tore at both of them. The pure plasma, wrapped in white light, shot into the ocean, creating a hole for an instance. Then an explosion of steam forced Bell up even further into the air, causing him to scream. Soon enough, gravity took hold of him again and he began to fall. Flailing wildly, with whatever consciousness he had left due to the heavy headache he felt, he landed in the hot water. As quickly as he landed, two arms dragged him out immediately. The trio, exhausted, smiled at each other as the ocean began to cool down, raising their fists and bumping them into each other.

"Go team Hestia!"

At Solaris' exclamation, they turned their heads, seeing that there was nothing left of the sea serpent. But just as they let out a sigh of relief, they heard the cracks. The breaking of wood. Snapping their heads around, they saw the crates shake and jump a few times before they gave in to even more Violas. Despite their tired bodies, they immediately jumped up, raising their weapons, or burned arms in Solaris' case.

"There's more of them?!" The captain shouted before rolling her shoulders with a snarl. "Oh, gimme a break... !"

Thus, even after defeating the Leviathan Copy, something they would find out later, they resumed combat with the beasts.

/

A scream cut through the air before the body was flung into a building, crashing through the walls with ease. Spitting out blood, Lyra was glad she was blind or the fluid seeping down from her head would have been really annoying. That was as far as she could think before her ears picked up the noise. With a grunt, she pushed herself forward, rolling with high speeds as something crashed down on the ground. Getting back into position, she raised her ring blades up, breathing heavily as she wiped her mouth. At the same time, she heard that godawful laughter, mocking her as a blade was removed from the stone. Twirling in her hand, the woman, for that was what she was despite the weird voice, Lyra could feel the grin under the mask being directed at her.

"Come now, little Pallum!" The katana was pointed at her. "We thought you wanted to play with us~?"

Lyra growled. She was as much of a fan of trash talk as the next person... but at the moment, she was at a loss of words. How did this happen? She knew she was in her opponent's blindspot when she jumped at the chance. Yet something went wrong. Her skill, Sleight of Hand, didn't activate. It lowered her presence and increased the potency of attacks that came outside her opponent's awareness. But she felt nothing. No increase in power, which meant that her enemy, no matter how ludicrous that thought was, felt her coming. It was crazy to imagine, since her skill even worked on someone like Finn and he had his thumb tingling and being a veteran. Since then, Lyra gave up on the thought of capturing her opponent, going all out from the get go. Yet she was being beaten up with ease. Her rips were bruised. Maybe even cracked. Her head was ringing like crazy. And the amount of cuts she had could not be healthy at all. Hell, she was barely surviving if it weren't for her experience as a coward and evading danger.

The enemy blurred, even to her senses. Lyra grit her teeth as she twisted her body, narrowly dodging the sword cut. She threw a low kick, but the enemy tanked it without even flinching before grabbing her throat. Gasping for her, she felt her body lurch before being thrown against the ground. The opponent began to squeeze before suddenly letting go when Lyra cut through the air. Backing off once more, she threw one of her bombs, yet they were caught by the flat side of the katana and diverted, causing the bomb to explode behind her. Lyra shook her head. That... that was like fighting a level six. How could someone like that be utterly unknown to the world?! No, it was more than that. A sense of dejavu entered her spine. A feeling of fear. Inevitability.

The same kind she felt seven years ago alongside Kaguya. But that was impossible. Any explanation she could come up with was impossible. Nobody could become this strong without anyone noticing. Not unless they were like those... creatures in the dungeon. This enemy wasn't like them at all. Despite the sheer malevolence she radiated... she was clearly human. A human with too much skill. The katana moved once more and interrupted her thoughts. Frantically, Lyra parried as much as she could. There was no room for tricks. No room for her inventions or tools. It all came down to her raw experience in defending herself. Which was easier said than done.

Every being had a specific rhythm. A certain style they liked to fall back to. Yet her opponent... didn't have that. Or rather, she had too many. Two handed hard blows intending to split her skull apart. One handed spinning as if the blade was a deadly circle. Fencing. Reverse grip. Left handed, right handed, even throwing and basically juggling it. Each 'style' was on the level of a master, which would require an equal amount of time to learn. Yet it was all squeezed into one individual. It was then her breath froze as time slowed down. Her opponent sheathed her blade, after a particularly nasty cut almost spilled Lyra's guts, and lowered her center of gravity a bit as her right hand however over the handle.

Lyra knew that technique. She'd seen it so often at her side that she'd have nightmares of it. It was because of that she was already moving her arm up, knowing the timing by heart.

"Art of Drawing - Flash."

It was a move meant for maximum speed. A single strike that could blow away most guards. A skill from the Far East, Iaijutsu. But that wasn't what Lyra saw. What she saw was a shadow. A shadow of one of her closest friends. Thus she was able to divert the path of the sideways strike. Thus she was able to duck underneath the blade aiming for her throat.

"Hoho! Managed to avoid our basics! Not bad!"

Basics. Lyra slowly pointed at her opponent, slowly shaking her head in disbelief. It was impossible. She heard the news from when Haruhime joined the Hestia Familia. Because of that, the one she suspected to be in front of herself couldn't possibly exist anymore!

"Hey... " Lyra growled as her finger began to shake. "Why do you know Kaguya's technique?!"

Suddenly her enemy froze. Hissing in agony, she clutched their head. Then slowly looking up, she tilted her head. Lyra felt her anger vanish for a second. Did she smell... tears?

"You're... her friend... ?"

A soft voice. The voice was as distorted and mangled as ever, yet Lyra could pick it out, as if the voice itself only now woke up. If Lyra wasn't as concussed and tired as she was now she would even consider it cute. Lyra clicked her tongue, pointing at herself.

"Family, bitch! Now answer the question!"

Yet there was no answer. No, instead the individual began to claw at their hair, as if in great agony. twitching and shaking, she stepped back a bit.

"No... No…! W-we... ! I'm…! What am I... ?!" Suddenly a snarl escaped her, the soft voice disappearing. "Damn it, silence! We are in control!" A whimper and the soft voice returned. "N-no, I won't-"

Lyra had no idea what was wrong with that maniac. She knew she should've taken advantage of this opportunity. To take down this incredibly strong opponent. But she hesitated, the mystery too great to lose the potential answers she could get. Before she could reach out and take a step forward however, they all heard it and it froze them on the spot.

The furious, enraged roar. It was something primal. Something beyond mortals and monsters. It was pure rage. And it was familiar to Lyra, who smiled nervously.

"Of course that didn't put her down... " She muttered to herself. A shift in the air and she snapped her head back forward, only to click her tongue in irritation. Damn it.

Whoever that was... she escaped.

/

Bell had no idea how long he fought, back to back with Solaris and Kojiro. By now Solaris was at the verge of a complete Mind Down. The blades threatened to slip out of Bell's grasp. Even Kojiro was starting to make mistakes. It was then they felt it, for it was not merely hearing a sound. The roar that originated from the sea. For a moment Bell thought the sea serpent didn't die yet. But instead, he realized it was human. Monstrous. Something that caused a primal fear in his heart. But it was human.

Then they arrived. One by one, they flew over his heads, their faces disfigured due to the air resistance. Black hair. White hair. Veils or bare faced. They all shared the same bronze like skin as they crashed into town, before howling like animals, followed by agonizing screaming.

"No killing! Only prisoners!"

"Break their legs!"

They laughed, as if it was a fun vacation. The Violas twitched, moving towards them, but they never had a chance. One moment they turned their flower like heads around. The next, the heads exploded. No, they were erased, by what could only be described as two massive steel balls filled with spikes. Attached to chains, they were swung like a furious hurricane and eliminating the flowers with ease. It was then that someone crashed right in front of them. What Bell saw caused him to gape in shock.

Beautiful. That was the first thought that entered his mind. Unlike the other amazons or even the small goddess on her back wearing a weird skull mask, this individual was pale as snow, just like her own hair. With steel plate covering her legs, arms and chest, she revealed her strong abs to the world that could take on a dragon's fang with ease. Spinning the deadly steel structures around, she slammed them down on a last group of Violas. Cracking her neck, she huffed, her wet hair hanging down at her neck. She looked around before letting a sigh.

"Hmph. What a pity. That sea snake seemed like a decent challenge."

"You weren't about to fight it with me on you, right?" The goddess asked dryly, her arms still hugging the individual around the neck. The warrior merely coughed before letting her down.

"...Of course not."

"Uhuh," the masked individual let out before shaking her body in disgust. "Ugh. Njord sooo owes me for this!"

"Oh dear."

The two women turned around, looking at Kojiro who actually took a step back, his sword raised in a strong guard. It caused Solaris and Bell to blink at him before retreating as well. If they were offended, they didn't show it. Quite the opposite, the pale woman chuckled lightly, crossing her arms in amusement.

"Sasaki Kojiro. It has been a while," she said with an approving nod. Bell felt the sneaking suspicion rear its head. It couldn't be, right? Yet Kojiro confirmed it with a nervous laugh, sheathing his blade carefully as he eyed the woman with suspicion.

"When I heard the title Asura, I kind of expected-"

"An Indian?" Kojiro nodded and the woman rolled her eyes in exasperation, ignoring the pouting tugging of her goddess. "Yes, I get that a lot."

"Who... ?" Bell trailed off. He regretted letting out a sound as the Asura, the one who took on Romulus and put him into his injured state, brushed her hair back with a smirk, revealing her teeth.

"The Asura. Penthesilea Themyscira. Queen of the Amazons. I have heard of you, Bell Cranel."

The White Fool gulped nervously. He was not sure if that was a good thing or not. Especially not with the way she was looming over him with a grin that was reserved for a predator facing prey rather than in any sort of friendly meeting. The fact that the other amazons gathered behind her like an army did not help with that impression. So in the end, he only let out an awkward laugh.