"This is it..."

"It seems like it..."

Bell and Riveria stood at the entrance of a big split tree, it was the exact same one that Riveria saw in her vision.

"Looks like the Arachne told the truth."

"Well since she wants to have the dragon´s corpse as a meal for her family...and after doing THAT...I guess so."

After Bell had told Riveria what happened in that tree, she got really furious. Not only that the Arachne demanded Bell´s blood, she had groped his body all over, feeling places that were forbidden...then she basically kissed his neck and drank his blood. Touching someone in these places just like that was outraging, especially when it was still bright outside! Bell was touched how much Riveria had cared for him the last three days,
refusing to let him work much so that he would regain his strength from the blood loss...the last night she even slept right by his side "to give him body warmth", at least she said it was because of that...not that Bell complained.

"It looks like we will have to face a dragon down there."

"Yes."

"And as you told me, real monsters are stronger than those in the dungeon...so a real dragon can be dangerous."

"Indeed."

Bell looked at her and smiled bravely. "But as long as I am by your side, Riveria, I will not back down. We will defeat it and get that flower."

"Bell..."

Her eyes widened a bit when he drew his sword, knelt down in front of her, both hands placed on the guard of his sword, the tip pushed into the ground.

"I swear to you, my Princess, I will slay that dragon for you."

Riveria smiled...Bell really was her knight.

She gently put a hand in front of his face. "I heed thee oath my knight. Let us do this together. And if you succeed...I´ll give you a reward..."

When Bell raised his head again, his eyes shone from love.

"A reward?"

Riveria´s ears got red.

"A K-K...Kiss..."

"I hear you...my Princess..."

Bell gently took Riveria´s hand and kissed the back of it.

.

.
Bell held Fairy´s Dawn in his right hand as they slowly climbed down into the hole. He insisted of going first, it only made sense since he had the thicker armor. Also his nature forbid him to let Riveria go first and he was adamant about that.
Climbing down into a cave, deep in an elven forest, together with a beautyful elven maiden, so slay a dragon...it felt like a real adventure for Bell...well it was an adventure.

"It smells in hear."

"Yes...like dragon."

"No surprise then."

"Indeed."

The tree grew right over a natural cave in the ground, it´s size was enormous, and when the dragon came, it had cleaved the tree vertically in half and climbed down to make it´s nest here. The cave hat roughly the size of about a tenth of one of Orario´s districts.
Since there was no source of light, the cave got really dark further inside, away from the light of the day...

"Let's proceed with caution."

Riveria held her staff ready, while Bell took his sword in both hands, Vesta wouldn´t bring him much against a dragon. Slowly, little by little they moved forward into the darkness.

"Do you hear that?"

"Is that...snoring?"

"Maybe it´s asleep."

Both only whispered as they moved further inside...there was a faint rumbling all the time...both never heard a dragon sleep so they didn´t knew if that was the sound. The best possibility for them would be to sneak towards the head and...well just let Bell deal with it.
Maybe it sounded cruel and not very "chivalrous", but facing a real dragon would mean a fight of life and death. Both weren´t willing to take any risks...especially after coming so far. There was also a chance to just steal the Flower...if they could find it.

.

"Bell...there!"

Riveria raised her voice just a little bit over a whisper. He looked into the direction that she pointed at...there was a golden shine. It was as if the Flower was shining in it´s own light...

"Golden petals...white anthers...this is..."

"The Infinity Flower."

Bell looked at Riveria from the side, before he took a deep breath.

"Riveria."

"Hm?"

"Go, take the Flower...I will take care of this..."

Bell didn´t looked at her, but moved forward to where the dragon´s head was, it was only smart to part and do both tasks at once...but slaying a monster in it´s sleep...Riveria felt guilty that she asked that of him.
Her eyes were drawn to the golden shine...nothing else mattered at the moment, just getting her hands on this Flower. Careful she started to open the glass cylinder she would use to transport it and sneaked forward.

Closer and closer she got, only three meters separated her from the Flower now...

"Riveria!"

While she made a step forward, Riveria hastily turned her face to Bell...he had yelled out. Her brain produced many thoughts about various scenarios that might happen...but not this.

"Eh?!"

Bell stood next to the dragon´s head...a head that wasn´t connected to the dragon´s body...and it wasn´t his doing.

"Wha-!"

Her foot touched the ground, two meters in front of the Flower...light flooded the cave.

.

.
A large, violet magic circle appeared around Riveria, around five meters in diameter, with complex runes all over it.

"Riveria, get back!"

"Be-!"

She tried to move, but it wasn´t possible, the runes flashed and magic shot upwards, engulfing her. A violet sphere formed around her body, see through but everything was tainted in violet for her now.

"No!"

Bell ran forward, not caring about a possible magic trap. Riveria dropped the cylinder by accident, it passed through the magic sphere and rolled over the floor, not breaking. She pushed with her hand against the magic sphere, but nothing happened, it was as if she was touching a massive wall.

"Riveria, get back!"

Bell had raised Fairy´s Dawn and got readied to strike at the sphere. She moved as far back as possible, when his sword came down. There was a sound of metal scratching glass...then the sphere reacted.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Violet lightning washed over Bell´s sword, up to his arms and all around his body. Never before had she heard Bell scream like that.

"Bell! Stop it!"

He kept pushing his sword against the sphere, the lightning intensivied...Bell kept screaming but didn´t gave up.

With a sound of shattering glass...Fairy´s Dawn...broke. The sword got split in the middle, two third of it´s length whirled away.

But the sphere...shattered.

Bell was catapulted back as the magic erupted towards him, sending him fly.

"Bell!"

Riveria ran into Bell´s direction, panicked.

.

.
"Not so fast..."

.

.
No!

Riveria wasn´t fast enough to stop her momentum, right when she heard that voice, another magic circle appeared below her feet, this time in red. Her foot slightly touched it and the same reaction happened again...Riveria was encircled by a magic sphere.

"Perfect..."

Her head shot around towards the voice. A robed figure appeared from the shadows, the air looked strange...shimmered...illusion magic? More and more robed figures appeared from she shadow, maybe they had hid there behind the veil of magic. Riveria gritted her teeth, she knew these robes all too well.

"Evilus..."

"Ohohoho, you are very educated...Princess Riveria."

She could hear the naughty grin on the person´s lips, even if she couldn´t see it due to the robe.

"How do you know we would come here?!"

"Oh I didn´t knew...I just thought one elf would come here after the dragon´s death would be noticed... And I know that you elves can´t resist to get this Flower over there...sheesh...you pointy ears are so simple creatures...
But to get my hands on the Princess of all elves! Talk about luck here!"

A groan reached Riveria´s ears.

"Let...her go..."

Bell had to fight against his spasming body, violet lightning moved from time to time along his body, making him unable to stand still.

"Oho? Someone is still alive? Impressive..."

The robed figure raised a staff and pointed at Bell.

"B-!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Red lightning joined the violet and Bell screamed again on the top of his lunges. His arms and legs twitched like crazy and he could barely stand.

"Oooh what sweet sounds that are..."

Bell gritted his teeth and ran forward.

"Ah, ah ah! If you touch me she will die!"

The robed figure raised the staff and the sphere glew more...slowly drifting upwards.

"Irkh!"

Smoke rose from Bell´s tattered body.

"Yet you are free to try to free her! Who knows...you might break the sphere."

"Bell no!"

Riveria hammered her fist against the sphere...but she couldn´t stop Bell...she saw that he was in panic...in panic about her. Bell jumped against the sphere and tried to break it with his own body.
Red lightning washed over his body and he screamed in pain like never before.

"Bell!"

"NNNNHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

More and more lightning washed over his body...Riveria could smell burned flesh.

"Bell! Stop it...PLEASE!"

She saw his gritted teeth...it pained her heart to see her love like this. Bell slowly moved his face downward to her.

"Ri...ve...ria..."

Her mouth was wide in shock when she saw how much pain Bell had to endure. His right hand was pressed against the sphere as he tried to break it open...but it didn´t worked. Tears flew down Riveria´s cheeks, by instinct, her left hand moved until it was at the same position as Bell´s.
He didn´t risked to get her hurt by the magic...not that it did anything to her.

"Bell...stop it!"

"Never...I will...AAARGH!...bring you...GRRRRNNH!...back..."

"BELL!"

Endless streamed the tears over Riveria´s face...it hurt so much to see Bell suffer.

"Bell...*Hic*...please stop..."

"Ne...ver..."

.

"Well that´s really romantic and all...but enough of this."

Magic exploded away from the sphere and catapulted Bell up in the air...

.

.

ion...

.

.
rion...

.

.

Orion!

.

.

Where...wha...who...

.

.
Orion! Wake up!.

.
Bell groaned...his whole body hurt...he didn´t wanted to open his eyes.

ORION!

With another groan, Bell opened his eyes...a voice hammered in his head...a familiar, female voice.

Arte...mis?

Orion! You are awake! Thank goodness!

Pain washed through Bell´s body again...it hurt...everywhere.

What...happened...

He slowly got aware about his surroundings...Bell was still in the cave, next to the dragon´s corpse.

Orion, you passed out.

Artemis...why...are you...

I told you I would be on a vacation with my children in my new territory...the beach...while you would travel with young Riveria, now I´m back and find you like this! Get up! She needs you!

Artemis...how...

Forgotten where I am?

With muscles that screamed from pain, Bell tried to get up to his feet, he at least managed to get to his knees. Fairy Dawn´s broken remains were next to him, his fingers touched Vesta...the runes shone blue.
To see his beloved weapon destroyed...it let Bell feel a pain in his heart. His fingers slowly opened and closed around Vesta´s hilt. He had forgotten it for a moment, the stronger he got, the more his level went up, the stronger got the Hestia Knife...Vesta...and the more could Artemis do in her realm inside the Knife.
After his last level up, she managed to create a new part realm, next to the forest, the waterfall and her temple...it was an enormous beach at a nameless ocean...her follower loved it there.

You are always by my side.

Always, Orion. Now get up!

Where is...Riveria?

They took her away while you were knocked out.

"Wh...ere?"

There is a hidden door at the wall over there, I saw it when they brought her away...Riveria was crying.

"Crying?"

Yes...and she yelled your name again and again...I think she was crying because you got hurt.

"Irkh...my body feels like a mess..."

Your body is a mess, Orion. This lightning magic got you good.

"I have...to save her..."

Obviously you have to, I will help you as much as I can.

"Artemis...my love...my wife...are you...not mad?"

You ask me now if I am mad that you have more than one lover? Orion...sometimes you can be a real blockhead and silly, do you know that?

"Yeah..."

I love you the way you are, and we had this talk before. Now get up an save young Riveria! You two have just confessed to each other and she didn´t even had the chance to get a taste of your love! Just don´t hold Vesta when the time comes...I don´t want to peek on you two...

"Artemis...?..."

What? I want to see some cute children too! Maybe one day I have the chance to come out of here for a longer time, I would love to take care of them when you are in the dungeon.

Despite the situation, Bell smiled for a moment. He had forgotten that Artemis wasn´t only the goddess of hunt, but also the moon and...birth. She was the guardian of women and children...so of course she would be interested.

"Wait...peek...you can...see that wh-"

Yes I can Orion...I saw what you did with little Haruhime...so please do me a favor and take Vesta away from your body...this is quite embarrassing you know?

He tightened his grip around the Knife, his feelings for her overwhelmed him...and his desire to save Riveria.

Hehe...that´s my Orion. We two will rescue young Riveria!

"*Cough* *Cough* *Cough* Thank you...then...let us go."

But be very careful...I sense something evil from there...And Orion...please prepare yourself...it might be hard...but you...maybe...will have...to kill mortals to save her...

This warning wasn´t something to be taken lightly. Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and she had very fine senses...but even without her warning...Bell also had a very bad feeling. And Artemis was right...so far Bell had never directly killed a mortal...but he would protect his loved ones!

.

.

.

Bell let Fairy´s Dawn rest next to the dragon´s corpse and moved into the direction that Artemis had showed to him. At first he saw nothing, but a few sparks flew up from Vesta and touched a specific point of the wall.
Artemis remained silent to save her strength and so that Bell could focus on what was in front of him. Not she mattered right now...but Riveria...only Riveria.

I will get her back!

It may sound rude...but as Bell told Riveria...he also could be quite greedy too. That was one of the teachings of his grandfather, he had told him that there was a word in the language of the gods that was very fitting.

Protect your Waifu at all cost!

Grandfather...what is a Waifu?

It basically means loved one or wife!

He rememberred his grin up to this day.

I will follow your teachings, grandfather! They will not take my Waifu away from me!

It was a good thing that Bell never got to know what this word meant exactly...

.

.

.

.The cave suddenly shook lightly and Bell looked down...the shaking came from somewhere there. Not losing time, he pushed with his hand against the spot where the sparks flew and heard a light click.
A part of the wall moved to the side and Bell ran into the darkness.

The walls around him didn´t looked like from a natural cave, someone had worked on them and they were actually pretty fine and smooth. He followed the tunnel deeper and deeper, something that Riveria had told him came to his mind.
There wer ancient elven ruins in all of the elven forests, but only a few made from stone in the underground. Those were refuges from monsters in the ancient times, before the gods had descended. When monsters appeared that were too strong for the elves to handle, they had searched for shelter in these refuges and sealed the door.
Monsters wouldn´t be able to sense these doors and so the elves would wait. According to Riveria, there was at least one entire village underground, but even she didn´t knew where it was...so maybe..

Bell moved further and came out of the tunnel...the sight before him was something else. The whole cave was at least as big as one of the districts of Orario. Tattered banners hung from ancient pillars, bearing symbols and signs Bell could not decipher. The smell down here was strange, it spoke of enormous age but wasn't musty like he would have expected...though there was also a subtle note that was strange...like...burnt sugar.
He found another gate, this time not a hidden door but a massive stone gate engraved with runes of protection. The gates lay in shambles on the ground...something of tremendous force must have shattered them. Two broken gate pillars still stuck out a little...into the crackling air...why was the air crackling?

His eyes widened in horror for a moment...then he gritted his teeth in anger. About ten meters below him the main area began, as Riveria had said it was an old village with houses made of stone...anyway it was a village...well...it was a place of sacrifice. A shrine to corruption...Bell saw robed bodies dangling from the chains of houses. Both men and women, partly bare-chested, corrupted runes had been carved into their torsos... now they were dead. But he saw no sign that they had resisted... was this... done voluntarily?
A large crowd of robed figures had gathered here, all facing some kind of altar. Some sort of priest stood on the altar and spoke to the crowd, Bell couldn't hear him over the crackling of the air and the murmur of the braziers below...but he didn't have to. On the altar lay Riveria...her robe partially torn to shreds, the cloak tossed carelessly into one of the braziers. The priest...the one who attacked Bell with the staff earlier waved the same over Riveria, tendrils of purple and red energy billowing around her body, but she didn't move and Bell saw that her eyes were closed. Since she occasionally twitched, Bell concluded that she was still alive. Hot anger blazed up in him, he didn't know what the robed figures were planning, nor did he care.

"RIVERIA!"

He didn´t wasted any time of sneaking down there, Bell jumped directly down to the ground. Around one hundred robed figures were between him and the altar...not a fair number...for them.
The first one ran towards Bell and stretched out his...hands? The hands looked more like claws, the skin was scaly and his fingernails way longer than they should be. Bell noticed two curled horns growing from this ones head, similar to the ones of a goat...but the face was human...well...was.
The eyes looked like those of a goat, but his teeth were pointy and razor sharp.

"OUT OF MY WAY!"

Bell stopped the man´s approaching right claw with his left hand, pulled him suddenly close and pierced him with Vesta. With a gurgling rattle...ashes and sparks erupted from his mouth...the man sank to the ground...his body half crumbled to ash...like he was half a monster. Bell had heard of such beings, mortals who gave up their normal existence to worship a special kind of monster...the most dangerous of all kinds of monsters...those who were not of natural origin...those who came from a world beyond the "Veil" came...

Demon Worshipers!

Many horror stories had been told to him about Evilus, many of them just wanted to kill people and gods, others to unleash the dungeon... but these people here... maybe wanted to let go that just wanted to wipe out all life. That these people weren´t real mortals helped Bell a lot...he didn´t had a problem to defeat real monsters. The term "real monsters" was fitting for them after a talk he had with Ais in the past, about her Avenger skill.
She was able to use it against people she saw as real monsters, evil creatures that only yearned for chaos, destruction and death...like Revis was. So there could be kind ones among normal Monsters, like the Xenos...and real monsters among the mortals.

Bell did not hesitate, charging into their midst, plowing through them, slaying those who threw themselves at him at breakneck speed, and clearing a path to the altar. He didn´t used any magic, the air crackled more and more and felt weird...the smell of burnt sugar was joined by that of blood, fermented milk...and...lilies?
It was an almost sickeningly sweet smell...and it looked like the smoke from the braziers was gathering behind the altar...and growing.

"You can´t stop us puny mortal! It is coming! It will devour everything! Starting with these disgusting pointy ears and their forest! The whole world shall burn! And the Princess will be the source of all of it!"

The priest moved the staff more over Riveria´s body, a sphere of red and violet magic enveloped her body again. Bell noticed her painfilled expression...and tears...running down her cheeks. With new vigor he ran forward, sliced, slashed, stabbed and punched as fast as his body was capable.
The smoke got thicker and thicker...it looked like something was taking form in it...and the cave started to shake.

"RIVERI-!"

Before Bell could finish his beloved's word, the walls of the cave trembled. Dead robbed mortals swung back and forth by their chains, slowly at first, then more violently...no, not back and forth...swinging more and more toward the altar. A rumble erupted from the ground, from stone to stone...something unnatural was happening here. Although Bell was no magician like Riveria, he felt the strange magic at work here...something reared...unfolded...pushed through the "veil". The feeling grew and grew...Cracks adorned the millennia-old walls. More and more cultists threw themselves at Bell, losing all sense of their own mortality...they wanted to kill him...they couldn't kill him...but they could stop him. Ten higher cultists gathered around the altar..the magical tendrils around the sphere around Riveria waved to the shadow growing behind the altar.
A sound like...barking...echoing through the cave...Bell swayed as the whole area shook. Fountains of roaring flames erupted from the ground at various points in the village...no red orange yellow flames as would be normal...these flames were black and white...like a negative image of a flame...
Some of these fountains were massive...so massive they almost reached the ceiling...and that was nearly a hundred yards away. It seemed as if the cave ceiling itself had ignited...waves of black and white fire washed over it...now a hint of red crept into the flames...it almost looked like a boiling cloud.

A new sound reached Bell's ears... a sound that made his heart want to stop... Riveria screamed... in pain.

Those flames on the ceiling, as well as the pillars of flame, were drawn towards the altar...as well as the dead cultists...all of them flew towards the shadow gathering behind the altar...nourished its essence...or what was in the shadow was. Bell tried to break through the last of the cultists, but they clung to his body to stop him...all he wanted was to save his beloved.

With a titanic bang, the last of the flames and dead bodies...as well as most of the living cultists clinging to Bell...were dragged into the shadows...and something within...laughed. The cave shook again...not from a natural tremor this time...but from a gigantic hoof descending from the shadows, barely a meter from the altar. Red tendrils of magic...as well as subtle green...Riveria's life force...connected the sphere to the creature in the shadow...fed it.

When he came, he didn't step slowly, menacingly and dignified out of the shadows...no, he stormed out with an otherworldly scream...slashed into reality with a deafening roar. He solidified his form even as he charged forward, an avatar of pure destruction and death. Flesh, blood, and bone of the cultists were reshaped with shadow and fire into a behemoth of gleaming red muscle atop a titanic skeleton. Enormous bat-like wings pushed out of his back with a sickening sound, stretching and whipping, tattered yet powerful. A huge head rose high, crowned by four curved horns, huge tusks protruding from jaws filled with far too many fangs. Mighty hooves stamped and broke the ground, blood and fire spurted from the cracks...

It was a demon lord...

When the muscles were completely formed, skin started to cover it, skin that looked more like leather than real skin...and to Bell´s luck it was pitch black...the rules for demons were the same as for any other monster...the stronger ones all had black skin. The demon had two legs that were thicker than Bell´s whole body, long fur hang around his waist like a belt and loincloth, going over into a titanic chest with enormous muscles, even the skin still dripped from the blood of his forcefull "birth". Even his arms were bigger than Bell´s body...the demon towered over him with at least six meters. The eyes...The eyes...were infernal pits of hellfire.

Various mythologies had various names for this kind of demon lord...depending if it was closer to the blood, shadow or fire aspect of it´s essence.

Some called it a Balor.

Others a Balrog.

Some...a Bloodthirster...

Whatever his name was...this demon lord was destruction incarnate...and it ran right towards Bell. The demon raised his right claw...Bell wanted to throw up when he noticed...he held a mortal´s spine in it...the spine grew a bit longer and developed thorns...then with a crackling sound...a long whip made out of liquid fire formed out of it...the demon´s natural weapon.

"Destroy everything! Drink his blood!"

The scream that the demon let out was half bark, half roar. A demon like that had no name, at least no name that Bell would be able to pronounce correctly. Bell did his best to get free from the cultists...the "help" came from an unexpected direction. In the last moment, he managed to break free for a moment and jumped to the side...right when the flame whip cleaved all the cultists in half...or even more pieces.
Even at level six, Bell was sure that he would be in danger if that whip would hit him.

"Take my flesh and bones! Destroy all!"

The giant demon whirled around and...thankfully...his wings blocked Bell´s view. A series of disgusting noises and screams were heard...then the demon turned around again. Not one cultist was alive anymore...now the he held the whip in his left claw, the right closed around the hilt...made from human skin and flesh...of a giant bone sword...blood was still dripping from the giant weapon...the tendons of the cultists held the bones together...
Now the only living beings in the cave were Riveria, Bell and the giant demon.

There was another barking roar.

How shall I defeat this thing with only my Knife?!

As much as he loved Vesta..and as strong as the Knife was...it was just too short. Fairy´s Dawn would have worked, but it was just too short.

ORION!

As the demon ran towards Bell, something happened that drove the towering beast even more to rage. The Hestia Knife...Vesta...started to shine in bright, blue light. It was a weapon like no other, forged by a goddess, with powers not meant for mortals...and it was the home of a goddess...that was why the demon was so angry, divine things were anathema to it´s existence.

"Argo Vesta!"

Bell used his unique magic, the double charge of Argonaut to increase the Firebolt magic and Vesta at once. Light gathered around the blade and it grew, became as thick as a sword and as long as a short sword. But this time, the hilt changed too. It became longer and longer, keeping it´s color but endless lines of blue runes encircled the long, hart shaft. It looked like his Knife became a spear...yet the shaft was actually...an arrow.
Artemis channeled all of her strength through Vesta, to give Bell the tool to fight. The arrow of Orion was something that had a deep meaning for Bell and hurt inside his heart up to this date. He held the long arrow like a spear, the tip was exhanged with the Hestia Knife´s Argo Vesta version, with only one cutting edge. So it was more of a spear-halberd, the blade was made of light, encircled by blue lightning from Bell´s other skill, the Blood of Zeus, and blue flames..the blue color came due to his bond to Artemis.

The demon roared in rage, divine energy was what enveloped the weapon. A weapon forged by a god, empowered by a goddess´ love...held by a young hero...a young man who was on his path to become a demi-god...a true hero.

That puny mortal in front of him was blessed by the cursed gods and used one of their weapons...now it got personal for the demon lord.

A fight between a demon lord and a hero was as old as the time.

As the demon began to sprint at full speed... Bell really realized what had focused his attention on him. The demon was truly gigantic...smaller than some floor bosses...still somehow seemed like the greatest foe Bell had ever faced. He rose to his feet, blood spurting from him, his skin looking wet throughout...huge wings flapping like a galleon's sails. The cloven hooves sank with each thunderous step into the stone, which cracked and licked new black, white, and red flames. The sheer momentum of his movement was terrifying, akin to that of a titan of ancient myth... but bound into a much smaller form... a form composed of fire, shadow, blood, and death. His sword alone was longer than Bell's body, and where the blade of bone slashed through the air, it trailed strange streaks of blood while flame followed the whip.

The steps triggered something like a local earthquake...pointed at Bell.

Red and green magic tendrils followed the demon, connected him to Riveria and drank her life energy...if he could drink it all...he would be unleashed into the world. Demons were beings of another realm...they were different to other monsters, bound to things of "Meaning".
These things of meaning were different for each demon. Some got stronger by sacrificing life to them, or doing that in a specific number, like six hundred sixty-six lives or another cursed number. Sometimes lives were special so they had more meaning, like pure virgins. The stories about monsters and demons hunting virgins weren´t just some "romantic stories"...that they were untouched had "meaning".
Some of them...preffered the lives of children...

The priest didn´t summoned this specific demon...it was just the one that reacted to the offering. At first they had weakened the veil between the realms due to rituals and taking the lives of cultists. Then they bound Riveria into the ritual and the demon reacted.
Riveria had meaning all over for this specific demon. She was an elf, said to be purer than other races...she was an adult elf, but still a virgin...this had meaning. Also she was just over a hundred years old, so she wasn´t a kid or teenager for elves, but also not an old one.
And Riveria carried love in her heart...all this fed the demon, made her irresistible to him...he would devour her soul...and then lay waste to her people.

His hoof hit the ground a few yards in front of Bell, and he stretched his muscular arms and roared in defiance. The surge of his roar staggered Bell back, and the foul, salivated rush of his breath, which stank of rotten flesh, made Bell gag.
He was like a blast furnace...a cauldron of burning rage and uncontrollable violence...cast into shape with destruction.
There was something of eternity about his eyes...an infinite malevolence from the deepest levels of his infernal dimension...and an ancient intelligence.

"This is not your realm, demon. You don´t belong here, so come here and begone."

That Bell didn´t yelled made the demon even more furious. Bell didn't wait for the demon to attack...there was no time to waste or Riveria's life would be drained. He started moving and threw himself at the demon, building momentum to counter his opponent's incredible bulk. When he was only two meters away, Bell jumped, readying his spear to meet the rushing sword. The demon's sword had changed, the bones beginning to look like dark iron. Their blades clashed, hellforged iron against divine steel.
Bell hit the ground several yards away, rolled, and got to his feet again, Artemis feeding him knowledge of how to use this type of spear. He held the spear at his side as he ran, ringing from bells filled the air as Bell used a rapid series of one second charges in his left hand.

"Firebolt! Firebolt! Firebolt!"

Three times shot a white glowing ball of plasma out of his left hand...charging it with Argonaut changed the nature of his fire. The Falna that granted him the skill gave the fire also a faint aura of divinity, nothing compared to the gods...but together with he nature of Bell´s left hand...the "Rabbit Foot"..how Fels called it...gave the fire also the element of purity, due to the remains of Hakugen that held Bell´s bones together after he lost his hand against the black hydra...he really lost his left arm too many times.
The combination of magic, slight divinity and purity actually hurt the demon. He was too big to evade the magic bullets and roared in pain and anger as the white fire not only burned his skin, but actually hurt him. Again and again attacked Bell the demon, carved wounds into the body...which didn´t seemed to even slow the demon down.

Riveria!

All of Bell´s thoughts circled around his love...he would save her, even if that meant to risk his life! He kept running, the demon caught himself and swung his enormous body at Bell, mighty and ponderous...and slammed his sword blade where Bell had been standing a moment ago, carving a fiery fissure in the ground. With a hiss, the flaming whip slithered in and tried to wrap itself around Bell's legs. With a quick spin, he spun Vesta around and countered Hellfire with the divine Blade.
He was enormous, a crucible of pure hate, burning rage, molten blood and fire in his veins. When Bell's blade made contact with the demon's skin, it furrowed it, drawing more screams from it... screams of rage, not pain. So far, Bell has been fast enough to dodge or parry...although parrying was very dangerous, due to the demon's titanic power Bell had to push himself backwards, a direct attempt to block would risk his demise.
Each swing of his infernal sword was more than deadly, unleashing powers that could have shattered the walls of Orario...Bell's armor would do as much as a bed sheet against that. If Bell was to stand a chance of defeating this thing, he'd have to do the impossible. Dodging the whip, he sprinted faster and faster toward the demon, threw himself up and grabbed the fur around the demon's waist.

Bell pulled himself up with his left hand and pushed Vesta into the demon's chest with all the strength he had. The blade went deep and red-hot...literally red-hot blood gushed out in a fountain, hitting him in the face and burning terribly. The stench made him gag again, roaring in rage, the demon spun around, letting go of the whip and trying to pull Bell away. Bell tried to drive Vesta deeper to reach the demon's infernal heart, at the last moment he became aware of the claw grabbing his legs, yanked Vesta free and dropped, narrowly dodging the outstretched claw.
Roaring in anger, the demon stamped his feet, pulverizing more stone under his hoof. His sword whistled forward, now forming infernal runes...which set the blade ablaze...Bell caught the blade with Vesta's, deflected it to the side, and took two hasty steps to avoid the pounding hoof.

Bell whirled back to the demon, although the proximity was so dangerous, it was his only chance to actually hurt the demon...at least he had left the whip in his anger. He felt like he was fighting the Amphisbaena or Udaeus again...like charging at a living mountain...a screaming, thundering mountain...containing the fires of hell.
He rolled under the sword's scything swing and sliced the demon's left thigh with his blade. The demon roared in anger...and struck out with its free fist. Bell had been concentrating too much on the sword, ignoring that the demon didn't need both claws to wield it.
The enormous fist lashed out at him, catching Bell square in the chest and sending him flying into the next house. He felt something snap...possibly ribs...or something on his chest. The world spun around him and a sharp pain shot through his chest...as if every bone had been shattered. That exactly this didn´t happened was due to his now shattered chest plate.

The demon stomped after Bell, fixing him with its glowing eyes. Bell groaned and struggled to get to his feet, holding Vesta tightly in his right hand...it was lucky he hadn't landed on the blade. The demon held its flaming sword high above its horned head, gigantic muscles tensing. Bell saw the demon's jaws foaming with bloody saliva, its body glistening with wet blood, and its wings stretching like a veil of death itself. Bell tried to pull himself up again, but stumbled slightly from the stabbing pain in his chest...he didn't have a chance to get his weapon up fast enough. He looked up and saw the blade of the sword coming...knowing with complete certainty that dodging was impossible.

The demon was more than angry about the wounds Bell had inflicted on him and wanted to see this wretched creature cut up...maybe he would swallow him alive to make him suffer longer...if he survived the blow.

"RAAAAH!"

In the last moment, Bell let got of Vesta and hammered his bracers against each other, closing his eyes while turning his head away.

A bright golden light flashed and blinded the demon for a moment...in his mind Bell thanked Welf again for designing the "Golden Fleece".

The sword missed the target just barely, the demon made a false step and...stepped onto his whip...which made him stagger for a moment. Bell quickly rolled away from the sword, grabbing Vesta and stabbing forward...he was aiming for the ankle, but the spontaneous movement and Bell's injury made him hit something else...Bell rammed Vesta deep between the demon's legs. ..

An infernal shriek filled the cave...even though he was an otherworldly being...the demon was male...and that spot...painful. Though painful, it wasn't the biggest wound he'd inflicted on the demon yet...but it was an awkward spot. Vesta's magic burned into the demon's body as Bell yanked the spear back and stabbed again...this time catching the ankle. The limb buckled under the demon's enormous weight, bucked, and...broke. The demon fell and its mighty head slammed into the ground with full force.

It was everything Bell needed... and the only chance he would get. Leaping forward, he drove Vesta deep into the demon's neck, and with a cry of pain and exertion, heaved the spear in with both arms.
What followed was sheer necessity, Bell yanking out the spear and attacking the injured demon again and again, giving him no chance to fight back.

In the end he stood there, splattered with burning blood... Vesta still glowed while it was lodged in the demon's forehead...

But the demon wasn´t dead...the physical form was destroyed and crumbled..but the magic still bound him to Riveria...he would simply start to form anew.

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Bell hobbled panting toward Riveria as fast as he could, leaving Vesta where she was, he couldn't risk using the weapon here. He saw that Riveria was really weak...he couldn't waste any time!
With the last of his strength, he channeled Argonaut into both his hands.

He grabbed right into the sphere, screaming in pain when new lightning tormented his body. But Bell didn´t gave up...he screamed out his pain, driving his hands in deeper, yanking at the sphere's magical shell.

Behind him...the demon formed anew.

"Be...ll..."

He saw Riveria crying.

"RIVERIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Bell´s own lightning washed over the sphere as the whole cave shone in bright, blue light.

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A gigantic column of smoke stood over Alf's Royal Forest. It wasn't a normal fire, so the elves were immediately alerted and they sent scouts to investigate.

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The elves moved pretty fast since they had noticed the smoke even before Bell´s battle with the demon started.

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A female scout led the chasing party as they approached the destroyed tree. The elves heard no sound except for a low growl. Knowing what lived in that tree, they prepared to fight...and were utterly surprised by what they found.

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"Who are you?!"

The female leader pointed her bow at a sitting human...as well as all the other elves around her. .

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"Help..."

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"I said who are you, human?!"

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"Help...her..."

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They had found the human in the dragon´s cave, sitting with his back towards a small pedestal...on top of it was a special golden Flower in a glas cylinder. The human held someone in his arms...

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"That´s Lady Riveria!"

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One elf had noticed the woman in Bell´s arms...their eyes widened in shock when they saw that the elf who had yelled was right. .

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"Help...Riveria...please..."

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Bell´s voice was barely audible...he felt so weak. Riveria´s clothes were tattered, so he had wrapped his cloak around her, to cover her skin. The skin around Bell´s hands was burned and he was horribly wounded...but Riveria was save...and he had secured the Flower...nothing else mattered.

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When the elves came forward, Bell lost consciousness.

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Three days later.

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Bell felt like he was dreaming...it felt like he was sleeping in...clouds...it was so...soft...

It was hard for him to wake up.

"ll..."

Where...am I?...

"ell..."

Is Riveria save?...

"Bell..."

What is that voice?

Bell needed a long time to wake up really...what helped him was a gentle touch at his head...someone gently stroked his hair while he slept...someone with green hair.

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Authors Note: So Bell and Riveria finally got the Infinity Flower. I got the basic idea when I rememberred one of my favorite fantasy animes, Record of Lodoss War.

I hope the action sequence had the right length, didn´t wanted to make it too short but also not too long.

Two chapters left for Riveria´s story, then we will move forward, to more girls.