AN: I know that a lot of people liked the old one, but I felt that it was just a bit too… fast. I tried to incorporate emotions like hatred and resentment in it but well… it didn't turn out well.
But anyway, here's the re-write. I'm not even sure if it can be called a re-write anymore, but regardless, here is the new version of "Is It Wrong to Seek Revenge in a Dungeon", "Salvation Can Only Be Found in a Dungeon." I hope you enjoy.
By the way, is "And if you don't yours" even grammatically correct? I don't know. Bell's two swords are based off Kanshou and Bakuya from fate, but bigger, and more sword-like.
"Bell Cranell." A voice spoke out, "For crimes against the royal family, you are now executed for treason."
In the middle of the room, a young boy was sitting, tied to a chair.
Blood caked his body and he was incredibly dirty, but he still managed to look up and give the person speaking a loathing glare.
"Does anyone have any objections?" The person asked again, looking around him.
Not a single person spoke up, "Very well. Do you have anything you wish to say before you are executed?"
Bell took a deep breath.
"Five years ago, when I was six, I joined the civil war efforts." He began, "Since then, I have been fighting and killling for this country. I have created a bloodied path of bodies, piled sky high."
"But do you think I ever enjoyed doing it? That I am a murderer that slaughters other people – whether soldiers or civilians – for fun? That in my eyes, this is all just a sick game?"
"No. Although I killed so many people I was called the "White Death", I never once found flee in my actions. All of it was done for the sake of this country."
He clenched his fist.
"But I digress." He sighed, "Nothing I speak now will change anything. I have naught but one request."
"When I first entered your service, you said that you would take care of my family, and in return, I would win you the war."
"I have fulfilled my half of the deal. And if you don't yours…" His voice dropped low, "I swear to the gods above, not even death will save you from me."
–––
Bell smiled as he was lead to the gallows.
Normally, in face of death, one wouldn't normally smile.
However, his smile was not that of happiness. It was more of… relief. As if he was glad it was all going to be over.
Maybe he was.
"And now, we hang the criminal, Bell Cranell, for crimes against the royal family." The person standing next ot the gallows spoke.
Bell was led up to the rope, which was then slung around his neck.
He closed his eyes in acceptance.
The rope tightened.
"I wonder, where did I go wrong?" He thought to himself silently, "Was I too trusting? Did I have to much faith in the good inside?"
"Pull!" The person standing next to him called, and the rope was tugged roughly.
"It'll all be over soon, anyway." He gave a small, self-depreciating chuckle.
"I can't breathe."
Of course he couldn't.
"It's painful."
Of course it was.
"Not the noose… the pain of being betrayed by those who you had faith in."
Society is built upon betrayal.
"Is it weird? That even as I die, even as people mock and belittle me, I feel glad?"
Maybe.
As his vision began fading, a memory began playing in his head.
"Did you know that roses are actually dangerous?" The girl had told him, "They have thorns all over them."
She had long green hair that stretched all the way past her shoulders, near her waist.
Although her clothes were fairly tattered and a dull green, the gleeming diamond tiara on her forehead gave away her identity.
"The most beautiful things are the most dangerous…" Bell smiled, and laughed, "Guess I should stay away from you, lest I get murdered or something."
She blushed before looking away.
"That's not the point!" She cried out, looking slightly annoyed.
"Then please, enlighten me."
"The point is… the point is…" She sank into thought for a moment, "Right! The point, is that even that something that looks harmless on the surface can be the most dangerous."
"Well, what brought upon this profound observation, your highness?" Bell asked jokingly.
"I told you not to call me that, remember?" She pouted and glared at him.
"Fine then… Riveria." Belll smiled as he leaned down to pick up a rose off the flower bed, "See? It isn't actually that bad."
A small tear trickled down his cheek.
"I'm sorry." He muttered to himself.
I don't want to die.
Maybe one day, I will regret it.
But for now… I want to live on.
Hey, gods in the heavens above.
Why would you give me happiness just to take it away?
What karma have I accmulated to be deserving of this punishment?
I…
He blacked out.
–––
~7 years later.
The sky was filled with corpses and twirling blades.
It seemed as if thousands of corpses had been strewn across the landscape.
Every flash, every blue of motion, another head flew through the air, another blade flew through the air.
The adventurer who was fighting the monsters moved like the wind. He would release his swords every swing, letting them fly through the air before catching them at his next destination.
It was as if he could see the future. never once did a sword slip from his grasp, and never once did he fail to kill a monster.
All the level 2 and 3 adventurers who were watching were frozen in shock.
To them, it was like a white blur had shot across the field, killing everything.
A white death.
–––
~Hostess of Fertility.
"Hey, cap'n, did you know?" Raul Nord spoke up, haflway through his fruit ale, "There's been this rumour circulating around. Apparently, there's this adventurer in the midd floor who goes around slaughtering monsters. People have started calling him "The White Death", because all that is seen is a blur of white."
The level 6 mage of Loki Familia, Riveria Ljos Alf, coughed out her ale.
"Excuse me?!" She cried out in shock.
"Uh…" Raul paused a bit before repeating his earlier statement, "There's an adventurer in the middle floor that goes around slaughtering monsters. People call him "The White Death", and he apparently uses two katanas in a really strange way. Apparently, he was killing minotaur's like it was nothing."
Finn laughed.
"Well, we're going on an expedition in a week, let's hope we don't run into him, then." He chuckled.
Riveria was silent, staring at her drink.
Bell…
–––
Bell walked through the streets of Orario, hidden by a brown coat.
He walked into the guild and placed a bag of magic stones on the counter, recieved his valis, and then proceeded down the corridor.
"Ouranos-sama, I have arrived." He bowed down, kneeling with one knee.
"Rise." Ouranos spoke, "How was it today?"
"It was fine." Bell replied curtly.
"Any anomolies? What about the… you know." Ouranos hinted vaguely.
"They are doing fine. Lido requested that Fels bring some more alcohol the next time he came down." Bell smiled. Well, it was less of a request than it was a half-drunken demand from the sentient lizard.
"And… what about your new sword art?" Ouranos asked.
He was talking about Bell's new magic spell – Or in his case, a sword art.
It was technically two sword arts that were meant to be chained together, Sword Art: Izanagi and Sword Art: Izanami. But Bell was still having trouble finding out what he should be doing after he used the first attack.
"Not as well. The skill is stil in the development phase and it'll be a while before I can consistently use it in fights." Bell replied.
What he had fought with in the dungeon was a bastardized version of Sword Art: Izanagi, which he had fittingly named Sword Art: Swallow Cut.
It was a modified version of the previous Sword Art: Rashomon, which he had previously used in the civil war.
While the old one was reliant on having a steady inflow of swords, the current one used only two.
It didn't use to be a problem, as in a war, people were constantly dying and their equipment could be used, including their weapons. As a result, Sword Art: Rashomon often had to be improvised once other weapons like spears, axes and polearms were added into the flow.
However, since he had started adventuring, he could no longer use his crazy way of fighting in the dungeon, so he had to change.
Despite the fact that Sword Art: Rashomon had a much faster attack speed and the overall power was higher, Sword Art: Swallow Cut was specifically modified to make use of objects that would appear in the dungeon, as well as the dungeon itself.
And it also let Bell make use of the Mithril Sword that he had gotten crafted for himself three years ago. It was enchanted with mana so it was more durable and had a sharper cutting edge.
Technically, they could be utilised in tandem with elemental magic, but Bell was no way near on that level yet.
His mana manipulation could be considered middling at best.
"I see. Well, there is nothing else I require you for. You may go and rest for now."
As Bell turned to leave, Ouranos suddenly tapped his finger against his chair again, causing Bell to turn around.
"Right. I forgot. Fels will need your assistance for the next few days, in the deep floors."
"I understand. Where shall I meet him?"
"Same place. The storeroom." Ouranos answered cryptically.
Bell nodded.
–––
Bell met Fels in the storeroom.
Well, it wasn't actually a storeroom. It was in the back of a magic items shop, where Fels stored his best creations.
Some of the items were truly impressieve, a testament to the amount of effort that Fels had poured into his Mystery skill.
As for now, the skeleton was pointing one of his bony fingers at a position on a map of the 37th floor.
"We'll be going to the 37th floor. The xenos have sent a call for help, saying that one of their bretheren has been trapped in the colliseum. We'll have to be fast, otherwise we won't make it." Fels instructed.
Bell nodded.
"Then I'll bring them out, then?" Bell asked.
"You may need to yes."
"Understood." Bell walked to a compartment and opened it, pulling out two blades.
One was white and blue, the other, black and red. He pulled both of them out and tucked them to his side.
"I'm ready." He pulled the hood over his head, "Let's get going."
–––
Bell and Fels entered Knossus. He quickly ran up the long flight of stairs, while Fels glided through the air behind him.
"How much longer?" He asked, not stopping or slowing.
"We'll be there soon. We are on…" Fels looked at the walls, "The 34th floor."
"Got it. I'll go first." Bell accelerated, becoming a blur of motion.
"Honestly…" Fels sighed as he followed him, also speeding up, "He's too nice for his own good."
–––
Bell reached the 37th floor and opened one of the orichalcium gates.
"Lyd." He called out, "It's me."
The shadows warped and a lizardman stepped out.
"Bell." He spoke, "Where's Fels?"
"He will be with us soon. Who's trapped?"
"Wiene and Rei." Lyd responded, his voice grave, "They should be–"
Before he could finish his sentence, Bell had already dissapeared.
"Does Fels have to go through this every day? I feel bad for him…"
–––
"Weine…" THe harpy, Rei, spoke as they pressed their backs to each other, "I can open a path up for you. In that time, please run and get help."
"No! I can't levave you here!" The dragon-girl cried in protest.
"Just go! Or else we'll both die!" Rei shouted, shooting feathers out of her wings. The monsters parted, "Go!"
Weine blinked away her tears before running down the path.
As Rei was about to follow, she felt herself fly through the air.
"A skull sheep?!" She cried in shock. It had snuck behind her and attacked.
"Sorry, Weine." A tear dropped from her cheek as she flew through the air.
A monster positioned itself above her and swung its club down.
Shing!
A white flash shot through the air as a white blade lodged itself in the monster's chest.
"Fall back." Bell landed in front of her, jumping through the air, "I'll kill all of them quickly."
"Sword Art: Rashomon." He jumped towards a skull sheep, wrapping his arms around it and twisting it's neck off.
He smashed his swords into a spartoi, grabbing it's sword out of it's hands before throwing the blade at another spartoi. He then rushed towards it, smashing it into pieces as it felll back.
He grabbed two of the rib bones and rushed at a monster, stabbing both of them down. The monster retaliated by raising it's club, but bones collided with it for a moment before piercing through.
"I call upon the forge of Hephaestus." Bell chanted as he ran, "Forge of blades. Metal rains from the sky. Divine blades, I release you from your forge. "
The monsters, as if sensing his intentions, rushed at him. But it was too late.
"Sword Zone."
A bright line appeared in the sky.
Swords of all fashions and kinds appeared in the ground. Some were small, daggers, even, while others were large greatswords.
Sword Zone was Bell's only magic spell. While being incredibly strong, it was incredibly expensive in terms of mana cost.
As a result, he rarely used it.
He stabbed the two swords he was currently using into the ground before leaping to a monster, grabbing the blade next to it and slashing it upwards, cutting it in half.
He grabbed a small dagger from the ground and threw it forward, impaling a camoflauged skull sheep against the wall.
"You can't hide from me." He stood up and ran at another monster, quickly tearing it apart.
–––
When the rest of the Xenos arrived to back him up, all the monsters awere already dead.
Bell was sitting in the middle of all of it, leaning against both of his swords.
Both of them were completely matted with blood.
"Yo." Bell smirked.
Fels just sighed and rubbed his skull.
–––
Bell and Fels stayed long enough to eat with the xenos. Although the xenos ate magic stones and had no food, they had brought enough supplies with them to last a week, just in case of an emergency.
Bell held off on the alchohol, not willing to get intoxicated in the dungeon. Fels… well, Fels couldn't eat or drink. A shame, really.
"Sorry, we have to leave now." Bell told them after finishing his meal, "It was nice to see you again."
"Thank you, Bell. Let us meet again."
"Farewell." Fels spoke, and they both stepped out of knossus, making their way out of the dungeon.
Overuse of knossus would cause the secret to come out eventually, and they wanted to delay that as much as possible. They had only taken it while coming up (down?) because they were in a rush.
They quickly moved down the dungeon, avoiding as many adventurers as possible. The ones that they couldn't avoid, they rushed past.
It would be neary impossible for an adventurer at level 2 or below to catch sight of them, so it wasn't too big of an issue.
–––
As they crossed the 25th floor, the last part of the water palace, they chanced upon a group of adventurers.
They seemed to range from level 2 to 4, although it was pretty clearly split between the supporters and the adventurers.
At the lead, a black haired cat-girl was fighting, waving a rapier-like blade.
Pushing up behind her was a beastman who wielded a large greatsword, swinging it around and cutting monsters in half.
At the end, a spiky haired youth stood, repelling the monsters as they tried to charge near them.
But for every monster they killed, another would move up to take its place.
A monster party.
"Everyone! Start moving towards the 24th floor!" The catgirl at the front commanded.
"Yes!" The rest cried in unision, surging forward.
SKREEEEEEEEE!
"Even more monsters?" A supporter yelled in panic as they stopped.
"From behind!" The adventurer at the front realised, "Group up!"
The adventurers bunched together, forming a tight squadron.
"Ah shit, we're screwed!" The spiky haired youth shouted in panic.
"Shut the hell up, Raul! You're not helping!" The catgirl yelled in response.
"But– Aki!" He yelled in protest.
"Just shut up and fight! We have no other choice here." The girl – Aki, responded as she crossed swords with a siren.
"Loki Familia." Fels whispered to Bell as they drew near, "They're in trouble."
"Yeah, you tell me." Bell responded sarcastically, "Sure looks like they're having a breeze."
"It would be troublesome if members of Loki Familia were to die in the dungeon…" Fels spoke to Bell.
"Okay, I get it. If you wanted me to help them, you could have just told me, you know?"
"Could I?"
"Well… maybe." Bell sighed before drawing out both swords, "Be back in a bit."
"Sword Art: Swallow Cut."
He dashed forward, throwing his sword at a monster, killing it before picking up the sword and slashing at the other ones around him.
The monsters fell to the ground in pieces.
He dashed through the horde of monsters, cutting a path.
"Go!" He yelled at the adventurers, who quickly streamed out of the path he had made.
As they made it out, a monster cut him on his cheek and his hood fell back, showing his face.
"Shit." He cursed as he saw the adventurers taking in every detail of his face.
He gave them one last glance before he disappeared in a blink of motion.
"Shit." He cursed again.
–––
"Gareth. Riveria." Finn called to both of executives of the Loki Familia, "Come into my office."
They both looked at him, confused, but went in nonetheless.
As the both entered, Finn closed the door behind them before turning around.
"We have reason to believe that we know what The White Death looks like."
AN: Well, that's a wrap. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter – I certainly enjoyed writing it. Again, if you have any questions, comments, feedback, please do review or PM me. I'd prefer a review because I don't check my inbox that often, but both are welcomed regardless.
Well, see you next time. That may be in a week, in a month, in a year… who knows?