Be warn, I am not a native speaker of this language and making grammatical mistakes is unavoidable. If you find the story interesting or if you have some criticism please review and let me know. Well that is all, so enjoy the chapter.

There was no warning nor was there a plan, a massage that would have saved them arrived too late and Orario was doomed to fall. A war had begun, a war between mortals and monsters. They had received a warning from a traveling merchant, he told them about the great fire that burned the once beautiful kingdom of the elves, most of them were killed and the rest had left their domain never to return. At the time they did not know what caused the great fire and the travelling merchant had told them all he knew. A letter was send by the elves who resided at Orario but their carrier pigeons never came back.

Then the next group of people came seeking refuge, they told tales of great beast unlike any other, its wings large as the mountains, its eyes red as blood. After a few weeks an elven squire came to Orario, he was badly hurt, barely conscious but he delivered the letter written by the high elf king. Its contents painted a frightening picture, it described a dragon, a dragon tall as the mountains, its wings could cover the sun, and his eyes were hungry.

"The beast is heading towards Orario"

The elven squire said, moments later he fainted, and too tired to even speak he was sent to the nearest Pharmacia. The gods gathered and contemplated but it was too late, if the dragon really has awoken, they needed to act. The gods gathered all of the adventurers and then the adventurers started their long march. That was the last time Hermes saw Bell.

The next day was peaceful, Hermes walked on the wall where Bell once honed his skills, where he spend most of his time with a golden haired girl, who he fell for. Hermes found it ironic, he was a god who never truly cared for the lives of mortals but now the mere thought of losing them was something that made him fell an emotion he hardly felt, fear and sadness. He lost children before but only now could he safely say that the mere thought of it made him shiver. He prayed, not to the gods, his brother or sibling, he had simply prayed to himself, a silent wish that would never be answered. Hermes looked back, he saw Orario in her full beauty, and citizens have already left the streets of Orario, probably to pack their bags.

They were worried, how could they not be, if the rumor is to be believed, then maybe there is no salvation, maybe this was the end of Orario.

Hermes chuckled, if the rumor was to be believed, then he would put his fate in Bell, over the years he had become the strongest amongst his peers, he was the strongest adventurer that ever lived, but that came with a price. He faced many hardships over the years; the once happy child that believed in miracles and happy outcomes was gone. He had witness the ugliness of humanity and when he was forced to kill a man, he forever changed. The change was at first unnoticeable, but later on he stopped smiling and the once pure soul that he possessed was gone. He had led the march and Hermes could only hope that they would succeed.

Then the ground started to shake, the tower was the first thing to fall, then the buildings, then the walls.

Hermes saw hell that day, everything around him was on fire, bodies were crushed by the buildings that came down, the dungeon roared. He tried to move, his limbs refused to listen. He turned his gaze downwards, towards his arms only to see that they were completely crushed. Hot blood was leaving his cold body, he wondered what happened to his children, did they succeed or did they crumble like the buildings. He did not care; he could only wish them happiness.

Hermes woke up, his body covered in bandages, his wounds closed and his arms were replaced with silver ones. He was tired, barely conscious in fact but his eyes fell on a lone figure with dog ears and a silver arm.

It took Hermes weeks to recover from his injuries, the woman who had helped him stayed by his side, he dimly remembered her as the child that was in love with Miach. He watched her, her eyes became dull, and such eyes were only possible if one had suffered great lost. After he had been completely healed, he stayed by her side, trying to ease her suffering, but to no avail. She did not need company, what she needed was peace and quiet. The next day Hermes left and traveled north, where the adventurers have marched that fateful day.

He reached the battlefield, his throat dry and hands weak. He saw a hill of corpses too disfigured to recognize. He walked for a few minutes, tears streamed down his cheeks. He did not recognize any of the people he passed by but he knew, deep down this was their graveyard. This was the graveyard of his family, the graveyard that would never be mourned over.

He did not even recognize the giant corpse that stood beside the mountain of corpses. He walked towards it and beneath the beast had laid a broken knife and a man he knew all too well. He quickly ran toward the white haired boy, placing his fingers to the left side of his Adams apple, he felt a gentle pulse, Hermes stood up, in his arms he carried the boy he once held dear. He placed him onto his steed and made his way towards the one person he knew that could help him.

When Nazza laid her eyes on Bell she almost had a heart attack, she rushed and helped Hermes, who was exhausted by the long trip. She quickly used all her potions to cure the black wound that was slowly killing him but they did nothing. Biting her lower lip, she pulled out a vile that contained a red liquid, she cursed and gave him the medicine.

She knew all too well what she had done. It was an experimental potion created by her and Armid. It could cure any wound but there were many side effects, such as memory lost, paralysis and maybe even death but she would rather try and save him then let him die by the black wound that plagued him.

After a few tense minutes the black wound that covered his torso began to vanish. Nazza asked the god to take Bell away, he had nothing here and it could only damage him further if he remained here. Hermes accepted and tomorrow morning he had left with Bell, he already knew his destination and upon arriving he left Bell in the capable hand of a girl named Isabel.

Then he ventured back to Orario, he met the once proud soldiers of the Ares familia battling against hoards of monsters, their gods have left them and they could only repel the monsters that came their way. Hermes then saw a red core that stood where the dungeon was, its glow was bright and it pulsated slightly.

Only then did Hermes remember what his friend had said

The dungeon is alive but many still do not know what we meant by that, the dungeon is not a place it is a monster, it is a mother and the monster are her children and once her three sons are slain, only then will she truly awaken.

Hermes eyes were filled with rage, he had picked up the broken knife that once belonged to Bell and soon enough he headed north to meet an old friend.