Thank you everyone for your positive responses to my new fanfiction. Please note that this chapter has spoilers for those who have not read the web novel up to the completion of the Tortus arc.
As it has been apparent for the characters of Hajime and Shizuku, some characters are set to be changed in certain aspects. I hope that my story clearly shows why these changes are made and that they do make sense in the context.
As a warning, we will meet one of these altered characters later in this chapter.
I hope you guys like it.
Lies and Ties
Chapter 2 – Inferno
Is hell a place of fiery hellhole where demons await to punish those ill-fated enough to find themselves in their halls?
Is it a frozen wasteland, where none but the worst offenders are locked in the depths of the Earth for all eternity?
No, it's darkness. Isolation. And fear. A place where no hope could ever be found. No grace of any god in this world could ever reach this place.
A lucky man would have had his neck broken and died before he could experience the hell of the Abyss. Nagumo Hajime was not a lucky man. A deep body of water broke his fall. The shock awoke him from unconsciousness.
He gasped as the cold water came over him. The cold water shocked his nerves, causing him to flail around. His eyes struggled to grasp his surroundings, his equipment weighed him down. Summoning what little strength he had, Nagumo Hajime struggled to remain afloat. Sensing no other option he jettisoned most of the equipment that he still had.
Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.
Slowly but surely his breathing stabilized. Some modicum of strength returned to him. He continued to focus on staying afloat and adjusting himself to his environment. It seemed that he had found himself in an underground river. He couldn't tell how far he had fallen. His eyes could barely make out what was in front of him. Only the occasional dim light of magic crystals and his blind crashes into the rock wall provided him a sense of reality.
Based on the chaotic mess that was his current mode of transportation, he figured that he was some kind of rapids. Before he could comprehend the situation that he was in, the river took a bend and revealed light up ahead. Hajime could tell that this would lead to another long drop. With no choice, he braced himself for another fall.
He landed into another body of water that luckily broke his fall. This time it was a pool that was not immediately threatening to sweep him into another chaotic, high-stakes water ride. Gathering his strength once more he was able to swim to the edge of the pool and dragged himself on to dry ground.
Was this a miracle? Nagumo Hajime couldn't tell. He was freezing and shivering from his crown to the tips of his toes. It seemed that his awakened body managed to survive the impact of his fall. In exchange, everything was in pain.
Miracle number one I guess.
He had to crawl under the cover of the dim light to reach a rock wall that he could use to prop himself into a position where he could assess the condition of his body. As far as he could see, he hadn't broken any bones nor was he badly wounded. Everything simply ached he had some minor cuts and bruises due to his bumpy ride.
Where the hell am I?
Using some of his blood, he drew a magic circle to dig himself a hole where he could hide and recover his strength. He put such useless thoughts from his mind. It didn't matter where he was. So long as he could move, he would move. So long as he could fight he would.
He steadied his breathing and focused.
I need to secure a source of food. I just hope there is something more here apart from cold water and rock.
As his mind formulated plans to move forward, He hear a loud splash that came from the deep pool of water.
A monster?
He peeked through his crack in the wall to observe what was creating that noise. It was no monster, It was a familiar figure. Her damp cold hair clung all over her clothes and her face, but he noticed her familiar piercing crimson gaze.
Yaegashi?
It seemed that she made it here in better shape than Hajime, managing to swim (albeit feebly) to the edge of the pool. It seemed that had was frantically looking for something as well. Deciding it was worth the risk, he called out to her.
"Yaegashi!"
Her eyes instantly shot in his direction. Noticing that it was indeed Nagumo Hajime, the person that she had been searching for, her beloved she could only respond with tears. He quickly rushed out to her. Hurrying along he quickly expanded the crack in the wall with his transmutation powers to fit two people comfortably.
Giving her a once over, he checked that she was not badly wounded. By this time Shizuku's breathing had stabilized.
"You're safe. You're really alive."
She still had tears in her eyes and proceeded to hug him.
"I'm glad. I'm really glad Nagumo-kun."
"Why are you here? Don't tell me…"
His eyes flashed in anger. He imagined the myriad of ways that Hiyama Daisuke could have come up to send Shizuku to this place alongside him. She corrected his mistake.
"I came here willingly. I came to try to save you."
His eyes widened.
"Was I not obvious enough after that conversation?" She asked warmly. "I love you. I've given you my heart. Where could I possibly go, if my heart goes with you?"
He blushed and turned away. And shifted uncomfortably.
"Well I'm not sure if I can really save you from this place but at least you're not going through all of this alone."
She smiled at him, displaying how strong her feelings of love and affection that she had for him.
Nagumo was unsure of how to respond. Nagumo Hajime had never fallen in love with anyone before. There was no doubt that Yaegashi was his closest friend. He simply was confused, as the young adult that he was.
"Yaegashi. Can I give you an answer soon? This situation"-
"Shizuku." She interrupted
"Huh?"
"Shizuku. I noticed that you're still calling me 'Yaegashi.' I think we're close enough to have you call me by my given name." She pushed.
He relented.
"Shizuku…."
That was more difficult than I thought.
"It's not that I want to disregard your feelings. I really appreciate them. But can we talk about this later? We've got to make sure we make it out of here alive."
She nodded. She wasn't foolish enough to demand an answer in such a terrible situation. She could wait. She turned her attention to their situation and her demeanor became more serious.
"What's our next step going to be, Hajime?"
"We'll need to explore this place. We'll stick together. It's safe to say that we fell quite a ways down from the 20th floor. The monsters down here might be way too strong for us. Our priority is food and water of course but we need to make sure that we're safe."
"We can't alert monsters to our presence. So we'll have to stay alert at all times."
As if on cue, they heard a loud roar not too far away from them. Reacting instantly Hajime activated his transmutation to close the rock wall, leaving a slit available to see through with a single eye.
After several tense seconds, the monster eventually entered Hajime's line of sight. It was bear like a monster, with dark matted fur. It glowered with its dark amber eyes, proudly searching for prey to be its sustenance. It was gigantic for a bear, reaching at least 5 metres, while it was on all fours
Reaching the edge of the dark pool, the monster raised its front paw and swiped towards the direction of the pool. Wind, turned visible by mana, twisted into the shape of a claw and tore open the pool, causing a violent explosion.
The numerous fish that was lifted from the eruption fell into the waiting arms of the bear. It ravenously devoured its fill before leaving the area. Some fish were left carelessly on the floor by the pool, destined to rot, unable to find their way back home, and not even being given the mercy of having its life ended quickly.
Hajime and Shizuku officially dubbed that monster "Gale Claw." Further exploration of the immediate area showed that this monster was officially the head in the monster hierarchy of this floor.
Deciding that they needed a safe place to plan their operations, Hajime, used his mana to slowly but steadily expand their hovel into a livable space in the rock wall that could easily be closed if threats came. Their position at the edge of the pool, came in handy as it became a source of clean water.
During this slow and arduous process, some monsters also made their appearance to use the pool for water and food. There were two distinct species of monsters unrelated to the bear that they saw earlier. The lightning wolves, so named after the electrical discharge that they could produce, shocking the fish in the pool, paralysing them and making them easy prey. These formed packs that hunted and roamed the floor together.
Their main rivals were the highly agile rabbits. By comparison to their rivals, these rabbits hunted alone. Despite their diminutive size (perhaps only half a metre long, for the larger of their species) these rabbits could easily overpower one or two lightning wolves with their overwhelming agility. They could move at super high speed and to dash along the air using invisible air pads
It was clear that both groups feared the claw bear. Upon hearing the distinct roar of the Gale Claw these monsters instantly fled, even if the two of them were fighting.
The expansion of their hovel produced surprising results. After extensive digging, Hajime was able to find a brightly colored translucent jewel set deep within the rock wall. One could tell that the jewel was formed by naturally occurring mana in the earth. At a mere touch, Hajime could feel the power that surged within. The jewel was hollow, containing a golden liquid, that steadily but surely dropped.
One drop of this liquid instantly restored his vitality and his mana. It was a miraculous liquid that healed wounds. Such a precious resource could not be wasted and so, Hajime created a large bowl to collect the miraculous liquid.
However, this still did not solve their food crisis. Without proper sustenance, there was no way that they could become stronger. There would be no way for Shizuku nor Hajime to challenge the monsters that were prominent on this floor.
Their salvation came in the form of a lone wolf. It was one of the lightning wolves. It was distinct from the other ones, with a large scar over one of its eyes. Whatever caused that scar likely caused the wolf to be ostracised from its pack. It came regularly after the main groups ran from the area, after hearing the roar of the bear. It took what food it could and also fled lest it incurred the wrath of the claw bear.
A weakened wolf with no backup was the only feasible option for them to hunt and kill. Using the rock as a transmutation material, Hajime turned them into spears. The hunt had to be swift and could not attract the attention of the other monsters.
The plan was simple, Shizuku would attract its attention, taking care to evade and slowly move him into their hovel. Their traps had been laid to ensure that the monster would meet its end. Shizuku drank some of the golden liquid, restoring her vitality and strength to pre-fall levels.
When the monster appeared once more, their plans went into action. She attracted its attention. The monster sensing vulnerability and weakness pounced at her. Anticipating its move and utilizing her longer reach, she stepped back whilst slamming the end of her spear into the wolf's head.
The wolf with its poor eyesight was not able to accurately judge distances, allowing Shizuku to use her skill to evade the monster whilst inflicting damage enough to tire out the wolf. The wolf continued to bite and snap at his prey until it sense that its prey was also beginning to tire.
It prepared for a lunge with all its might and strength, hoping to catch its prey unawares. But this too was a trick by Shizuku, into forcing it into a last desperate attack. Shizuku evaded the monster once last time, sending it on a crash course with the rock wall. At once the rock wall opened up with Hajime's transmute. With expert timing he closed the rock wall on the wolf when it came past, trapping the wolf the opening, with the earth crushing its insides.
"Don't blame us. We're trying to survive, just as you were desperately trying to live."
And it that Hajime thrust his spear into the head of the wolf through its open mouth. Twisting the spear to dig, deeper and into the wolf finally killing the monster. Once he confirmed that the monster was dead, Hajime released the monster carcass and dragged the remains inside.
Together they helped to skin the wolf saving the pelt for later use. They cut up the monster meat and removed the intestines from the carcass, After some time they had cut the meat into several parts.
They had no material from which to create a fire, so they had to eat the food raw. Despite her objections, Hajime firmly insisted on being the first to try the monster meat. Instinctively he knew that this was not going to be a pleasant experience.
The foul taste, nearly caused him to spit out the meat. He would soon wish that he did. Braving the putrid, gamey taste of the meat, he chewed and forced the meat into his stomach to be digested. Throughout this process he wanted to vomit several times, his body recognizing the danger posed by the monster meat.
Yet he continued despite his body's objections. The cells of a monster were simply built differently from a human being. Monsters for the most part were aberrations of corrupting mana. Whilst humans were able to channel mana from certain parts of the body, monsters' whole bodies permeated with mana. Every part, every nerve, every cell coursed with mana. This was the main cause of its ability to directly manipulate mana.
This inherent incompatibility meant that monster cells would do irreparable damage to the cells of the digester, as it tried to absorb the cells and use it to grow the body.
Hajime could do nothing but endure the mind-destroying pain, as the monster cells wreaked havoc on his body. He coughed up a torrent of blood as, his body, bend and broke. Shizuku could do nothing but watch in utter horror.
'Shizuku!... THE AMBROSIA!"
The ambrosia, the miracle liquid was his only form of hope. Reacting immediately, Shizuku pried open Hajime's mouth and poured a portion of the liquid into his mouth. This did not ease the pain at all. With the strength of the ambrosia, his body could heal the damage, but the potency of the monster's cells caused continual damage. A cellular war was being waged by Hajime's human cells and the monster cells. Each clash caused the creation of hybrid cells, a mixture of both monster and human cells, which slowly began its takeover.
Each step of the way was met with excruciating pain, as every cell from the tips of his hair, to his bones and flesh, were being turned into something inhuman. Hajime could only howl in pain, desperately trying to keep his mind sane. His will desperately tried to endure until it too gave way. After the most terrible moment of Hajime and Shizuku's entire life, Hajime fell unconscious.
Monsters
How long he was out for, he could not tell. Hajime Nagumo awoke to the loud sobs of his beloved teammate. His eyes wide open, he noticed the aches and pains that were all throughout his body, a remnant of the pain that he underwent. He tried to move, which was noticed by Shizuku, who rushed to embrace him.
"Hajime! You're awake! I was so afraid…. You nearly died! Several times!"
She was crying uncontrollably, her words tumbling out when her tears allowed her to form coherent words. She refused to let go, placing her head on his chest.
"Let me stay here, like this for a while longer."
What words could be said to comfort the tears of a woman that nearly saw her beloved die in the most painful way possible? Nothing. Hajime could only offer her one thing, a reassuring grip to tell her that it was all behind him, that he was okay. His reassuring presence stopped her tears and calmed her down.
After the pain mostly subsided and he found himself able to move, he noticed the changes that happened to his body. His weak body once bound to the limits of a normal human now seemed inhuman. His strength and agility increased exponentially from where he was before the fall. He felt how large his mana pool had become.
He checked his appearance in the clear pool of water that their hovel was located next to. He was shocked at the dull white that now coloured his hair, streaks of black the only proof that he was once a normal Japanese boy with black. He was much more toned and muscular than ever before. His eyes now matched his crimson mana colour, now a bright blood red.
Checking his status plate (which he miraculously kept during the fall) confirmed his suspicions. By all accounts, his stats had more than doubled and in some stats tripled since he last checked. His level had increased by 8, raising him to level 25.
Str: 230
Agility: 250
Vitality: 210
Defence: 210
Magic: 164
Magic Defence: 200
Mana: 360
He checked his skills. In addition to his transmutation skills, sword skills, and [Inhuman Will], there was the addition of two skills; [Iron Stomach] and [Lightning Field].
[Iron Stomach] – The ability to consume monster meat without the risk of rejection. The skills of digested monsters can be randomly obtained.
[Direct Mana Manipulation] - The ability to use Mana directly without the need for magic circles.
[Lightning Field] – The skill which converts mana through one's body into electricity, creating a lightning field.
Everything now pointed to the fact that Hajime Nagumo was no longer human. He had expected to be terrified of the changes that happened to him. Whether it was because [Inhuman Will] prevented him from mentally breaking down or whether his mind had rationalized his decision, he did not know.
His only concern was the inevitable choice Shizuku would make. She had to eat the monster eat to continue on. It was the conclusion that he came to quickly. A conclusion that was naturally shared by Shizuku herself. He wished that there was another way. A way that could spare her from that pain.
"I think I'll be a least strong enough to match your determination." She concluded. "Just wait for me, Hajime. Trust me to come out of this just like you did."
He respected her choice. A choice to stay beside him, A choice to undergo trials and unmeasurable pain for hope. A choice to fight for her love, her happiness, and her dreams.
While his heart broke in those terrible moments, while his body was wracked with guilt he never looked away. As he had to pry open her mouth to save her from the monster cells eating her body from the inside out, he could not look away, no matter how much he wanted to look away, to take the pain away. Through the tears, he would not look away from the fight of his beloved.
When she awoke sometime later, she noticed that Hajime had been sleeping beside her, gripping her hand. Gently she removed his hands as to avoid waking him up. Quietly she checked the changes to her body.
As expected the physical changes were most striking. The transformation took much of her black hair, leaving mostly white. Her eyes once, a bright red was dyed into a darker, bloodier crimson. Her mana was clearly now blood red. Her physical transformation mirrored that of Hajime's which gladden her heart, as proof of the shared trials that they underwent together.
As expected her stats also grew:
Level 27:
Str: 210
Agility: 400
Vitality: 210
Defence: 150
Magic: 100
Magic Defence: 150
Mana: 150
She too also gained [Iron Stomach], [Direct Mana Manipulation], and [Lightning Field] as a result of her becoming a monster hybrid. When she was done checking her condition, Hajime had already awoken from his slumber. He still looked groggy.
"Hajime. Did I wake you up?" She asked concerned. "Go back to sleep. I can still keep watch."
He shook his head. He asked her to sit down and talk.
"We need to talk. Now that our immediate food supply problem has been met and we've got a safe place to make our base of operations, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about that other question."
"By that you mean…"
"Yeah… Your feelings for me."
She gulped. Honestly, she wasn't expecting him to talk about this now. She was more nervous and scared than the prospect of eating monster meat and transforming into a monster herself.
"I'll come straight out with it….. I love you too."
Tears began to form. A great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She shuffled closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. She could feel his warmth, his love. It was all so real now. The prince of her dream came to life and swept her off her feet.
"Sorry for crying… I trusted you… I really did but there was always that part of me that thought otherwise. Maybe he liked Kaori but he didn't tell her….. I'm sorry it's rather stupid."
"I made you worried. That's more than enough reason for you to be upset. I think that you became precious to me a while ago as well. It just took the fall and prospect of losing you for me to realise that there isn't anyone else that I would give my everything to."
"When I fell asleep after you fell unconscious, I dreamt for a while. It was a dream about what happens if you weren't here. I think I would have become insane. I think I would have lost myself. The last time that I still had I would have thrown away."
"So thank you, Shizuku. Thank you for keeping me sane. Thank you for keeping me [Hajime], beloved. Everything I have, I give to you. You are my one love, My only love."
She nodded. With tears in her eyes, she accepted his love and proclaimed her own, undying and unbreakable.
"Everything that you offer I accept. I promise to give everything, my heart, my soul and all my strength are yours from now until the end of my days."
The newly formed couple rested in each other's company with dreams of love and happiness to prepare them for the hell that waited for them.
Escape
Shirasaki Kaori had been asleep for three days. Three days since the devasting incident were the party had lost both Nagumo Hajime and Yaegashi Shizuku. Throughout this whole entire debacle, Endou kept watch over her. It was Shizuku's order for him.
It's the least I can do. It was her la-. No it was her order. Not her last order. I believe that they'll get through it. I owe both of them that much.
Endou Kosuke had felt a certain kinship with Nagumo Hajime. They were both the ignored loser of the class. They way that he never gave up and still fought was something that Endou really admired in him. He still remembered the day that Nagumo came up to him and asked him for help.
Yaegashi was also a close second his admiration. She never neglected him and her determination to fight for the class won him over.
As far as he was concerned an order from Yaegashi and Nagumo was equally important.
For three days, (baring his own sanitary needs) he silently kept watch over Shirasaki Kaori. No one noticed. For once he was grateful for his lack of presence. He kept a careful watch over who came to visit Kaori. If it was healer, he would let them go in. Any only else was suspect and so he scared them off.
He remembered Shizuku's last words to him before she took the plunge.
Hiyama's real target it might be Kaori.
As far as he was concerned, everyone was a potential suspect. Hiyama was could not be trusted and neither could his cronies. But anyone of his classmates could be the secret collaborator that Hiyama was working with.
It was now night in the town of Hourad, when Shirasaki Kaori awoke.
"Shirasaki-san!"
"Who's there?!"
Maybe he should have expected this. But it still hurt. He did carry her all the way back from the labyrinth.
"It's me Endou Kosuke. I'm your classmate. I'm not a ghost. Or a stalker or pervert." He introduced, himself listing the things that he is often mistaken for.
Glancing to her side, Kaori noticed the figure that stood beside her. Clothed in all black, a standard for the assassin class was her classmate Endou Kosuke. He was a rather indistinct person with no ever able to recall his face or his eyes.
"Oh… Endou-kun. I'm sorry, that was rude of me." Kaori sincerely apologised.
"No that's fine. I've come to expect it as normal now."
Taking in her surroundings she realised where she was. She recalled the events of three days ago. She frantically threw her sheets away and begun to lift herself from the bed. Endou grabbed onto her shoulder to prevent her from doing so but she exerted much more strength than he expected.
"Slow down! What are you doing?!" Endou protested.
"Hajime! Hajime-kun needs me! He's down there all alone!"
"Are you crazy! Yaegashi-san….."
Remembering Shizuku's last words to her she became even more frantic and desperate.
"Shizuku-chan! Where is she?!" She cried out desperately.
Endou stopped her from leaving the room and frantically explained everything that happened when she was knocked unconscious. He explained how Shizuku knocked her out and ordered Endou to look after her. He mentioned how the party's morale was at an all-time low due to the lost party members.
"So she's down there with him…."
She recalled Shizuku's last words to her. She smiled wistfully.
I guess I've lost right, Shizuku-chan?
"Yeah. I believe in them though. Those two won't let a dungeon and some monster get them down. I trust them" Endou continued. "The important thing now is we need to get out of here."
Endou quickly explained what Hajime had asked him to do and Shizuku's request.
"I can't believe that Hiyama-kun would do such a thing." She cried out in disbelief.
Her eyes burnt hot with rage and indignation.
"We're not strong enough to oppose him. He might have a supporter in the party. I'd treat most of the party as suspect."
He advised caution to Kaori and indicated that they needed to try to get out without alerting attention. He updated her on recent events in the classroom. It seems that the faction of the class that was reluctant to fight rallied around Aiko Hatayama, their teacher. She was fighting for the right of those who no longer wished to fight to go with her helping out the Kingdom with their agriculture probably.
"Ever since Nagumo-san and Yaegashi-san fell the morale with the party at an all-time low. A lot of the party wants to stop and join Ai-chan Sensei. When she heard that Hajime supposedly died and Yaegashi-san joined him out of grief, she became furious with the Kingdom. She threatened to stop using her powers unless the students that no longer wanted to fight could join her."
"Is that our ticket out of here?" Shizuku astutely asked.
"It's our best chance. Ai-chan sensei has the leverage in the Kingdom to get away with a lot of things. My disappearing trick can't extend to other people, let alone as some as popular and noticeable as you Shirasaki-san. We'll need to make sure that we walk out of the door without anyone possibly objecting."
"So I guess, I'll have to act depressed because of the loss of Hajime-kun and Shizuku-chan."
He nodded in affirmation.
"That won't be too difficult. Losing both of them is definitely not easy."
She grimaced sadly. The reality really set in for her, she lost her best friend. She lost her crush in more ways than one. She would have to face that with the same determination that her friends had in the situation that they were currently experiencing.
Next Day
The next day after the healers did a once over to check she was okay. Kaori's classmates were allowed in. She feigned terrible shock at the news that Hajime fell into the Abyss and that in her grief Shizuku jumped in to follow him. She feigned a weak smile when the others encouraged her and had to force herself from not slapping away Hiyama Daisuke when he came within a metre of her.
"I heard that Ai-chan-sensei came here… Can I speak to her please…" She requested weakly."
Some of the party seemed reluctant to do so. But the overwhelming majority supported her wish. It was not long after that Aiko Hatayama, Ai-chan-sensei came bounding in. Immediately she came embraced Kaori.
"Shirasaki-chan! I'm so sorry to hear what you've been through! It much of been so horrible."
Her teacher cried and cried. It seemed that she too was grieving over the lost and felt geninuely felt the lost that Kaori felt. She smiled, knowing that someone was a good person at heart.
"Endou, check if anyone is around to hear our conversation." Kaori requested, her demeanor changing instantly.
"Ehh! Ehh?!"
Ai-chan looked around to find Endou Kosuke, appearing out of nowhere checking inside and outside for anyone that could be listening to the conversation. Once he gave the all clear, her real conversation began.
"Sensei, please help Endou and I." She pleaded with determination.
Aiko sat there in stunned silence as both Kaori and Endou recounted their stories. It seemed that moments that she was bought to tears and at times to pure anger.
"I have to confront Hiyama-kun!" She declared.
"No! We can't let him and his supporters know that we're on to them!" Endou protested strongly.
"We just need you to convince them to let Endou and I go with you." Kaori re-emphasized.
Ai-chan sensei nodded determinedly to support them and make their wishes come through. As energetically as she came in, she bounded out of her hospital room.
"And so we wait." Endou concluded, clearly tense at the thought of the trials that would come soon.
Shirasaki Kaori grimaced. Her thoughts raced to her best friend; Shizuku and her lost love; Hajime. With all of her heart and mind, with all of her soul and strength, she prayed for their safety, she prayed for their safe return to her.
The Abyss – Floor 1
Hajime and Shizuku spent much of their time in preparation. They had gotten stronger but it they needed to get stronger before they could comfortably challenge the monsters on this floor. Hajime's downtime was spent refining the use of his transmutation skill.
He had recently discovered that ore was in abundance in this floor. The most prominent being the [Taur Stone], an extremely tough metallic ore that was both strong and malleable. It was the perfect material to turn into weapons.
Using the Taur stone to form the blade of a katana, he used the bones of the wolf they had killed to form the handle for the weapon. In Hajime style, he was designed the weapon intricately, with beautiful designs to reflect both the maker and the user of the blade. Using the remaining pieces of the bone, he created a sheath to match the bone handle.
Once he was done he presented his finished creation to Shizuku. She took out the blade at once and tested it by swinging it several times. It was undeniably well crafted and fit her needs perfectly.
"Thanks Hajime. I love it. I'll take good care of this one." She promised.
"Yeah make sure not to lose the soul of swordsman again okay?" He teased, with a grin.
She pouted, muttering that he knew that it was extenuating circumstances when she lost the blades he had carefully crafted for her.
Given their limited resources, it became a priority for them to hunt more Lightning wolves. But their increased abilities as well as their resistance to lightening meant that dispatching some of the smaller wolf packs was now simple work. Thanks to that he was able to continue refining and creating more blades for Shizuku and Hajime to use.
"I've done it!" Hajime screamed from the top of his lungs. "[Monstertöter-Klinge] my personal weapons has been completed!"
It was set of Taur Stone blades, made to fit the size and shape of a normal-sized tachi and a wakizashi. Shizuku Yaegashi, could only sigh. No amount of harrowing pain or endless monsters could ever dampen her lover's otaku spirit. For her part, she was content to call her swords [Raikiri] and [Raikou].
On top of that he used the wolf pelt to create new clothes for them. It was a rather high priority for Hajime to create new clothes for Shizuku, whose torn clothes caused endless consternation for him. Every time she would catch him staring, he would be met with a sly grin from Shizuku and an embarrassed look of his face. The clothes that he created was rudimentary but it worked well.
When they could no longer gain more strength from dispatching the lightning wolves they moved on to preparing for the fight against the rabbits. At their current abilities the rabbits would easily outmanoeuvre both Shizuku and Hajime.
They had attempted to bait the monster and strike while it was distracted, but it was simply too fast for them to catch up. They had attempted to wait for it to use its normal waterhole and use [Lightning Field] to stun it, but the rabbit was too sensitive to their presence and ran away.
The breakthrough came eventually when Hajime discovered more ores that he could use. As part of their exploration for the floor, he noticed the different ores that could be mined in this place. With the help of Shizuku and his transmutation abilities, he was able to set up covert operations to mine for certain ores.
For particular use to Hajime was the [Blastrock] and green [Glowstones] Hajime found in abundance. The [Blastrock] was particularly prone to violent explosions if set off by electricity . When the right mixture was created, the [Blastrock] and [Glowstones] could be made into primitive flash bangs. This was the key to limiting the movement of the rabbits, which by this point of time had been dubbed as the [Kick-Master Rabbit].
Denotating charges were created using the wolf pelt that acted as great conductive material. The mixture was then poured into a Taur Stone container. The rudimentary flash bang grenade was then set amongst and choice set of the rabbit's favourite foods; fish and the foul wolf meat.
When their target rabbit arrived to their trap, Hajime instantly set off the explosives creating a bright light that stunned the rabbit and had it dazed. Taking advantage of its momentary incapacity, Shizuku rushed forward, [Raikiri] in hand, and stabbed it once, ending its life.
Shizuku was not a weak woman but her secret (which Hajime found out about her a long time ago) was that she had a soft spot for cute things, rabbits included. Even rabbits posed threat to their lives. The roast rabbit was simply not something she was not happy about eating. Eventually, Hajime had to coax her into eating it, by creating a rather cute pink rabbit mask, which even she found irresistible.
"Make me a cute hairband and I'll eat the roast rabbit."
And so the deal was struck. For the price of a rabbit mask and a matching hairband, Shizuku ate the poor rabbit. And it was a good deal as well, the stat boost and the skills that they inherited from the rabbit were extremely useful.
[Shizuku Yaegashi]
Level 35 :
Str: 500
Agility: 700
Vitality: 500
Defence: 500
Magic: 200
Magic Defence: 200
Mana: 200
Skills:
[Sword Master]
[Pain Resistance]
[Iron Stomach]
[Direct Mana Manipulation]
[Lightning Field]
[Air Dance] and its derivative skills [Aerodynamics] and [ Supersonic Step].
[Hajime Nagumo]
Level 35
Str: 600
Agility: 600
Vitality: 600
Defence: 600
Magic: 500
Magic Defence: 500
Mana: 500
Skills:
[Transmutation]
[Inhuman Will]
[Sword Master]
[Pain Resistance]
[Iron Stomach]
[Direct Mana Manipulation]
[Lightning Field]
[Air Dance] and its derivative skills [Aerodynamics] and [ Supersonic Step].
With the usage of [Air Dance] and its derivative skills, they now had a distinct advantage over the monsters in this floor. Most of the monsters on this floor were now subdued, save for one. The King; [Gale Claw]. This fight was going to be especially difficult, as the bear had demonstrated a remarkable ability to tear through Taur stone with a single swipe of its [Gale Claw].
During this time of preparation, Hajime continued to play around with the minerals that he obtained. He created more flashbangs and created actual explosive grenades which he was convinced would play a crucial part in the fight.
His magnum opus however came after many long hours of toil and practice. Created out of [Taur Stone] and shaped Hajime was the twin revolver guns that he created [Donner] and [Schlag]. He recreated gunpowder from [Blastrock] and used [Taur Stone] as the bullets. The whole mechanism relied on the use of lightning field to power up the shot, thereby creating devasting piercing power.
He gave [Schlag] to Shizuku, as another weapon to use for her to use in ranged battles.
The plan to defeat the bear was simple. Shizuku would be the front-line attacker, dodging attacks and attacking with either the blades or her [Schlag] if the opportunity presented itself. Her main goal was to allow for a large enough opening for Hajime to use [Donner]'s lightning mode to fire the high-velocity bullets which ideally should easily pierce through the bear's thick hide.
Once Shizuku was familiar with the usage of [Schlag] they set off to fight the demon bear. They tracked down the bear to its favourite spot where they began with a barrage of explosives. Hajime used a number of flash bangs to momentarily stun the monster.
Shizuku rushed in to fight it in close combat, [Raikiri] in hand. Its sensed dulled the bear was easily dodged by Shizuku who used such openings to slice the monster at every turn. When she was farther away, she pulled out [Schlag] and put an few good shots in.
Hajime used the chance to throw more grenades to disorientate and damage the vulnerable parts of the bear that Shizuku had opened. Hajime decided that this was as good as time as any to test the firepower of [Donner's] Lightning mode. Gripping the gun with both his hands, he aimed for the arm and charged his shot.
The shot was incredibly powerful and instantly tore off the thick sinewy arm of the bear. It roared in pain and hatred, it mind cleared with the pain it charge furiously and Hajime, who was recovering from the recoil of the shot.
Reacting to the danger, Shizuku formed a low stance and prepared her single most powerful strike. She activated [Supersonic Step] and launched herself. For a moment she appeared as a blur. At a flash she swung her sword horizontally
[Yaegashi-Style Iaijutsu] – [Susanoo]
The supersonic slash instantly cut the bear monster in half. It's upper body was sent flying and the monster's blood sprayed all over Hajime and Shizuku. The King was now dead, and now this floor was well and truly conquered.
After a quick bath, the two proceeded to eat the meat of [Gale Claw]. As expected it was a slice of utterly foul meat, that no amount of roasting could change but the benefits were undeniable. It raised their stats explosively. Of particular use was the [Gale Claw] Skill that they had obtained, the ability to produce claws made of invisible wind.
So for the first time in a long time Hajime Nagumo and Shizuku Yaegashi could sleep well.
"What we should do? We've conquered this floor. " Shizuku asked.
Even after extensive exploration, they were not able to find stairs leading to the upper floors. Transmuting stairs to go the upper floors was magically barred. All they found was the familiar silver doors. The doors that led deeper and deeper into the Labyrinth.
"We don't have a choice, Shizuku. We'll have to go deeper." Hajime acknowledged.
It was a worrisome prospect, the enemies of this floor were already tough enough. Had they been unlucky in any aspect, they could gotten serious wounded or dead. Given the tendency for the labyrinth floors to grow harder the deeper one went, it was natural to assume that the enemies would get tougher and tougher.
"And what about when we escape. We both agree that we want to go home but what about rest of our classmates? How should we deal with them?" Shizuku asked. "We're not going back to the Heroes party. The Church and the Kingdom are not trustworthy"
"We need to stop Hiyama and his cronies. He's an obvious threat to us and to Kaori." Hajime concluded. "Someone was obviously supporting him, so we need to find them and stop them as well. But I believe that this is bigger than just the party. Even if Hiyama had collaborators within the party, someone much higher would have been backing them. It wouldn't have made sense for them to have been able to do the things they did without external help./"
"As for the others if they decide to get in our way, then we will subdue them. Will fighting against Amanogawa cause any problems for you, Shizuku?"
She shook her head. A part of her still cared for Amanogawa and wanted to stop him from going down this dangerous path but that did not preclude her from fighting him. If Amanogawa got in their way, he will subdued with force.
"Shizuku, what about Shirasaki? She's not safe with Hiyama in the party." Hajime asked concerned for their common friend.
"I got Endou to look after her. If you trusted him, that's good enough for me. I told him to seek sensei's help. With any luck, Kaori will be far away from the party." Shizuku explained.
"Then we'll make that our immediate goal. Once we get out of here linking up with Shirasaki and the dissenters will be our main goal. We'll need allies to oppose the Church, the Kingdom and the Party." Hajime decided.
She nodded, it was as good a plan as any.
"We should prepare before we get going. We'll improve on our skill usage and you focus on creating more weaponry and ammunition for us. We don't know what will be down there, so it best to be prepared." Shizuku suggested.
Hajime would not object to that. Refining the use of [Air Dance] and [Gale Claw] was a top priority. Creating ammunition would ultimately be beneficial to train his transmutation skill. It was win-win for him and Shizuku.
After deciding their next course of action, they decided to rest to prepare for the days ahead. Shizuku kissed Hajime on the cheek and whispered in his ear; a prayer for a good night's rest and for hope in the next day.
"Dream sweet dreams, my darling love. But if the terrors take hold, dream of me at least that I can shoulder your burdens with you."
He kissed her cheeks as well, a faint blush appearing on both of them. He smiled and responded
"I'll dream of you regardless, my heart my soul."
True to their words and prayers the two soon drifted into a deep restful sleep. Dreams of the other calming their hearts and resolving their hearts to fight for the coming days.
Heliegh Kingdom Capital – Night
Hiyama Daisuke crawled up in a ball in his room and laughed. A wide manic grin stretched across his face.
He had done it! All of this enemies they were gone. All it took was one spell. One well timed spell!
His cackling grew and grew as sanity fled in his mind.
That will show them! Nagumo that smile-ball clinging to My Kaori! That bitch Yaegashi, who always prevented me from meeting my destined love! They're all dead!"
He was still nursing the wounds that he received from Yaegashi. His neck was in such pain, because of Yaegashi's manhandling. Just remembering the events still frightened him. For a minute he was scared that she would snap his neck!
But she's dead now! That bitch fell in love with that mutt and decided to die with him! Serves them both right!
But the itch on his neck would not stop. He continued to feverishly scratch at it until he drew blood. He curled into his blanket more and more.
The door to his room opened.
"Ara, Ara. You look happy Hiyama…" A female voice remarked sarcastically. "What's gotten you in such a good mood?"
The figure hidden in the shadow, looked scornfully at worm; Hiyama.
"You can tell, can't you?! That mutt and his bitch is dead!"
He shouted and screamed, his insanity now in full display.
I guess that spell was a bit 'too' effective. He was so frightened before…. Now it's just snapped him. It's a shame, he was a good pawn.
The figure carefully observed his eyes. Eyes that didn't see what was in front of him. They were bloodshot and had dark eye bags. It was clear that Hiyama hadn't slept for several days. She muttered a few words before a deep sleep came over him.
Hiyama still had his purpose. He will play his role until every part of his body breaks. Until his eyes fell out and his limbs fall off.
The figure smiled and laughed. Her plans were coming apace. Everything for her world. Everything for her desires. Everything for the smile that can only be hers!
After several days of training, Hajime and Shizuku had trained their skills until they mastered their skills completely. Shizuku's natural talent for high speed, allowed her to improve [Air Dance] to the point where her she was no more than a visible blur at her top speeds. Hajime was no slouch as well, learning to maintain top speeds for longer, due to his larger mana pool.
Concerted effort by Hajime allowed him to use [Gale Claw] in such way to cover his swords with the invisible wind, and by doing so he created the derivative skill [Blade Aura: Gale] and by applying the same theory to [Lightning Field] he was able to create [Blade Aura: Lightening]. Of course Shizuku was able to achieve similar results but was limited in how long she could maintain the ability due to her lower mana pool
Hajime was able to make improvements to [Donner] and [Schlag], increasing their rate of fire and reducing their weight so that they could be used in one hand. In light of this, he created another pair of his guns and gave another pair to Shizuku. Hajime was the clear expert in using firearms but it didn't hurt to give Shizuku another ranged weapon.
His skills with transmutation, increased exponentially with complex creations that would take him hours to complete taking mere minutes and in some cases mere seconds to finish.
When both felt that they had sufficiently prepared and extracted as many materials as they could from the first floor of the Abyss, they finally decided to attack the second floor of the Abyss. They shared
"Ready?" Hajime asked.
Shizuku gave an affirming nod. Together they pushed the silver doors and headed to the second floor of the Abyss.
The Abyss – Second Floor
The second floor of the Abyss could be easily described in two words; pitch black. The only way that they had to combat this number of green [Glowstones] that Hajime collected, which he created into a makeshift torch by pouring his mana. This produced a light source that allowed Hajime and Shizuku to see at least five metres ahead of them.
It was not long before they encountered their first threat. In the distance, they could see bright glowing eyes slinking over in the distance. Suddenly the eyes noticed them and turned their attention to them. Hajime's left arm which was holding quickly turned stone. Reacting quickly, Hajime uncorked a bottle of Ambrosia to heal the wounds, while Shizuku threw a flashbang in the general direction of the monster.
As the creature was used to dealing with pitch black darkness, it was not use to the bright intense light which blinded the monster, leaving it open to attack. As she got closer, the shape and size of the monster became apparent. It had a lizard like shape. As it was struggling and squirming, Shizuku merciless cut it down.
The Ambrosia did the trick, and slowly Hajime's petrified hands healed. As par for the course for the two hybrid monsters, they quickly roasted the lizard which they dubbed [Medusa's Eye], and ate them.
"Is it just me or is monster meat not tasting that bad anymore?" Hajime wondered out loud.
"Probably just you." Shizuku responded, whilst gagging on another bite of monster lizard.
The stat boost was significant but not as drastic. More importantly they both gained [Petrification Resistance] and [Infrared Vision] which made attacking the rest of this floor much safer.
[Infrared Vision] came at a cost though, as it was not considered a passive ability and used mana as substitute for the natural ability to see in the Infrared spectrum. This meant that conquering the dungeon still meant several days groping around in the darkness.
Still, with [Infrared Vision], they were quickly able to identify threats and kill them before they could pose a real threat
Once they reached end of the floor, it was relief to see some light no matter how dim it was.
The Abyss -Floor 29
"Was the concept of this floor, make things as disgusting as possible for the challengers?" Shizuku wondered out loud.
The 29th floor of the Abyss was covered in a black icky tar. The paths eventually led to a vast chamber, which was completely covered in tar. A brief examination of the tar showed that it was extremely deep. One could easily call it a lake made out of tar. One wrong step and they would drown and suffocate under a sea of tar. They had agreed that any monsters that they could not use anything that would spark a fire on this floor for obvious reasons.
Hajime didn't pay much attention to the complaints of his lover, he was busy examining the properties of a new mineral that he discovered.
Using a derivative skill of [Transmute], he had identified a new ore [Flamrock]. When it was heated would melt into tar. When the tar was further heated to 100 degrees, it lit up in flames that could reach up to 3000 degrees. His mind was already cooking up ideas about how this ore could be used for the greatest effect. Shizuku noticed that look on Hajime's face, she sighed.
Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she begun to drag Hajime despite his protests.
"Shizuku, Shizuku. Wait. Wait….. Let me collect some more [Flamrock]! I promise it's not going to be too long!" Hajime pleaded, as he was being dragged away from a mineral ore deposit.
She refused, 'not too long' could be anywhere between 1 -4 hours in Hajime's book. Eventually they found themselves walking across the narrow path that bounded the tar lake. Halfway across the lake without warning, something leapt at them from their left, intending to bite off their heads. Hajime scrambled to his feet, whilst Shizuku unleashed, a powerful side strike, repelling the monster.
Hajime and Shizuku grimaced, carefully pulling out their swords. In this situation the shark had the advantage. Using [Infarared Vision] was no use, the monster was in in natural habitat and it kept its body temperature indistinguishable from the tar that hid it.
They had no choice but to strike when the monster made move. They lowered their stance, bending their knees into a Iaijutsu stance and focused all their energy to their senses. They stood in silence until, their ear, hear the splashing of tar in the distance and the presence that was quickly rushing towards them. This time it was two Tar Sharks working in tandem.
[Yaegashi-style Iaijutsu; Combination technique; Rising Dragon – Leaping Tiger]
As Hajime slashed horizontally and Shizuku slashed vertically upwards, both sharks were caught in their deadly combination technique. Further enhancing the technique was their applied use of [Blade Aura; Gale], which ensured that when their strikes landed, it was one hit killing blow.
Luckily fishing out the monster carcasses was not as difficult as trying to sense their presence. Cleaning the monster to make sure that they were not consuming tar alongside it. The meat could be sufficiently described as 'rotting fish' but the two monsters from the Abyss, had a particularly enjoyable meal that night.
"Maybe you're right, Hajime. I guess monster meat really is an acquired taste." Shizuku admitted.
Hajime grinned smugly, he knew that she'd understand the subtleties required to enjoy foods that most would consider taste destroying.
As expected consuming the monster meat gave them two new useful skills; [Sense Presence] and [Hide Presence].
Once they had conquered this floor, Hajime got to work using the [Flamrock] that he collected to turn them into incendiary grenades. Shizuku sighed for 1000th time today. She'd have to pay careful attention to make sure that Hajime didn't become a sociopathic arsonist.
Abyss – Floor 50
[Shizuku Yaegashi]
Level 70 :
Str: 800
Agility: 1000
Vitality: 800
Defence: 800
Magic: 500
Magic Defence: 500
Mana: 500
Skills:
[Language Comprehension]
[Sword Master]
[Pain Resistance]
[Iron Stomach]
[Direct Mana Manipulation]
[Lightning Field]
[Air Dance] and its derivative skills [Aerodynamics] and [ Supersonic Step].
[Petrification Resistance]
[Hide Presence]
[Sense Presence]
[Hajime Nagumo]
Level 70
Str: 900
Agility: 900
Vitality: 900
Defence: 900
Magic: 800
Magic Defence: 800
Mana: 800
Skills:
[Language Comprehension]
[Transmutation]
[Inhuman Will]
[Sword Master]
[Gunnery Master]
[Pain Resistance]
[Iron Stomach]
[Direct Mana Manipulation]
[Lightning Field]
[Air Dance] and its derivative skills [Aerodynamics] and [ Supersonic Step].
[Petrification Resistance]
[Hide Presence]
[Sense Presence]
The 50th floor of the Abyss oozed 'different'. It was in the air. The source of the discomfort came from a pair of large heavy doors, guarded by two stone cyclopes. All monsters on this floor avoided this area like the plague.
Shizuku and Hajime had already cleared the floor and there was no longer any more normal monsters that could challenge them on this floor. They already found the doors that lead to the 51st floor.
It was now simply a debate as to whether they should challenge the ominous and clearly dangerous extra doors.
"We shouldn't challenge something unnecessarily, Hajime." Shizuku argued. "We've found the stairs. We can avoid this whole thing."
"But it's not unnecessary, Shizuku. The design of the door, the monsters. All of it is different. It could be the key to understanding this dungeon and clearing it."
Hajime pointed out that whatever was behind that door was something that the designer did not want to find. Whatever it was it would throw a wrench in the plan of the sick asshole that designed the place. Hajime relished at the opportunity to throw wrenches in people's evil schemes.
Hajime grinned that evil grin of his, which caused endless concern to Shizuku. It was the grin of a person who was dead-set on ruining something. The only decision that she had was whether it was going to ruin him or whether it was going to ruin some evil asshole's plan.
"Alright. I guess I've lost this one." Shizuku relented. "Gear up then. We have a clearly ominous door that to clear."
It didn't take them long to find the heavy golden doors once more, the remaining monsters fled from their presence. The cyclopes that stood sentinel over the doors, seemed to glare at them with every step.
"As punishment for not listening to me, you're dealing with both of the overly cliched cyclopes yourself."
Whether it was much of a punishment was debatable in Shizuku's mind, but she could use the break and if Hajime let off some steam after the fight it was a win-win for her
"Hmm. I guess things in reality are more cliched than I expected." Hajime remarked, as he loaded [Donner] and [Schlag].
The two eyes of the cyclopes began to move following the movements of Hajime and Shizuku. As expected the stone cyclopes begun to turn into real life beings. But Hajime would not give them the satisfaction of following through. Hajime had already used [Air Dance] to leap into the head of one of the cyclopes and fired a Lighting Enhanced bullet straight through its one eye.
The other cyclops roared in outrage and after fully completing its transformation, slammed its fists onto where Hajime was, instantly crushing the skull of the first monster. It missed Hajime who already leapt behind the second cyclopes and was hovering on a pad of invisible air.
"Yikes, that was pretty harsh of you cyclops #2. You're treating your friend with such contempt." Hajime mocked, as he prepared his sword, for the final blow. "You should really be ashamed of yourself."
[Yaegashi Style – Executioner's Blade]
The straight powerful horizontal slash, decapitated the last cyclopes before it could react. Without its head, it crumpled to the floor, dark green blood oozing from the headless corpse. Hajime jumped down and offered the first choice cuts to his beloved.
"Shizuku, if you please." Hajime offered.
With a couple of swings of her blades, she had expertly cut up both dead carcasses for consumption. She left out two red jewels that were embedded into the chests of the dead monster.
Hajime continued to look at the doors as Shizuku was preparing the meat. No amount of force could open the doors. Transmutation was also a no-go with a magic lock that prevented him from damaging it using magic. Hajime appreciated the design, it was well built and beautifully made.
"I think I've seen this design before in the library. I think it was from the ruins of the Vampire Empire that existed in this world 300 years ago." He muttered.
He put aside such thoughts. Admiring the design and history did not lead him any closer to finding out how to open it. He carefully looked at the doors again. This time he noticed the two round indents in the centre of each doors design. They seemed to fit two round objects
"Shizuku, you found some jewels in the monsters right?"
She nodded and pointed him to the jewels that she found. It was clear what they needed to do next. Hajime decided to stop there and join Shizuku in consuming the monster meat.
"Hmmm, this one's pretty tough and gamey. We've had better monster meat." Hajime concluded.
Not that the taste truly mattered. The stat boost was the highest they had from consuming a single monster in a while. Clearly, the monsters in this labyrinth were not designed to deal with challengers who grew stronger whilst consuming monster meat.
The key skill that they gained was [Diamond Skin], the ability to use mana to harden their bodies and to provide extra protection. Using it on their weapons was also effective, providing extra durability if they needed to defend them.
After testing their abilities briefly, Hajime and Shizuku fit the red jewels in their proper indents. There was a loud click and the stirring of mechanical locks. Slowly the doors opened.
The doors revealed the long and wide main chamber. It had several tall pillars which supported the grand chamber and added a sense of gravitas and importance to the whole thing. The room was completely out of place with the rest of the dungeon but matched the design style of the doors.
"This design style. Was it members of the old Vampiric Empire that built this structure?" Hajime wondered out loud, as they continued.
Murals covered the walls and ceilings of the rooms. It seemed to depict the rise and fall of many tribes and species that once inhabited the world of Tortus. There were always commonalities to rise and fall of every nation. A central god-like figure whose favour dictated the rise of the nation and its eventual downfall.
The chamber eventually gave way to the central room. In the centre was a raised dais in which a large black stone was set on it. The ceiling above the dais was the largest and greatest of the murals depicting the rise of the vampires; masters of blood and magic and their fall from grace. Once again this divine figure played its central role, a being that seemed to relish at the destruction and fall of many a nation.
There in the large black stone, was set a single lone figure. Judging by her body, one could say that she was about 14-15 years old girl, but her face gaunt and ladened with suffering hid her true age. Her long blonde hair had clearly lost its lustre from the ages that the figure must have experienced trapped in this place.
When Hajime and Shizuku drew closer, she began to stir rather violently, her thin body shivering and shaking.
"Please…." She muttered weakly. "If you're real. If it's not just a dream or a delusion that my mind thought up before I finally go mad. Please…"
"Please save me…." She pleaded. Every word that came from her dried cracked lips, seemed to pain her.
Hajime was clearly not impressed. All that trouble and anticipation was for nothing. He expected a hidden treasure or a some kind of secret. He wasn't expecting nor wanted a blonde, emaciated loli girl as a prize.
He ignored the girls pleads, as he looked around hoping to find at least something worth his time.
"Hajime, don't be so cruel. At least here out the girl." Shizuku scolded.
Not taking his eyes off his search for a second, Hajime finally responded to the girl.
"So why should we save you? This place is clearly sealing you in here. By the looks of things you weren't sealed here recently and the design is clearly lost to current civilization on Tortus. Yet you're still alive." Hajime observed.
"I was betrayed!" She protested her eyes weeping.
That gave him some pause. He knew what betrayal felt like. But sympathy, even empathy could not get in the way of their safety and ultimately their mission to go home. He remained unconvinced.
"So you were sealed here in a place that was designed by a long lost civilisation, which has been gone for at least 300 years. Yet you're still alive. That makes you powerful. That makes you a threat. Maybe the person who sealed you in here had the right idea." Hajime concluded.
"I'm not….. I'm not a bad person." She cried out weakly, with all the tears that her dried up tear ducts could muster.
Her eyes grew lifeless once more. With his words, Hajime concluded his conversation with the trapped being.
Something did catch his attention. Set in one of the murals, was a green jewel. It seemed to be a magical artifact. Hajime removed it from the mural. Sending some of his mana into activated a recorded message. The technology was impressive, as it produced a holographic image of a person dressed in regal clothing.
He was clearly a handsome figure, but the stress set in his brows indicated that he had seen better days. His mouth seemed twisted in anguish and despair. Tears flooded his eyes but looked straight ahead prepared for the future that lay ahead for him.
"Aletia. If you are seeing this message then you must be finally free from the torment that I inflicted upon you. Surely my seeing my face and hearing my voice incites in you rage so fierce and a pain so deep that you would wish to smash this artifact."
The figure rightly predicted the reaction his message would incite. The eyes of the blonde girl flashed with anger, her teeth drawing blood from her lips and the mere sound of his voice.
"I beg you, please do not. Please listen one last time. After this, destroy this message if you know it will be the last time you see your treacherous Uncle."
"Aletia….. I won't ask for forgiveness. That would be presumptuous of me. But know that….. I am sorry and that I wished there was another way.
"This foolish uncle of yours could not protect you for very much longer. Even now I feel my mind slipping. So before it all ends, in the last moments of clarity I decided to make this harsh decision and to leave this last message in trepidation and hope."
"Aletia…. The gods are not to be trusted. Your abilities they were too powerful. They attracted the attention of that wretched god Ehit. That is the real reason for their invasion. I could not let them have you Aletia.
"I wanted nothing but for your happiness and freedom Aletia. Ironic isn't it that in order to give you the best chance of this was to trap in here, for what must have been a long time."
"If you are seeing this message, then someone must have set you free. To that person I implore you. Please look after Aletia in my stead. She is good girl, deserving the world but has only the betrayal of her foolish Uncle to embitter her."
"Aletia…. Whom I loved as my own daughter…. I am sorry…. I am so sorry….. Please live my darling Aletia. My darling Aletia please live free and may you live without the favour of the gods."
The blonde girl was clearly not expecting the message. Her eyes widened and grew as she continued to listen to the message She seemed to cry bitterly, at every word spoken by the unknown figure. At last her tears stopped. Her eyes once lifeless, the face of meaningless existence for 300 years gained its light once more. In them grew a deep rage.
"That message was from my Uncle; Dienleed Galdea Vesperitio Avatarl. He was the person who betrayed me and locked me in this place for 300 years. I thought for all this time that he locked me here because he wanted power. Because he wanted my throne."
With each word it seemed that her sprit was being restored. Her voice that was once weak and hoarse gained clarity and authority for the first time in 300 years.
"My name is Aletia Galdea Vesperitio Avatarl. I am the last Queen of the Vampires. For the sake of justice and revenge, please release me from these chains. Please help me find the truth behind his words. Please allow me to find meaning in being trapped in this god-forsaken place for 300 years."
And that's a wrap folks.
So, how do you think about the changes that I have made to 'Yue'? Or will she still be called that in my alternative fic? That will be something that you will find out in the next chapter.
One again thank you for the favourites, follows and reviews. It really means a lot to me.