Bon soiree y'all, well, at least where I am now, I'm sorry that I kind of took a while to update the story despite me having quite some free time, I kind of lost interest for a bit and got preoccupied with other things, but not to worry... I'll try my best to update the story every four or five days now in order to properly develop each chapters and avoid it feeling rushed, I'm so happy that a lot of people are liking and following my cute little story, we're pushing more than seventy people having discovered my story currently, and the number climbs higher every day! I wouldn't have made it this far without you lovelies! So I love you all :3, now enough with the sappy crap and onto the story!
I do not own Danmachi
Chapter X: Conundrum
Chaos, utter chaos everywhere. As far as the eye could see were buildings, both commercial and homes, set ablaze as thick, dark plumes of smoke billowed upwards into the sky, choking out the sunlight with ash and soot. Mass hysteria was rampant, citizens fleeing the destruction as many adventurers rushed in to quell and contain the threat present.
In just ten minutes, the entire southern part of Orario was now up in flames as new, unidentified types of monsters suddenly appeared and wreaked havoc upon the area, leaving destruction in their wake
Citizens were fleeing towards anywhere but the battle zone, as many adventurers of different levels from different families congregated to contain the monster party's advance and buy as much time for the citizens of Orario to evacuate and for the major hitters to mobilize and contain the looming threat.
The Ganesha Familia was spread thin as many of its lower-leveled members were tasked with assisting with the evacuation effort, whilst the higher-level members, which were few, were at the front-lines
Despite the myriad of adventurers currently engaging the monsters, they were having great difficulty in vanquishing them, they had surmised that these monsters were at the very least equivalent in strength with that of a level five adventurer, the containment team was at a disadvantage while the monsters plowed their way through the adventurers as if they were insignificant pests, time was quickly running out and the hard hitters were yet to be seen
As the smoke and conflagration cleared out, many sillhouettes of monstrous creatures could be seen, some of them were fire-type monsters, a mass of flame that took on an anthropomorphic appearance with rocks shaped like armor surrounding their torso, arms, shins and feet, another type of monster that were present were lobster-like monsters, standing at around two and a half meters in height, their razor-sharp claws could cut through steel with ease. Another kind of monster present were arachnid monsters, with eight spiked appendages protruding from the main body of these creatures, their bodies were also armored with armor so tough that even a level four adventurer would have great difficulty in breaking through them.
"Everyone evacuate the premises!"
A level three adventurer from the Ganesha Familia was escorting citizens that were nearby the battle zone towards a heavily guarded safety point where most of Orario's citizens were evacuated
"We've notified the major families to mobilize and eliminate the threat! They should be arriving soon!"
Another Ganesha Familia member assuaged the public's fear as he ushered many into the evacuation site
"Damn! Where the hell are the Freya Familia?! We can't hold on much longer at this rate!"
A level four human adventurer from the Thor Familia asked
"They're sure taking their time aren't they?! It's really damn unfortunate the Loki Familia just recently started their expedition too..."
A chinethrope adventurer from the Poseidon Familia said
"Perseus! Your orders?"
The Thor and Poseidon Familia were on friendly terms with the Hermes Familia, and thus naturally cooperated as a result
Asfi, after scanning her surroundings and seeing that the evacuation is proceeding smoothly, gave out her orders
"Keep an eye on the evacuation effort for now! Once the citizens are safely away from danger, we'll go and assist in the front-lines!"
They nodded their heads at the blue-haired woman
"Roger that!"
The two then immediately resumed escorting civilians to the evacuation zone, around the same time, Shakti appeared beside Asfi
"Update, Asfi?"
She was straight to the point, as she needed to immediately return to the war room and update their stratagem after a quick update on the situation
"Evacuation's proceeding smoothly so far, the front-liners are doing a great job at keeping the monsters at bay"
Asfi halfheartedly praised the adventurers keeping the monsters at bay, they were barely doing a good job at keeping them at bay as the monsters proved too be too numerous and too great a foe, she pushed down her frustration as she proceeded to the most crucial pieces of information, to which the captain of the Ganesha Family nodded in acknowledgement
"Noted"
It was now the captain of the Hermes Familia's turn to ask a question
"Any update on the strategy? Word from the Freya Familia?"
She shot towards the indigo-haired woman, who shook her head
"Nothing has been decided to effectively push back against the monsters... we're practically hanging by a thread until the Freya Familia arrives, and no, still quiet on that front..."
The bespectacled woman sighed, any time now and they'll be overrun, if only the Loki Familia were here...
The exchange of crucial intellect was now complete, and both were to return to their responsibilities immediately
"I'll be heading back now, keep up the good work"
The captain of the Ganesha Family then disappeared as soon as she appeared, having almost never been there at all, the captain of the Hermes Familia was now left to her own devices as she continued overseeing the evacuation effort
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Along the front-lines, the sounds of fierce engagement could be heard as numerous adventurers were engaged in battle with the monsters, who responded with as much enthusiasm. The adventurers quickly found themselves being bested by the monsters, who severely outnumbered them and also had demonstrated the ability to quickly adapt to their surroundings and enemies.
"Shit! Where's the backup when you need them?!"
A dwarf adventurer cried out as he clutched his profusely bleeding arm, the adventurers were supported by the mages, who were currently replenishing themselves after letting loose an onslaught of magic attacks against the monsters, who shrugged the attacks off as simple party tricks, it was the fighters' responsibility to ensure that the monsters don't get to the ranged units, which they were doing a rather mediocre job at as the ranged units had already suffered many losses
In the distance, an adventurer received a powerful slash on his abdomen, blood profusely leaked from the wound he sustained as the lobster-like monster backhanded him into some debris
Many of them also suffered major burns on their bodies from encounters with the fire monsters, who could willingly disaappear and reappear wherever and whenever they pleased, some adventurers even spontaneously erupted into a burning and screaming mess, reduced to ashes in mere seconds
"Orah!!!"
A battlecry could be heard from a red-haired smith from the Hestia Familia as he clashed against a lobster monster as his heavy blade collided violently with its claws, aided by a far-eastern woman heralding from the same familia
"Take this!"
As its claws were still locked in a battle of attrition with the red-haired blacksmith's sword, Mikoto sent a powerful slash towards the exposed head of the lobster monster, it would've made contact had the monster not reacted just in the nick of time to raise its other unoccupied claw and intercept the blow from the swordsmith
"Tch!"
Seeing their vulnerability, both pushed against the lobster monster's claws and leaped back some distance away, intending to switch up their strategy
"Mikoto, how about you make use of your nifty little magic trick"
Welf said in between pants, despite both of them being lower-level, they managed to hold their own against the monsters pretty well, if you could call battered and bruised with a few cuts well...
"I'll start the chant, cover me Welf-dono!"
She got into a stance as Welf nodded at her as he returned his fully-focused gaze against the looming figure a few meters in front of them
"You're dancing with me ugly!"
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"We can't hold on much longer!!!"
A fire monster focused its sights onto the dwarf and rushed towards him, intent on sending him to hell, literally
"Guh! It can't end like this!"
The dwarf shut his eyes as he prepared to receive the cold, or in this case, fiery embrace of death
'Forgive me Sylpia... looks like I won't be able to come back and help you raise our little girl after all...'
The dwarf's life flashed before his eyes as bitter tears freely flowed down his thick cheeks, jaw clenched tightly
Before the fire-monster could reach him though, the monster was suddenly encapsulated in a thick layer of ice, which promptly shattered into nothingness
A few meters away, Hedin Selland, also known by the alias Hildrsleif, stood tall with an arm outstretched towards the dwarf, his bespectacled figure caused a wave of relief to wash over all the adventurers who were present
"F-Freya Familia has finally arrived!!!"
A jubilant adventurer cried out in relief as others joined in
Indeed, the Freya Familia had come to their aid, the Gulliver Brothers were now running amok decimating the numbers of the lobster-like monsters and arachnids, Dáinsleif, or Hogni Ragnar stood beside Hogni, both stood silently and let the Gulliver Brothers handle most of the dirty work, though the number of the lobster-monsters and arachnids had diminished greatly, there were still the fire-type monsters to worry about, which could only be decisively dealt with using ice or water magic
"Hedin, take care of those little embers will you? I wanna go home already, a lot of people are staring at us and it's making me uncomfortable!"
The former king of the dark elves told the former king of the light elves in a panicked and ushered voice, which made Hedin sigh in annoyance
He then started to chant a powerful ice magic spell, which was concentrated and precise, thus minimizing collateral damage, with the chant finished, he unleashed an icy hell at the monsters
"Damnatio Helheim!"
The effect was instantaneous, every monster left standing from the Gulliver Brothers' onslaught were suddenly frozen solid, entrapped in thick blocks of ice, with a glint, thy promptly shattered into infinitesimally small pieces, scattered into the now clearing sky by the gust of wind that breezed by, loud applause and roars of cheer rang out
After witnessing such a powerful display, the adventurers crowded around the Freya Familia and showered them with praises, with bias to Hedin
"That was amazing Hildrsleif!"
"You're really powerful!"
"As expected of the Freya Familia!"
The constant barrage of praises did not fluster the light elf in the slightest, he remained as cool as a cucumber. Hogni was the opposite, he was incredibly averse to attention from people and was consequently avoidant of crowds and publicity, being swarmed by many people with their praises was simply too much for the dark elf of the Freya Familia, who shrunk into the corner, away from the nosy crowd
"Hmph... just going through with the wishes of M'lady"
He finally spoke to the crowd, who seemed to get more and more energetic by the second
"Hildsreif?"
A certain captain of the Loki Familia addressed the light elf as he walked towards him, closely following him were the expedition group consisting of the majority of the Loki Familia, a few peripheral blacksmiths from the Hephaistos Familia and one Bell Cranel, as soon as they had heard the sound of battle, they had immediately rushed up towards the entrance to the dungeon and had found the majority of the southern Orario up in flames and smoke, yet before they could rush in and help, the monsters were already taken care of before they could made a move
Hedin slowly turned towards the source of the voice, and was surprised at the sight, but was adept at remaining stoic and thus held a neutral face at the sight
"Well if it isn't the Loki Familia... care to explain why you're back so soon?"
Hedin interrogated the returning expedition force so soon, which stirred up some weird ideas within the group surrounding them
"What the hell is the Loki Familia doing back here already?"
A man shouted out to them, Finn went on to answer their question
"Due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to make a hasty return and postpone the expedition for another date"
The captain of the Loki Familia announced, but the majority weren't convinced
"Unforeseen circumstances huh? Are you sure it wasn't you guys that started this entire mess in the first place?!"
A chain reaction was then set into motion from that single question
"Yeah! Perhaps you're the one who let the monsters out!"
Some adventurers present resented the Loki Familia and were all too eager to throw some dirt on them, stirring up distrust for the Familia
"The timing is all too convenient!"
Another adventurer from the Ganesha Familia said as the crowd continued to grow more and more distrustful of the expedition force
"Everybody please calm down! We had no involvement in this and our return to the surface after the monsters have been dealt with were merely coincidental, no foul play is present here!"
Finn attempted to assuage the public's distrust with little success, the seeds have been sown and they were to blossom and bear bitter fruit
"That Bell Cranel also might have something to do with this!"
A cat person adventurer pointed an accusative finger toward the white haired boy, whose eyes widened from the allegiation directed at him
"I- We had no part in this!"
With shaky hands, he vehemently protested against the restless crowd as they hurled more and more accusations at the returning expedition force, even the Hephaistos Familia was now getting heat from the group
Some feet away was a timid, young elf, hugging her staff close to her chest, hearing all the accusations and insults being hurled at them, it made the elf extremely uncomfortable and distressed
"This is ridiculous! We simply had some trouble inside the dungeon! We've done no wrong!"
Tione, having had enough of the accusations, snapped at the crowd
"You're all meanies! We're innocent you idiots!"
Tiona added with a 'hmph'
"I stand with the expedition force, and Bell-dono! I believe in their innocence!"
Mikoto voiced out in the midst of the booing and accusations, Welf followed suit and proclaimed his trust in his friend
"Do you guys really think that the Loki Familia, who've consistently proven themselves to be loyal to the interests of Orario, or Bell, The captain of our familia, to be responsible for this?"
Welf bellowed out, which moved Bell and the rest of the expedition force
"Welf..."
Bell was speechless at his friend's unwavering trust towards him
"I should hope you had nothing to do with this, we'll be keeping an eye on you lot just to be sure"
Hedin suddenly reminded everyone that the Freya Familia were still present and were intently observing the recently returned expedition force for any suspicious activity
"Alright, that's stepping over the line pal!"
Bete growled out towards the light elf, who simply adjusted his glasses, not paying the rabid mutt any mind, an altercation was prevented by Gareth standing in between both werewolf and the light elf
"What a troublesome situation we found ourselves in..."
Finn muttered to himself as he bit his aching thumb
After managing to get past the crowd which took quite the effort, the expedition force decided to disperse almost immediately in order to keep a low-profile, despite having played no part in the sudden attack on Orario, the majority of the crowd were suspicious of the returning expedition force. As the Loki Familia headed back to the Twilight Manor, they were heckled by a few citizens here and there, apparently word got out and traveled lightning fast about the expedition's premature and quite unfortunately-timed return.
Finn had decided to keep quiet about the recent encounter with Evilus, the last thing he wanted was to cause a widespread panic, but the rest disagreed with him about keeping quiet, stating that should they ignore the threat, Evilus would force their hand by wreaking havoc, but they decided to cross that bridge when they get there
As the Loki Familia members approached the Twilight Manor, the guards situated at the entrance of the gate were surprised by their appearance and one immediately opened the gates and the other went to fetch for Loki
"What the heck? I thought I shouldn't be expecting ya' lot for another two weeks or so? Did ya' miss your goddess already?"
Loki teased them with a smile, to which some chuckled, some sighed and a few kept a straight face, unperturbed by the goddess' jests, sensing that the situation was a serious one, Loki immediately lost her toothy grin and straightened up
"Alright... what's it now?"
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"Hmm... well ain't this a pickle"
The red-haired goddess rubbed her chin as she released a deep sigh
"Do you have any leads on this Loki?"
Finn asked his goddess, who shrugged
"Not really... I was kinda hoping you lot would have more information on their shenanigans, being the one who had a run-in with them and all..."
Braver stared blankly at a wall, deep in thought
"You really think that they had something to do with the attack on Orario?"
The red-haired goddess inquired
"I think its likely, but I could be wrong..."
Riveria admitted, looking to the others for approval, which she got as many nodded affirmatively
"Hmm... well why don't you kids rest up for now, you've had a long day and even longer previous days"
Her smile had returned as the Familia gratefully nodded at her, very much looking forward to a bit of rest after all that's happened the past few days
"Tomorrow, we'll look around and see what we can find out"
She added as the group dispersed
"What happened up here when we were gone?"
Bell asked his fellow familia members as they walked all the way back towards the Hearth Mansion, after being heckled by some citizens, they had decided to stray from the main paths and decided to move around the alleyways.
"Nothing notable happened the past two days, the monster attack was very recent, it had only been around half an hour since they had been sighted causing destruction..."
Mikoto answered the white-haired boy's question truthfully
"Any ideas where they came from?"
Both Welf and Mikoto shook their heads and shrugged at his question
"Unfortunately, we have no idea where they came from, or who unleashed them, they pretty much just came from nowhere... so they said"
Welf sighed as he propped his large sword on his shoulder. The sun directly above bathed them in the summer heat, causing perspiration
"Where are Lili, Haruhime and Goddess? Are they alright?!"
Welf chuckled at the boy's concern
"Calm down Bell, they're fine... the monsters were contained to the south side of Orario, thankfully they were stopped before they could cause further damage"
Welf smiled at the white haired boy, taking the silence that followed as initiative to ask the boy some questions in turn
"Anyway, what about you Bell? I thought the expedition force wasn't expected to come back until two weeks?"
The white haired boy turned to look at him
"Well... we kind of ran into some trouble down there..."
He answered ambiguously, Welf and Mikoto were having none of it
"What do you mean Bell-dono? What kind of trouble?"
The far-eastern warrior inquired
"Well... promise me first not to tell anybody? Finn-san asked us not to let word get out..."
Both nodded at his plead, showing the boy congenial smiles to earn his trust
"You can tell us! We won't let this get out right? Welf-dono?"
Mikoto turned toward the red-haired smith, who nodded at them both
"Yeah! You can tell us Bell!"
Deciding that it was safe to tell them, he informed them about the expedition group's bivouac at Rivera, the run-in with Evilus, and their decision to return to the surface, both were horrified when he described his altercation with the red-haired woman
"That's horrible! I'm so glad that you and Lefiya-dono made it out safe!"
Mikoto spoke with a soft and sincere tone, like a mother who breathed a sigh of relief when she sees her children return home safely
"Hot damn! Not only were you on the ropes, but you managed to beat the crap out of her and force her to withdraw?"
Welf raised both eyebrows at the boy in surprise at the boy's deeds
"Well... the only thing that went on my mind was he had hurt Lefiya-san, and I could only see red"
He mumbled, both Welf and Mikoto glanced at one another, seemingly having a telepathic conversation, and nodded at each other subtly
"Oh? Isn't that interesting... Thousand Elf eh?"
Welf elbowed the boy's side, earning him a confused look
"Lefiya-san's Thousand Elf... yes"
He was confused with his red-haired friend's weird behavior
Welf once again glanced at Mikoto after his reply and let out a sigh
'Bell's an idiot'
'Bell-dono is quite dense...'
After a bit more of walking, they had finally reached the Heart Mansion, calling out for the renard who oversaw the Mansion's maintenance
"Haruhime! We're back!"
Welf shouted out, after a few seconds, a renard in a maid costume opened the doors towards the mansion and went to greet them
"Welcome back Welf-sama, Mikoto-sama... BELL-SAMA?!"
The reward went wide-eyed at the appearance of the Hestia Familia captain
"Hello to you too Haruhime"
Bell chuckled at the renard's surprised expression and waved her hello, which she timidly returned
"W-What is Bell-sama doing back here so early?"
She asked
"Well... some complications arose..."
Welf could only manage to sigh into his hand and Mikoto eyes narrowed at her captain
"Complications? What kind?"
Haruhime followed up, but was denied by the white haired boy an explanation
"Before I explain, are Goddess and Lili here?"
The renard, who was slightly impatient at having been denied an answer for now, nodded her head at the white haired boy
"Hestia-sama and Lili-sama are in their rooms I believe..."
She replied, receiving a nod from the white haired adventurer, they all entered the mansion and gathered in the living room, Haruhime went to call for the two
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"BELL-KUN!!!"
A bundle of soft flesh dove into the white-haired boy's arms at the speed of sound, earning his surprise
"G-Goddess?!"
He exclaimed in shock as Hestia, still in his arms, smiled at him as she snuggled closer
"Missed me already did you Bell-kun~?"
She... purred?
"P-please let go of me Goddess! There are people around"
He tried to pry off the loli goddess with great difficulty, but eventually managed to separate himself from her as Lili appeared
"Bell-sama! What are you doing back here so early?"
Even after being given a head start by the renard, she was still surprised at her captain's earlier than expected reappearance
"Well... now that everybody's here, how about I start at the beginning..."
-Fin-
I know that this chapter seemed a bit rushed, that's because it kinda is, I actually started writing this chapter around three or four days ago, but had lost interest for a little while, now that some interest was rekindled in me, I decided to finalize the story. Now I do admit that the story seems to be like a chicken running around with its head cut off, in other words, kind of going in circles with no clear destination in mind, that's because it slightly is, I have a good idea of where I want the story to go and how I want it to develop, but I haven't figured out the specifics and how to smoothly fit them together for a good plot, so I might have to ask that everybody be patient because I might shoot out some filler chapters while I try to figure out how the hell I should piece things together, not to worry, I'll likely see the story until the end, since a lot of people gave my story the time of the day, I might as well make it worthwhile for them aye? Anyway, that's all for now and I'll see you all in the next chapter, whenever the hell that is haha :3, peace out my lovelies!
