3rd person POV
Two swords clashed.
Alise had gone for a thrust with her rapier, which Bell parried. Alise kicked Bell in the stomach, pushing him to the side.
She then ran at Wiene but was slammed into the railing by Bell, and he swung his sword down, trying to disarm her.
But she moved out of the way and backhanded him.
Bell seeing as he was on the back foot, activated Realmheart to get a boost in power. He saw the aether and mana particles tint his vision as he felt the dragon's will power his body.
Alise charged again, sending multiple thrusts with her rapier in an attempt to disarm Bell. It was evident by the fight that neither wanted to hurt the other.
Bell expertly parried each thrust. Thanks to his years of harsh training with every weapon known to man, he was able to match Alise sword skills.
Alise used her superior speed to get around Bell and went for Wiene again, but two ethereal white hands grabbed her and threw her back.
Alise cut both of them and did a flip, landing behind Bell again.
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"Why are you doing this? Why are you trying so hard to protect this monster!" Alise desperately yelled. She wanted to know why Bell would do this. It was now known he didn't join evilus...right?
"Because I have to," Bell responded. It was an answer far from it, but Bell couldn't tell her, no matter how badly he wanted to.
"Why! What makes this monster so special? What makes this monster worth everything you've thrown away" she shouted, her sword trembling in her hand.
Bell wanted to tell her, he really did. He gave her a desperate look, asking, no begging to just let him pass. But in the end, she wouldn't. Her encounter with the juggernaut had left such a scar on her that she didn't outright hate monsters, but she wouldn't let one escape back to the dungeon. She wouldn't let it escape so it could grow stronger and hurt more people.
"Alise, I can't tell you, I want to, but you wouldn't believe me," He told her, sadness permeating his voice.
Alise's mind was in overdrive. Why wouldn't he move and let her kill this monster? Why did he not want their friendship back?
"Then why? Why are you, of all people protecting this monster? You lost everything to the one-eyed black dragon, you lost your father, and what could have been a huge extended family. You lost your mother because of their failure to kill the dragon. Your aunt became a monster driven mad by defeat. Your grandpa died because Agrona was able to reach you, so why are you defending this monster when you've lost more than most to monsters before you were even born."
Bell looked at her. She was right. He knew that. But if he stopped now, if he gave up just because it was tough. What type of hero would he be?
"Because if I don't...then who will"
Alise said nothing but charged again. This time Bell snapped his fingers, and his light flame spell flew above Alise's head. It impacted the sky bridge above and sent debris raining down. When the dust cleared, Bell and Wiene were gone.
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Bell and Wiene were running. Bell knew that Alise would soon pick up their trail again, but he had bought himself a few minutes to at least think of something.
"Wait, I know where I am," Bell thought. He recognized the familiar part of Daedalus he was in. He was here with Fena, which felt like a different lifetime now.
Taking a few twists and turns through the empty streets, he found what he was looking for. A door with metal bars that could be locked from the outside and led into a tunnel. The perfect place to send Wiene away.
He opened the door and ushered her inside before closing it and locking it. He grabbed his oculus that was in his gauntlet and handed it to her through the bars.
"Papa, what are you doing," she asked.
Bell grabbed Wiene's hand through the bars once the oculus was in her hand. "You're going to take this and run, Miach will guide you back to the other, I'm staying here so Alise and I can have a chat."
Wiene was panicked. "But Papa, that lady could hurt you" Wiene was trying to get the door open. But since it was locked and Bell was pressing against it, she couldn't.
"Wiene, it's time for you to go, Alise and I are just gonna have a talk, we're having a minor disagreement right now, but I need to know you're safe first, so please do what I tell you."
Wiene looked at him. She wasn't stupid, she knew he was lying. But she didn't have any other choice. If Bell told her to go, she had to. Thing is, she really didn't want to. But if her papa said he would be alright, she would just have to trust him. So with a heavy heart and tears in her eyes, she ran down the tunnel.
Bell turned around, hearing Alise's footsteps getting closer and closer. He stood there waiting with Dawn's Ballad in his hand. A few seconds later, Alise showed up. Her rapier was still in her hand, and she looked Bell right in the eyes, she had a look of not anger but confusion.
She asked him the question that had been on her mind ever since Knossos. "Did you join Evilus"
She had to ask. Sure he killed Dix, but if evilus was one thing, smart was one of them. They could've planted Bell here after killing Dix and have this whole monster incident as a big distraction to cover up one of their plans.
"Do you truly think so little of me?" Bell asked. He knew their relationship was rocky at best, he also knew they were nowhere close to going back to being what they once were.
"I thought the world of you, I looked at you, saw the happiness and hope for the future, I saw people not living in fear of monsters, I saw a future where the one-eyed black dragon didn't exist, a future where the dungeon was conquered, a future where everyone was together not divided by race or culture, that's what I thought of you."
At this point, Alise was practically pouring out her emotions in the hope that Bell would at least tell her why he was doing this. But again, Bell couldn't, if the world found out about the Xenos, who knows what would happen? So he had to keep his mouth shut.
"Alise, we barely knew each other," Bell responded. Alise knew he was trying to shut himself off, and she wouldn't let him.
"Don't act like we didn't have some connection, you felt it, and so did I, there was something between us! She yelled at him.
She was right. Bell knew she was. Alise had saved his life twice, and in a way, they grew closer. But once everything was revealed, the bond between the two shattered. So he stood there, dawns ballad in hand, ready to fight.
"I'm not moving," Bell told her. Alise let out a frustrated sigh, she had tried to reason with him.
"Then I'll make this painless as possible."
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Alise charged at him with a speed greater than before. Bell moved his body out of the way and continued his parrying, but he could feel his guard starting to waver.
He had to disarm her one way or another, else she would overpower him. Parry, block, parry. This cycle continued as Bell tried to find some way to disarm Alise.
But it seemed she beat him to it as she gave his hand a little stab cashing his to drop Dawn's ballad. He shook his hand as he stepped back to gain some distance. He needed to think of something quickly.
But Alise didn't allow him this breather. Once again she was on top of him. Since Bell couldn't parry he had to dodge while he thought of a plan.
He moved his head to the side but did so at the wrong time, Alise had done a feint to the right side of his head to catch him off guard. She had expected him to dodge left where her leg would be so she could trip him.
But luck wasn't on her side as Bell's head had moved right to where her blade was. The was a sicking squelch as Alise's blade went directly into Bell's right eye.
He pulled back from Alise, grabbing where his eye used to be in pain. He fell to his knees, screaming at the agony of having his eye ripped out.
Alise was horrified at what she had done. She didn't mean to do this. She was just trying to knock him out, not hurt him like that.
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"Bell, oh no, I'm so sorry, let me see," she cried as she ran over to him. Once she reached him, however, his body shimmered away, and she felt someone grab her arm.
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Bell had grabbed the arm holding her rapier and pushed her elbow upwards. It caused her grip to slacken slightly as Bell punched her in the face and yanked her rapier out of her hand.
Bell then head-butted her, to which she responded by kneeing him in the gut. When the two had some distance apart, she looked at Bell and saw he had both of his eyes.
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"That was a dirty trick, Bell," Alise told him, wiping some blood from her mouth.
Bell didn't say anything. His eyes were emotionless as the soldier Alfia had beaten into him was slowly coming out.
Alise knew this look and hated it. It took away the life from his eyes and replaced it with coldness. But Alise had a job to do, and as much as she didn't want to, she would move Bell out of the way.
The two were now disarmed, and while yes Bell had many more weapons, he wasn't going to use them, he just wanted to knock Alise out, once he had disarmed her, he would've gotten rid of dawns ballad originally.
Bell ran at Alise and threw a punch, she blocked it and threw one of her own, and Bell blocked that one.
He ducked under her next one and punched her in the gut, which was responded by a knee to the face.
Bell stumbled back and was kicked in the stomach, causing him to fall down, Alise got on top of him and pinned his arms down. She pulled her fist back and was going to punch him but stopped.
Bell was staring at her, his nose bloody and eyes full of sorrow. What was she doing? This wasn't her. Why was she so angry at Bell? Was it because she just didn't understand him? This used to be her friend, so why was she so hellbent on fighting him?
She brought her fist to her side but still stayed on top of him, had anyone else seen them, they would've thought something else was happening.
Alise felt tears threaten to spill from her eyes, but she held them back. She wouldn't cry in front of Bell again.
"I'm sorry," Bell said. Before Alise could ask what he was apologizing for, her worst nightmare came true. She was back on floor 30 with the juggernaut, except this time, Alfia wasn't here to rescue them. She watched as, one by one, her familia was ripped apart and killed.
"No, no, make it stop, please, someone help," she begged, watching as her familia was killed, and she could do nothing to stop it. Time seemed to slow down with each one of their deaths, and she watched helplessly.
But to anyone else, Alise was rolling on the ground screaming, begging for it to stop. Bell wiped the blood from his nose and walked over to Alise. He grabbed the tube attached to her belt and shot the flare in the sky.
The only way an illusion like this could be broken was if Bell himself dispelled it, or if a third party touched the person.
Bell took a potion out from a hidden compartment Welf had placed in his greaves and drank it feeling his injuries from the fight heal.
He watched with a heavy heart as Alise was experiencing her worst nightmare. He turned his back, tears streaming down his cheeks as he walked away.
A minute later, the entire Astraea familia showed up and was able to snap Alise out of the illusion. Seeing her familia alive and well brought her so much joy she latched onto them and refused to let go.
Seeing as the captain was in such an emotional state, the Astraea familia decided to stop pursuing the Xenos. Right now, the only thing that mattered to them was ensuring their captain was alright.
So they sat there in a group hug for many minutes until a giant blocked out the moon. The group broke their hug, and what they saw shocked them. It was a massive monster made of green vines, standing at over a hundred feet tall with vines and sharp thrones as its weapons.
It was rated as an S-class mana beast, but one hadn't been seen for centuries. The last time one was spotted, it was defeated by an 11-year-old Arthur Leywin. It was known as an Elderwood guardian.
The Astraea familia started making their way to it but were separated by a green dome. All but one could dodge out of the way and avoid the dome, all except for Ryu, who was trapped on the other side.
"It can't be. Why's the sphere of Cronos here," Lefiya asked.
Ryu's eyes widened at the name. If this sphere was here, then that meant she was here.
"Everyone, go and find Regis, he's the only one that can break it," Ryu told her familia. Before they could protest, Ryu took off running to where Bell was fighting. She just hoped she would be able to warn him in time.
The Elderwood guardian wouldn't be Bell's only problem.
Well, let's end it here. So it seems our emotional fight between Bell and Alise ended with Bell pulling a dirty trick.
It seems another old foe of the Leywins has appeared, and Bell will have to fight. I wonder how he'll fare.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, the sphere of Cronos is made up, and if you don't know, Cronos is a god of time, so pretty much the sphere is made of time itself.