Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely a fanfic for enjoyment.

Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.

The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.

"Speech"

Time*

Arc 1 - Chapter 7

A week later*

"So, how was your training, Darkness?" I ask Darkness, as a week ago, she explained that she would take this chance to train back at her home with how most of the quests are for higher-level adventurers and something she can't do alone. Therefore, the option to return home, not the one Darkness and I live in together, but the home she lived in with her family before coming to Axel.

"Pretty good, but I do wish you had come with me. I would have introduced my father to you." Darkness said to me.

Darkness has extended an invitation to visit her home, but I declined since I don't know if where Darkness' family lives have an open field for me to practice with Chariot Requiem, and even if they did, I would need a private area due to people not being able to see Chariot Requiem and would see me swinging Fujin around without anything to hit it with.

"What you really meant is that we get to have sex, where there is a high chance of your father discovering us, and you would be extremely embarrassed, but at the same become even hornier at being caught. Is that what you meant?" I look at Darkness while taking a bite of the apple I purchased to snack on.

Darkness had a disgusted look on her face, "Daisuke. I have standards and to have my own father, seeing me having sex is just weird and disturbing. I'm a little offended you would think of so such a thing."

"And if it wasn't your father?" I give Darkness an eyebrow raise, and this time, Darkness' face turns red instantly at the images of her father disappearing and being replaced with someone else. "That's what I thought." I knew Darkness would get off if someone discovered her while having sex.

Darkness didn't say anything, but she did move closer to me. Hinting me, she wants to have sex since it's been a week for us, or she just wants to be closer to me for comfort. Those two options popped into my mind.

I'm taking the second option as I'm not in the mood for sex. Plus, having sex with Darkness tends to be very long, and I would be too exhausted to begin my training afterward.

"So, what have you been up to while I was gone?" Darkness asks me as she notices I wasn't speaking for a few minutes now.

"Nothing much, other than training." I answered, then asked a nearby waitress for a drink since I was thirsty. "By the way, I got this for you." I take a bracelet from my left pocket and place it on the table for Darkness to take. "It has a reusable Healing Magic attached to it that will activate on its own if you're badly injured or poisoned. It can be used three times per day, after being used three times. It will take 24 hours to recharge before it could be used again. Of course, if you use it less than three times, then the time for it to recharge will be reduced."

"Wow! This must be very expensive! I know common Magical Items would go for over a hundred thousand and could only be used a few times before it becomes useless. People who can make Magical Items are very rare. And to have a Magical Item that can cast Healing Magic would be worth millions on demand, even if it only has limited usage, but no one is willing to sell them. Therefore, to have a Magical Item that is reusable is extremely rare! I can't take this! You need it more than I do since you mostly do quests alone without a party." Darkness looks at the ordinary silver bracelet in awe as she can't imagine someone would sell such precious equipment for money when this could save someone's life when the situation calls for it when there is no Healer around.

"I made it for you." I said dryly, "I can't have you die off somewhere in case that shitty goddess isn't there to heal you." Of course, I didn't mention that I'm not willing to have someone like Darkness die off as I have taken a liken of her. Most importantly, I have no idea if I would ever find another girl like Darkness in this fantasy world or in other worlds I'm planning in the future to visit. So, having Darkness die would be a major waste, in my opinion.

"You made this?!" Darkness asks with disbelief, as many wouldn't fault for her doubts due to how the class: Magic Item Craftsman, requires specific stats and a set of skills to gain it. Even then, if someone got the class, there is no guarantee that the person would be able to craft powerful Magical Items and may only be able to make useless items instead of something useful.

"Yeah, where did you think I got most of my gears?" I raise an eyebrow at Darkness, wondering if she forgot about Fujin, and a week ago, I showed everyone the Heart Seeker. I guess Darkness must have been in her little fantasy at the time to hear about how I was the one that made the Heart Seeker. "Anyway, keep it. As I said before, I made this just for you. So don't even think about giving it to anyone else to use. If anyone in your party needs healing, get the shitty goddess to do it since that's all she can do."

Darkness smiled and quickly put on the bracelet on her right wrist before hugging her lover, as she loves the gift and discovered that she must have passed another test of his related to money. Before, she thought he needed money and realized he could even craft Magical Items that is worth a lot. Therefore, it must have been a test, and she passed, which is why she was given this precious Healing Magical Item for her lover to show his love for her. Darkness feels like her heart is about to burst from her chest.

"Thank you; I love it." Darkness kisses her lover on the lip, causing her to blush, then look at the bracelet on her wrist with happiness, ignoring the people nearby looking at this display with a bit of envy and rage. Some even have a look of greed on their faces upon overhearing what's going on.

I didn't care if someone tried to rob Darkness since she could easily defend herself. Plus, I can see the look on others, that they are frowning at the people with greed and planning to deal with them before things get messy.

"Emergency broadcast! Emergency broadcast! Attention all adventurers, please prepare for combat and report to the city's main gate!" The familiar emergency broadcast could be heard through the entire town.

After hearing the broadcast, everyone put on their gear and rushed onto the scene.

20 minutes later*

A lot of adventurers were gathered at the main gate. When we reached the scene, we saw an intimidating monster standing before us, and we could only blankly stare at it.

A Dullahan, a monster that brought despair and the premonition of death to men. A headless undead knight clad in dark gray armor, who rides a headless undead horse.

The undead knight standing at the front gate held his head on the left side of his body. Before the eyes of the gathered adventurers, he presented his head covered fully in its helmet before everyone.

The head starts speaking in a distorted voice, "I am one of the Demon King's Generals and have recently moved into a castle nearby..." Pausing for a moment, the head started trembling in front of everyone, "Every day, every day, every single day! Where a crazy idiot who comes to my castle to cast Explosion at it! Every! Single! Day! For! An! Entire! Week!" The undead knight roared with rage.

This caused the adventurers around to chatter.

"Other than that kid who loves Explosion Magic. You know anyone else?" I ask Darkness, who shakes her head that she doesn't know, leading the both of us to look at Megumin besides Kazuma. This includes the others around to look at Megumin as well.

Megumin, who was the center of attention, turned her head sharply at a girl dressed up as a Mage, standing beside her.

Affected by her action, everyone else was influenced and stared at that girl.

"Huh? M-Me? Why are you all looking at me?! I can't use Explosion Magic!" The Mage girl that was being framed denied it in a hurry.

"Hey, Daisuke, can you use Explosion Magic?" Darkness asks me, causing everyone to look at me now.

"I use Control of Weather, not Explosion Magic." I calmly replied, which made everyone frown a bit and wonder who it could be.

Not a second later, Megumin sighed and walked forward with an annoyed face. The adventurers reacted to her movement and opened a path to the Dullahan.

Megumin stood about 10 meters from the Dullahan and faced him without any fear on her face.

I noticed Kazuma walking out of the crowd, with Aqua also following behind, where I noticed she was wearing the adventurer guild's waitress outfit, and Darkness seeing this, as part of their party, follow as well after giving me a look that she sorry for leaving me alone.

"So, it's you!" The Dullahan snarl, "Are you the moron who cast Explosion on my castle every day?! If you knew I was a General of the Demon Army and wanted to challenge me to a fight, then enter the castle! If not, just hide in town and tremble! Why are you bothering me with such evil means?! I knew there were only low-level adventurers in town! I wanted to leave such minor characters alone, but you can't catch a clue and come boom, boom, boom, with your spells every day! Is there something wrong with your head?!" The head of Dullahan trembled with rage.

I noticed Megumin was intimidated and a bit scared, but she acted like she wasn't one bit scared as she flicked the cape she wore to cause it to float in the air for a brief moment for dramatic effect.

"I'm Megumin. As an Arch-Wizard, I have masted Explosion Spells!" Megumin begins an introduction speech, but was mercilessly cut off by the Dullahan.

"What kind of name is Megumin? Are you mocking me?"

"No, that's not it!" Megumin quickly shouts. Despite the Dullahan's retorts, Megumin composed herself and continued, "I am a Crimson Demon and the elite Mage of this town. I continuously cast Explosion Magic to lure you out of the castle, the Demon King's General! As I planned, you came to town alone after being tricked; your end is near!"

Seeing Megumin pointing her staff at the Dullahan excitedly, I heard a few mumbles among the crowd. Some were skeptics, some were surprised, and some just stayed silent and continued to watch and see how things goes.

"Oh, a Crimson Demon." The Dullahan seemed to calm down a little. "I see, so that weird name wasn't a lie."

I snort at this; of all things, this is what the Dullahan picked on.

"Hey, if you have any comments about the name my parents gave me, spit it out!" Megumin shouted as she became angry after hearing what the Dullahan said just now, but he paid her no heed, or rather, he wasn't bothered after seeing the adventurers of the entire town gathered here.

I'm honestly in between two options. One: Go out and try my luck on a high-level monster and maybe gain enough experience points to level up. Two: Stay out of this and keep a low profile.

The Dullahan snorted in disdain, "Forget it. I didn't come here to mess with peasants like you. I'm here to investigate something. I'll be staying in that castle for the time being, so don't cast Explosion on it anymore. Understand?" The Dullahan seems to be glaring at Megumin.

"That's like asking me to die! Those of the Crimson Demon clan must cast Explosion Spells once every day, or we'll die!" Megumin quickly argues, causing some who know about Megumin to sigh with frustration or shake one's heads in disappointment.

"Hey, I've never heard of this before! Stop bullshitting me!" The Dullahan shout at Megumin. Then the Dullahan placed his head on his right hand and shrugged. "You don't plan on giving up Explosion Magic no matter what? Even though I have taken the side of darkness, I was a knight before and have no interest in slaughtering the weak. But, if you continue to bother me with such things, I have my way of handling things too." The Dullahan emitted a dangerous aura, making Megumin take a few steps back.

However, I guess Megumin wasn't too scared as she continued talking in an arrogant tone, "We're the ones being bothered, alright?! Because you're staying in that castle, we couldn't even do our work properly! You can only act high and mighty now. We have an expert who deals with the undead here! Master, I leave it to you!" Megumin shamelessly passes the torch to Aqua.

This almost made me want to laugh at this, even to the point Megumin actually called the shitty goddess as her master. I had to bite my lower lip to prevent me from laughing when I watch the shitty goddess act cocky and walk past Megumin, standing before the Dullahan.

"I guess it can't be helped! I don't know if you're a Demon King's General or what, but you're unlucky to come here when I'm around. An undead coming out in broad daylight when your powers are at their weakest; you're just asking to be purified! It's all your fault that I couldn't take on any quests! Are you ready to face the music?!" Aqua shout at the Dullahan.

I see the adventurers around me gulping nervously as they wonder how things would develop. I even heard someone cursing Aqua's name, making me wonder if the shitty goddess even remembers that she doesn't possess her Divine Power. And looking at how arrogant she is, I highly doubt she did, and if she does, then she wanted to use this moment to prove that she was better than everyone here and should worship her.

Under the eyes of the masses, Aqua extended her hand out at the Dullahan, who is seeing this, offered his head to her.

If I were to guess, the Dullahan wasn't really offering his head to the shitty goddess, but to get a better look at what she would do.

However, the Dullahan wasn't waiting for her to make a move, but to get a better look at her, "Oh, I see now. You're an Arch-Priest. No matter, as a General of the Demon Army. I haven't fallen so low that a little low-level Arch-Priset can purify me. Furthermore, I have my ways of dealing with Arch-Priest... But, I'll start by torturing this Crimson Demon girl!"

As the shitty goddess preparing to chant her spells, the Dullahan moved and pointed his index finger at Megumin, "I shall curse you!" The Dullahan cast his Curse Spell on Megumin, but Darkness quickly grabbed Megumin's back collar and pulled her back as Darkness in front of her.

I let out a frustrated sigh at this and knew instantly that I might end up regretting this.

Sliding the Fox Mask over my face, then brought out Grimoire Weiss and cast the Sealed Verses: Dark Wall in front of Darkness. Where a Magical Barricade appears before everyone, and I watch the Dark Wall collapse instantly as if it was hit by something fatal. At the same time, I knew that the Curse Spell landed on the Magical Barricade and caused it to collapse. Much to my relief, but I knew this wasn't the time to relax and quickly rush to the Dullahan for combat.

"What the!" The Dullahan was shocked to see someone managed to block his Curse Spell so easily. Then, he found someone rushing out of the crowd and straight at him. "So, it's you! Face my wrath!" The Dullahan pulls out a greatsword from his back, then toss his head to the sky before swinging his greatsword at the fool that dares go against him.

I didn't dare fight a Dullahan with an untrained Magical Item, even if the Grimoire Weiss mostly used for the Sealed Verses. I haven't trained with it yet other than using Dark Blast once on that giant bear beast, Black Fang. I was really gambling with Dark Wall to be able to block the Curse Spell, but my gamble paid off. So, putting away the Magical Tome for another time for combat.

Knowing that the Heart Seeker will be useless against the headless undead knight. I didn't bother to take that out to fight with. As its main feature is to attack the enemy's heart and is used in a group fight to maximize the usage of the Heart Seeker.

Fujin is also useless because its strongest points are its speed and range. Also, against an armored enemy, where they may have enhanced their armor to be beyond normal would easily tank Fujin's slashes. So that Magical Item is out as well since it lacks the sheer firepower to deal with an armored enemy.

Then, there is Chariot Requiem, where it has been training Fencing for a week now and getting better than before. I would say better than a beginner at the very least, but far away from becoming a master fencer like Silver Chariot. Therefore, using Fencing against the Dullahan is not an option and I'm too close to summoning Chariot Requiem to snipe, and even then, I have no idea where the Dullahan's weak points are to kill it in one shot with the Sniper Trigger.

So this left me to have to use one of the Magical Items I haven't tested out yet and just finish planning it up with a set of conditions to be made. After figuring out how to use Omnifabrication much more efficiently. By placing preconditions before activating the Omnifabrication instead of waiting for who knows how long until I gather all the materials and the timeframe to make it, but this also limited me further into what I can and can't create.

I pull out four red marbles and four blue marbles, where there is heat coming out of the red ones and cold out of the blue ones. I throw all 8 at the Dullahan, where a second in midair, all 8 exploded into steams of fire and ice hurling straight at the Dullahan, who shouted in surprise. Everyone nearby is also shocked that such a small thing could release such powerful Elemental Spells.

These marbles are actually Shards from the anime Kiba, but modified to something else as I can't technically create them the same way as the characters in Kiba. One: I have to store the raw energy into these empty Shards and be sealed inside for me to change into Shard Spells, which were just using these marble-like things to act as a Conjurer Magic. Two: If I don't have the exact energy sources to be sealed into the Shards. Then, some Shard Spells can't be used at all. Three: I need to recreate more empty Shards to absorb energy beforehand. Limiting me to a certain amount of Shards per battle. While the characters of Kiba have an unlimited amount of specific Shards.

On the bright side, due to being stored energy, I can place personal handmade spells onto the Shards on the spot with just a thought. I don't have to worry about using up my mana as the Shards themselves have the energy stored inside to act as a replacement.

"That surprises me, but I faced flames that much hotter and ice that colder!" The Dullahan shouted at me as he easily moved out of the way.

I reach into my pocket to take out a single white Shard, where I attach a Spell in mind and throw it at the Dullahan.

"Naive! Don't think I would fall for the same thing a second time!" The Dullahan, instead of moving further away, moved forward and easily grabbed the white Shard with the thought that by holding it before it could be released would stop the spell inside from activating.

I snort and quickly back away, where the Shard releases an explosion of compressed air. The wind is what is sealed inside the white Shard and a spell that placed a timer onto the Shard to explode a few seconds after being thrown. Leading in the results, the Dullahan shouted in surprise, but it didn't seem to be hurt by this.

I clicked my teeth at this, but I knew using these Shards wouldn't be able to take down a Dullahan. After all, I haven't even field-tested them against monsters from a low level before raising the levels to improve what is needed. Not to mention, I only made a few; that Air Bomb was my only one, and the previous 8 Shards were all I had. I gamble if that was enough to cause some damages to the Dullahan at least, but it didn't.

"Come on! We got to help him!" I heard Kazuma shouting to the others.

I didn't bother to look who is helping me, but my enhanced sense of hearing lets me know that people decided to finally take action instead when everyone was just standing there on the sideline doing nothing the entire time.

"Shameless! All of you dare gang up on me?!" The Dullahan noticed, then with a few swings of his greatsword to injury a few adventurers with ease.

I sweatdrop at this but can't fault the Dullahan; however, that didn't mean I won't take this chance to go for the kill.

"You!" The Dullahan point at me, "I curse you to die in a week!"

And before I could take out Grimoire Weiss to cast Dark Wall again. I was struck by the Curse Spell, where my body glowed with a faint dark light, causing me to panic for a moment, but a few seconds later. I don't feel anything out of place.

"That curse won't harm you now. My plan was foiled a bit, but since the camaraderie among adventurers is so deep, this must hurt more for people like you. Listen carefully, Crimson Demon girl. If this goes on, that man with the mask will die in a week, and the horror of death will torture your important companion in the meantime. That's right; this is all your fault! During the following week, you will see your companion's pain and regret your actions! Hahaha, you should've obediently listened to me!" The Dullahan said to me before shouting at Megumin.

As Megumin's face turned pale because of the Dullahan's words, Darkness did something I did not expect from her.

"Die!" Darkness roars as she swings her sword at the Dullahan with rage. Yet, she couldn't land a hit at all.

"Hahaha! Like I expect! Remember! If you have learned your lesson, stop casting Explosion on my castle! And the Crimson Demon girl! If you want me to release the curse on your masked friend, then come to my castle! If you can reach my room at the top, I'll release his curse! But don't think this will be easy! My minions are everywhere in the castle, and it is full of undead knights. Can you, a rookie adventurer, make your way to me?!" After saying his piece, the Dullahan laughed loudly, as he rode his headless horse and went in the direction of the castle.

This cruel development made the gathered adventurers stand stiff with a blank faces. While I, on the other hand, wasn't that worried since I could make a Magical Item to remove the curse placed on me.

What pissed me off was that these fools around me didn't chase the Dullahan to kill it since, with its dead, the curse should be removed either way, and if not, I can just make the Magical Item to do it instead.

"Great." I mumble to myself before heading back into town to grab supplies for me to travel since the Omnifabrication didn't detect the materials needed to craft into a Magical Item to deal with curses or anything related to Curse Spells.

"Daisuke! Are you alright?!" Darkness appears before her lover, worried and deeply horrified that her lover is about to die in a week.

"I don't feel any pain if that's what you're asking." I replied, ignoring the crowd walking back into town, completely ignoring how I have been cursed or more like they didn't want to trouble themselves by getting involved in anything curse-related.

"Man, this is bad! What should we do?" Kazuma asks with concern; knowing that his senpai was cursed made him feel a little depress and mad at the Dullahan.

"I'm planning to head off to gather some materials. I'm going to craft something to remove this curse placed on me." I decided to tell everyone what I plan to solve this problem.

Megumin takes a few steps closer to me, tightly gripping her staff with a guilty look on her face, "I'm responsible for this incident. I'll head to the castle and cast Explosion on that Dullahan directly to dispel your curse."

"Couldn't you have done so before the Dullahan have left?" I ask dryly, causing Megumin to take a step back as if I slapped her, looking a bit more guilty for not thinking about that and missing the chance to attack the Dullahan while it turned it back to them, an easy target to hit.

"I'm pretty sure it's because other people were nearby." Kazuma came to Megumin's defense. "Anyway, I'll go with you, Megumin. If you ran into some minions and used your Explosion Magic, that would end there. I didn't realize that was the castle of the Demon King's General, even though I was with you all this time." Kazuma knew this is partially his fault as well.

Megumin made a heavy expression when she heard Kazuma's words. Ultimately, she drooped her shoulders and gave up her original plan. "Well, then, let's go together. But, he said there would be many undead knights there. If that's the case, then the weapons will be useless, and my Magic will be more practical. So, you have to rely on me when the time comes." Megumin smiled at Kazuma for deciding to help her out.

A lovely mood appears around Kazuma and Megumin, while Darkness doesn't seem to notice this and more concerned about where I would head to, as she begins offering her help in finding anything to remove the curse.

"You don't have to worry about that, Megumin. With my Detect Enemy Skill, we can search for monsters in the castle and avoid them. I can even conceal myself with Lurk and sneak in. Or we can visit the castle every day and defeat the enemy on each level, one day at a time, before coming back. We'll reduce the enemy numbers slowly, and we should arrive at the top. The time limit is one week; this plan should work, and if not, we can try to speed things up." Kazuma explained to Megumin not to be concerned about him being useless without a weapon to fight the undead.

"Sacred Break Spell!" Aqua cast her spell on me, where my body glowed faintly. "There you go, Daisuke! All better! A Dullahan's little curses don't stand a chance against me! How about that?! I can totally act like a real priestess sometimes!" Aqua gives all of us a victory hand gesture as she gives us a big bright smile. Like she has done a great deed, which she technically did.

I can see the disappointment on Megumin and Kazuma's faces while Darkness looks very relieved, but at the same time, Darkness feels like she missed a great chance for something.

"Why's everyone so quiet?" Aqua asks everyone as she notices how all of us haven't said anything after she cast Sacred Break Spell.

"Ignore them. I have something to speak with you and your Healing Magic." I said to the shitty goddess, more like a goddess of reusable materials. Since I got a few ideas, I could make them with the help of this goddess of reusable materials. Plus, this could be my chance to 'reward' Aqua for 'saving' me.