The inside of the temple of Elsos was a mess of old stone and vines. Yet deep inside laid a monstrous calamity.

A monster with such capabilities could not be allowed to escape. Else it would wreak havoc across the world.

"So why didn't Zeus and his bitch of a wife take this thing out if they knew it was here," Bell asked, getting closer to the inner sanctuary.

"Hera saw it as too inconvenient. Why waste time and resources on something that's asleep" Hermes answered.

Bell rolled his eyes.

"Of course she did, now I'm left to clean up her mess. Great"

Bell was annoyed at Hera's lack of care. Because of her indifference to do anything, all but one member of the Artemis familia was dead, and the last one was knocking on death's door.

Add that to the fact Antares was absorbing Artemis, and it was a whole mess of problems to deal with.

"Are you sure the three of us will be enough, lord Hermes?" Anya asked.

"It'll have to be, my dear. With the Loki and Astraea familia in the dungeon on their expedition, we're short-handed, and I'm not asking Freya for a favor, as she'll use it to keep me out of the way when she makes her move to go after Bell."

"Lord Hermes, we shouldn't discuss those matters at this time," Asfi butted in.

Hermes sighed as he threw his hands in the air.

"Very well, alright, looks like we made it."

The small group arrived at a closed stone door. Like the rest of the ruin, it was covered in vines and cracks and looked like it would crumble to dust from a slight breeze.

But Bell knew that was far from true.

"So, how do we open it?" Bell asked.

"Use your knees and lift Prince Charming," Regis replied.

Bell rolled his eyes as he walked to the door and crouched, sticking his hand under the crack of the door. He pushed himself up, pulling the door with him and opening the inner sanctuary.

Inside was different from what Bell expected, unlike the path to the inner sanctuary that was filled with cracks and vines. The inside of it was covered in a mess of black and red vines that looked more like stone. Coating the walls and walkways were pods of some kind. Likely holding monsters inside.

They spanned out from everywhere, and some even acted as bridges. But what was most noticeable was the deep gorge in the middle that had bridges going down.

Bell stepped into the room with his party directly behind him. They were all shocked at the sight as well.

"Bell, can you feel that?" Regis asked.

"Yeah, I feel...cold. It's like there's this deep-rooted hatred. But I can also feel sadness, like someone's crying."

"I can't feel anything," Anya said.

"Neither can I," Asfi added.

Hermes put his hand to his chin.

"Hmm, it seems he's able to feel the very emotions of this place. How interesting, how interesting indeed."

Bell turned his head back to the group.

"I'm guessing this is where Artemis is located?"

Hermes nodded.

"Correct, she should be further, however."

Bell nodded his head as he turned around.

"What's wrong?" Anya asked.

Bell raised his hand and sent a gust of wind toward the group. They all went flying back into the corridor they took, landing on the hard stone as they did so.

"Seal," Bell said.

A red forcefield covered with multiple different rooms covered the door and blocked anyone from getting in.

Anya quickly shot to her feet and ran to Bell, only to be stopped by the door he put up. She started smashing her fist against it in an attempt to break it.

"Damnit, Bell, what are you doing?!!!" She yelled.

"Keeping you alive, if this thing is as powerful as we believe, you'll be slaughtered like animals," Bell calmly explained, taking Dawn's Ballad out of his dimension ring.

"And you won't! You're the same level as I am! Now open this damn door."

Anya began kicking and stabbing at it with her spear. Yet it did nothing to the door.

"Yes, but I am much stronger than your average level four. I'm even stronger than a level five. My capabilities are that if a level six, and if Zeus and Hera needed multiple level sixes and sevens to take one calamity down, I should at least stand a slimmer of a chance. Besides, I have Regis with me."

Anya then turned her attention to Regis.

"Regis, you have to know this is a bad idea. Tell him to open the door," Anya begged.

Regis shook his head.

"Sorry, Anya, I agree with him. Don't worry. I'm with the kid, so he'll be fine."

Hermes then walked to Anya and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Anya dear, when Bell has his mind made up, you can't change it. Besides, we have nothing to break this seal. So all we can do is wait."

"Damnit?!!!" Anya cursed as she threw her spear into the wall.

Hermes walked up to the door and looked at Bell.

"I assume you have a plan then," Hermes asked.

Bell made sure his knife was secure in his cast.

"Yup, grab Artemis and run like hell, and if I just so happen to kill Antares, all the better."

Hermes shook his head while smirking.

"Good luck, kid, you'll need it."

Bell and Regis then took off running down one of the vine-like bridges.

Asfi walked up to Hermes as Anya stormed away.

"Do you think he'll be able to do it?"

Hermes smirked.

"With him, I'd say his odds are 70/30"

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Miach and Nazha were sitting inside a tent while they waited with bated breath. They were worried as Bell and Anya were going to fight an ancient calamity and might not make it back.

"It's best we not think like that. Bell's made it out of worse situations," Miach said.

Nazha scoffed.

"Comparing his aunt to a calamity would just inflate her ego."

Miach chuckled.

"True, but I guess she's a calamity in human form."

"More like some bitch who tries to kill her nephew," Nazha muttered.

"That fucking idiot?!!" Anya yelled as she threw open the flap.

"Anya? What are you doing back? And where's Bell" Miach asked.

Nazha stood up and looked outside the tent to see if Bell was behind her but saw no one.

"The dumbass locked him and Regis inside with Antares!"

"What?!!" Miach yelled, shooting to his feet.

Nazha gasped and put her hands to her mouth.

"He used his wind magic and pushed us all away before using sealing magic so we couldn't follow."

Anya slammed her hands on the table.

"THAT FUCKING IDIOT"

Anya, in her rage, grabbed the table and flipped it over, causing it to crash to the ground.

Anya took multiple deep breaths, trying to calm herself down.

"Anya, Bell will be fine. Regis is with him and won't let anything happen to Bell," Miach calmly explained.

Nazha looked on at the scene in worry. Bell had locked himself inside with a monster most people couldn't even comprehend.

Sure, her specialty might be potion-making, but she was still a healer, and she was well aware of Bell's self-destructive tendencies.

"Miach, we can't just let him get away with this," Nazha complained.

Miach's face darkened.

"Oh, he won't. The second we get back, he's going to sit his ass down and listen to what we have to say."

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Bell and Regis were running down the bridges. They kept encountering these strange scorpion-like monsters that were easy for him to kill using his magic.

"On your left," Regis called out.

Bell used his lightning to summon an arrow behind the creature and kill it.

"It's creepy you can use your mind to summon lightning now," Regis joked.

"It's pretty cool, though, right."

"Oh yeah"

The two kept running as another scorpion monster appeared.

It was about three meters tall and covered in black and red coloring. Almost as if it was corrupted.

"This one's yours," Bell said.

Regis opened his mouth and blew a stream of purple fire, incinerating the beast.

"What's the score now, five to four?" Bell asked.

"Yeah, and I'm winning Prince Charming."

Another arrow of lightning killed another scorpion.

"Now we're even."

Regis scoffed as the two kept running.

As they were running, however, Bell started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"This reminds me of the time we cleared out that goblin hideout back home."

Regis chuckled.

"I think this is a little different. But that goblin hideout was fun to clear out."

Bell let out another laugh.

"Hey Regis, I just thought of something."

"Uh oh"

"Oh, come on, don't give me that."

"Fine, what have you thought of?"

Bell jumped over a scorpion cutting its tail off with Dawn's Ballad and having a lightning arrow hit its face.

"I was just thinking, this could be like practice for the dragon. Just think, if we take down one calamity, we can take another."

"Your dad thought the same thing."

"True, but he didn't fight this one. Who knows, maybe it's stronger than the other two. It has been asleep for a long time. Possibly before those calamities were even born."

Regis let out a small laugh at Bell's optimism. It was something he missed from the kid.

"Alright, kid, sure, we'll treat this as a practice run."

Bell smiled as the two took a turn and kept running down.

"I'm in the lead, by the way," Bell mocked.

"Oh, don't worry, kid, I'm not too old to where I won't kick your ass."

"You're welcome to-

A vine slammed into Bell's chest-plate at lightning speeds sending the boy falling off the bridge and toward the ground.

"Shit Bell!!" Regis yelled as he jumped after Bell.

Only to be smacked by a scorpion's tail. Regis landed on his side before rolling up and staring down at least a dozen, if not more, scorpions.

"Oh, you fuckers are gonna get out of my way. Because I'm not letting anything happen to my buddy," Regis growled as purple fire grew in his mouth.

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Bell landed on his back and felt the air exit his lungs. He took in a few desperate gasps to get air back in and calmed down when he did.

He pushed himself up and noticed he was at the bottom of the gorge. He looked down and saw his chestplate was dented.

Whatever hit him had a lot of force behind it.

Bell quickly spun on his heel, hearing an egg burst behind him. A scorpion popped out, and Bell jumped in the air to dodge its stinger.

He landed behind the scorpion and cut its tail off. The scorpion screamed out in pain as Bell landed on top of it and stabbed Dawn's Ballad into its head.

"Bell, can you hear me," Regis asked through their mental link.

"Yup, I'm good. How about you?"

"Little caught up with the scorpions. I think they see me as a bigger threat than you."

Bell just clicked his tongue.

"Right. Well, I hit the bottom of the gorge, so I think I'm close to Antares. I'm gonna see if I can't find him and snag Artemis. Then I'll run like hell."

"Alright, but be very careful. I won't be around to save you if you get cornered."

"Aw, you almost sound worried about me."

"I hope you get cornered now, asshole."

Bell just chuckled as he felt Regis break the mental link.

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Bell used his lightning to kill another scorpion as he ran to the epicenter of the emotions he felt from this place.

He could feel himself get closer to the anger and sadness, and it put him a little on edge.

Just what would he face on the other side?

"Alright, Bell, it's simple. Just go and grab Artemis and run like hell."

Bell reached the center of the gorge, and his eyes widened in shock. In front of him was a giant scorpion standing over six meters tall. It was black and red, just like the others, but it looked a lot more corrupted than the others did.

The black and red vines that were everywhere around this gorge were sprouting from him, and a blue crystal stuck out from its chest.

"There you are, Artemis, I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm here to save you," Bell muttered.

A small golden light appeared in front of Bell, and the next thing he knew, he was standing on water with the night sky above him. Artemis was standing in front of him with a smile on her face.

"I see you're finally awake," she said.

Bell smirked.

"What can I say? I wanted to take a nap."

Artemis put her hand to her mouth and giggled.

"Always one with the jokes."

Her face then turned serious.

"You know what you have to do, Bell."

Bell gave her a sad smile.

"I do. I knew once I saw you fully encased in that cocoon, that I had to save you."

Artemis gave Bell a sad smile as well.

"Bell, there's only one way to save me now. You have to kill me to make sure I don't burn the world I love."

Bell just shook his head, his smile still prevalent.

"Well, there is another option. I just have to convince Regis to give it to me."

Artemis's eyes widened in shock.

"You don't mean-

"I do"

Artemis let out a chuckle.

"You'd really go that far for me? Why?" She asked, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Because you're my friend. Why would I need another reason."

Tears streamed down Artemis's face as the scenery around Bell disappeared.

He was back in the center of the gorge, and he could see Artemis crying in the crystal cocoon. He put Dawn's Ballad away and took this knife out of his cast.

The small glowing orb remained floating in front of him, and he felt an odd sense of calm.

Which was quickly taken away as Antares woke up and let out an ear-piercing screech. Bell was immediately surrounded by scorpions that dropped down from the roof. There had be hundreds of them.

"Shit!!" Bell thought as he held his knife in a defensive stance. The scorpions started circling around him but didn't advance.

It was like Antares was playing with his food.

"It seems you have to kill me now. If you don't, those scorpions will tear you apart. Please, Bell, do this so I don't have to watch you die."

He could hear Artemis's voice begging him to kill her. All so he could be safe. But he didn't want that. She was his friend, and she was crying. She needed his help, not her death.

He was supposed to be the hero, and the hero saves the damsel.

Words his Grandpa told him when he was in the land between flashed in his mind.

"Bell, sometimes, to save a person, you have to kill them."

Antares let out another screech, and the scorpions started closing in. Bell activated Static void and immediately felt the strain on his body.

"Regis-

"I heard. I'm sorry, kid, but you have to do it."

He could feel his body start to hurt.

"N-no, I refuse. There's another way," he groaned out.

"Bell-

"Give me the rune of chaos," Bell interrupted as his eyes started bleeding.

"Are you out of your mind?!!! That'll drive you insane, Arthur barely resisted it the first time he got it, and that was after he had an aether core and Asuran body."

Bell's hands started to shake, and his ears bled.

"Then you'll just have to bring me back. You're my best friend. I know you can do it, Regis," Bell coughed as blood dripped down his chin.

Regis was quiet for a second.

"FUCK, FUCK. You are so fucking unfair."

"Just wait for my signal."

"GODDMANIT!!!" Regis yelled.

Bell turned off static void and jumped in the air as the small glowing orb went into his knife. The runes glowed a golden yellow as he brought the blade down onto the cocoon.

His knife shattered it instantly, and his knife inched closer and closer to Artemis's bare chest.

"Thank you, my Orion."

Right before Bell's blade entered her chest, he put it back in his dimension ring and grabbed her arm. Bell pulled Artemis toward him and wrapped an arm around her back, making sure to hold her tight.

He jumped off Antares as the creature roared in pain, and the scorpions were on the ground awaiting their prey.

"Now, Regis," Bell called out.

Bell felt an immediate surge of power filled his body, causing his cast to break. He aimed his now free hand at Antares and his army of scorpions.

"Burn," he growled out.

Purple flames shot from his hand and began to light the area on fire. The fire consumed everything in its path, not stopping for anything.

It consumed the ground the scorpions walked on. The body's they were so proud of. The pincers and tails were the first to go, as they were burned to nothing but ash.

Once the fire reached Antares, the calamity screeched in pain as it tried to put the fire out. The fire moved up the creatures legs causing it to fall as its legs became nothing more than ash. It kept moving up the beast until after another second.

It was dead.

Bell landed on the ground away from the fire Artemis in his arms. She was naked as the monster had stripped her of her clothes.

But she was alive.

Bell set her down and held his head in pain.

He had all this power from a simple rune Regis had kept away from him.

With this power, he could've beat Alfia, he could eradicate Alacrya from the face of the earth, and not have to deal with Agrona and whatever he was planning. He could kill the dragon if he burns it.

But why stop there? He could move onto Ephetous next and take out all the Asuras. They had betrayed us before. Who's to say they won't do it again?

After that, he would go to the empire and make sure everyone there burns as well. They're potential enemies, and he can't have that so close to the ones he loves.

Then he could do the same to Rakia, Telskyura, and the elf's forests. Everyone knows those racist bastards need a wake-up call, and he'd gladly give it to them.

Hell, why not burn the dungeon down as well? That's caused so many problems in the past. He should just burn it to the ground so it couldn't hurt anyone ever again.

Bell gasped for air as he felt the power leave his body, and he fell to his hands and knees. He started coughing as he felt all those vile thoughts leave his body.

Once he was done, he panted as he felt the sweat trickle down his face.

"What the hell was that" He breathed out.

"That was the rune of Chaos. Sure, it gives you a shit load of power. But it will drive you insane. Had I not taken it back when I did, you would've gone insane," Regis explained, carrying a cloak in his mouth.

Bell grabbed the cloak and stumbled over to Artemis. His body was still weak from using Static Void for so long. But thanks to his indomitable spirit skill, he was able to still walk.

"I never want to experience that again," Bell muttered as he put the cloak over Artemis to give her modesty.

It seems him dressing her caused her to wake up as her eyes fluttered open. Her vision was blurry, but she could make out Bell looking down at her.

"B-Bell?"

Bell gave Artemis a soft smile.

"Told you I'd save you."

Artemis's vision cleared, and she saw the state of Bell's face. His eyes, ears, and mouth were all dripping blood, as his body was practically tearing itself apart when he stopped time.

She reached a shaky hand up to his face and wiped the blood away.

"What did you do to yourself?" She asked, her voice full of concern.

"Don't worry about it. I'm fine. See, my left-hand works now," Bell joked, flexing his repaired left hand.

It repaired itself when Bell had absorbed the chaos rune causing a massive amount of Aether to flood his system.

Artemis looked at him and then started crying.

"I-I failed my familia. I got them all killed," she wept.

Bell enveloped her in a hug and held her as he rocked back and forth.

"Shhh, it's ok, it's ok. Rethusa's still alive, Artemis. She's still alive," Bell comforted.

Artemis still kept weeping but felt a warm feeling in her chest, knowing at least one of her children survived.

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"Hey, the area's starting to clear up," A Hermes familia member said.

Everyone looked around and saw the once corrupted landscape turn from a dark and dreary black and red, to a lush and pretty green.

"He did it," Hermes stated in shock.

He then started laughing.

"He did it and saved Artemis. Bell succeeded"

Everyone let out a cheer as Bell and Artemis exited the temple. Bell had Artemis's arm thrown around his shoulder to help her walk.

He was able to clean the blood off his face so Miach and the others wouldn't scold him for it. Little did he know the amount of trouble he was in.

"Are you ok? You held that Aether art much longer than you're used to," Regis asked.

"Yeah, peachy, now I'm ready to go home. What about you."

"Oh, I'm ready. I can't wait to see how much trouble you're gonna be in," Regis chuckled.

Once Bell reached the bottom of the stairs, he handed Artemis off to Asfi and saw his familia approaching him.

"Alright, look, I know you're angry, but I-

He wasn't able to finish his sentence as Anya slapped him with her full strength. He grabbed his cheek as a handprint started to appear.

"You are a fucking idiot, and when we get back, you are going to sit down and listen to what everyone has to say," Anya stated.

"Ow, and what exactly is there to talk about," Bell asked.

Anya wanted to slap him again because of how he was acting, but Miach stopped her.

"It's because we're concerned about you, Bell. You've become more reckless since you woke up. We just want to sit down and talk with you to make sure you're alright."

Bell sighed as he scratched the back of his head.

"Regis mentioned something like that before we left. Are you doing an intervention?"

Nazha nodded her head.

"You could call it that. We're doing it because we're worried about you, Bell. I mean, you're running headfirst into danger with only one good hand. It's concerning seeing you run off, not knowing if you'll come back."

Bell looked down at his left hand, seeing it fully healed with the cast no longer there.

"Where's your cast," Miach asked.

"I fixed the nerve damage. Don't need it anymore," Bell said, flexing his hand.

"And how did you do that," Nazha asked.

"It's better he tells you when you sit him down," Regis said before Bell could answer.

Miach sighed as he had a feeling Bell did something really stupid. More stupid than anything he's ever done before.

"We'll talk about this when everyone gets back. Now get some food Bell, and good job," Miach said, patting Bell on the shoulder.

Nazha patted Bell on his other shoulder while smiling at him. She didn't say anything, but the smile said she was proud of him.

Nazha and Miach walked away, leaving only Bell and Anya.

"Anya, I-

Bell wasn't able to get his sentence out as he saw Anya crying.

"Why did you do that, Bell? Do you have any idea how scared I was? I thought me being your partner would mean you would rely on me more. Not push me away like that."

Bell just looked at the ground, not able to meet Anya's gaze.

"Because I don't want you to die," he softly said.

"I don't want you to die either, Bell. So why? Why do you seem to be in a rush to do it?"

Bell didn't know what to say as he didn't have an answer.

Anya just looked at the quiet Bell, who kept his gaze on the ground. She knew she shouldn't have slapped him, but how else would he listen?

"I'm sorry I hit you," she said, wrapping her arms around Bell.

Bell kept looking at the ground motionless. Anya kept holding him until he finally answered.

"I don't know what's wrong with me."

Well, what a way to end the chapter. Well, that concludes the Artemis arc. Hope you enjoyed.

Anyway, next chapter is the long-awaited talk Bell has needed since the first couple of chapters, and then off to the juggernaut arc.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed so later.