Hello everyone and welcome back. I know, I know, I broke my promise to be more timely with these. I swear, last time I submitted a chapter, I thought I'd be done with my book by now, but the editing is taking longer than I thought. I'm very sorry. However, my excuses are not why you're here, so let's jump back into the story so that you don't have to wait any longer.
I do not own Danmachi
"And further more-!" Alfia roared at the kneeling girls before her.
"They understand, Alfia!" Riveria cut in, her voice a mixture of pleading and commanding. "At this point you are just beating a dead horse."
Mania and Polyxo nodded as their eyes moved to the trembling ladies kneeling before them.
"A dead horse would be less troubling and far less devious than these girls," the pale sorceress huffed as she glared down at Bell's admirers.
Mania sighed.
"They're not devious, Alfia, just in love."
"Don't try to make excuses for them, Mania. They aren't children with innocent crushes or maidens from some old legend yearning for their prince charming, but strumpets and harlots actively trying to seduce a young man who is already spoken for!"
Haruhime's head bowed as memories of her life before the Hestia familia flooded her mind.
Aisha quickly noticed this and gently placed her hand on her little sister's shoulder, which did not go unnoticed by the others, namely Mania who, knowing Haruhime's past from their talks, turned on Alfia and gave her a hard smack to the back of the head.
"Do not throw words like that around carelessly!"
Alfia, unaware of Haruhime's past, nonetheless eyed the girl for a moment before sighing.
"I will choose my words more carefully, but I will not apologize. These...women should know better. Certainly you three agree? How would you feel if someone tried to seduce your husband, Polyxo? And you, Riveria; would you simply accept some strum-...young woman shamelessly flirting to Achilles?"
"I agree with your intentions, Alfia-san, just not the extent to which you push it," Polyxo responded, "and just so you know, I've had many ladies try and seduce my husband and most were like these young ladies," she gestured at the kneeling women, "starry-eyed but in no way malevolent. They were simply smitten for Ajax, which I could hardly blame them for. I mean, you've seen how many of his children I've popped out? He's quite the hunk, if I do say so myself."
Alfia growled and turned to Riveria.
"And you, Riveria? Are you so, open-minded and forgiving?"
"It would be a bit hypocritical if I wasn't at least somewhat forgiving given that, in Freya's mind, I'm the one who stole Achilles from her," the High Elf responded, before taking a deep breath and turning back to the women before them. "That said, I do want them to give up on Bell. Ais is my precision familia member and, if her heart is ever broken, I will ensure those who broke it are thoroughly punished."
Haruhime, Cassandra, and Hestia shrunk at her words, but the others remained straight-backed and defiant.
"Then it is only right that they swear, here and now, to leave Bell alone and to not interfere in his relationship with Ais," Alfia declared as she glared down at her prisoners. "Well?"
Silence fell on the room for a long time as no woman wanted to give up on Bell but neither were they inclined to earn the ire of the sorceress before them. Until one.
Lili suddenly arose, causing all her fellow prisoners to look at her with shock.
The prum did not meet their eyes, but simply walked up to Alfia, stared up into the magic user's mismatched eyes, and said but one word.
"No."
The room became deadly silent and the air grew cold as ice.
"What. Was. That. Little Prum?" Alfia questioned as her head slowly lowered until she was practically touching noses with Lili.
Lili swallowed, but kept a brave face.
"No. I will not give up on Bell-sama. No matter how crude, greedy, or wrong it is. I will love him until the day I die and maybe even after that, and I will never give up on him," she turned to Riveria. "I know it's disrespectful to Ais-san and for that I apologize, but my heart will never yearn for anyone but Bell-sama as no one else would have given me the second chance he did and done so with absolutely no ill-will. He is unique and I'd be a fool to let him go."
"So you refuse to stop your attempts to sabotage their relationship?" the Silence snarled.
"I never attempted to sabotage anything. Nor did the others," Lili gestured behind her to the other girls, "we are simply ready to jump in should Ais ever be foolish enough to let Bell go. And," she once more turned to Riveria, "it doesn't matter what any of you threaten or what curses you bestow, if it means earning Bell's heart, it'll all be worth it."
With that, Lili, head held high, marched past the terrifying mass of power and out of the room, only just making it to her own before her legs gave out from under her.
The other ladies, so recently cowed by Alfia's wrath, looked at each other, before slowly getting up and facing the contemptuous sorceress.
"I apologize as well for any offense I have given. Truly," Haruhime stated as she bowed deeply to everyone present, "but I too will not give up on Bell-sama, even if I must be second, third, fourth, or one-hundredth in his heart. I will forever love him," she vowed, her soft emerald eyes aflame with determination.
I think I'm beginning to see why Achilles wanted her to be with Bell, Mania thought as she smiled softly to herself.
"So will I," Ryuu added.
"I've been alive forever and never felt anything like this with anyone before, so you can be sure I'm not giving up anytime soon!" Hestia declared.
Bache and Cassandra nodded, the amazon firmly and the magic user far more shyly.
Alfia looked ready to explode at the flurry of defiance, but she noted that one of her resistant prisoners had yet to speak.
"And you?" Alfia spun on Aisha. "Do you plan to continue chasing after my nephew? Despite knowing where his heart lies as well as the repercussions?"
"I thought that was obvious," Aisha responded casually. "I want Bell. I want him more than any man I've ever had. I want to devour him and pop out an entire litter of snow-haired, ruby-eyed daughters."
Alfia growled, but before she could begin screaming at the amazon, Aisha continued.
"But I also want to devour Ais."
Everyone blinked.
"I mean, who wouldn't? That perky butt. Those perfect, hand-sized breasts. And she's easily one of the most beautiful women in the city. I want to see what she looks like in the throws of passion nearly as much as I want to see what Bell's like when he lets his inner beast out."
Riveria, blushing and horrified, stepped forward.
"Now wait a-!"
"And of course I want you too, beautiful," Aisha cut in, sliding up to the elf with a smile. "I've wanted you ever since I got a whiff of what you and Achilles did in Athens," she wrapped an arm around Riveria's waist. "You two positively ravaged each other, and after getting a good look at you, I can see why he was so ravenous. A juicy butt, big mommy milkers, and everyone knows that High Elves become absolute freaks in the sack once their inhibitions are down, especially when you play with their ears," Aisha punctuated this by blowing on Riveria's ear, making the High Elf jump as her face explode with color.
Before anyone could stop her, Aisha, now fully in seduction mode, slunk over to Mania and wrapped up the goddess in her arms.
"And who wouldn't want a beautiful, warm, GILF in their bed? Oh the things I could do with that tail," she smiled as she played with one of Mania's ears while the goddess watched on, wide-eyed in concentrated shock.
"I want everyone here!" Aisha declared as she pulled away from the stunned deity. "I want to devour each and every one of you! Taste every inch of your skin and hear those special gasps that only a skilled lady-of-the-night can bring forth. So no, I'm not backing down from Bell, or any of you. I plan to get him and each and every one of you into my bed before I kick the bucket!"
With that, Aisha strode out, a massive, shit-eating grin on her face, leaving behind a stunned collection of women.
"If that girl ever tries to lay a hand on me, I'm going to turn her into my personal spell-testing dummy," Alfia vowed.
CLANG!
Desperate clashed with Dragonsbane, sending sparks into the air as Ais and Achilles battled atop the wall.
I was worried about it before, but now I'm convinced that she's falling into her old desperation, the elder adventurer thought as he eyed the young woman with concern and understanding.
Deciding it was time to end their training, Achilles suddenly threw his sword at his opponent as if the blade was a javelin.
Ill-prepared for such an outlandish tactic, Ais barely managed to parry the sword away, only for Achilles to set upon her, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her into a tower as he pulled his weapon back to his hand with his magnetism.
"Done," he stated, tapping his sword against her head before pulling back and sheathing the blade.
"Wait, I can keep going!" Ais assured him.
"Ais," he responded gently, "listen to yourself, you sound just like you did before the tournament."
"No I don't!" she cried before stopping as the sound of her own voice startled her. She bit her lip and took a deep breath. "I just…I just want to catch up to Bell. I need to catch up with him so that I can protect him."
Achilles sighed.
"I appreciate the sentiment Ais, you know I do, but your not in the right headspace. You also shouldn't forget that we all failed to protect him. I'm a level eight and I couldn't stop Revis from taking him and I doubt someone with Finn's charisma, Loki's intelligence, and Freya's Charm could prevent him from challenging Asterius. Yet, for all the guilt I feel I have focused not on my failure, but on how happy I am that he's back and healthy."
"That's not good enough for me. I shouldn't have allowed him to be taken in the first place nor been so easily push aside when he fought Asterius," she responded, almost childishly.
She is a child. I guess I forget that with all the battles, plotting, and...time alone, the ex-captain thought as another sigh passed his lips.
"That's fair, but it's still no excuse to lose yourself to fear. I know I've said it before, but I know how you feel, Ais. I truly do. That terrible feeling of inadequacy mixed with that horrible mind-fog that leaves you lost and afraid. Luckily, there's a way for you to get out of it, and it's readily available to you. Talk to Bell. Tell him about your fears, your anxiety, and that heart-wrenching feeling of failure. He'll ease your worries, as he always has in the past, I'm sure. Hearing your concerns also, might just make him less inclined to actively seek danger," he tried to joke, but seeing her serious expression, he lost the brief smile he put on.
"Talking to him won't make me stronger and it won't keep him safe," she pointed out.
"Not physically, but it should help you mentally," he tapped her temple, "and that's far more important. A strong body is useless without a strong mind behind it to focus it. If you want to keep Bell safe, your mind needs to be even more prepared than your muscles, and talking to Bell will almost assuredly ease your mind."
Ais did not respond, but fell into her own thoughts.
He's right, Bell will make me feel better, he always does, but… her fist tightened, I still need to be stronger. At this rate, how long will it be until I can't fight beside him? Before he's so far ahead that I can't keep up? If only I knew how he grows so quickly.
Her eyes widened.
"Do you know how he's been able to rank up so fast?"
The question was so sudden that it startled Achilles that he jumped.
"I do," he answered once he regained his composure.
"Can you show me?!" she asked, her voice a mixture of excitement and desperation.
Which may be even more frightening, in its own way, than just pure desperation.
"Unfortunately it can't be replicated," he told her and felt his heart tug painfully in his chest as he watched her deflate.
"Why not?" she pleaded.
"That is not my secret to tell, but I'm sure Bell would tell you if you asked. Ironically, it has quite a lot to do with you," Achilles informed her.
"With me?" she questioned, head tilting to the side.
"That's all I'm going to say on the matter," the elder adventurer replied, holding up his hand. "For now, you should go home and rest. Tomorrow, when you have a clearer head, go to Bell and talk to him," he turned to leave, but stopped and shifted back to her. "Please Ais. I know I've been harsh with you before, but I do want to help you. I'll continue training with you, as hard and for as long as you want, but for your own sake, you need to be in the right headspace. Physical power is useless if your mind is too chaotic to focus on who you're fighting and, more importantly, what you're fighting for."
With that Achilles shot off home, leaving the uneasy Sword Princess behind.
What should I do?
"What a preposterous deluge of empty words."
Ais spun around, hand on her sword.
"You," she snarled.
"Good evening, Ais Wallenstein," Lancelot greeted.
"You were spying on us."
"I was watching over two of the most powerful adventurers in Orario, as I'm sure you would do if you were in my situation," the Knight of Knights responded.
"How come we couldn't sense you?" the Sword Princess demanded, ready to do battle at a moment's notice.
He held up a cloak.
"Shrouds of a Shade. A gift from my goddess. Hides the wearer from all senses and perception," he explained.
Ais growled.
"You should leave. I am in no mood to talk to you."
Lancelot held her golden gaze with his own silver one for a moment, peering deeply into her scornful gaze before speaking again.
"You should not be shamed for desiring to get stronger."
Ais blinked.
"What?"
"Achilles. He was giving you that ludicrously roundabout speech about how you were, what was it, 'too desperate'? What an idiotic thing to say! Since when could anyone be too desperate to be stronger. To protect those they care for. It's positively idiotic."
"Don't speak like you understand," she shot back.
"Of course I understand. I have a wife. A child. A kingdom filled with people I treasure above my own life. Of course I understand your desperation, Ais Wallenstein," he assured her genuinely as he took a step towards her. "The desire. No, the need to be stronger. Because that's what it is. A need. A need to be stronger. To be faster. More agile. More prepared. To be…more!" he declared, raising his hands above his head. "Of course I understand you, Ais-san! No one gets where we are without that need! That's why I don't understand why Achilles is trying to denigrate your efforts and prevent you from reaching your goal of being as strong as you know you can be!"
Ais's body loosened and her sword dropped just a bit, all of which was not missed by Lancelot.
"Achilles knows better than anyone the need to be stronger!" she tried to counter, though her voice was just a little bit weaker than before. "He lost everything to the One-Eyed Black Dragon! He wasn't trying to denigrate me or prevent me from doing anything! He was trying to help me!"
"Was he? I wonder about that," Lancelot replied coolly. "And you're right, he lost almost everything in the fight with the Dragon. But tell me something, Ais-san, if it had been you, would you have come back?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that, if you watched that infernal beast slaughter your familia, would you have stopped fighting? I know I wouldn't have. I would have kept fighting until my very last breath. I would have used every last ounce of my strength to try and avenge the people I held so dear. Wouldn't you have done the same?"
Ais's resolve took another hit and her sword lowered just a bit more.
"It wasn't like that."
"Maybe not," the Knight of Knights replied casually. "Perhaps he was knocked unconscious or buried under rubble, but that doesn't explain why he never tried again. It's been 16 years since his battle with the Dragon, but what's he done?" he shrugged. "Traveled the world? Lost himself in books? Hidden himself away in some cave out of sheer shame?"
"Don't talk about him like that!" Ais roared, the fire in her eyes reignited at the insults.
"My apologies," Lancelot quickly replied, holding up his hands. "I should not have attacked him so. I don't know what he was doing those years. Perhaps he was trying to find the Dragon and simply couldn't or perhaps he was looking for some weapon that could strike it down, I should not invent stories because of a lack of information."
The apology sounded genuine, which was confusing Ais even more, something she didn't like at all.
"I'm going home."
Just before she jumped away, he called out to her.
"I would be happy to train you."
She stopped, then slowly turned.
"What?"
"If Achilles is unwilling to train you which, despite his words, he seems to be, then I would be honored to do so in his place."
"Why would I ever train with you after all you've done?" she questioned.
"Because I understand you, Ais Wallenstein. I understand that need you're feeling better than anyone, even Achilles. I am also the best swordsman in the world, which certainly will have value to you."
"Achilles is the best swordsman in the world," she stated.
"Achilles is skilled at doing the unexpected and integrating his magic into his swordsmanship, but no swordsman worth his blade would so casually throw his blade like Achilles did this evening."
Ais glared at him, but part of her recognized that Achilles's skill was in his mixture of styles and adaptability, not purely on swordcraft. She hadn't seen much of Lancelot's fight with the Father On High, but she suspected his words were not an idle boast.
No. He attacked Achilles and Bell! He can't be-
"Please Ais-san," Lancelot pleaded, "just think about it. That's all I ask."
She stared at him for a moment longer.
"I'm going home."
With that, she jumped away, leaving a smiling Lancelot behind.
The seed is planted.
Lancelot entered the manor that was acting as the home for him and his knights during their stay in Orario with a smile on his face.
"I have been waiting here for over an hour."
His smile disappeared as his eyes moved towards the blonde goddess sitting at the end of his table.
"If you wanted timeliness, you should have sent word ahead, Aphrodite-sama," he responded.
"It was hard enough to sneak in here with Freya watching you like a hawk, sending a message would almost guarantee discovery," the goddess retaliated.
"Well then, we shouldn't waste any more time and get down to the business you are so impatient to discuss," he replied coldly.
Aphrodite sneered at him, but relented.
"Bell Cranel's sudden boost in popularity complicates matters," she began, "we cannot attack him freely as we did before and no one is going to hear any discussion of banishment at this point in time."
"I'm assuming you have a plan?" the knight questioned.
"Right now, we need to rally those in the city that still hold disdain for the boy. Those who fear him, those who are jealous of his fame and success, those who are greedy enough to go against him, anyone and everyone that can be rallied against him, must be," she explained.
"And then what? Such lowly creatures won't be able to defeat him in battle, let alone his familia and allies."
"For someone who aspires to the image of nobility, you seem transfixed on nothing more than violence and brutal confrontation," the goddess insulted, making the Knight of Knights scowl. "It was never my intention to do actual battle with him. This is a war or reputation. We need to chip away at his image until he's forced out of Orario, either because he's causing more trouble than he's worth or because he can't take the pressure anymore and departs on his own terms. Battling him as you wish will only raise his prestige even more. Already word has spread throughout the city of how he, a 15 year-old boy, defeated the Knight of Knights."
Lancelot growled.
"He did not defeat me, he merely pulled that golden trick out of scaly claws."
"Maybe so, but that's not how the city sees it. So, for now, we need to gather up the dissenters in the city and use them to attack his reputation. In time the venom will spread and factions will develop. From there we can start putting pressure on the boy and Hestia. Despite what she said, I fully believe that, should we pressure her hard enough for long enough, she'll crack for the sake of the rest of her familia and command him to leave."
"And then what?" the Knight of Knights questioned.
"Then, once he's banished and all alone you, Lancelot, will have the opportunity to deal with him as you see fit," Aphrodite responded darkly.
Magic stones crunched in the Juggernaut's jaw as it devoured the last of the Valgang dragons.
You are nearly there, child. Nearly strong enough to face the traitor.
And then I shall destroy him?
No! You must capture him. Despite his disloyalty, he is the key to our salvation. He must be brought back to us, alive, but in order to accomplish that, you must learn what it is like to fight adventurers.
Adventurers?
Memories played in the monster's mind. Memories from a past life. Visions of a dark-haired easterling. A pink-haired prum. A red-haired swordswoman. And a blonde elf.
Adventurers, it growled in its mind.
Go. Learn how to fight adventurers. Consume their flesh and grow stronger. Only then will you be strong enough. Only then, will the traitor come for you.
The Juggernaut, soul filled with rage and an unquenchable hunger in its belly, continued to ascend the Dungeon.
Done.
I won't give any more excuses, I just hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and are eager for more. Yes, this is still the romance/calm before the storm section, but what better way to inspire romance than terrifying monsters and life-and-death situations? Anyway, I hope you are all having a wonderful October and, in case I don't see you before hand, Happy Halloween.