The Fallen Argonaut
Rated; M (Blood/Gore)
Disclaimer; I do not own Danmachi or anything created by the author Fujino Ōmori, all rights go to him
Authors: Eli-er01 & ViceroyChalister
Summary: The will of a hero is strong, yet unwavering but all good things must come to an end, even at the cost of one's Heroic Will. Imprisoned and blamed for a crime he hadn't committed, Bell seeks a way out of his predicament so that he can live without fear of being hunted by the people he once looked up to.
9: The Sanjouno Family
Normal POV
=Tanjouno Estate=
It's been 3 days since Bell had found out about his Heritage. The morning after that night, Erebus had explained all the remaining missing pieces of what he knew. It had sent Bell into deep thoughts about the subject.
Over the 3 days, Bell had somewhat come to terms with it and had begun to prepare for the infiltration, mostly preparing mentaly for what he was going to say. The Sanjouno house had abandoned Haruhime completely, who was family without even giving her a chance to plead her case.
Another thing that Bell had realized over the last 3 days is that even though he had said that he forgave Bache. Actually doing it is another thing entirely, everytime she approaches him, he instinctually clenches his fists and wants to leave.
'Guess I do hold grudges after all…' Bell had thought bitterly the moment he realized it. Nonetheless, he always pushed those emotions to the back and gave her a smile.
After the realization, he had tried to figure out a way to truly forgive her. Over the last two months, he had been around her constantly, bitterly giving her looks as he thought of the events. It was clear these looks weren't lost on her as sometimes she flinched when he did it, like she felt his gaze.
Over time though, it had gotten better between the two with Adrienne and Bache growing closer with each other with Bache reading stories to her. It had eased Bell's anger at the event as it not only got further away in the past, but also that Bell started to see who Bache really was.
She wasn't a mindless amazonian warrior that only sought strength and a mate which most seemed to believe, even her. She was a normal girl that simply wanted to be cared for but looked for it in the wrong ways.
It had made him soften his look upon her, seeing that she clearly felt bad from what happened and wanted to make amends. When she broke down in front of him, that had sealed his decision to forgive her, or at least try his very best at it.
At this very moment though, Bell is packing everything he needs since the infiltration is going to start within the next hour of two.
'Armor, Check. Potions, check. Daggers, Che...' Bell thought before staring at his daggers for a second. Recently, he had started to experiment with his Argonaut among other things in order to gain new techniques in his arsenal, but wouldn't it also be useful to learn to use other weapons to… Daggers are useful weapons, but not in all situations. Sometimes, you need something with farther reach like a longsword, or a spear. That would be useful when fighting larger enemies such as monster rexes whenever he is ready to return to Orario and clear his name.
For a minute Bell contemplated before his thoughts were interrupted.
"If you could destroy things with your glare, those knives would have become dust ten times over" he heard Erebus say, standing by the doorway with a lifted eyebrow alongside a tiny smirk.
"Oh… I got lost in thought. I like daggers as a weapon of choice but… It's not always ideal to use them if the enemy is large and can take a lot of punishment" Erebus made a show of contemplation, tilting his head to the side. He closed his eyes as he nodded in agreement.
"That is correct, something Zald always complained about. Something about adventurers not mastering enough weapons and techniques to reach their true potential. It was one of the few things he and Alfia actually agreed on" Erebus smiled lightly at the memory as Bell couldn't help but mirror it slightly.
"I was thinking about asking the empress to commission me a spear and a longsword for practice purposes. Having multiple weapons with me would help me be prepared to be put into more situations than I normally would" Bell finished explaining as Erebus nodded.
"Well, it's your choice, but if you want my input, then I would have to agree wholeheartedly. It never hurts being able to use more than one or two types of weapons" Erebus smiled at Bell as he returned it. Bell's gaze returned to the knives that barely held together for someone of his caliber. He would need to get replacements soon, perhaps something else to ask the Empress for.
Bell looked back, intending to ask Erebus something but was cut off as he noticed Asuka standing at the door, about to knock on the door frame. She stopped when Bell noticed her before smiling lightly.
"It's time. Everything is prepared for you to go" Bell nodded as he walked past Erebus, whispering a thanks for the advice. Erebus simply waved it off before sitting down on Bell's bed and grabbing one of the books he had been reading.
"I'm ready Asuka, but remember what I told you. I don't want to kill anyone, I have done it before, although reluctantly and I never want to do it willingly. Understand?" Bell told her, not wanting to keep going down the path he had started in Kauhea Forbande, or even in Orario against the Ikelos Familia.
"I understand. Mother doesn't want unnecessary casualties either. She wants the corrupt ones behind bars alongside the criminals as well as putting the ones becoming corrupt on the right path" Asuka clarified as Bell nodded.
"Just making sure. I am not a mercenary. I'm not doing this for money or a reward. I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do. Having family members who came from here and want it to get better doesn't hurt either..." Bell said, before sarcastically saying the last part before he stopped.
"Huh… I sound like Erebus… Guess his sarcasm rubs off" Bell chuckled slightly at the notion before heading down the hall, determined to give the Sanjouno family a piece of his mind.
=South-East forest of Kitzumara=
The trip into the woods close to the Sanjouno estate had been quite uneventful. His enhanced senses as a level 4 aiding him massively in not being spotted by anyone. Normally, one doesn't really notice the heightening of the senses until you use them. Bell's hearing was severely improved compared to what was normal for a mortal, he could practically hear people talking to each other two kilometers into the forest while they were in the city.
His sense of smell was less noticeable as it was the sense least affected by the Falna, but even then, he could spell things he never could before, as well as differentiate between each smell even if they intertwine.
Other senses like his sense of balance, touch, taste were improved while his eyesight was massively boosted. Though out of all senses, there was one sense that was probably the most useful of all that a normal person would barely even know they had. A kind of sixth sense where you can feel people's presence alongside if someone is looking at you.
This sense is so useful as in battle, you can practically feel the battlefield around you as well as the entire environment. The only negative thing is that these senses only become more potent when you level up.
Bell reached back into his back pocket and pulled out a map Asuka had given him, looking at it and finding his location fairly quickly. He was almost by the escape tunnel exit.
It should only be behind the minature hill in front of him, before there are stairs leading down underground.
Bell put back the map before quickly going over the hill before scanning the area. His eyes locked onto an oddly symmetrical shape and quickly deduced that it was the entrance.
Once he reached it, made sure no one was nearby before heading down the stairs.
The staircase being dark and poorly lit, not having been used in a very long time.
The magic stone lamps around were dimly lit, having been on for probably over a hundred years, meaning they were running out of juice.
As Bell got deeper, less and less moss and overgrowth became apparent and that it was more maintained. After a couple of seconds more of going down the stairs, he finally reached the gate that led to the estate. The lock seemed to be made of regular steel.
'Compared to the security around Orario, this seems like any normal person's home' Bell thought as he gripped the lock and squeezed with everything he had. The locking mechanism broke as it was detached from the metal locking it in place.
Bell pulled it off before opening the gate. The moss and grass on the walls were completely gone. The lamps were better lit, but the tunnel was long, mostly because the exit is inside the forest.
Deciding not to waste time, Bell sprung forward as he ran down the tunnel, making sure to be as quiet as possible. As the Tunnel got closer to the estate, he began hearing noise and the sound of moving armor and weapons, hitting each other as whoever owned them walked.
Bell guessed that it was the guards. He also heard some idle chatter, but it was quiet and he couldn't make out a single word, but was pretty sure that it was children, not an adult.
'I was under the impression she was an only child' Bell thought before realizing her parents must have had another.
Once Bell reached the end of the tunnel, it was blocked by bricks. On the side, he pulled a lever which caused the bricks to move open like a door and a large wooden furniture to move to the side.
Bell peeked from side to side before walking inside the basement. He sensed nobody so he walked over to the table before pulling out the plans for the estate.
It was one of the things the Empress had assisted them with, and Bell looked it over.
'Alright, first, I need to incapacitate the guards quietly. That can be done relatively easily' Bell thought as he pondered over the layout.
After he felt he had a good path to take, he took back the plans and moved. He started moving as fast as he could, too fast for anyone within the estate to react.
One of the guards was casually strolling through one of the hallways within the house before a blur of red and white shot past him, kicking and catching him to make as little noise as possible.
The man was out cold, and Bell put him down before he kept going. One after another, the guards were knocked out harmlessly… or as harmlessly as possible.
Before he knew it, Bell had cleared half the estate. The only issue was that Bell had felt the presence of the children within the estate second floor, alongside 6 adults, 1 female and 5 male. Most likely the head of the estate, Haruhime's Father and her mother alongside 5 guards.
The guards that were the trickiest to take out were the gate guards. Bell had to distract one before taking the other out, and getting him out of the way inside the estate. The next second before the other noticed anything was amiss, he too was taken out.
Generally, Bell felt that things were going smoothly, and proceeded inside the estate before stopping by the stairs.
He breathed in and out, calming himself. He needed to make sure that he took out the guards there before they knew what was happening. Though in honesty, that wasn't what made Bell's heartbeat beat faster. It was that he was going to meet the people who had abandoned Haruhime. The people who hadn't even given her a chance, and he didn't want to lose his cool.
Once he felt he was ready, Bell started walking up the stairs. The second floor was more open that the first, with the main reason it was built being the large open area that one could use to relax and mingle. That and the area would allow children to play. Bell walked inside, and looked around as everyone stood still. There were two Renarts that were on the ground in a seiza position, talking to each other and casually looking over the two children. The man is of a grey color with white lines at the end of the tail and inside the ears. The woman had largely yellow fur alongside orange ends of her tail and fluffy ears.
The two Renart children had a mixture of the parents' color, one having Orange and White fur while the other had Grey and Orange. Both were happily playing with each other, using small toys to enact some kind of heroic tale. Bell couldn't help but smile at that.
The guards were at the edges of the room, one of them looking at Bell, and eyes widening at a very slow pace. Bell started to act, moving from the right of the room, and around in an counter-clockwise manner, knocking everyone out before they could move their hands to their weapons.
Bell heard the confused sounds of the children and the woman yelping. He felt the man stand up abruptly alongside his gaze on his back.
"Who are you!?" he demanded in a high tone as the woman rushed over to the children and hid them behind her back in a protective manner.
Bell reached down to a cloth around his throat and pulled it up, covering the lower half of his face before turning around.
"I can't answer that" Bell simply said as the man looked him up and down. Bell locked eyes with the woman, and softened his gaze at the fear in his eyes.
"You do know that I am Sanjouno Haruhiko, the head of the Sanjouno house, correct!?" He called out loudly as Bell shifted his gaze to the man and his eyes darkened.
"Yes… I perfectly know who you are" He said, his voice growing cold as he stared down at the man that was responsible for Haruhime's pain.
"Then you should know tha- Wait… don't tell me. Are you from the 'Cobalt Vipers'? I told you I would consider your offer!" The man's gaze had shifted to fear as he thought he had realized something.
"No, I am not from the Cobalt Vipers… I am here to make sure of your allegiance and the fact that you would even consider whatever deal they came to you with is not a good sign" Bell said, a clear threat hinted within his cold words.
The man's face went pale as he seemed to realize something.
"You… You work for the Empress… But… she shouldn't have someone as-" Haruhiko pushed out of his mouth before Bell interrupted.
"Strong as me? No… I'm not native to the Far East" Bell said as he took two steps closer to the man, who took two steps back.
"Then why… Why are you helping her? What do you stand to gain!?" Bell chuckled darkly as his gaze intensified into a glare.
"You… You and your reasons for what you have done" Bell said as the man's face contorted into confusion.
"Me?... Look, whatever you have with me, leave my wife and children out of this. They did nothing wrong" Bell glanced at the woman, who now flinched at his gaze before Bell turned back to Haruhiko.
"Neither did she" That only fueled the man's confusion as he tried to pinpoint what Bell was insinuating.
"She did nothing wrong, and she was framed. You NEVER gave her a chance!" Bell practically screamed the 'never' part as he clenched his fist, cracking the handle on one of his knives.
"Chance, what do you me-" Haruhiko stopped, eyes widening as everything fell into place for him.
"You don't… You don't mean Haruhime?" The name sent a jolt into the woman protecting her children as she stared shocked at her husband before looking at Bell.
"Yes" That one word sent tears into the mothers eyes as all fear left them and was instantly replaced with pure, unadulterated desperation.
"My girl… Oh, you know my beautiful little girl! Please! Is she alright?" The woman, having almost completely forgotten that the man in front of her could be dangerous, latched onto his hand as she pleaded with her eyes to tell her.
"Why would you deserve to know?" Anger flaring, but subsiding to a cool sensation up his spine.
"You did nothing to protect her. You did nothing to make sure she got a fair trial. You. Did. NOTHING!" His voice both raised, yet low enough to be cold and demeaning. The woman flinched at his tone and deflated, her ears dropping down to her sides and Tail pulling around herself.
"I wanted you both to know that you both disowned someone innocent and framed. That you threw away and abandoned your daughter without so much as a fight for her. As someone who knows how it feels to be abandoned by a parent, I can say without a doubt that you both are horrific, undeserving excuses for parents" Bell stopped his rambling, taking deep breaths to calm down, before opening his eyes and looking at Haruhiko.
"If you want to start making it up for what you have done. Then start with helping the Empress improve this country, and ridding it of corruption, famine and disease. If you do that… I may tell you about her" Bell said, staring the man down who now looked down at the ground, hard.
The man opened his mouth, before closing it again, contemplating the choice. His eyes closed as it was clear he was coming to a conclusion.
"...Okay… We'll help" He said, looking up sadly as his hands clenched.
"I just want you to know… that disowning Haruhime… is the only thing I regret with all that I am" He said as Bell shook his head.
"That means nothing to me. If there is anyone you should say that to, it's Haruhime… if you ever meet her again" Bell spat back at him with poison in his words, making sure the man knew just how angry he was for that decision they made.
"In a way though, I would have to thank you" Bell began, confusing the two parents.
"If you hadn't disowned her, I would never have met her and she would never have become part of my precious family" Bell said as the man's eyes widened.
"You're married to her!?" He explained as Bell's eyes widened and his cheeks reddened. He quickly composed himself before shaking his head. Sighing.
"No, she's just someone I think of very dearly" Bell said before turning around and beginning to walk out. He stopped right before the stairs before looking back.
"I expect you to be at the Yume Palace tomorrow afternoon. If not… well… I don't know what the queen will think of it" Bell said the last part honestly as he looked to the side. After making sure he said everything he wanted and needed to, he walked down the stairs, hearing the sobs from the woman start to turn in cries. Bell didn't like being the cause of such pain, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything about it. They deserved it.
With that thought, Bell headed out of the estate in a more obvious approach, by simply jumping over the wall, and strolling away like a normal citizen.
=Tanjouno Estate, 12 AM=
When Bell returned, he had immediately told Asuka what had happened and relayed that they said that they would help. She had been ecstatic at the news and had practically bolted out of the estate, ignoring the time completely. Bell smirked back at her before heading upstairs and knocking on Erebus' door.
"Yes?" He heard Erebus answer. Bell opened the door and walked inside, seeing him on his bed, reading… the same book Bell had been reading for a while. Yet another book he had hijacked.
"Hey Erebus, I wondered if you could update my status? It's been a couple of days" Erebus nodded, before sitting up and putting the book down. He pointed towards the chair by a table which Bell took and positioned it in front of Erebus before sitting down.
Erebus quickly got to work once Bell pulled up his shirt and pulled off his armor. He weaved the ichor around, writing and morphing the excelia into the status before groaning.
"Why did Hestia have to have such bad handwriting. Your status looks so weird. Half of it is in poor handwriting while the other is in my least decent one" Bell cringed at that, having seen her horrible excuse for handwriting once before.
Erebus finished and copied the status on a sheet before handing it to Bell.
Name: Bell Cranel
Lv 4
Status:
{STR} SS-1077 - SS-1187
{VIT} SS-1143 - SSS-1201
{DEX} SS-1154 - SS-1198
{AGI} SSS-1335 - SSS-1399
{MAG} SS-1143 - SSS-1298
Magic:
Firebolt: Swift strike magic. Casts a bolt of fire and electricity on command that explodes on impact upon impacting any surface.
Skills:
Liaris Freeze: Precocious Maturation. The effect is maintained so long as the user maintains their feelings, and the effect is heightened depending on how strong these feelings are (Current Bonus: 1000%)
Argonaut: Heroic strike, the possibility of turning any situation around with an overwhelming amount of force. Able to be dual charged but drains massive amounts of mind power.
Scourge: Raises the power of the user exponentially depending on the amount of Malice the user lets out
Development Abilities:
Luck: H - G
Abnormal Resistance: H - G
Psych: I
"Your training sessions with Bache are helping a lot with your stats, I'm also surprised that two development abilities upgraded. Another bonus of those training sessions?" Erebus asked as Bell nodded
"Yeah, she uses her poison magic which has me using a lot of antidotes but it's helping the development ability a lot. I'm also surprised that my magic has increased by over 150 points" Bell said with wide eyes, staring at the stat.
"Well, you were training with that skill, Argonaut correct? It drains the mind which is what exercises the magic stat. You have been doing that for almost 3 days. It makes sense it increased so much" Erebus explained. Bell made a small 'o' before putting down the paper.
"Also, from what I can tell, your Agility has hit it's limit. I'm guessing you can't go higher than 1399 points in any stat" Bell nodded, glad to know what his limit is with each stat per level.
"I would also say that you should use your fast growth to its maximum potential and max your stats each level. You will be grateful for it over time" Erebus suggested.
"Alright. I'll do it, it's not like I can do much else. I can't level up" Erebus nodded before Bell opened the window and burned the paper.
"Thanks for the update Erebus. I'm gonna go and train real quick to get some energy out before going to sleep" Erebus nodded before laying down and grabbing the book again.
"Alright, just don't pass out on us. I'm bound to get stuck on waiting duty" Bell snorted before glaring at him. After a second of Erebus smirking, Bell left. Once he was outside, he pulled out his knives and put them into a battle stance
He rather quickly began fighting a phantom of himself within his mind, following the movements with his body. He kept moving and dodging the counter attacks before pushing his own attacks at the phantom. This went on for longer than Bell thought and he was too focused to notice the presence behind him.
"Impressive" He heard as he stopped before groaning, the distracting having caused him to get killed within his internal battle. He looked back with irritation at Bache, before spotting Adrienne at her side.
"Hey… What are you both doing awake?" Bell asked as Adrienne ran up to him.
"I wanted to see you before I went to sleep" Bell looked at her with a smile before his gaze moved to Bache with a forced smile.
"She wouldn't budge so we waited" She said, looking fondly at the girl. Bell nodded, trying to act more normal and smiled down at Adrienne.
"Well… I am alright, and unhurt" Bell said, before flicking a strand of hair away from her eyes.
"Oh! You look tired Adrienne! How about we get you to sleep?" As if on cue, she yawned which caused Bache and Bell to chuckle.
"I think that's a yes" Bache commented while Bell gave her a deadpanned look. She turned to the side and laughed.
"What do you say?" Adrienne nodded before allowing Bell and Bache to lead her inside. The walk up to the rooms was quiet and they quickly got Adrienne into Bed. She requested for Bache to read hero stories which she happily obliged, picking up a book of Dungeon Oratoria and started reading one of the stories written within.
Bell smiled slightly at the pair before he left the two there and headed for his room. He quickly brushed his teeth before getting into bed and going to sleep, not wanting the emotions of the day's events to come back to prevent sleep from taking him.
=Next day, Yume Palace=
"It is good to have your allegiance, Haruhiko but I wonder. What made you change your mind?" The empress asked. Haruhiko looked at Bell before looking ashamed.
"I want a chance to apologize to my daughter who I disowned. The boy told me he may allow me to if I help" He said as Bell looked at him without emotion, trying to gauge if he was honest.
"Well, if that's the case. I give my hope for your success" The Empress said, nodding at him before turning to Bell.
"As for you, I can not give enough thanks for what you have already done. I can only hope you will continue aiding us, Bell" The empress smiled at Bell as Amaterasu bowed to him.
"No thanks is required. As you know, I had my own reasons to speak with them and I will still help you as it's the right thing to do. I want to fulfill Mikoto and Haruhime's wish for the Far East" Bell said with a smile before bowing too.
"As I have said before, that is commendable of you Bell. If there is anything we can provide for you. We would happily do it if it is within our ability" Amaterasu said with a radiating smile as Bell was practically blinded by it.
'Goddess of the sun, indeed' Bell thought before remembering what he wanted to do.
"Oh! If I could, It would help a lot if you could provide me with a spear and a longsword. I would like to learn how to use them" Bell said as Asuka giggled at his side. The empress seemed amused before nodding.
"That is easily arranged. I will make sure it is made of high quality material, imported from Orario" Bell's eyes widened as he stood up.
"That is not necessary! I am only using them for learning. You don't need to go that far, so ple-" He stopped as the empress put up her hand with a smile.
"No need. We were planning to import some Adamantium either way. We have been reinforcing our walls with it and another small addition of it won't really hurt anyone. It isn't of any consequence so please, accept it as a gift" Bell was speechless. He had expected to get a standard issue spear and longsword. Not Adamantite ones that would be considered second to first class!
Bell was close to trying to change her mind again before sighing. She had been so adamant about it not hurting anyone or anything. It would just be rude to say no. Instead, Bell bowed down.
"Thank you, your majesty. I will make sure to put them to good use!" Bell said and peeked up, seeing the smiles of the Empress and the goddess.
"Of course. Now, for your next target..." the meeting went on as Bell got his next target, and before he knew it. Him and Asuka headed back to the Estate to prepare for the next mission.
=Orario, Daedalus Street=
"THERE THEY ARE! GET THEM!"
"GOD DAMN MONSTERS, HOW DARE YOU INVADE US!"
"CUT THEM DOWN!"
Familias all over Orario had been called to Daedalus street to handle the situation. Loki and Freya familia were leading the charge at the retreating Xenos who were running towards the knossos with a key.
"Have we lost them?" A beautiful harpy asked as she peeked behind her as she flew through the streets.
"I don't know. Don't suspect it though Ray, you know how scary adventurers can be" A red lizard man said as he led the group through the streets.
They had run out of supplies after a month. Fels could not get enough supplies in time and they had to move out. Without Bell's support, things had quickly gone downhill for the monsters.
"RAY, LOOK OUT!" A spear flew through the air, whistling and shining with it's golden color underneath the streets magic stone lamps.
Ray turned to the side and froze, seeing the spear heading straight for the center of her chest.
She tried to move, but her body just wouldn't comply, she had completely frozen in fear and she started to feel the spear pierce her skin, before a large gust of wind flew past her, pushing the spear to the side faster than it moved towards Ray, cutting her chest, but only sideways, not inwards.
Ray fell to the ground as she hyperventilated in fear, before looking to the side. She smiled at who she saw.
"Why are you just sitting there! Run! I got these guys" The spiky red hair and dark blue eyes of the man burned with the fire of a forge alongside the two swords he had, one in his hand and one on his back.
"Welfchi!" Lyd breathed out in relief and happiness at seeing his friend.
"Thank you, Welf" Ray smiled wide and thankful at her savior before the Xenos took his advice and ran.
Welf looked up at the location of the spears origin. Up on the roof, he spotted the captain of the Loki Familia. Finn 'Braver' Deimne alongside Gareth 'Elgram' Landrock, Riveria 'Nine-hell' Ljos Alf, Bete 'Vanargand' Loga, Tiona 'Amazon' Hiryute, Tione 'Jormungand' Hiryute, Lefiya 'Thousand Elf' Viridis and lastly Ais 'Sword-Princess' Wallenstein. Welf sweat dropped as he decided to grab the other magic sword with his other hand.
"Isn't this a little overkill for little ol' me?" Welf said as Finn looked at Welf, before nodding at Bete, Who jumped down at Welf, who managed to swing his sword, sending a wave of wind onto Bete, before using the other one to send a wave of Ice.
The wind was consumed by Bete's boots, Folsvirt, but as the boots already had a charge, the ice completely consumed him as Finn's eyes widened.
"So this is the power of the Crozzo swords…" Finn commented as Lefiya's eyes darkened slightly.
"Gareth. Smash it to pieces" Gareth smiled as he smashed his hands together.
"With pleasure" The ice stood no chance, shattering as Gareth smashed into it with his full force. Welf tried to use the sword again but-
"Wynn Fimbulvetr!" Ice smashed it's way past Gareth and the now freed Bete, heading straight for Welf. He quickly swung the wind blade right beside the spell, sending it into the wall, and freezing the building instead. He noticed that the other elf, which he knew as Lefiya was chanting, Welf smirked.
"Burn out, illegal work. Will-o-Wisp!" The unseen spell catapulted into Lefiya's magic circle. Her eyes opened wide as Riveria's eyes snapped to her, noticing the Ignus Fatuus occuring.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Lefiya screamed as the others reacted instantly, and just in time as a large explosion occurred where Lefiya was standing.
Everyone had jumped to a roof closer to Welf and looked at the now ruined building where Lefiya was unconscious in the rubble.
"Not only can he craft powerful magic swords, but also cause Ignis Fatuus?" Riveria looked at Welf as he expression morphed into a mixture of fear and curiosity. He was practically a mage-killer. No mage could fight him because of that single magic, and the addition of magic swords made it nigh impossible for mages to win.
"That's enough. Ais, take care of it, but don't kill or maim him" Finn barked out an order as Ais nodded as she leaned forward, over the building.
"Awaken, Tempest" The wind surrounder her, and before Welf could react, a blue scabbard was slammed into the back of his head making his world spin.
'I held them off as long as I could…' were his last words before darkness consumed him.
The others jumped down, Riveria heading towards Lefiya while Finn looked down at the unconscious Welf.
"Leave him. We need to catch up to the monst-" Finn was interrupted as an explosion went off in the background as he frowned.
Freya familia. They never listened to instructions and always did what they wanted. Either that or their goddess. They had been instructed to not cause any unnecessary damage to the city.
"Let's go" Finn said as everyone but Riveria headed to the location.
Meanwhile, with the Xenos, they were so close to the entrance to the Knossos. Lyd could see it, before calling out.
"Ray! Here" He flung the key to the knossos to her as she caught it with her talons "Open the door and close it once everyone is inside!" She nodded as she sprang forward faster than everyone else, before opening the hidden entrance behind the bricks.
Lyd was the first inside, while the remaining Xenos who hadn't perished were running. Ray was about to close the door once the flood of Xenos stopped before she realized something
"WHERE IS WIENE!" She asked in a panic before looking out, seeing the dragon girl running as fast as she could before a person appeared beside her. Wienes' eyes widened as she saw the cat beside her, glaring down at her with his blue eyes. He brought his spear into a thrusting position and prepared to strike a killing blow.
Ray's eyes were brimming with tears as she screamed her lungs out at the girl, Other Xenos did the same, as the last person they thought deserved a fate such as that was the kind dragon girl that had been so energetic and friendly.
Wiene closed her eyes, as she prepared for the blow, but seconds passed before she heard a guttural scream from the Knossos entrance. She opened her eyes and looked up, her orbs widening as her eyes watered.
"L-Lyd…" She said breathless as she looked at the lizardman, spear piercing his chest, and through his magic stone, a smile on his face.
He put a hand on the dragon girl's face, caressing it as his claws began to turn to dust. Unknown to them, a certain Prum was on the roof above, looking at the scene with wide, disbelieving eyes.
"Run… Little Wiene. Stay strong for all of us… Tell Bellucchi… Thank you" When the last words were uttered, he turned to dust as Wiene bolted. Allen was too confused at the words spoken by a monster to notice that the dragon girl was escaping. Finn and the Loki familia were too slack jawed at what had happened in front of them to even move.
"Bell Cranel… Is this what you hid?" Finn muttered which snapped everyone out of their stupor, but it was too late. The monsters were gone, into the knossos, most likely headed towards the dungeon and disappearing again.
'The monster… willingly gave up it's life to save another one. They spoke… they cried… they showed emotion and grief…' Finn's mind was reeling. If they could do that, if they could premeditatedly do things outside of instinct, and feel emotions as we do… then what does that make them? What is the difference between us?
Finn's entire moral code was now being shaken to it's core, it didn't change the fact that he would have killed the monster to achieve his goal but… it was a revelation that could completely split Orario in two. No wonder Bell Cranel didn't reveal it to anyone, it's no secret that can be easily told or revealed.
They had only insinuated it after Ais had told them of his question to her, but now… now it was all too real and a form of guilt filled Finn's entire core. The boy, in a way, had done nothing wrong in supposedly claiming the Dragon girl as his prey when she went berserk since it was clear now that he was trying to save her, which he clearly somehow succeeded in.
Finn shook his head. He couldn't come to any conclusions yet if the boy was guilty or not. This revelation doesn't excuse him of the other crimes he was charged with, which he was still investigating. If he is innocent of those… Only then will he work on clearing the boy's name.
Finn looked around, before he stared at the hidden entrance the Xenos had disappeared into. He mentally noted the location of it, before nodding to Gareth and the others, who all understood his order.
'Return Home'
=The Knossos=
"Oh, Lyd…" Ray whimpered at her fallen comrade.
"We lost so many. There were more than 15 Xenos on the surface. Less than 8 returned" Let, the goblin said sadly as the others nodded.
"Lyd, Gros, Arles… So many of our brethren" Haunt, a spartoi named a few fallen.
Wiene was shaking back and forth, the image of the smile lyd had on his face before he died, etched onto her mind.
"Lyd… why…" Wiene sniffed as she swiped the tears from her eyes. Ray looked at Wiene and smiled sadly.
"Where… where was Bell? Where was he?" Wiene asked. She didn't know, Ray deduced. The group was split into two separate ones, and she seemed to be in the one that hadn't been told the information.
"I'm sorry Wiene, but… Bell… was banished" Ray said, turning to the side as her own affection for the boy overflooded her with sadness. He had sacrificed everything for them…
"What…" Wiene asked in such a low and disbelieving voice, it physically hurt Ray to hear it. Her eyes were filled with shock, disbelief, hurt and fear.
"Bell is… gone?" She asked as Ray could do nothing but nodd, causing the dragon girl to break. The wails consumed the monotone halls of the knossos. Tears streamed down her eyes as memories of her times with Bell surfaced into the mind.
"Bell…! Bell…! BELLLLLLLLLLLLL!" She screamed louder and louder each time, pain echoing in her voice, as if she hoped all her emotions for the boy would bring him to her. Ray could do nothing but embrace the Dragon girl, and let the tears flow too. The tears for her fallen brethren… and the tears for the boy, she had come to admire, and dare she say… love
The cries continued into the night, before they headed back, to give the bad news to the rest of the remaining village.
Little did they know, a Black bull was walking in a nearby hallway, holding his severed arm and disappointed at hearing of his Rival's banishment, but determined to wait for him, to finally have his rematch.
That's chapter 9 everyone. Poor Xenos! Anyway, the next chapter will continue with a time skip. For how long? You will just have to wait and see. Also, I'm almost done with going through all Heroic Will Chapters. It will be up soon!
Anyway, Thank you all for reading like always, and hope I see you next time!