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.
A/N: Like I wrote in a response on chapter 14, I am going to release Heroic Will Chapter 41 when I feel like I'm ready to come back to that story. This is a hobby, and if I don't feel like it, I won't do it no matter what people say. I'm sorry that I am asking for more patience when you've already waited over half a year but it will come. Just not right now.
15: Village of Anfesera
Normal POV
=Near the West Wall of Orario, 1 month later=
Bell was looking out towards the city as the wagons passed the walls. There wasn't a road headed straight towards Anfesera from Telskyura and the only one there passes through the road they are on now.
It was actually one of the most traveled roads around Orario as West is Rakia and a couple of miles behind it was the Sea. The east roads had much more flexibility because it wasn't inhibited by Rakia, a hostile country but also the sea which didn't allow anyone to travel around it.
That meant that this was the only path they could take and Bell was positively nervous, but also had a sense of nostalgia.
"Last time I saw these walls… was nearly a year ago" Bell muttered as they passed the road towards the entrance to Orario.
"Feel's strange to me too. I hadn't seen these walls in 3 years either after I settled down in Anfesera. Last time I saw it was when I headed down to Telskyura and that really hit me weird" Elora said as she had moved down towards where Bell was looking out the back of the wagon.
He turned around and smiled softly underneath the mask and nodded.
"Yeah, it feels weird… though I want to return one day. No I need to" He said with determination burning in his eyes to get stronger. His goal was at least level 6 before he returned. The only question was how.
"Perhaps you should try the dragon valley? Not many explore that area because of its difficulty, but you may be able to. It's pretty far up north though" Bell had said it out loud, something that was clearly becoming a habit. He contemplated her words. She was right though, the Dragon Valley was known as a great wall toward the unexplored regions as it stretches across the entire known world, blocking us from going further.
The mention of dragons made Bell's thoughts wander as he started to think about the one eyed black dragon. No one really knew where it currently was as the battle took place far up north beyond the valley which only the Zeus and Hera familia had managed to pass. Unfortunately they didn't live to tell the tale of the lands beyond.
He was probably one of the only people in the world who knew a glimpse of it because of Erebus retelling what Alfia and Zald told him. It was very snowy up there which wasn't all that surprising. The further up north you go, the colder it becomes and the further south, the warmer. It is even shown if you take a world map and inspect the frequency of deserts around the world.
The further south, the more deserts there are. The Far East is lush mainly because it seems to be in some sort of golden zone where it's perfect temperature to not be too hot, or too cold for trees and forests to bloom and thrive, but that wasn't even half way up towards the Dragon Valley.
The one eyed black dragon had been resting close to Orario for some time over the forest of the damned, but something had awakened it 15 years ago.
It moved up north at an extreme pace and even destroyed the place now known as the abandoned world, burning everything to the ground leaving no life remaining. It even got some help from the Leviathan and the Behemoth. This turned the land into an uninhabitable desert like land where no one lives anymore, hence the name. It was this that had caused the three great quests to be issued. After all, it was the largest country on the continent, and was destroyed in a single night by the three monsters. It had sent the world into a panic.
Zeus and Hera familia departed soon after to slay the beasts where Zald dealt the final blow to the Behemoth and Alfia did the same to the Leviathan. According to Erebus, Zeus and Hera familia felt invincible after those victories with practically no casualties.
They moved towards the black dragon in confidence, thinking that it would be no different, but in Alfia's words as Erebus put it 'They were all worthless, useless pieces of trash'. She had even said that the level 9 had limped and cried pathetically as she begged for her life.
The very notion had sent shivers down Bell's spine that the dragon was strong enough to make a level 9 look so pathetic.
"What are you thinking about Bell?" Bache asked as she held Adrienne in her arms.
"Oh, nothing much. My mind just wandered towards the three great quests" he said as he felt the questioning look from Erebus.
"The one that destroyed Zeus and Hera familia? I remember that, I was a level 2 at the time" she said as Bell looked at her.
"How did it look in Orario after?" Bell asked which Elora thought about it for a second.
"Well… it was chaotic to say the least. Especially with how brutal the Freya familia was against Hera. At least Loki had the respect to negotiate with Zeus, but Hera… she was utterly destroyed by Freya. She rampaged through her Familia and slaughtered everyone, and we all thought she had succeeded, until Alfia and Zald came back 8 years ago" Bell nodded, having heard the story
"It was the beginning of the dark age of Orario where they laid siege to the city. Honestly, it showed that they were monsters…" She said almost bitterly. Didn't she know that Erebus was one of the gods leading the charge?
"No offense towards you Erebus, I know your reason and it was more justified. Alfia and Zald too, but everyone else…" Bell smiled slightly, at least she knew their reasoning… somehow.
"No offense taken. I did that knowing I would be scorned, and so did Alfia and Zald. They even knew they would die, whether they did it or not" Elora nodded at Erebus words as Bache smiled at the three.
"Ah… the wall is disappearing over the horizon…" Bache said as she noticed it. Bell looked and saw it as well. Guess he was gone in his thoughts longer than he thought.
"That would mean we're about 4 hours out from the village from here. I'll get some sleep, unlike certain two people here, I don't have a blessing that helps with lethargy" Elora said, giving a glance towards Bell and Bache who recently had gotten sleep and weren't going to need it for another day or two.
They still slept every night out of habit, but they actually only needed to do it every other day.
"She does have a point, I'll tuck myself in too. Just make sure the child doesn't scream in our ears" Erebus said, grabbing a blanket and laying down, oblivious to the two glares from the two first class people.
"Hah… so what do we do for 4 hours?" Bell asked as Bache shrugged.
"I don't know. Just enjoy the silence?" She asked as Bell nodded
"Yeah… that sounds nice" He responded, looking out over the southern horizon, seeing the sun slowly disappearing over the west. They just sat like that as the minutes and hours ticked by, the village slowly getting closer.
=4 hours later, outside Anfesera=
"The village can now be seen" The driver called out as Bell carefully walked over Elora on the ground as Erebus was on one of the sitting places, still sleeping.
Once he got past, he climbed over and sat beside the driver and looked forward. You couldn't just see the village, but also the forest of the damned. It was thick with vegetation, but seemed to let in a surprising amount of sunlight.
Even from here, Bell could see a stray goblin walking through the forest before being attacked by a killer ant, chewed to death before disappearing and it's magic stone was ingested.
'Survival of the fittest, the rule of nature' He thought for himself at the scene. It was the rule everywhere you went. The strong and adapted rule and the weak and less adapted submit.
"How long until… we reach-" Bell stopped as he noticed something. There was a burning house in the village.
"Ehm… is it only me or is that house burning?" Bell asked as the driver squeezed his eyes. For normal eyes, it was very hard to see, but as they inched closer, it became cleared by the second.
"Well… it's hard to see but… it's awfully bright there for the middle of the night, isn't it?" The driver muttered as Bell stood up and looked at the driver.
"Keep driving" He then turned to Bache and called out to her. She turned in his direction "Tell the others I'm in the village when you wake them. There is a burning house" He said before jumping off the carriage, and sprung forward at his full speed. The driver went wide-eyed at the display, wondering why he didn't just do that to get here. Dumb question, he couldn't do that will all times at once.
Within a minute, he reached the village where it was half chaotic. People of all different types of races were going back and forth with buckets of water and threw it into the fire. Some of the elf's that seem to have learnt magic without a falna, casted theirs on the fire if it was water based. Wind would just increase the flames strength, earth would destroy the house even more and fire… well that one's obvious.
Everyone froze instantly at a man with an intimidating set of armor and armed to the teeth, suddenly appearing out of thin air.
"W-who are you!?" A hume bunny asked as she held a water bucket. Bell looked at them, and took the water bucket out of her hand before doing the work of 20 men rapidly.
Bell was internally assessing the situation. The flames had spread too much, even with him, the house would collapse faster than he could put out the flames.
He handed her back the bucket before running inside, avoiding the flames as the heat exploded within the armor. He punched, kicked and lifted his way through fallen rubble, listening in to a cry from within the house.
Eventually, he came to a door, blocked by burning debris. On the other side was where the cries were coming from.
"Don't worry! I'm coming!" Bell screamed out for whoever was in there. He walked forward and put his hand underneath the charred debris, wincing slightly at the heat but ignoring it as he threw it over his head, causing a loud crash to sound behind him. The sound made the person inside cry out even more in fear as Bell grabbed the handle to open the door, but it just fell off.
'Melted…' he thought before putting his hands around the door, fingers in between the cracks before pushing outward as the door broke off its hinges.
He threw it to the side before looking inside, seeing a small girl with another small boy in her arms. Two renarts actually, probably brother and sister. He walked inside before leaning down. Behind them were… Bell winced at the corpse, top half crushed by a fallen pillar. That seemed to be one of their parents.
"Hey there, are you alright?" Bell asked as the two looked up at Bell, fear filling their eyes as Bell realized they only saw a mask.
"Woah! It's alright, I'm here to help" He said as he quickly took the mask off. A risky move, but he didn't care. Their eyes widened before they launched themselves at him, clearly seeking protection.
"Mister! Our mother…" They said before pointing at the corpse. Bell made them look away before putting his mask back on. They couldn't be older than 7. Let's just hope their father was alive.
"Come on, let's get you out of here. Your mother would want you to live one" Bell said as the two nodded, before Bell leaned down and grabbed them in his arms, and started running out the way he came, clearing any debris that had fallen while he was inside.
When he got close to the exit, his ears perked up at a voice he recognized. Elora was screaming out orders. Bell smiled before he arrived at the exit where he stopped running and walked out.
The first to notice him was Bache, before Elora spotted him as well.
"Bell! Are you alrig-Oh! Milo! Raelynn!" She screamed out, before grabbing the two in her arms and hugging them.
"Thank god you're alright! Your father is worried sick!" She said as the two nodded into her embrace.
"Sorry " The girl said before Elora pushed them towards their father, who hugged them like the most precious things in the world to him.
Elora looked at Bell before opening her mouth to question him.
"The mother?" She asked as Bell shook his head as Elora's eyes flinched in loss.
"God… I got the gist of the story from the chief. A hellhound had snuck into the village and when the father had gone out for fresh air, it had shot fire towards him, missing but hitting the house" Bell nodded, knowing about their unique ability.
"I'm sorry, it was too late by the time I got there. A pillar had fallen, crushing her. From the looks of their clothes, she had pushed her children out of the way" He said as she nodded.
"At least she went out protecting the ones she loves" Elora said as Bell nodded
"Thank you… you saved two people that we wouldn't have been able to. That would be two more souls on my shoulders…" She said as she looked down with a haunted look on her face.
"I used to spend my days trying to save everyone and never accepting it if anyone died. It never works out. A friend told me once that there will always be situations where someone has to die. What I believe she meant as a message as well, was that we shouldn't let those losses weigh us down, but instead learn from them, using those lessons to improve to make sure less situations like that occur" Bell said in advice as she nodded in appreciation.
The two stood there and watched as the fire was finally put out and Bell helped out with clearing the debris alongside Bache. Thanks to the two, they got done much faster than expected and the sun was on the rise.
The body of the mother was carried off for storage until they could prepare a grave for her and the father and children were obviously distraught at the body.
Bell and Bache turned around as a Female Chienthrope with blonde hair and red eyes walked forward. Bell froze for a second as the woman's appearance looked so much like that of a certain Orphan in Orario.
"Thank you for helping us strangers. My name is Saena Cremond and I am the village chief. What brings you to our village?" She asked as Elora walked up behind Bell and smiled at the chief.
"Chief, these people have helped me out in Telskyura and are seeking permission to move here" She said directly to the point as the chief looked shocked before turning to the two.
"I am honored that you are considering our village for settling down… but why, if I may ask?" Saena asked as Bell snapped out of his shock. He knew it was best not to lie to her as she would become his chief for the foreseeable future if they were accepted. Being caught lying about something so crucial would… not end well.
"Well, we were looking for places that didn't have guild ties and had trouble finding any that we could consider until I met Elora here. She pointed out this village that wasn't even on our map. After she told us some things about the village, I thought it was a great place, not only for me, but also my daughter" He explained as he stepped aside, as Erebus stood back with Adrienne in his hands.
"My, and why are you avoiding the guild? Did you commit a crime?" She asked as Bell shrugged.
"According to everyone else, yes and in a way I did. I stepped over the line, even if it was to protect my goddess. I ended up killing a group of people that were going to violate her" Elora looked at me shocked and disgusted, if it was about him killing people or at the men, he couldn't tell. He just hoped it wasn't aimed at him.
"My, I'm sorry to hear that. So you're wanted because of that event?" She asked as something clicked in her eyes.
"Yeah… well partly. I also protected someone I shouldn't have, which caused my reputation to plummet" Saena took one step closer and reached for Bell's mask with suspicion in her eyes. He flinched back before stopping himself, letting her as his intuition told him to do so.
Once the mask was off, Saena smiled as Bell's appearance showed in it's true form.
"I see. Your full name is Bell Cranel, right? The Little Rookie?" Bell nodded, completely letting his intuition lead him.
"I understand, your story is quite tragic if I can say so myself. I'll allow you to move and settle inside my village one a few terms" Bell nodded and looked at her as she took another step forward.
"Firstly, you will help Elora here with defending our village whenever it is deemed necessary" Bell nodded before she continued
"The second and final condition… is don't commit any crimes. That includes the usual things. Theft, Murder, you get it" Bell nodded, surprised. He honestly expected worse but it was a good set of terms.
"I am free to leave on journeys right? I do still want to get stronger" Bell said as Saena nodded before looking at him curiously.
"That's fine, but aren't you already strong enough? Level 3, right?" She asked as Elora did a double take.
"Level 3? You said you're level 5!" She said as the chief raised an eyebrow at Bell.
"I am. I leveled up twice after I was sentenced" Bell said as Elora looked confused.
"That makes no sense! It takes years to level up for crying out loud!" Bell smiled at her before Saena stepped in.
"He's known as the record holder. He reached level 2 in a month and a half and level 3 in one month" Elora gaped at the ludicrously low number, frozen in shock.
"Yeah, that's interesting and all but... Is there a free house, or do we have to wait for one to be built" Erebus chimed into the conversation as everyone looked at him, before he gave a glance towards the wagons that had all their stuff in them.
"There is one house that's close to the forest, almost right by the entrance. No one wanted to live there after the previous owner moved away, so it just stood there. It's large enough for an entire family and is built with expansion in mind" Elora gave them as Bell nodded, motioning for her to lead the way.
The drivers of their wagons followed the group as they headed through the village as she took the opportunity to showcase it to them. It was basically morning by now anyway, so no one was going back to sleep.
The village consisted of farmland on the opposite side of the forest with the armory at the center alongside the blacksmith at the right of it.
The chief's house was up on a hill, overlooking the rest of the village. A granary was close to the farm where the grain from their crops was stored alongside animal feed for the animals. Relatively close by to the granary was the bakery where they made bread from grinded grains. A butcher and lumberjack lived nearby their house as some animals lived in the forest apart from monsters. Rare, but they get caught sometimes.
Basically, the village was completely self-sufficient. It had food, a clean water source straight north by a few hundred meters, defense and healers. The line of chief of the place had done a superb job.
"Well, here is your house. A little run down, but I'm guessing you can ask Vance-I mean the lumberjack for help later today since he's so close" She said as Bell made sure to remember the name.
The house was a little run down from not being used, but it seemed usable. Once they walked inside, it had furniture alongside old bedsheets, not used and were clearly switched shortly after whoever lived here last moved out.
The house was made roughly like this. You walked in the front door where there was a wall to your right that led down the house with two doors that lead into separate rooms.
The first room was a toilet, which was connected to a personal latrine pit that needed cleaning about once every two weeks. The second one was a small bedroom which Erebus said he'd take.
The third, was a small storage which Bell had decided would definitely be an armory.
The rest of the room was a mixture between a lounging area and a kitchen with a chimney too. At the back was a staircase that led to the second floor where a hallway led down the house with 2 rooms on each side that were large in size. Bell took the one closest to the stairs to the left and Bache took the one next to it. The one in front of Bell's room was decided that it should be Adrienne's room when she gets old enough. Meanwhile, they would handle the situation similarly to before.
The only thing they were missing was a bathhouse in Bell's mind. He missed that from the Hearth mansion and with the house made with expansion possible to the left of the house, he would probably make the lower part a shower where everyone could go to clean themselves.
The last place was the basement, with the door underneath the stairs. The basement was quite large with plenty of chests as well as space for storage. They might have the blacksmith, Vance, build some better storage containers down here that can hold food in airtight spaces after salting.
"Well, I think this will do. I'll talk with Vance, right?" Bell asked as Elora nodded at the name being correct "Also, could you get some new sheets and some cleaning equipment? I can't stand all the dust everywhere. I like my home clean" Elora chuckled and hummed in approval at his words before leaving to get what he asked.
"What do you guys think?" He asked the other two present, excluding Adrienne. Erebus nodded in approval before opening his mouth.
"It's definitely big for a regular village house. After some cleaning and renovations, it's going to be perfect" Bache made a noise in agreement as she shifted her hold on Adrienne.
"I agree. It's a good place to be able to call home. It's gonna take a while, but it's definitely going to become cozy" Bache gave her input. At that moment, Elora opened the door, walking in with some a bunch of cleaning equipment. This was a full house cleaning after all.
"Here is everything you need. Once you're done, how about you greet the villagers. They seemed quite glad and accepting when the chief broke the news that you move in. Most likely because of you saving Milo and Raelynn" Bell smiled at her before nodding.
"Don't mention it. Like I said when we met. It's in my nature to help others" She chuckled slightly before turning around, a hand over her shoulder and a smirk on her lips.
"And I repeat what i said, It's very admirable of you" She walked off, as Bell swore there was a glint of something in her eyes but he ignored it and turned towards the cleaning equipment, and grabbed a duster.
"Let's begin. This is gonna take a while" He said, his intuition telling him it's gonna be faster than he believed.
=Orario, Travelers Inn=
"Ah, Welcome home my wonderful Asfi! What do you have for me?" A blonde haired god with orange eyes said as he flicked his feathered hat.
"Bell Cranel had moved locations from Telskyura to a village nearby Orario. In fact, in all my years going around and seeing different types of cartography, this village has never shown up on any map" Asfi Al Andromeda, Perseus, said with a polite tone as she stood in front of her patron god.
"Oh my, so our Bell-kun had moved to a village nearby. By any chance, is he preparing to return?" Hermes asked as Asfi shook her head.
"I tried to get close one time, but it seems that Bell Cranel had ranked up yet again. His senses are off the charts" Asfi said, frowning at the memory of nearly being caught half a month ago when they were camping for the night.
"Again, and outside Orario too. Was it perhaps because of the Far East?" He asked as Asfi nodded again.
"Your assumption is correct. It was around then his senses improved drastically. It makes surveillance upon him near impossible. If he gets to level 6, we won't be able to keep an eye on him" She said, contemplating Bell's sensitivity to being watched. It was as if he was used to it.
"That would make sense. Freya used to watch him all the time, so he must have gotten used to the feeling. Speaking of that goddess, I wonder what she's up to. Her children have been moving around a lot lately. Some have even moved outside Orario" Hermes said with a smile as he looked out a window, straight at the top floor of Babel tower.
"If that is the case, I am even more surprised that she didn't do anything when he was sentenced. Do you know why, Hermes-sama?" She asked as he almost didn't respond, almost.
"The only reason that goddess does anything apart from collecting people. Another goddess of beauty has acted, and it isn't one that is known in Orario. She most likely wants to take care of her first, before going for Bell-kun" Hermes said before turning back to Asfi.
"Where is Bell-kun at right now?" He asked as Asfi answered instantly.
"A village called Anfesera, north west of Orario. It's located right outside The Forest of The Damned" She said as Hermes whistled.
"Bell-kun, you sneaky devil. A village that isn't on any map, and is close by to the ones hunting you. A prey, hidden in the unlikeliest of places" He chuckled before leaning forward.
"Thank you, Asfi. You can take a rest before continuing your observations. At this point, only you are able to watch him" Asfi nodded before taking her leave. Hermes smiling at the sky with the sun still rising from the horizon.
"The promised time is almost upon us, hopefully everyone, especially you Bell-kun, is ready for it's arrival" He muttered with a smile, smiling at the uncertainty of the future, something the gods love.
=Twilight Manor=
"WELCOME HOME!" Came a shrill scream before a 'guh' could be heard as the patron goddess of the Loki Familia was launched back through the gates, sliding on the ground before stopping.
"Ouch…" She groaned out as Tiona laughed.
"Why do you still do that? It never works anymore!" She told Loki energetically. Finn just shook his head before addressing Loki.
"Has Riveria or Gareth returned?" He asked as Loki shook her head
"Unfortunately not. I did get a letter that they got a lead in the Far East" She said as Finn nodded.
"So they joined up. Alright, thanks. Unfortunately, We came up empty handed. It seems we underestimated Bell Cranel once again. We managed to track him to Telskyura, which you can guess how that went" Loki frowned at the mention before sighing.
"Tha' kids sneaky, Ain't he?" She said as Finn nodded
"My guess is that it's more luck than skill. It's been proven time and time again that wherever Bell Cranel goes, Luck follows, at least for him" Loki nodded as she contemplated the notion. The boy was the luckiest mortal she had ever seen so it made sense.
"Well, better luck with the next lead then" She said with a smile before opening her arms wide.
"As I said before, Welcome home!" Finn leaned a hand on his hip and tilted his head with a smile.
"It's good to be home" With that, they walked inside and most went to pack up and before taking a shower. They hadn't had a good one in a month which is longer than on their expedition which takes around 3 weeks tops.
Ais had approached Finn soon after, asking for permission to enter the dungeon, which Finn reluctantly indulged her with. She hadn't had an outlet for her feelings for weeks. The dungeon is hers, unless she's on the wall and this time, she chose the dungeon.
With Ais gone to the dungeon and Tione and Tiona, strolling the city. That left Finn in his office, catching up to all the news about what had happened while they were gone.
Most of the things were normal, like two or three level ups, some articles about some supposed new crime lord outside Orario, but there was one that caught Finn's eyes almost instantly.
'The Far East stabilized after 100 years. What changed?' He had almost ignored it after the name of the Far East, but once he spotted that one word, Stabilized, his interest peaked. He read over the article which at first contained different statistics upon the changes that had occurred within 4 months before speculation started.
Apparently, The Empress Takara Yume had been very secretive upon their means to so quickly improve their situation, but some stories from people that left the country during that time told stories of a single person that worked with the empress to suppress and arrest the criminal organizations and corrupt nobles.
The speculation theorized that it was this person that was the leading factor in the Far East's stabilizing. Finn couldn't help but smile as it meant less people were suffering and silently thanked whoever it was that had done it.
"Well, better get started with my work…" He muttered as he turned his head to a massive pile of taxes, income, expenditure as well as reports upon the population that he hadn't investigated yet.
'This is going to take a while' He thought as he grabbed the first paper on the pile, and got to work.
=The Dungeon, Entrance to Floor 17=
"Are you sure we're ready for this Lil' Lili?" Welf asked as Lili nodded
"Lili thinks this is the safest way to achieve our goal. Everyone present is ready for a level up. The Goliath spawns in 15 minutes so Lili suggests everyone to get ready" She said out loud as Welf nodded. During the last month, their abilities had reached high enough for them to be pleased.
Welf had reached 500 in dexterity with an average of 400 in all other stats apart from magic which was at 200. Lili had reached 650 with her other states in the 350 mark. Mikoto was also ready, but Haruhime was the one that had improved the most. Her magic had reached 870 which had surprised everyone. If she used magic a lot now and pushed herself, she could reach S rank before leveling up.
"Alright, the boss is spawning!" Lili said as Welf pulled out his big sword and Mikoto got out her katana which was improved by Welf.
Haruhime got herself ready to chant and Lili went through the scenarios again. They were about to go before they heard footsteps behind them with moving armor.
They turned around and their eyes popped wide open as Lili almost growled.
"Senki?" Mikoto asked as Ais turned her head towards them, her golden locks moving through the air.
"Bell's Familia…" She said quietly as everyone stared at her.
"Is it alright if you allow us to pass down the floor first Senki? We are battling the Goliath to level up" Mikoto explained as Ais stopped and nodded
"I could go on to make sure no one dies. I wouldn't intervene otherwise" She said as everyone looked at her surprised again.
"You would do that?" Welf asked as she nodded "Alright then, come along" he answered as everyone descended. The big wall of grief was before their eyes, a giant illuminated shadow was behind it as it cracked at the detected arrivals.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" The giant 7 meter tall humanoid monster broke through the crack with a primal roar as it turned towards the group.
Ais stood back as Lili took command.
"Welf, distract it! Mikoto, cast your magic!" The two did as they were told as Lili loaded a couple of arrows that wouldn't do much, but would definitely distract it.
"Haruhime, start chanting! Give the boost to Mikoto. She's going to need it!" She commanded as Haruhime started chanting.
Welf ran forward, as arrows flew towards the Goliath's face, who swatted around his eyes, trying to get the pests away. Welf took the open opportunity to use all the strength in his calves to push himself forward with one strong leap, and swing his sword at it's upper heel, severing it's tendons with an extreme amount of resistance.
'God that skin is tough' Welf complained before gliding across the floor before screaming at the Goliath.
"Over here you ugly bastard" The Goliath turned towards Welf, and smashed his fist in his direction. Welf barely dodged as the monster was level 4 in strength, something he couldn't win against solo no matter how much he tried. Thankfully, he wasn't.
"UCHIDE NO KOZUCHI!" Haruhime finished her spell, before aiming it down upon Mikoto who was finishing up her own chant.
"-Descend from heaven, rule the earth -shinbu tousei. Futsunomitama!" A purple sword came down onto the ground, sending the gravity flow down, crushing the Goliath into the ground. Mikoto was surprised at the ease it was to hold the magic. It was still straining, but nowhere close to how difficult it was previously on the 18th.
"I can't hold it forever!" Mikoto screamed as Lili called out towards Welf.
"Anvilhead, use that damn sword to cut it's arm!" Welf understood her meaning, and brought out a magic sword he had made with an extremely focused wind attribute. It was so focused that it used all its energy in one swing, but it was powerful.
He swung the sword with all his might towards the arm. He didn't aim for the kill as that wouldn't be enough to level up. No, they needed to prolong this and make it worthy enough for a level up. Doesn't stop them from at least easing up the pressure a little from the level 4 monster rex
The wind flew out as it cut through the arm like butter, severing the tendons and completely cleaved off the arm from it's shoulder. A loud crash sounded out as it landed on the floor before turning to dust.
"Well, done! Haruhime, get another level boost ready and give it to Welf!" Before Haruhime could act, monsters spawned at the side. Just because it was a boss floor, didn't mean other monsters didn't spawn. A horde of Minotaurs and Lygerfangs roared out and launched themselves towards Lili and Haruhime.
A minotaur smashed the floor where Lili just was, before she dodged. The blowback sent her flying backwards, rolling onto the ground as she shrieked.
Haruhime made a similar move, but less effective as she received a gash to her side, before being sent into the wall.
"LILI! HARUHIME!" Welf screamed as he rushed back towards them.
"Mikoto! Keep the Goliath occupied! I'll help them" She nodded before Welf rushed to his friend's aid.
"Kenki! Could you assist here a little?" Welf asked as she nodded, springing forward too fast for his eyes, disappearing out of view as within the blink of an eye, only a couple of Lygerfangs were still standing.
The next second, she was back in her previous position. Making Welf wide eyed.
'High level adventurers are something else' He thought before heading towards 4 Lygerfangs as one minotaur spawned, something that would be a real challenge for his stats. 2 Lygerfangs rushed towards Lili and Haruhime who looked determined to fight back.
The first contact was Welf and a Lygerfang, where he narrowly dodged a blow, before swinging his sword in a downwards cut, gashing the monster as it jumped back with a whimper.
At that moment, a slash cut his back as he winced, before quickly counter attacking with a cut from below, managing to destroy it's magic stone, reducing it to dust.
"OUUUUUUUU" The minotaur roared as he rushed forward with it's axe, smashing down as Welf blocked it, groaning at the weight of the attack before pushing it up with all his might, sending it off balance, before slicing his chest, letting blood out.
'Shallow…' He thought before changing his focus on another one of the Lygerfang.
'Remember what Bell taught you… widen your focus. Don't watch the enemy, watch the battlefield' He reminded himself, as he noticed one of the monsters, trying to attack to his left, believing to be in his blind spot. Welf dodged as he simultaneously slashed upward, severing it in half as it whimpered before turning to dust. Only 2 more to go, and one of them was the tough opponent. He needed to finish this because Mikoto couldn't hold out forever.
"Gah!" Said far eastern girl screamed out as her magic was broken. She got up and drew her sword and rushed towards the Goliath, using the level boost to her advantage.
The Goliath smashed the ground, as Mikoto jumped over the shockwave, landing on the arm and pushed her sword down into it's skin, before running along it's arm.
The sword cut deeply along the arm as the monster rex retaliated by smashing it's arm into the wall, sending Mikoto straight through it, landing onto the floor behind with a groan as blood leaked down her face, and a sharp rock was stuck in her left shoulder.
"Damn it!" She screamed as she pulled out the rock before standing up with much difficulty.
She forced herself to run again, before jumping up through the hole she was sent through, ready to keep the fight going.
'Push past your limits, always challenge yourself, just like Bell-dono' She told herself as she forced herself to ignore all the pain and protests of her body.
Meanwhile Lili and Haruhime were having heavy trouble with the Lygerfangs. Welf had equipped both of them with a short sword which they were thankful for right now as without it, they would be dead.
Lili narrowly dodged a few claws and slashed towards its face, but it dodged. The monster kept it's distance and kept launching attacks, and avoiding Lili's. It was a fight that would be decided by who got the first hit in and it was taking a lot out of Lili to keep going as her endurance and agility weren't that high so she tired easily.
Haruhime was in a similar predicament, especially with her clumsiness. It was a miracle that she hadn't been hit yet if anyone could put in their opinion. Thankfully, she had trained under Mikoto's guidance, even when Haruhime told her she couldn't do it.
That training was proving useful now as it was honestly the only reason she was hanging on. Lygerfangs were high tier level 1 monsters, bordering on level 2. In other words, both of these supporters were fighting monsters that were much stronger than them.
"Gah!" Welf was slashed across the arm as it became limp, but he smirked after the grunt, his great sword moving toward the Minotaurs chest, thrusting forward as it was still off balance from it's attack.
The piercing of flesh could be heard before a stone cracked underneath, sending the minotaur collapsing on the floor, before it turned to dust.
Welf collapsed on the floor, clutching his side as his back still bled heavily. He sat there for a second, before turning towards Mikoto, seeing that she was having trouble and bleeding severley. Her level boost had run out, so Welf stood up and rushed forward towards Mikoto, ignoring the pain.
"Mikoto, I'm coming!" He screamed out as she gave him a glance and a thankful smile.
"Take the left, I'll take the right!" she called out as they got into position. The rushed the Goliath as it focused Mikoto, but didn't get far as Welf cut its leg. Shallow, but enough to upset it's balance.
"Where are you looking!" Welf mocked as it turned towards Welf, giving Mikoto the chance to cut multiple shallow cuts into its upper arm, severing multiple tendons, completely disabling it's remaining one.
Left defenseless, it took a step back before Welf and Mikoto went together for it's left foot, slicing it at the same time, causing it to collapse down to its knees as the two circled around and jumped up, pushing themselves off it's shoulders, and sliced at it's throat using all their remaining strength.
The monster rex froze as blood flowed down it's neck, before it leant forward, crashing across the ground, the head rolling away from the neck before the monster exploded into a cloud of dust.
Mikoto and Welf tried to keep going to help Lili and Haruhime, but collapsed next to each other, legs not responding as they completely stopped working.
"I guess this is as far as we go, right Mikoto?" Welf asked with a smirk as she nodded
"Right, Welf-dono. Good luck, Haruhime, Lili…" She finished as the two collapsed on the floor, unconscious and drained of all energy.
Meanwhile, Lili's hair was cut as she narrowly dodged another strike, before pushing herself forward, spinning and switching her blade from her right hand to her left, faking an attack, causing the monster to move to the left, where the real attack was coming.
The monster shrieked as it's paw was cut and blood spewed all over the place, mixing in with Lili's blood soaked body.
"AHHHHH!" Lili screamed as she kept pushing, sloppily swinging the shortsword and kept causing more wounds on the panicking monster who moved to counter attack.
"Your wound is mine, my wound is mine. Cinder Ella" Her form changed to an Almiraj, causing the counter attack to miss before.
"Echoing message of midnight" She chanted as she returned to her original prum form, rapidly closing the distance between her and the monster as she had gotten underneath it. The shortsword was plunged into its abdomen as Ais was impressed with the move. It was unexpected and a very smart use of a seemingly useless magic in battle.
The monster turned to dust as Lili fell to the floor, desperately wanting to keep going.
"Got… to… help… Haruhime" She got out, as exhaustion took her to the world of unconsciousness.
Haruhime didn't fare so well though. She was the last one standing. One monster left, one adventurer discounting Ais.
Haruhime used the techniques that Mikoto had taught her and managed to sloppily parry a blow from the monster, just enough to make the blow not deadly, but the claws still cut her cheeks quite deep as deep red blood flowed out as she winced.
She used her sword and swung it in a motion she had practiced a million times with Mikoto, powerfully enough to cut one of it's paws off.
The monster shrieked as Haruhime wobbled back at the blood loss and groaned as she wanted to return home. She wanted to be safe… she wanted to see Bell again.
At the thought of Bell, a surge of defiance and determination flowed through her as she stabilized herself and got into a stance.
"I will not give up!" She screamed out as she was determined to win, to reach new heights and to be able to stand by Bell again one day, whether it's as a lover or just a friend.
"AHHHHHHH" She sent out a battle cry as she let herself lean too much to the right, to add momentum, causing a slice from it's claws to grace her side but nonetheless avoiding it, before reaching out with her hand, stopping at the fall and sliding her feet underneath the monster, sending it onto the floor. She quickly and effectively got up and twirled the shortsword as one would a Katana and cut down into the monster's core, killing it instantly.
It was a risky move, something Mikoto had tried to teach her for a while but never truly succeeded. By a stroke of luck, or skill, she had managed to do it. As she collapsed from the blood loss, one chapter of each of their books closed, as another began.
That's chapter 15! Bell & company's got a new home and a tough battle for the party! Things are truly looking up for everyone! Anyway, I don't have time to respond to reviews this time sadly as I'm tired and want to go to sleep. I just wanted to say to whoever sent that essay of a review, please don't do it again. If you want to have a discussion, then PM me. There is no need to clutter the Review section with it.
Other than that, thanks for reading and I hope to see you next time!