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.
54: Chimera
=Dungeon, Floor 51=
The way back to the safety of the 50th floor had been, as usual with ascending the dungeon contrary to descending it, much easier. Considering the fact that not only do the monsters and environment become easier to handle, but they had also already cleared the monster rex on the 60th floor.
The biggest hurdle without a doubt if you asked anyone in the party were the 58th to 52nd floors. The holes created from the blasts mean that if anyone falls in, it's like an instant restart unlike when you descend.
Normally, falling down just speeds up the process of your goal, but going back up means that you can't fall in no matter what unless you want to redo everything. Add that to the fact that the floors are crawling with rampaging giant rhinoceroses with giant horns and spider monsters whose life purpose is to throw you down the damn holes and you get what is essentially a snail's pace for safety.
Thankfully though, they made it through without incident towards the safety from the blasts on the 51st within a day. This led them to where they were currently at, almost at the beginning of the 51st floor and the entrance to the 50th.
Bell could practically feel the relief in Elora's muscles beside himself as every step neared them to a place of rest. He too, was relieved, but that relief was squashed every time at the thought of whatever he sensed before they headed deeper. That feeling of being watched and he desperately hoped that whatever it was, that it was gone.
'With my luck… I doubt it' A bitter voice sounded within his head against his permission.
"What's wrong?" Elora sounded from his right, her features scrunching up in worry "I can practically feel your brooding from here" She clarified as Bell sighed with a fond smile replacing the thoughtful frown.
"Just… Did I tell you about the weird feeling I had on the 50th floor?" His question made her look down, trying to recall such a moment before eventually shaking her head.
"No, I don't believe so? What? Is something wrong?"
"Yeah, when we were there, I couldn't help but get this… feeling that something was watching us" His explanation earned him a nod as Elora seemed to understand.
"Hmm… I did feel a bit off but nothing unusual for the dungeon" She responded before smiling at him "But I'll trust your senses" she said as he nodded.
As they slowly closed in upon the entrance, Bell couldn't help but get a foreboding feeling in the pit of his stomach.
=Archian Manor=
The past week since Bell and the others had departed had been… uneventful to say the least. Most gods would complain and throw a tantrum like a child at the mere prospect of nothing interesting going on… emphasis on most.
Erebus sat in the lounge, leaning back on the sofa with his arms spread wide and closed eyes, simply relaxing and quite literally, doing nothing.
The god was one of the few that actually didn't mind having nothing to do as it gave him time to think and ponder upon different impossible philosophical questions that he oh so loved to throw at Bell, much to the latter's frustration.
It was a pastime that anyone who had met a normal god would never think possible for one until proven otherwise as the prospect seemed ludicrous.
There were others apart from him as well like Takemikazuki or Miach but nonetheless, rare. Erebus himself had attributed this restless phenomenon of the gods to their limitless lifespan.
After all, no matter how nice it sounds, being unable to die does have its drawbacks. The one he believed to be responsible for the restlessness was of course, the fact that the longer you lived, the more you have done and the less enjoyable the activities become and the more desperate you grow to find something new to be entertaining.
It doesn't really help that as you grow older, the faster time seems to flow. For gods who have lived for eons, well… a single blink is like the entire life of a mortal.
Long story short, despite the gods' pride, they were a species that were filled with flaws as far as the horizon reaches.
Erebus' right eye opened as a knock was heard on the door before it opened. Blonde hair and dog ears peeked inside nervously as the girl's red eyes shot around the room before landing on the god.
"Ah… Erebus-sama-" She said before entering, her maid uniform replaced by a casual red shirt and black pants which clearly was picked out by Elora judging by the style.
"Fina, nice of you to visit little old me. What can I do for you" Erebus chuckled slightly as he leaned forward as he tilted his head, smiling slightly at the company.
"Ehm… is it okay if I sit?" She asked nervously as he nodded, motioning with his hand to the seat next to him.
As she plopped down, he could practically see the nervousness on her face as she prepared her words.
"Fina, I'm not going to grow a second head and chew you into pieces. No need to be so nervous" He joked as she chuckled a little awkwardly but clearly being somewhat relieved.
"It's just… I have thought about something Bell-sama has said to me. At first… I was against it, scared really" She admitted as he listened intently.
"But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I'm letting my fear control me…" She stopped, seemingly deciding her next words.
"Is this about me giving you a Falna?" Erebus asked as the red eyes of Fina widened before nodding slowly.
"I didn't-Don't mean to be presumptions… it's just that it would help out and… Bell offered for me to be a non-combatant" She said, fumbling with her words as Erebus chuckled.
"It's alright Fina. Bell was the one who offered and I don't have anything against it either. That's the blessing of both the captain and deity of the familia so…" he smirked as she nodded, blushing slightly.
"Do you want me to bestow it now or?" He asked as she nodded again.
"Alright then, strip" He said as the blonde chienthrope sputtered at the god as he just smiled at her in amusement.
"Your back I mean" he clarified as she instantly stopped, blushing harder before shifting her seating position so that her back was facing him before cautiously pulling up her shirt.
"This should only take a second" Erebus told her as he bit into his finger before putting his finger on her back without a second of hesitation, making the girl squeak in surprise at the sudden warm wet feeling that touched her back before rapidly expanding in a sea of light that made the room seem dim in comparison.
The light faded after a few seconds as the god pulled back his finger before humming.
"There, you're officially a level 1" he told her as she looked behind her as she tilted her head.
"Oh, right. One second" Erebus said before reaching over and grabbing the paper Elora had used to scribble down the things they needed for the expedition, flipping it over and putting it on her back.
After a second she pulled it back before nodding.
"There, you can put your shirt back on" Listening to the god, she pulled her shirt down before turning to him, the sheet of paper in front of her as he motioned his head to take it.
Hesitantly, she did and read it over, feeling somewhat surreal at the fact that she actually had a status.
"Hmm… I don't feel different?" She said to herself as she had always had the impression that gaining a status was like feeling powerful.
"Oh, don't worry. Most people think that way too, but you won't really notice the difference until you work your body and mind. You'll be able to do more not only quicker, but also more efficiently" he said as she nodded a little dumbly before looking down at the status, reading through it one more time.
Name: Fina Cremond
Lv 1
Status:
{STR} I-0
{VIT} I-0
{DEX} I-0
{AGI} I-0
{MAG} I-0
Magic:
Skills:
Development Abilities:
If her status was described in one word, then it would be this:
Ordinary
But Erebus smiled, knowing even something ordinary, can grow into something truly special. Bell Cranel was the prime example of that, going from an ordinary farmer to the national hero of two countries and arguably the most powerful mortal alive.
He couldn't help but wonder just how far Fina would go. Perha-
Erebus' face instantly fell into surprise as Fina picked up on it rather quickly.
"Erebus-sama? Is something wrong?" She asked as he turned to look out the window towards Babel tower.
"I don't know… but one of the links to the others just weakened" He muttered.
"What… wait! Are the others alright?" The girl instantly shot up in concern as he turned back to her.
"I don't know…"
=Ten minute earlier, 50th floor=
As the group re-entered the 50th floor. The group let out a sigh of relief at the knowledge of being in a safety zone.
Despite that fact, Bell's senses wouldn't calm down. His gut was screaming at him that something was wrong as the feeling of being watched was ten times worse than it was the last time he was here.
Elora glanced at her husband, frowning as his eyes scanned the environment with a worried expression etched onto his face. After a second, she too felt something odd, despite the floor being a safety zone, it was too quiet. The artificial wind of the dungeon usually always caused a static noise of wind and ruffling leaves… but it was silent… utterly silent.
"Everyone, stop!" Elora instantly called out as their conversations died down, snapping their heads towards the elf before quickly noticing Bell's predicament.
"Bell-sama?" Lili asked as Bache too honed her senses, noticing the bizarre situation.
"It's too quiet" She said quickly as rest turned to her in confusion "Not even the wind… nothing" Bache said as Bell's head snapped to his left, glaring into the thickness of the leaves as nothing seemed to be there.
Squinting his eyes in the exact direction he thought he heard something from, a slight twist of one of the leaves set him off as without thinking, he grabbed one of his throwing knives and threw it at full force straight towards the movement.
As if in slow motion, he saw his knife fly forward in the air before impacting something before being sent flying to the side.
What he saw next is something that almost made him want to puke in disgust as out of nowhere, a monster materialized out of thin air. A monster that's a mess of differing limbs, body parts and guts hanging out getting down on all four, it's all too large snake like head letting out an ear shattering screech.
"WHAT IN THE HELL IS THAT THING!?" Welf screamed as he pulled out his magic sword and swung it before in a split second, it launched to the side at extreme speed, landing on the side of a tree and sticking to it.
"Lili has no clue! Get into formation!" She called out as it rapidly began jumping between the trees in swift scuttling motions that were bizarre for its mashup of body parts.
Mikoto instantly began chanting her magic as its head snapped to her before launching off of one of the trees at extreme speeds, two of its limbs reaching out towards her with long, sharp claws before something slammed into it, pulling it along as they pummeled through the treeline.
Taking a step back in shock, as Elora and Bache had ran up to her to assist her, they looked forward where Bell was on top of the monster, trying to hold it down before it snaked an arm around his waist that wasn't occupied before slamming him onto the ground to the side hard before repeating the action again and again.
"Get your hands off him!" Elora screamed as she launched forward with her skill, sliding across the ground before cutting straight through the appendage holding Bell in a vice grip before it fell to the floor with a thud.
"Thanks" He nodded at her before looking back at the monstrosity before literally watching as the limb grew back in the span of a second.
"It can regenerate huh… noted" Bell muttered as he pulled out his dagger and shortsword, quickly activating scourge and an instant argonaut charge, he burst forward as the monster scuttled to the side, narrowly dodging the tip of the blade before Bell kicked the air, changing direction and landing a hard kick into its stomach, sending it flying backwards through the treelines.
Jumping back and regrouping with the others, he nodded at them as they did the same before turning back towards the monster.
"Lili, what's the battle plan?" He asked as the prum looked at him for a split second before lowering her eyes thinking.
"It's quick… sharp claws… regenerative abilities-" she was interrupted by a rumbling, shaking the ground around them.
"Haruhime!" Mikoto jumped straight into the renard, roughly pushing her to the side as the ground underneath her imploded as the monster launched into the air.
Without thinking Bache sent a fist straight into its snake like head, twisting it as once again, it was sent flying, rolling on the ground before impaling its claws into the ground, stopping its momentum.
It looked at them, its snake eyes narrowing as it hissed in a low rumble, almost as if evaluating something.
"It can even burrow through the ground… all of those are abilities from different monsters in the dungeon!" Lili called out as if it all made sense.
"Lili?" Elora asked as she peeked at her, still fully alert at the dangerous monstrosity that was circling around them at this point, its eyes inspecting every single one of them in detail.
"It's claws… they're the same as that of harpies but its hand is shaped like a lygerfang. Its body is that of… something and its head looks like a lambton!" She analyzed as everyone's eyes widened.
"What the hell? Did someone just mash monsters together!?" Welf asked in disgust.
"Who would do something like that?" Aralaya shuddered.
"Lili doesn't know… but we need to be careful. Bell, you do everything you can to keep its attention. Elora, assist him whenever necessary while using your magic. Bache, try to block any escape routes so it can't escape. Mikoto, get your magic up so we can trap it" Lili began barking orders as they moved into position.
"Aralaya, try to herd it close to Bell-sama and interrupt any attempt to burrow into the ground while Haruhime focuses on healing. We don't know if it uses poison. Jannor and Adrienne, Protect Aralaya and Haruhime" She finished as the group quickly and swiftly moved as instructed while Lili stared at the opponent, now low on the ground, hissing as its long tail began swishing in an aggressive manner.
The next moment, it pounced, not wanting to give another moment of thought to its opponent as Bell met it, his sword parrying its claws at the same time as his knife graced its midsection, drawing blood.
Bell tilted his head slightly, narrowly avoiding its tail before rolling into a stable position, only to get rammed hard by the monster as his mind and body reeled from the sudden impact.
"Earth Strike!" Aralaya's magic caused it to flinch slightly to the side as the hardened spikes of earth rose from the ground, leaving Bell flailing through the air while Elora intercepted it in his stead while Bache circled around it.
"Welf-sama" Lili uttered as the smith turned to her, tilting his head.
"I want you to keep an eye out for any magical power it uses" The smith instantly caught on to what she was asking.
"Ah… so that's why you didn't give me instructions" He chuckled before nodding, his eyes latching onto the creature as instructed.
"Yes… it's weird. The thing reminds me of a myth" Lili began as he hummed, listening to the commander of the party.
"This myth mentioned a creature that combined the powers of multiple monsters into one to increase the deadliness of it… but the body parts don't add up. The one in the myth had a wolf head" Welf glanced at her at the continuation.
"So… it changes?" He asked as she nodded.
"Maybe… but the myth did give a name to the monster"
"Really… well shit, can't be good, can it?" He asked as she shrugged, keeping an eye out as Bache went in, kicking it's leg before retreating while Elora went in for a follow up attack, sending it into the ground.
"It's called the 'Chimera'"
The moment she said that, Bell launched back into the fight, grabbing ahold of its snout before slamming it over his shoulder with a bang that Lili swore echoed across multiple floors.
Elora moved in to assist, jumping into the air as she aimed her sword down at the monster.
"Secatus Ve-Ah!" She was interrupted as out of the resulting smoke caused by Bell's attack, its tail shot out of it and wrapped around her leg before swinging her around straight into Bell who was on top of it.
"Thunder Strike!" A shot of lightning shot towards it straight from Aralaya as it tried to dodge, only for Bache to launch back into the fight, kneeing it under its chin before wrapping her arms around its throat, holding it in place.
As the magic impacted it, she pulled with all her strength to get it onto the ground as its body twitched in a form of paralysis, giving Bell and Elora time to grab its tail and arms.
"Futsunomitama!" Everyone smiled at the name of Mikoto's magic finishing as the purple magic circle enveloped the ground around the monster and those holding it in place before the magical sword slammed into it, sending wave after wave of gravitational energy into everyone in the vicinity.
The three adventurers managed to stay on their feet, but with the added power of mikoto's magic with their strength, managed to overpower it's leg muscles resistance as it collapsed hard as the three held it down.
The monster let out a screech as it opened its mouth, trying to move its head towards the ground.
"Oh, no you don't!" Bache hissed as she forced herself to change her hold on it's neck before violently twisting it to the side to look up, only to find that she felt no bone snap with a confused frown.
"Bell… charge Argonaut… we need to take it down!" Elora told him through strained breath's as she had some trouble with keeping its arms from moving while he had a grip on its tail and legs.
Nodding, he began charging, at the same time as Elora hissed as she felt a sting from her stomach.
Looking down, her eyes widened as she saw its arms twisted weirdly and claws extended.
"Crap… it can twist… it's limbs" She called out before shaking her head as her vision became slightly blurry.
"What… the-"
"Elora?" Bell asked as he noticed her grip getting weaker, the next moment, its arms came loose, smashing into her as she was sent flying backwards before it swiped its left claw over Bache's forearm while Bell dodged the right one.
"Wha-!" The amazoness hissed before its backhand smashed into her nose, cracking the bone and sending her spiraling into a tree hard enough to break it completely.
"Son of a-" Bell had no time to react as it rolled on the ground, forcing him to suddenly propel around with him before getting pinned down. Without the added help of the three to push it down, the gravity wasn't enough to keep it in place as it began rapidly and violently hitting him over and over again on the ground.
"Bell-sama!" Lili screamed as Welf cursed at the change of the situation. Pulling out his magic sword, he threw a heavy slash, sending a horizontal torrent of flames as the monster jumped back, low enough to the ground to dodge as Bell groaned.
Before the smith could even react, it had pulled out a piece of the ground and chucked it straight into Mikoto, sending her flying back past the entire group faster than their eyes could keep up.
Welf tried to move, only for it to teleport in his vision and smash his side as he felt his bones break before he flew into a tree.
Both Adrienne and Aralaya stood ready to defend with sweat drops rolling down their skin as Lili and Aralaya tried to desperately think of a way out of the situation.
Haruhime was frozen in fear as it made its move, launching forward, appearing before the blonde renard and ignoring the rest as its claws instantaneously impaled her through the stomach before she could react.
The Chimera seemed to savor the moment as it put its claws through Haruhime, it was drooling, seemingly at the thought of taking the renard's head off.
As it pulled her closer, not only was it a horrific scene to see her back ruptured by claws, and her insides only being held in place by what had impaled her, but it also shook almost implying it was getting chills from her pleading and blood curtailing scream.
"NO!" Jannor was the first to react, launching himself straight into it with everything he had, causing it to flinch a few steps before its tail swiped away his weapon and latched around his throat, lifting him off the ground.
"GET OFF THEM!" Both Aralaya and Adrienne screamed as Lili whimpered as tears formed in her eyes at the sight of one of her best friends impaled in the stomach, blood lurching out of her throat as her eyes began glazing over.
Before Adrienne or Aralaya could even get close, its tail swiped at them hard, Jannor still held on tight as their bones too were almost pulverized, sending them flying back before it's eyes latched onto the prum, hissing as the renard slid off of the now bloodied claws of the monster.
As it slowly began making strides towards lili, the girl fell back onto the ground, unable to move as she couldn't help but feel completely helpless at the moment as Jannor violently tried to fight back, even as it squeezed his throat.
The moment it reached her, it didn't hesitate it slammed its foot down onto her chest, causing her to scream out in a pathetic whimper as all the air in the lungs were shot out of them and her internal organs practically turning to mush.
As it kept staring down at the prum, Jannor couldn't help but catch the glimpse of a smirk on its snakelike lips as he reached down towards his belt, pulling out a knife before thrusting it into the tail.
The action sent its attention right at him as it hissed at him, moving him closer towards its yellow eyes as it hissed at him.
Behind it, Jannor saw Elora, getting back on her feet as she looked around in a daze, a bottle on the ground which was empty.
Her eyes latched onto the scene before her in horror before she spotted Jannor, eyes growing wide as its claws moved back as he knew what was coming.
The moment he felt them impale straight through him, he swore that he saw her rushing towards them, the absolute devastation on her face evident as her mouth and throat moved.
"JANNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!" Her scream echoed across the entire floor as she rammed into it the next second, sending it flying back and Jannor tumbling down to the ground as the wounds began painting the ground red.
"M-...om" He uttered weakly as she got back onto her feet, looking torn, desperately wanting to get down right beside him but knowing that the monster would be back any second now.
"BELL!" She called out, hoping to god that he heard her.
"Ugh…." Her head snapped towards the sound as she laid eyes on the man in question, getting back on his feet as she seemed to be shaking off a concussion, his armor smashing in at the chest area and bruises already forming on his face.
"Elora?" He asked as he looked at her before his eyes widened at the sight of everyone on the ground before his heart fell into his gut at the sight of Haruhime, Lili and Jannor.
"No…" He whispered before launching forward, and stopping right in front of the three, not knowing what to do.
"Bell… Ple- I-" Elora tried to formulate words as everytime she tried, her throat clogged up as the emotions began piling up, her heart breaking at the sight of her son in such a state, slowly paling.
Bell stared scanned the entire field, seeing everyone in varying pitiful states of wounds with the three around him being the words. He spotted Aralaya groaning close by before his eyes met that of the monster, walking towards them almost in a calm manner.
"Get Aralaya! Now! I'll hold off this son of a bitch…" He hissed, sheathing his weapons before pulling out the spear.
"No more holding back" He finished, anger completely clouding his entire vision as scourge blasted instantly at extreme power.
Before Elora could see anything, Bell disappeared and a boom echoed across the field, followed by a loud explosion as Bell punched it hard enough to send it flying back into a cliff, collapsing it completely before disappearing within the resulting fog.
"Elora!" Bache called out as the elf turned to her as the amazoness walked up to her, throwing an empty antidote potion bottle to the side.
"Oh god…" She uttered as she saw the three laying on the ground before Elora gave her a pleading look.
"Aralaya…" She uttered, her cheeks stained with tears as Bache nodded before looking around and shooting off.
The next moment, she returned with Aralaya in her arms before putting her down on the ground.
"Do you have any potions? She needs one to cast her magic" Bache asked as Elora faintly nodded, seeming to have gone numb.
Reaching back, she grabbed her remaining potion from her belt before handing it over. Bache popped the cork and practically force fed it to Aralaya who coughed before opening her eyes as her wounds closed.
"Auntie Bache?" She asked as the amazoness nodded.
"Yes… sunshine… we need you to heal your brother. It's an emergency." She requested as she nodded, weakly muttering something about only her father calling her that before coughing slightly again.
"Can't… move. Put my hand on his chest" The half-elf requested as Bache did as she was told.
"Body worn and tired… mend thy self, be-" She coughed, but the magic circle didn't break before she continued "-made whole, and rise again. Balm touch" The green glow enveloped Jannor as Aralaya's eyebrows furrowed, her head tilting to the side as her red eyes laid eyes to his pitiful state.
She nearly sobbed at what she saw as explosions went on in the background of her vision, clouds of smoke enveloping the air from whatever was going on.
"Broth-...er…" She muttered as she felt her mind drain as his wounds stopped bleeding and closed painfully slowly. Elora, still in a state of shock, was simply staring down at her injured son, seemingly unable to even comprehend what was going on around her.
Bache's eyes were flicking between her, the three on the ground, Aralaya and Adrienne leaning against a tree, clearly breathing and alive.
"-thers…." The three jerked as Jannors voice invaded their ears as everyone looked at him, Elora seemingly snapping out of her stupor at clear indication of his survival.
"Jannor… oh god! Thank god you're alive" She instantly moved to hug him as he shook his head.
"Heal… the others" He mumbled as he weakly pointed at Lili and Haruhime "They… need to… stop bleeding" He finished as they understood what he meant. Elora seemed skeptical before Bache sighed, knowing that she was probably the one thinking the clearest at the moment apart from Jannor weirdly enough.
"He's right… he's not bleeding anymore. We should make sure they are alive"
"Okay… move me to them" Aralaya said as Bache did so, as she weakly moved her arm, the potion having healed her enough now to move.
The moment she managed to touch Lili, she chanted her magic and began healing her as she nearly groaned from the strain. Her mind was dangerously low as she hadn't rested since they rested on the 60th floor.
Another explosion rocked the entire floor as Bache's and Elora's heads snapped up, seeing monstrous figures flying through the air before another smaller one followed.
"He's really going all out… isn't he?" Bache muttered as Elora faintly nodded.
The spear in the smaller figure's hand was thrust forward into a throw before it impaled the monster, sending it flying back into the wall as another violent rumble rocked the floor.
"Lets just hope he kills it" Bache continued before looking down, seeing Lili looking healthy enough in her opinion with no more bleeding.
"Aralaya?" She asked as the girl hummed, seemingly tired "You okay?" She asked as the girl nodded weakly.
"Mind… low… last chant" She tried to explain as Bache nodded, understanding her meaning.
"Okay, let me move your arm" She sat down next to Haruhime, before feeling her pulse.
'Its weak' she thought before putting the half-elf's arm onto the renard's arm before she whispered her chant and began healing her.
"Elora… can you check if there are any more mind potions in Lili's backpack?" She asked as the elf seemed skeptical once again to leave Jannors side, but seeing him nodding at her weakly, she complied.
Walking over towards the prum's discarded backpack to the side, thank god it hadn't been crushed, she dug through it, eventually coming up with a few potions before handing them to Bache.
"Thanks. Aralaya, I've got another potion" The girl nodded and opened her mouth as Bache poured it slowly down her throat as she could feel her mind recover slightly as she poured more of it into the healing process.
Opening her eyes, Aralaya looked down at the renard, her eyes looking over her wounds despite her tired and weak state.
The holes had closed and left a large scar, her eyes closed as the blood stained her chin and mouth.
"What's her… pulse-" She uttered as Bache nodded, reaching over and counting the beats.
"16 beats in 15 seconds. It's better than before" She told the girl as she nodded.
"Okay… she should be fine… that's a good… resting pulse" She said before she looked up at her aunt in everything but blood.
"Take me back to my brother… I want to heal him" She said as Bache nodded, walking back to Jannor before putting her on the ground carefully as Aralaya grabbed her brother's hand.
"Body worn and tired, mend thy self, be made whole… and rise again. Balm Touch" She activated her magic again, this time not holding anything back as she increased her output to the maximum before glancing at Bache.
"What's… Lili's pulse?" She asked.
"Ehm… let's see" She said, repeating the action for the prum as she did for the renard.
"Around the same. 14 beats in 15 seconds" she said as she nodded.
"Makes sense. Her body is smaller so she needs less blood pumped as quickly. That's good" She muttered as she felt her mind rapidly deplete as she turned to her mother who's hand now rested onto both of her children's.
"Mom… we'll be fine… what… about dad?" The question made Elora's face contort in emotions she couldn't decipher before turning to the side.
"He's out there… fighting" her words sent the group into silence for a moment as everyone, even Jannor looked towards the now enormous dust cloud that was still growing.
As she felt the last drops of her mind power deplete and her vision twisting and turning while blurring, her mouth moved in a silent prayer for his safety before finally succumbing to the darkness of a mind down.
=Opposite side of the floor=
Every movement, every action and every attack. Bell felt nothing… absolutely nothing as his entire being was burning in agony from the sheer anger and rage that had filled every fiber of his body.
On one end, he had never felt stronger as his left knuckle was broken and mangled from his endurance taking such a large hit and the continued pummeling he had given the monster that had dared lay its claws on his family.
Its every movement was slowed to a near halt from the sheer amount of power scourge was giving him from all this rage and malice aimed at a single being.
He could tell from its eyes that the fact that its smirk was gone meant that it was definitely not happy… in fact, it seemed both angry and scared.
'Good' He couldn't help but think as he sent his left fist into its stomach, punching straight through it as a large hole was created that rapidly healed.
That was the issue at the moment. He could hurt it… he could destroy its body. Heck, even with the spear of Orion thrown at his top strength, it refused to die.
He swore he had destroyed its chest multiple times yet it still managed to stay alive like a cockroach, almost as if it didn't have a magic stone.
It was bizarre but there was only one explanation he could muster up. Its entire body was the magic stone, but the question was. If the spear of Orion couldn't kill it. Then what could?
Frowning as he once again cut off another arm before violently ripping its tail off of its body before slamming it straight into its mouth as it tried to bite him, he tried to formulate a plan.
Its claws clearly had a poisonous effect from what happened to Elora, so maybe?
Taking action, he smashed its face to the side before grabbing the left arm, twisting it and forcing its own claws to impale its throat into its brain.
Twitching, it fell to the ground as the claws fell out before the wounds rapidly healed.
Not taking any chances, he stomped straight through its chest for what felt like the millionth time, splitting its body in half from the force as the ground caved in and cracking, tilting in different directions from the force.
He moved to separate its head as well as its claw moved, swiping as he jumped back before witnessing it grow back its entire lower body.
Bell nearly growled at it before launching himself at it again, thrusting his spear into its shoulder again before letting himself fall to the ground and gliding, making it fall forward onto its back before he jumped and threw the spear into its back, once again, separating its lower torso only for it to grow back.
"COME ON!" He screamed, recalling the spear into his hand as he landed a bit far from it as the dust cloud blocked his view.
A rumbling noise was heard as Bell moved to the side in time as it leaped through the ground, snapping its mouth shut before diving back under.
For a solid fifteen minutes, the two kept going on like this. Bell mangling it, it heals before he mangles it again.
He swore that it never ended. Half the floor had to have been completely obliterated at this point and it was still going. It was as if it didn't have any limits.
Bell froze for a second before frowning as a certain conversion filled his mind.
Flashback:
=Anfesera=
"It's official! I give up!" Bell complained, throwing his hands in the air as his patron god chuckled at the doorway to his smithy.
"That doesn't sound like you. What's the issue?" He asked as Bell looked at him before motioning to the sword.
"I've been trying to get my new sword to cut through anything, even Durandal but I can't get it to work" He said, frustration clear in his mind.
"Hm, what's the issue?"
"Well, no matter what I do, it doesn't cut. The Durandal attribute makes whatever is applied to it unbreakable. Unbreakable means infinite durability… and if it's infinite… I can't cut it!"
"Infinite huh… let me tell you this. Nothing, and I mean nothing in the universe is infinite, even the power of the gods and beyond has a finite limit. Everything strains under enough pressure. Remember that Bell for when things seem impossible. There is no such thing… as infinite"
Flashback end
That's right…
Bell shook his head before glaring at the creature. All he has to do is keep putting pressure on it. Eventually it will run out of energy to heal. The issue is that he had no idea if it would run out of stamina before he did.
"A battle of endurance huh…" He muttered as he frowned. Good thing his rage was still burning and giving him strength. All he had to do was aim it.
Launching straight into it, he pulled out his sword and began to cut off its limbs as fast as he could, over and over, causing it to shriek and flail the attached limbs in hope of hitting him as he weaved under and around them to keep going.
Over and over, its limbs detached as the blood spilled onto the ground before healing, the detached flesh turning to dust by the time another fell to the ground.
As he cut off another arm, he frowned as it seemed to heave before he lurched forward and spat out a large amount of some green liquid he had no idea what it was, forcing him to jump back in case it was toxic, paralytic or acidic. He didn't know, and low and behold, the ground underneath began to smoke and slowly melt as he frowned at it, standing and glaring at him.
Its head turned around, looking towards the smoke before it jumped into the ground, digging into it and creating a large bulge where it was before moving away from him.
Is it… running away?
Bell was confused for only a second before his eyes widened before he shot forward, panic setting in as he knew what it was doing.
As he moved through the dust fog that blocked his vision, he hoped he would make it in time before it reached the others. They were wounded and if it got there before him…
The moment he got out of the large fog, he blinked as he noticed no protrusions in the ground, heading towards the group only for his eyes to widen as he saw it jump up at him, having waited for him to come out.
'Shit!' He hissed in his mind as he realized the trap it had set as he tried to twist in the air to dodge its mouth. He almost succeeded butas it's mouth latched onto his foot, Bell's eyes glanced forward as he saw Elora and Bache looking straight in his direction before he slammed into the ground and the world was enveloped in rocks.
His armor constantly slammed back and forth as he felt himself moving down through the tunnel, dragged along by its teeth having lodged his foot in place within the edge of its lips.
He desperately slammed his elbow into its side over and over, trying to weaken its grip as he felt the temperature drop considerably as his eyes widened at the prospect.
'The Glacier Territory… already?' he thought before realizing it was still diving down. Oh god, if it took him deeper… no. He can't let that happen.
Redoubling his efforts, he charged Argonaut for a few seconds before slamming down hard enough, making it flinch, changing their trajectory violently to the side before being corrected.
"Okay…" He muttered as he charged, forcing out all his anger at once into scourge as he waited, counting the seconds.
5…
10…
20…
30!
"ARGHH!" He screamed as their bodies fell into a giant room right as he slammed his fist straight into its back, cracking its spine and causing it to let go, sending it flying across the entire floor as Bell plummeted to the ground as the impact left a small crater.
"Ow…" He muttered as he pulled himself up and winced as he put pressure on his foot.
The teeth had really gotten him deep, hadn't they?
Shaking his head, he dusted himself off and limped forward slightly before looking around. The moment he did, a feeling of dread filled his being as the landscape spread before him looked similar to that of the mesa like one of the 49th floor… Only the rocks were blood red as the heat began registering for him, burning his skin as most of his hope drained out of his body at the sights before him.
"The… Scorched Hell" He muttered as he fell back on his rear, his head looking up with horror and disbelief at the thought of how deep he was.
A large roar exploded around him as Bell looked around frantically, forcing himself on his feet and readying himself for the monster to return only for it to register in his mind that the sound did not match with the screech it had let out earlier.
It also… sounded to have come from-
His thoughts were interrupted as from beneath the canyon he had landed on, an enormous winged Lion flew into the air before stopping, hovering and scanning the environment as Bell's entire being shook at the monster rex that had revealed itself.
"The… Manticore? This is… the 74th floor! Shit!" He cursed as he got onto his feet, ignoring the pain as he knew he was in no condition to fight it, especially considering that Black Asterion's spawn in extreme numbers down here, estimated at level 7 monsters. There was no way in hell he would be able to handle the current situation in his condition!
Without a second thought, he broke into a sprint and jumped the gap between the canyon as the monster rex spotted him.
"ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" The sound exploded out of its mouth as Bell landed. Looking back, he saw it dive straight for him as he jumped to the side, its massive claws slamming into the ground, cutting deep into the rocks before going back into the air.
As it laid eyes on him again, it opened its maw before large quantities of molten lava flew straight towards him.
"COME ON!"
He screamed as he shot forward, narrowly dodging the magma that melted the ground, clearly hot enough to even burn a level 8 if it so wished.
Shooting off as fast as he could towards what he guessed was the southern side of the floor where the entrance to the 73rd floor should be, he completely zoned out everything around him as his body moved on autopilot.
Monsters birthed from the ground large black minotaurs with red horns rising from the ground with stone axes made from the rocks of the floor, blood red in color to match their horns.
As they blocked Bell's path, he tumbled under their attacks as he hyperventilated from the heat that felt like it was burning his entire body. His temperature nullification was clearly not strong enough for these floors, even with the Salamander and Undine cloth combination he wore.
As the roar sounded again, Bell's intuition screamed at him to move as his muscles followed without so much as a thought. As he dodged to the side, the ground practically exploded for a large blast of wind, clearly having been shot from the monster rex before a bulky arm slammed into his head, sending hurtling into the horn of another Black Asterion, piercing his armor and impaling his back as he screamed.
"AHHHHHHHH!" The pain filled him as he slammed his fist into its face on instinct, making the monster under him recoil, letting him go as he fell to the ground.
"God… damnit" He muttered as he forced himself onto his feet before looking down at his wound one more time in a quick motion.
It should be fine. He was level 7 so it won't kill him, but it still hurts like hell. Forcing the pain down, she began sprinting again, desperate to get away from this floor as he neared the southern wall.
Monsters continued to be born rapidly in front of him as each and every one of them tried to intercept him.
After considerably dodging, weaving and more pain, he spotted the entrance to the 73rd floor.
Giving out a last dash, he burst forward as the monster rex shot down towards him, it's claws on the ready as it smashed into the wall right at the entrance as Bell leaned back on the steps of the stairway, the claws an inch from his face as they moved up and down in a mad attempt to reach and kill him.
After a moment, he retracted as he desperately began crawling up the steps before continuing with his sprint, flinching on nearly every step as his wound flared with pain once again.
'This… Is bad' Bell couldn't help but think as he reached the top, peaking out towards the floor where he saw monsters in the distance wandering around in search of prey.
Looking back, he saw multiple monsters black asterions ascending, clearly chasing him as the roar from the monster rex was heard even from up here.
"Guess I have no choice" He muttered as he walked out, looking around before moving alongside the wall, hugging it to try to avoid attention.
From what he knew, these floors consisted of the region after the glacier territory. Better known as the Scorched hell to Zeus and Hera Familia.
The monsters consisted of insects and demonic creatures adapted to the extreme heat of the environment.
No water was located on these floors so he had to get to the 69th floor as fast as possible to gather ice and melt it. The heat will burn the moisture in his body at an extreme pace.
Only issue was that he was tired. He needed sleep, but nowhere to do so safely.
'I need shelter… then I can return' He thought to himself, knowing that there was no hope of ascending the dungeon in his current condition.
As he continued hugging the wall as he limped and held his wound to stop the blood loss, he kept an eye out for anywhere he could sleep for at least ten minutes.
Anymore would be too long.
As he wandered, every roar, every screech or noise set him off. Judging by the lighting of the dungeon, it was dusk outside and soon the sun would set.
These floors were no good at night. With the burning heat not letting up and it combining with pitch blackness of night…
It felt like hours before he found a small cave-like structure on the floor. Limping towards it, Bell glanced around his surroundings in case anything saw him move towards it before finally reaching it. Once he did, he glanced inside, seeing the cramped rocks, just enough for a person to fit through.
Sighing and deciding to take the risk, he shimmied himself inside before holding out his hand.
"Firebolt" He muttered as the flame formed in his hand, lighting up the small room. It was actually just small enough to hide and rest for a little while so Bell figured it was good.
Sitting down, he let out a sigh of relief as his legs felt like jelly. The battle and the constant running finally caught up with him at the same time as he curled up into a ball in his seated position.
His situation was bad… no, it was borderline hopeless.
No potions… food… water… a deep impalement wound and an injured foot, exhausted and alone within the deepest part of the deep floors.
Even if he was level 7, hope was almost impossible to keep hold of. Closing his eyes, Bell thought back to his family. Their injured state and hoping they were alright.
After a moment, his exhaustion began overpowering him as his consciousness drifted. Unable to fight back, he finally succumbed to it, trying not to imagine the image of his son, impaled and dying alongside his friends before he finally fell into the dark abyss of sleep.
That's chapter 54! I hope you all enjoyed it! All I can say is that fate is fate and that no matter what, the events of the 37th floor is something that Bell is destined to live through in some shape or form… Only this time, he's all alone while his family is wide open for attack.
Anyway, I have nothing much to say apart from that so I'll get right into the reviews.
RebornLikeablackPhoenix:I have a guess, it is absolutely just a guess but.
I think nobody will die. At least I hope so
Also, just thinking about how the death of Hestia resulted in severe depression. Sure, he got Psych but I think if anyone on the expedition dies. well, Bell will break completely, absolutely
Author: Well… you will just have to wait and see muahahaha!
NinjaFang1331:Well back to floor 50th for the expedition group, and I like the scene with Ryuu.
Author: Well, things did go downhill quite quickly, didn't it. Things will only get worse from here!
Vanhellsing9000:Fantastic chapter as always I have to admit this story really makes my day when I get to read a new chapter please keep it up
Author: Thank you! That's really nice of you and I'm happy to hear it! Anway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.
Guest: I hate how you say someone die then reply by saying that his kids are lower level than his previous family because I like them and don't want them to die. I don't like that uncertainty :(but I also get excited I am just weird
Author: Oh… well… ouch… yeah, this chapter… hehe.
That's it for the reviews! As usual, I hope to see you all next time!