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.
55: Lost
=The 50th Floor=
Elora and Bache both stared in disbelief at the hole where Bell and that monster had disappeared down into. Unable to comprehend or accept what had happened, even when nothing was coming back up.
Elora felt as if her heart had shattered multiple times in the past twenty minutes and now once again… was in a million pieces as her eyes looked at what seemed to be the place where her husband was pulled down into the abyss. The man she loved with all of her being had been dragged down, dug deep into the dungeon.
"No…" She whispered, tears glistening her eyes as her head began to shake in denial.
Before she could say anything else, Bache had already exploded onto her feet and shot forward while Elora's limbs seemed to have been sapped of all strength.
It felt like her entire family… everything she had built with her Bell was collapsing in on itself. The only thing she could do was stare as Bache had stopped in front of the hole and looking down, the dungeon already having healed it too much to be traversable.
"Shit! FUCK!" Bache screamed as her hands rose into her hair as she began pacing, trying to make sense of the situation.
The entire group apart from her and Elora were severely injured in one way or another or in an unconscious state of mind. Bell had been dragged down into the dungeon, who knows how far with no supplies.
Her eyes turned to her long eared sister, seeing the state of shock she was in, staring straight at the hole as if she was in absolute agony.
Closing her eyes, Bache took a deep breath, forcing the fear and despair in her own heart back in favor of salvaging what they could of the situation.
"Elora… we need to get everyone away from here" She said after a moment, walking up to the shocked woman and getting down on one knee, putting a hand on her shoulder and slightly shaking her.
"Bell… he's… he's gone…" She mumbled as sandy waves of hair shook through the air at the back and forth movements of its owner's head.
"We don't know that. Bell's tough, for all we know, he's just kicking that thing's ass on another floor" She tried to reason as Elora nodded, trying to latch onto that image of hope in her mind.
"Unfortunately, we can't really check as we don't really know where and on what floor he's on. Especially with six injured on tow. We'd never find him… so let's make the best of our situation and… well… recover. At least until we are able to search for him" Elora was silent for a solid minute before suddenly, her fist contacter her cheek hard as Bache recoiled from the force of the hit, eyes wide.
"Woah! What was that for?" The amazoness asked in worry as Elora spat out some blood on the ground before looking up, her eyes still brimming with tears but seemingly more aware.
"Punching some sense into myself" She muttered before nodding at Bache "So… where should we set up camp for treatment?" Elora's question made Bache smile at her, seeing that she was clearly still shaken but managing to somehow push it down for the moment. She honestly wondered where she got the strength from.
"Well… if I remember right… there should be a small cave we could set up right outside east of north east of here" She answered as she looked in the direction.
"I'll scout ahead. Can you gather everyone and the supplies in one place?" She asked as Elora nodded.
"Good. Hopefully… that thing doesn't dig its way back up to us but we never know… so better get started now" Bache mumbled before shooting off towards the location she saw as Elora eaves her arms under Jannor's body carefully and pulled him up with care that would make even a baby jealous.
Walking over towards the edge of where Bache had left, she gently put him down and carefully let her fingers run through his silky white hair with a pained smile, silently praying for his recovery before getting back up, turning around and inspecting the entire area.
"Well… better get this over with as quickly as possible" She muttered before shooting off towards the next person, that being Aralya and bringing her too, before doing the same to Lili, Haruhime, Welf, Mikoto and Adrienne, the latter seeming delirious but still conscious as she carried her back.
"Ughhh…." The girl mumbled in the elfs arm's as Elora looked her over. She had a deep gash up her back, likely caused when the tail had launched her into the trees with that kind of power, deep enough to worry one if they didn't have at least a level 3 blessing but not really life threatening for a level 4. There were a few broken bones from what her sensitive hearing could pick up on… who was she kidding, practically every bone in her entire midsection and left leg had been pulverized but the wound that worried her the most was definitely the bleeding on the side of her head.
The status was an almost magical thing that made one able to survive absolutely ludicrous things. Getting their body cut in half, dangling on by a thread and surviving for hours without medical care was one such thing. She had seen some absolutely horrific wounds back during her time with the Hecate Familia, especially during Evilus' great attack on Orario.
But if there was one thing that one was susceptible to no matter what.
Brain damage.
Levels do increase the likelihood of healthy recovery, but memory loss was still a commodity from any hard wounds to the head for any adventurer, even first class. The likelihood for damage causing seizures were severely lowered, but amnesia was not something to be taken lightly.
"Auntie…?" Elora snapped out of her thoughts and looked down at the name, meeting the confused orange eyes of the girl in her arms.
"Shh… just rest" She instructed as the girl seemed to absorb her words before tilting her head to the side, trying to analyze her surroundings.
"What… happened?" She asked, ignoring Elora's request as the elf seemed hesitant to answer.
"Where is dad? No… where is everyone?" Her questions seemed to evolve as her eyes grew more awake as Elora could at least take solace in the fact that brain damage wasn't something to be afraid of at least.
"The others are over here" She said, not elaborating as the girl looked to where Elora stared before her eyes widened.
"Brother…! Sis! Everyone!" Her voice was hoarse but grew in strength as she seemed to figure out the condition they all were in as she was put down.
"Auntie… where is dad?" She asked as she looked around, flinching slightly as her back hurt.
"Ehm… honey… that monster… it… well" She struggled to answer as the girl seemed to think the worst of it.
"No… he isn't… right? Please tell me he isn't… please" Adrienne's voice grew hoarse as panic seemed to set in.
"It… dragged him down… he's not dead… god I hope not… but he's most likely deeper" She answered truthfully as the amazoness girl fell back on her gash, ignoring the pain as one arm slung itself over her eye before the other joined it.
"No…" She mumbled, her lips trembling as Elora tried her best not to break down herself.
"I…uh… I'm going to get the supplies" Elora excused herself as she got up quickly and jogged away, leaving Adrienne laying there with her thoughts.
The last thing she remembered was the monster holding her brother up with its tail around his throat and claws impaled in Haruhime's stomach. She and Aralaya had tried to help but it was so fast.
She didn't even have time to blink before her back had been sent flying through the treeline and the searing pain had enveloped her entire vision.
In fact, the pain was still there, only she was more accustomed to it at this point. She couldn't move her left leg, heck, she had trouble breathing, probably from her ribs being broken. It's a wonder she can move at all if she really thought about it.
Her head tilted to the side as she looked at her brother, his face pale and breaths shallow but alive. The thing that alarmed her the most was the fact that the armor on his chest had five deep and large clawmark openings, as if something had pierced through there.
Aralaya next to her looked to be in the best condition, her face colorful and breathing normal. It was as if she was only sleeping. Probably a mind down because no way in hell did those wounds on Haruhime heal on their own just from potions.
They were useful, but there were definite limits to them unless they were elixirs. Unfortunately, they didn't have any with them from what she knew.
Welf and Mikoto seemed to be in pain as they remained unconscious while Lili was in a similar state as her brother, pale with shallow breaths. Haruhime as well for obvious reasons.
"Adrienne?" The girl turned towards the forestline, her mother's identical colored eyes staring back at her in worry as the girl forced on a smile.
"Mom…" She mumbled as Bache instantly moved to her side, looking her over.
"God… can you move?" She asked as Adrienne shook her head.
"Can't move anything below my midsection. Can feel it though so nothing's lost permanently" She answered back as the worried eyes of her mother seemed to scan her over "My back hurts thought…" She mumbled again as Bache nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder carefully before lifting her slowly and inspecting the wound, nearly wincing and gasping at the same time.
"We need to treat you for that…"
"We will… but Aralaya…well, we need her healing" Bache looked up as Elora walked up to the two, Lili's backpack slung over her shoulder as she looked towards where her daughter lay in a mind down with sad eyes.
"Yeah…"
"Did you find the cave?" Elora's question made the amazoness realize what she had been doing before nodding.
"Yeah, it was empty so we should be able to set up camp there" She answered as the elf nodded, ears perking at some good news.
"Alright, here. Get her to drink this potion. Better to get some healing done" Elora threw Bache three high potions as the amazoness caught them and nodded "Get Welf and Mikoto to drink them as well. Where is this cave anyway?" She asked.
"Just go straight through the treeline, it's at the base of a cliff" Nodding, Elora followed the direction, disappearing into the forest as Bache popped the cork on one of the potions before feeding it to Adrienne who gladly began chugging it down.
Potions were set up into three categories. Regular Potion, High potions and Elixirs. Each category had a regular potion variety for wounds and magic potion for mind power. Regular potions only healed minor wounds like scratches, twisted ankles, bruises and such. High potions were much stronger, able to heal deep lacerations, broken bones even if pulverized and such.
Elixir though… Those things were ludicrously powerful, able to save someone from the most severe of wounds that some spells even had difficulty in. It was the only potion that could match the efficiency of magic to the fullest.
Only issue being that they were rare with Dian Cecht familia only having two for sale at once and each costing five hundred thousand each.
They hadn't thought they would need one down here so they hadn't purchased one. Something Bache deeply regretted at this point.
"Oh god… that's better" Adrienne nearly moaned in appreciation as the laceration on her back closed itself and her bones began mending together, though slowly. High potions could definitely heal pulverized bones, but only to a state of them not being pulverized any longer, instead being simply broken.
It's not recommended taking two potions back to back unless absolutely necessary for survival as it could have adverse side effects. Potion poisoning was a serious and real thing.
"I'm going to head over and get the others healed up some as well" Bache said as she set Adrienne's head back onto the ground, nodding at the same time.
Moving over, she fed the potions to both Welf and Mikoto, forcing it down their throats before sighing out in relief. Everyone's condition seemed to be somewhat stabilized at the moment, but who knew for how long?
Hearing a rustle behind her, she peeked over before sighing out as Elora walked around a bush.
"I found it. Let's move the most injured first into the cave" She suggested as Bache hummed.
"Yeah… but is it smart leaving them unguarded?" The amazoness asked as Elora frowned, skeptical at the concept.
"I can watch them" The two looked over at Adrienne, now leaning on her elbows as she pushed herself into a seated position, her left leg pushed forward so as to not disturb the bones position.
"I might not be able to fight like this, but I can still scream" She smiles lightly at them despite the situation.
"Absolutley no-"
"She's right" Elora cut Bache off as the chocolate colored woman stared at her in shock, clearly having expected the elf to agree with her.
"We need to get them to safety the fastest and going one at a time is only a waste of time. Let's trust her. She's injured, not incapable" The reasoning made sense, much to Bache's frustrations, but she understood nonetheless.
"Fine… I'll get Haruhime, you get Jannor?" She asked as Elora nodded. Agreeing that moving the most injured first was for the best.
The two grabbed them gently before moving through the bushes of the forest.
As Adrienne sighed out, glad that her aunt agreed with her. Looking up at the lights on the roof, she couldn't help but notice the dimmed effect on them, indicating the coming of night.
Soon the floor would be dark and barely lit, but at least they would be safe. She could only pray that her father was safe as well.
Minutes passed as Adrienne kept an eye out, hoping for the best as she waited for the two to return.
It didn't help that every little sound set her off, which was actually a considerable amount due to the enhanced hearing from being a level 4.
It wasn't until at least ten minutes passed that she swore she heard voices. Not from behind her through the treeline where Bache and Elora had headed, but in front of her to the left, behind the trees there.
Carefully reaching back, she grabbed a dagger and prepared to at least defend herself, waiting for confirmation before actually screaming.
"...you sure that… could have left…" She could make out snippets of a conversation as she frowned. Was there another expedition going on at the moment from another familia? No, that made no sense. The only other familia that goes this deep regularly is Loki Familia and they didn't have any planned expeditions.
As she tried to make sense of it all, the voices grew louder as she was able to make out more of the conversation.
"Asterius said that he would pass through here. You know that" An admittedly beautiful female voice sounded before another was heard.
"Yes, but that bullhead had no attention span. He sees something interesting and any plan before goes out the window" A higher pitched voice was heard, female as well.
"Ladies, please. Let us simply search for our friend and return. There is no need for this bickering" A male one was heard as the bushes began to rustle.
"Let has a point. Come on, let's just search the floor before…" The beautiful voice died out as they walked out into the open and demolished field, staring at the destruction in confusion as Adrienne's eyes widened before morphing into utter confusion.
'Monsters…? No, wha-' She thought as she blinked, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
"Damn…" The pale woman next to the Siren with long ears and amber eyes muttered, her silver blue hair going down to her legs as her bust was covered by her scales.
The goblin seemed to be looking around before his eyes landed on her, his widening as Adrienne instantly raised her blade, pushing herself backwards a step in slight fear.
"Ladies!" He called out as the two looked at him before their eyes turned to her, widening as Adrienne couldn't help but shake.
"A human girl… down here? Wait… no, amazoness" The Siren mentioned as the Vouivre looked her over before gasping.
"Ray! She's injured! Come on!" She said as she began jogging towards her, only making Adrienne's panic worse as her mind went a million miles a minute, unable to focus on anything as the monsters got closer and closer and-
'Oh god… I'm going to die!'
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" She screamed at the top of her lungs in desperation as she realized that her aunt and mother were still nearby and should hear her.
"Hey! We aren't going to hurt you… okay! My name is Wiene… this is Rei and Let. I promise, we mean no harm" Wiene got down on her knees in front of Adrienne who's head turned to the side in confusion before what she had said seemed to register.
"Wiene…? As in Wiene of the Xenos?" She asked as the Vouivre seemed to recoil before smiling and nodding.
"That's right… I'm Wiene of the Xenos"
"ADRIENNE!" She heard Bache call out before she burst out of the treeline, skidding to a halt before her eyes instantly took in the scene before narrowing.
"Wait! Mom-!" Bache shot forward as Adrienne's mouth moved.
"IT'S WIENE!" She screamed as the fist stopped close enough to Wiene's face that the pale skinned Xenos felt her knuckles touch her skin.
"Wiene?" She asked in confusion before seemingly realizing the monsters weren't attacking.
"Yes, the one dad talked about!" She explained as Bache processed the information.
"Dad?" All three Xenos asked at the same time as the two just ignored them.
"Oh… thank god…" She sighed out, falling back on her rear "You almost gave me a panic attack" She mumbled as her daughter mumbled an apology.
"Adrienne! Bache! What's going on!?" Elora came shooting out of the treeline before her worried eyes grew confused before she spotted the dragon girl.
"Wiene?" She asked as Xenos looked at her in confusion before nodding.
"Yes? Do we know you?" She asked before shaking her head "Actually… I don't mean to be rude but… do we know any of you?" she asked, as Rei and Let mirrored her confusion.
"Well… yes" Elora said before shaking her head and walking towards them more calmly "More accurately, you know my husband" She clarified before stopping in front of her.
"I'm Elora, Elora Cranel" The name sent a wave of recognition into Wiene's eyes as Ray's widened the surname.
"Cranel?"
"Elora!? The same Elora I talked to on the Oculus?" She asked as the elf nodded.
"Yes, it's nice to meet you but… I wished it was under better circumstances" She said, her eyes growing sad as she moved to the side, looking at the four on the ground.
"Haruhime!" Wiene instantly recognized the renard before shooting forward and leaning over her, her eyes recognizing everyone else apart from the half elf which she guessed was Aralaya that Bell had mentioned.
"What happened?" Rei asked in alarm as the three mortals looked down on the ground.
"Some… abomination…" She responded.
"Lili called it a Chimera" Adrienne piped up as everyone turned to her.
"Chimera?" Rei asked in confusion "What's a chimera?" She asked again as Elora looked at Bache who nodded towards Ray.
"Some… amalgamation of monsters. It was freaky. body of a black minotaur, long tail, lambton head… Harpy claw but the hand shape of a lygerfang"
"Weird… never heard of it… and it did this to you all?" She asked as she nodded.
"Yes…" She mumbled as Wiene looked up at Rei who met her eyes.
"Where is Bell?" The Vouivre asked as Elora nearly sobbed.
"Ehm… it…uh- it took him" She answered as their eyes widened.
""What…?"" Rei breathed out at the same time as Wiene as Let simply stared in utter shock "What do you mean it 'took' him?" Rei tried to get a clarification as Elora sobbed.
"I- I mean too bit his leg and dug down into the dungeon! We have no idea where he is, if he's alive… or if it killed him." Rei took a step back as her head turned to the side, closing her eyes as her feathered arm covered her chest, feeling her heart speed up in shock.
"No… NO! Ray, we need to find him! Elora, do you have any idea how deep?" She asked as she shook her head.
"No… At this point, they could be anywhere. The 60th floor… the 70th… 80th… even the 90th" Her voice grew quieter as the sentence continued.
"But… can't leave him…" Wiene tried to argue as her eyes welled up in tears as Bache cut him.
"Trust me, there isn't anything we want to do more than charging down there and dragging him back with us but… we can't leave them either. Bell would never forgive us if anything happened to them just because we left them to find him" She reasoned, hating the fact that the situation was so utterly fucked.
"Now… I'll be blunt and ask if you could help us move them to a safer location. There is a cave deeper in the forest where they can rest and we can heal them" She said as the three Xenos stared at her, Wiene and Rei seemingly wanting to argue.
"I agree with the lady. We should help" Let said before any more words could be said as the two other Xenos turned to him as he looked at them determinedly.
"Let's save his family first, before saving him. It is what he would want" He reasoned as Wiene and Rei seemed to ponder it for a moment before sighing.
"Okay…" Wiene said as Rei nodded.
"Good… I'll grab Adrienne. Elora, get Aralaya. Wiene, you can get Mikoto while Rei can get Welf… Ehm… goblin? What's your name?" She asked as Let looked up at her.
"Let. I'll get Lili" He responded as Bache nodded. The group quickly picked up one of the wounded each before heading into the forest, brushing through bushes and leaves on the way.
Despite the desolate color of the trees, the 50th floor still held a sense of life and prosperity that was so unlike what the dungeon stands for. The contrasts to appearance sometimes were staggering.
Some floors gave a sense of dread and hopelessness while others did the exact opposite, almost as if the dungeon itself was trying to play with your hopes.
It didn't take long for the group to arrive at the small cave where Jannor and Haruhime already lay inside.
Gently putting them down with Adrienne leaning against the cave wall, everyone settled down as Bache and Elora got out the camping supplies.
Small talk about what to do occurred between the Xenos and two mortals as Adrienne watched on.
As time passed and tents were put up with a small perimeter, the entire floor was soon plunged into darkness with only a dim light from above and a campfire to give them light.
As dinner was served with Rei volunteering for the first watch, Adrienne couldn't help but feel slightly hopeful for their survival.
She only wished she could say the same for her father. Looking out towards the now pitch black woods due to the leaves covering the dim light from above, she let out a silent prayer for his survival.
=Floor 73=
Bell's eyes groggily opened as pain flared through his entire body as if he had been run over by a minotaur stampede before being put in an oven and cooked alive… oh, and don't forget stabbed, can't forget that.
Blinking his eyes bleary, he groaned. Looked around the tightly packed cavern with the only source of light being the barley large enough gap to the outside.
It took him a moment to truly place where he was and why the hell everything hurt but once he did, he nearly whimpered.
Right… he had been dragged all the way down to the Scorched Hell. The 74th floor before ending up on the 73rd floor.
Looking down at his foot, he noticed its slightly bruised state before remembering how it had looked before. It was a wonder he had even been able to run on before he healed. Lifting himself slightly and reached back and touched the wound where the Black Asterion had impaled him.
Clotted, that's good. If an impalement that deep had healed this much during his rest, then small wounds would have already disappeared, though they still left a soreness in their wake.
The benefits of being level 7 he supposed.
The 70th to 79th floor according to Zeus Familia was recommended to be level 6 at bare minimum and level 7 preferably if not higher. He was definitely high enough to survive the floor, but not enough to completely mitigate the heat.
Only problem was that the recommendations by the Zeus and Hera Familia's were based on average party strength. Soloing these floors were… Well, another story entirely.
If one looked at the dungeons setup in detail, it would become painfully clear that the deeper you went, the more unfriendly it became to solo adventurers. It's very doable to solo the 1st to 12th floor… but the 13th to 17th were a big step up in difficulty.
The 19th to 24th were… well, almost hell with one mistake leading to deadly poisoning while the 25th to 27th being undoable unless a level above the average party level recommendation.
Down here on the 73rd… it was basically not even considered to be a possibility to solo it by the Zeus and Hera Familia as it was just that dangerous. Only reason one would do it would be to level up.
Now he was in that exact predicament but with no supplies, injured to boot and unknowing of the layout. Sure, he knew the basics. The entrance to the 72nd floor should be in the north as they change each floor.
If the entrance to go deeper is in the north on one floor, the next one would be in the south on the opposite side of the floor.
It's one of the few constants throughout the dungeon with only one exception, that being the 18th floor.
Bell groaned as he forced himself onto his feet, flinching as his muscles complained at the movement.
He felt sore all over and quite literally, his wound on his back hurt like hell.
Well, all things considered, at least his arm wasn't broken and unusable. At least it's something.
Holding out his left hand, he winced at the sore state it was in. It was obvious his body hadn't been able to heal it. It was bent in the wrong way, mangled to hell with every bone in the hand clearly out of position or broken.
Bell contemplated it for a second before putting his right one softly on top of it, slightly squeezing and twisting carefully despite the pain as he listened.
As the bones inside moved, Bell waited for it before he heard a tiny pop from the bone slotting back into place before repeating the action a total of 34 times, 7 times extra for the 7 bones broken in half.
Sighing in relief at the fact that his hand could now heal properly, he reached back with his right one and felt his belt, inspecting what was left
'Weapons intact… no potions… food or water… three throwing knives' he tallied before retracting trying to move his armor at the chest only for it to fail to respond, only creaking a bit as he frowned.
That monster definitely messed it up somehow. Guess mangling it too much messes with its ability to morph.
Moving to unstrap the armor, Bell let it fall to the ground with a clang before grabbing the hem of his shirt and pulling, ripping a long piece of it off before carefully wrapping it around his hand.
He would have to make sure to not stress the appendage too much in order to let it heal. It would be in a movable state within a day or so… but that would require him to survive for that long.
He could probably go for three days without water within these conditions but honestly speaking, he'd rather make headway towards the 69th floor before then.
Getting through the 73rd to 70th floor took a long time with the sheer size of them on top of the fact that Bell hadn't had a map to analyze so in technicality, he only knew the general direction to head in. Otherwise, he was completely and utterly lost.
Making up his mind, he reattached his armor and moved towards the exit and carefully shimmied out, listening for even an inch of movement outside.
As the artificial light from the ceiling hit him, squeezed his eyes shut at the sudden change of pace before quickly adapting to it.
Blinking, he noticed his general proximity to the wall with the entrance to the 74th only a few hundred meters away.
That would mean he had to head in the opposite direction from there.
Moving around the clifflike structure the cave was in, he got quite a good view over the floor where in the distance he spotted multiple monsters.
Kebular's with their thick and seemingly obese bodies flying through the air with their wings while other monsters such as Desert Wyrms, Black Scorpions and Desert Hyenas were wandering the ground.
Carefully moving forward as he kept his eyes on his surroundings, Bell tried to mentally map everything he saw.
The general structure in front of him was a giant canyon that weaved around like a maze with him standing on top of it on one of its 'walls'. If he remembered correctly, most of the monster population on these floors were actually focused on the bottom of the canyon as it was impossible to make it across the floor without entering it. After all, the way towards the passageway up to the 72nd floor was down there.
Going down to go up… weird structure but it's the dungeon so he can't really argue.
The entrance, if he had to guess, should be on the opposite side of the floor so it would be the smartest to stay on top of the canyon until he gets close enough.
Minimizing the amount of battles and energy expended was key to survival. With no food or water, the energy he had now was all he had, especially considering that the more he fought, the quicker his thirst would grow.
Making up his mind, Bell drew out his sword before beginning his trudge forward.
As he maneuvered around the large pitfalls towards the canyon, his hearing and senses were completely focused on identifying any threats at all. The Kelubar's weren't really that much of a worry as they might be able to fly, but their eyesight was beyond horrid.
His eyes looked up to the side where one flew right past him as he held his breath. They relied on their hearing almost completely and his footsteps were intentionally harsh to imitate that of a large monster such as a minotaur.
If they heard something that caught their attention, they would fly in to investigate so as long as you didn't make any suspicious sounds, you were good.
It was the Desert Hyena's he was most worried about. Their sense of smell was impeccable, making even demi-humans blush in embarrassment.
According to Zald, they could smell out someone from miles away like a bloodhound with ease so it was only a matter of time before one locked onto his scent.
Normally, he would have masked his scent with monster blood, but as was injured and didn't have any on demand, well… he was shit out of luck in that department
Thankfully, so far nothing seemed to have detected him though he still had a long way to walk until he even made it one quarter of the way to his destination.
The floor was over three times larger than Orario, making the floor large enough to encompass an entire country.
He wished he was kidding, but he's not.
Looking behind him, Bell couldn't help but wonder what happened to the monster after he had launched it across the floor.
There was no way in Gekai, heck, even Teknai for that matter that it died from that. So it begged the question.
Where is it now? What is it doing?
It could be watching him, but he doubted that quite strongly. In his current condition, it would be a prime opportunity for it to attack him. Also, he would have sensed the eyes on him, he did before.
Frowning, his eyes darted up before shooting to the side and down. Thinking about it, back then there were two separate feelings of being watched and if he paid attention… that second one, the one not from the monster was still there.
'The Divine One' He thought to himself as he felt the eyes retreat, as if spooked at the fact that he had sensed them.
Whatever it is, he had a feeling that it was definitely not good. Unfortunately, he had more pressing matters to attend to. Namely, actually surviving.
He was snapped out of his thoughts as he arrived at the edge of one of the canyons. Peeking down, his stomach dropped at the sheer amount of monsters roaming around or… well, jumping around for the grasshopper monster known as the Pernicon.
Why a grasshopper monster was in this scorching wasteland of an environment, he had no idea, but it was.
Sighing, he took a step back from the edge before looking over. The gap stretched for miles in both directions to his left and right and he had no idea how long it would take to go around.
Sighing, he knew there was only one real option… and that was to jump it. Well, it was definitely doable, the only issue being that there was no way in hell that the Kelubars patrolling the skies wouldn't detect him from the noise.
'Well… I knew I would have to fight eventually' He thought as he tightened the grip on his sword.
Mentally preparing himself, he moved some distance for himself before shooting forward, leaping across the canyon as the air rushed past his face.
With a loud thud and crack in the ground from the force, he nearly winced as his foot shot surges of searing pain in response.
Note to self, next time, land better… and quieter. Looking around, he could practically feel the black eyes of every Kelubar within a miles radius if not more glaring in his direction.
Forcing himself up, he began sprinting forward, favoring his left foot. Feeling a sudden surge of heat, Bell leaned back as he slid on the ground, a large ball of searing white flames shooting past him as his chest nearly touched it.
God he had forgotten that. The Kelubar's signature weapon? Flames hot enough to burn even the level 8 Maxim. Bell did not want to test his chances with a direct hit.
Quickly recovering and rolling on the ground, he pushed himself into the air with his good hand before reaching back, grabbing a throwing knife and chucking it straight into the Kelubar's chest as its eyes widened.
As it exploded into dust, two more shot flames right past it as Bell twisted his body just enough so that he moved over the flames, the heat still making him hiss in return.
More and more seemed to be heading towards him as Bell mentally cursed as the situation got out of hand.
He had to either get out of here or endure a monster assault. There wasn't a single possibility that other monsters wouldn't hear the commotion so…
Bell ran for it, pulling out the spear of Orion as he reached the edge of the next canyon. Slamming it into the ground with everything he had, his body shot upwards from the force as the entire structure underneath collapsed, drowning the monsters below in a sea of rocks.
It was the only way he could think of to outpace the monsters. In his state, he couldn't run at full speed, and with them not only having aerial control, but also Desert Hyenas that were fast as hell… Well, shooting himself across the floor sounded like a good idea.
As he tried to force his body to straighten out, he activated argonaut before smashing his good hand into the air, giving him a surge of speed.
As his eyes spotted where he was headed for a crash landing, he forsake the prospect of control and curled himself up to protect his wounds before smashing into the ground again, bouncing on the ground multiple times before hitting a wall.
'Wait… a wall?' He questioned before gravity once again took control. Peeking past his arms, he cursed as he landed onto the ground, multiple shrieks and confused rumbles were heard as he coughed.
Disoriented, Bell forced himself onto his feet, nearly falling onto his rear before shaking his head.
One moment, his vision was filled with smoke and a dark wide canyon before a large red insect leaped at him with extreme speed, its pincer piercing his armor and ripping into his flesh on his shoulder as he screamed.
Instinct took over as he smashed his wrapped left hand into its abdomen, sending it flying alongside a small chunk of flesh with it as he leaped back, closer to the wall before asserting his situation.
Monsters… literally everywhere ranging from Pernicons, Desert Hyena's, Black Scorpions and even fucking Desert Wyrms.
If one thought that a monster party on the upper floors had many monsters… this was a goddamn army.
"Heh… guys, is there any way we could talk about this?" Bell nervously asked as he instinctually made himself look small as he squeezed the shaft of his spear.
"No? Alright then…" He mumbled as a Desert Hyena pounced. Shifting onto his right foot, he thrust his spear through its stomach before snapping the spear to the side, slicing through it and cutting off the head of a black scorpion's stinger that was heading towards his chest.
His bandaged hand at the same time grabbed onto a Desert Wyrm's large jaw as it tried to snap it down onto him before he twisted his body to the side, throwing it through a good portion of the monsters before letting the momentum take his spear with it, slashing the feet of two Pernicon's and a Black Scorpion.
A pressure hit the shaft of his spear as his eyes darted behind him to see the pincer of another Pernicon stuck on it as he cursed.
There were way too many monsters. For every one he takes out, ten more attack him.
Quickly formulating a plan of action, he charged Argonaut and activated scourge before smashing the spear into the ground, digging it deep into the stones as the shockwave forced the enormous group of monsters back a good amount.
Sliding it right out of where he thrust it, he activated Argonaut again before leaning back and hurled it through the air as the natural power of the weapon activated, blowing apart a path for him to take.
Without hesitation, he shot forward, adrenaline now making the pain dull alongside whatever the hell the poison the Pernicons have in their pincers making its way through is system.
From his guess, paralytic poison. His entire body felt dull, but still usable, probably thanks to his B rank Abnormal Resistance. If he didn't have it, he'd probably be dead already, completely paralyzed and torn apart.
Rushing through the gap created by the spear, he reached out with his hand as the spear lifted into the air, turned around and shot back, slaying any survivors in its wake before snapping into his grip.
Bell nearly lost his balance as his foot suddenly twisted awkwardly before rolling past a Desert Hyena that tried to pounce on him before reaching the end of the passage and leaping up and embedding the spear in his hand.
Using it as a hold, he quickly scanned the environment before his eyes found a small protrusion of rocks.
Quickly acting, he leaned back before swinging himself straight up before landing on the long, thin shaft of the spear.
Without wasting a moment, he kicked his good foot off, propelling him forward while reaching out with his hand, grabbing onto the rock and pushing himself up.
He blinked for a second, the rock underneath shaking as flames impacted it from below before he heard claws cutting through rock.
Were they climbing after him?
Looking down, he cursed before taking a step back and looking up. The structure looked at least sound enough to climb.
Another step back was taken before he jumped as hard as he could with one foot, making it half the way to the top before grabbing hold with his good hand..
Leaning down, he quickly pushed himself upwards to jump to the next ledge before repeating the action, carefully to not jump into the flames the Desert Wyrm's were firing at him.
As he moved to repeat the action again, he winced as he felt something bite into his leg before he looked down, seeing two Pernicon's gnawing at him.
Reacting quickly, he slammed the leg into the wall hard enough for it to crack and break, detaching their hold on him as they fell back down to where they came from.
Well, that's another thing he forgot. Grasshoppers can do what they are aptly named to do. Hopp. Their jump height is massive so no wonder those two reach him.
Not wanting to stay within their range, he once again leaned back as his body grew in number by the second before shooting up and grabbing the top ledge of the canyon and with some difficulty, pulled himself up and rolled onto his back.
Bell's breath sounded like the loudest noise in his ear alongside his heartbeat, his body feeling positively unmovable at this point.
Forcing his muscles to move with more effort than he would have liked, he managed to get up into a seated position before looking around.
Most of the monsters on top were focused on where he had blown apart the top of the canyon quite the way away, probably drawn by the massive noise.
Pulling his hand in front of his face, he opened and closed it, noting how sluggish and slow it felt. His abnormal resistance may be high, but even the weakest poison can kill him in high enough dosages. With a paralytic one as strong as those Pernicon's… it was no wonder that three doses of it was enough to cause this amount of sluggishness.
Anymore and he didn't think that he'd be unable to move it properly at all…
Letting himself fall back on his back, knowing the monsters were too far away and would take at least ten minutes to climb up, he took a deep breath.
That entire series of events went from one to ten in the matter of seconds. All he did was jump over and all hell broke loose.
'Well… at least my jump cleared half the floor' He thought to himself on at least one positive note. He didn't even want to think about the negatives. Three more bite wounds, his throat already feeling parched alongside being in a near paralyzed state.
Oh, also, his hand was most likely once again mangled though he hadn't checked.
Laying there and regaining at least some strength, Bell stayed for five minutes before getting back on his feet before looking up.
If the lighting was anything to go by, he had already wandered for quite a while though it was beyond difficult to tell. The dungeon had a way of distorting time so he had no idea how long he had fallen asleep for, or how long he had been down here alone for.
His guess so far? A day perhaps. His hope? No more than two days but after having passed out, it was impossible to actually know.
Limping forward due to the numbness of his limbs, he made his way forward, dead set towards a singular goal for the day.
Reach the 72nd floor.
'One floor a day… if I can do that… then I might just survive'
He could only hope his prayers for things to not go awry would be answered, unknowing of what lies ahead for him and this botched adventure.
That's chapter 55! Hope you all enjoyed it! Got this chapter out quite quick due to not having much on the plate as of the moment. Also, writing this arc is kind of fun. I can see that Omori definitely enjoyed playing with Bell during Vol.14.
Anyway, I won't keep you for long so I'll get straight into the reviews!
Ninjafang1331:Excellent job on with the chimera fight and Bell experiences a fall to the really lower levels. And I like what you did there in the chapter. In canon Bell fell down to the 37th floor but you doubled it to the 74th floor. I can't wait to read on how Bell gets out of this mess.
Author: Funny part is, that's actually a coincidence. Me and Viceroy weren't sure how deep we should put him but settled for the 74th floor as a starting point which coincidentally, is 37 multiplied by two. The fact that 73 is reversed didn't even cross our thoughts either xD.
Stevenpiskunov2:This chapter really blew away my expectations, well done, really I enjoyed reading this. So instead of the Juggernaut Bell and Ryu escape from the Chimera this time? Then again Bell was taken by the lambaton (idk if I spelled it right lol) and the Chimera did the same thing so it's either the Chimera replacing the Juggernaut or you must have something else that's far worse. Oh and the Asterion we see is the monster that Asterius is? I thought Asterius was just an irregular Minotaur.
Author: Well, I don't know about replacing. There is a plot reason for it being there as well, but that's actually for way down the line so I won't say anything more on that. Also, trust me, Bell's predicament is worse than it seems… way worse.
Also, Asterius in technicality is an irregular minotaur. We just decided to explain his absolutely ludicrous strength compared to a minotaur in a different way. Lyd is a lizardman which by the dungeons standards, should be stronger than a Minotaur, so with Asterius being a monster that's naturally stronger than a Lizardman, it gives him a reason for being so much more powerful than the other Xenos.
RebornLikeablackPhoenix:It feels like that you two have developed sadistic habits...
At least with the cliff hanger and all
Still, a good chapter
I hope for more soon
And why do I get the feeling that the others will move down to search for him…
Author: Well, I do admit that I did get a bit sadistic in that chapter… and Viceroy's depiction of how it wanted to bite off Haruhime's head was… well, it showed his dark side so to say xD.
About the moving down part… we'll just have to see :)
Angryhenry:holy cracker jacks that got violent xD
Author: Haha, well let's just say the sunshines and rainbows are over. The story is definitely re-embracing its dark roots now so prepare yourselves for more violence!
That's it for the reviews! As always, I hope to see you all next time!