Sorry for bot posting in a few days, this is a longer one that normal. Also, weekend.
Anyway enjoy and remember Danmachi isn't mine. Big sad.
A/N: I will admit to taking some fo the dialogue from Light novel 7 as I was stuck on what to write and as I had to copy that part of the story, I was left with little choice. Sorry.
"Tammuz is dead."
Ishtar felt it. The blessing, it had disappeared. It was the same feeling she had felt 15 minutes before as well.
She knew it was Tammuz. He was her current favourite.
"How could he have died, that's not possible."
Ishtar thought back to the last time she saw him. How she had sent him along on the mission to capture Bell Cranel.
Her anger started to rise.
"I thought they were going to give him Haruhime's power boost. Who defeated Tammuz as a level 5."
She thought back to the plan, why she had sent him in the first place.
Her anger kept rising.
"That half-elf from the War Game, he was meant to take him out."
Ishtar remembered seeing the bleached haired half-elf in the Apollo War Game. She also remembered seeing a hooded boy roaming about in Knossos. A pair of swords strapped to his sides and a slight bit of bleached white hair poking out. He was always following her.
Just the thought of that Goddess made Ishtar shiver as a cold feeling ran up her spine.
It did little to quell her now seething rage.
"I'm going to personally see to it that little shit is dead!"
The scream that came from the top floor of Belit Belili was heard throughout the red-light District, everyone pausing, shaking at the thought of what had made the Goddess of Beauty so angry.
Some of them prayed for the person who now faces her wrath.
"Ge ge ge ge, these weaklings were too easy." A frog-like woman cackled.
"Should we take all of them with us or leave them to the monsters, Aisha?" A grey-haired amazon asked, turning to another amazon.
"Let's bring them with us and chuck them in the cells. Lena, you grab the prum girl, Samira, you get the guy, I'll grab the girl and Phryne can carry the Little Rookie.
"Rodger," Lena called as she and Samira walked over to their two new items of luggage.
Lena got to the prum girl first as the Red-headed man was still a few metres behind her. She didn't bother to turn around and instead hoisted the small figure onto her shoulder and started walking back towards the others. After a few seconds, she still couldn't hear Samira walking behind her.
"Hey Samira, hurry.." Lena was cut off by the sight in front of her. When she had turned around to look where her comrade was, what she saw was blood curling.
"SAMIRAAAA!"
"Lena, what's wrong?" Aisha worriedly asked, running up to her screaming sister. Her question was answered as she also saw what had made the young amazon scream.
Samira was on the ground face up, a sword pinning her to the floor through her forehead.
Aisha recognised that sword. She had seen it in the Hestia vs Apollo War Game. Along with its sibling, it had taken on 65 level 1 and 2 adventures. She knew he they belonged to.
'Tammuz failed, that's impossible.'
However, her reasoning was quickly smashed as she once again felt a massive impact of bloodlust approaching fast. She looked up and knew that whatever was giving off that aura was descending towards them.
"Lena, we have to run."
Lena didn't respond nor move, as she also felt the bloodlust. It was the same feeling she and a few others felt just before Haruhime gave Tammuz her magic and he had jumped away.
"LENA, DROP THE PRUM AND RUN. NOW! GET TO PHRYNE!"
Aisha's scream brought her back to reality and she did as commanded without a second thought. She immediately dropped the girl she was holding and sprinted as fast she could back to Phryne.
"What's going on. What are you ugly idiots screaming about."
However, a second later she also felt it. The bloodlust. She felt its strength. Normally she would lavish in this. She was the Androctonus, slayer of men. She revelled in strength, like most amazons. But this, this was too much. She felt fear for the first time in a long time.
"Phryne we are going, get running now. We have the Little Rookie. Let's move."
Aisha started barking out orders to the remaining amazons there, telling them to run as fast as possible. No one questioned why as they had all felt the same thing as her.
Aisha turned back around. She didn't know why she did it. She would later come to regret it as what she saw terrified her of the near future, knowing that that thing was going to come for them.
Behind her stood a boy, who by all logic and common sense should not be standing there but shoould instead be dead on the dungeon floor. A mask covered his eyes but she could tell they were looking straight at her with apure wrath. That was the only emotion she could think of as she thought back on the memory. Anger. Anger shot from his eyes as he plucked the sword that was buried deep into her fallen sister's brain, the other one being ready to be thrown at her.
Before her inevitable death, the boy turned his head around towards a drak tunnel, looked back at them, looked down at the two people near his feet and shouted.
"GOD DAMN IT!"
Nathan had found where his other Familia members were. He saw a group of amazons down a wide crevasse. He looked around and saw Welf and Lili, quickly finding them unconscious. Nathan narrowed his eyes at the two amazons approaching them, seeing the smaller one pick up Lili. He targeted the other one first, recognising her as the Berbera, Bite. A throw of his sword was enough for her as it implanted in her head. As he jumped down the hole, he heard the other girl shout and after he had landed, he saw that Lili had been dropped. Nathan looked ahead to see where the girl had run off too and his anger flared even more. He saw Androctonus and Antianeira carrying a knocked-out Bell and Mikoto. He walked over to the dead amazon and pulled his sword out, now seeing that Antianeira had turned around to look at him. The half-elf stared straight back and readied his sword, aiming it so it didn't fatally hit Mikoto, who was currently slung over the Amazonian woman's shoulder. Before he threw though, he recognised the familiar feeling of the dungeon floor moving.
It seems that having a large number of Adventurers fighting in the same place while making a lot of noise caused danger to appear in the dungeon. That danger reared its head in the form of a monster party. Nathan knew that if he now pursued the Amazons, he would be leaving Lili and Welf to their deaths. He also knew that his fight with Tammuz had worn his energy almost dry and facing Phyrne Jamil in that state would be suicidal, and then add on the number of level 3 amazons with her and whoever gave Tammuz that level boost. He looked down at his fallen companions, looked back at Antianeira.
"GOD DAMN IT!"
Nathan shouted his lungs out, resulting in a few raspy coughs afterwards.
He readied himself, some of his mind having returned to him, his last fight had stretched it almost dry. He put all his magic into his swords and as he turned to face the monster party, he swung his right sword in a horizontal arc. 15 monsters that had appeared were killed within the first 2 seconds of appearing. The remaining 6 were then killed with a follow-up slash from the left sword.
Nathan took a few calming breaths, reeling in his bloodlust and controlling his anger. He then preceded to sheath his left sword, hoisted Welf onto his shoulder and tucked Lili under the same arm. Nathan didn't want to follow the amazons, not risking an attempted attack on him. Instead, he chose to run up the wall of the hole he jumped down and follow the normal way out, hoping that adventurers had dealt with most of the monsters on the main path.
"Don't worry Hestia, I'm sure they will be fine."
"I hope you're right Take. I suddenly got a bad feeling so I rushed over here."
"I get it from time to time. It's just you being worried about your children because you care about them so much. You will get used to it."
"It's not like that, I've already experienced that with Bell."
"Don't worry about them, Mikoto and the others are strong enough."
Hestia still looked unsure.
A few gasps caught her attention, along with Takemikazuchi and his Familia.
They looked ahead to see someone walk out of Babel while carrying two people. A man on his shoulder, a prum under his arm and a sword in his free hand.
Hestia recognised all three of them immediately.
"NATHAN!"
Hestia ran straight towards the half-elf, a scared and worried look on her face.
"Nathan are you alright. What happened, where are Bell and Mikoto."
Hestia was panicking now as the mask just looked at her.
"I'm sorry."
That very quiet voice caught her ears.
"I'm sorry"
"I'm sorry"
"I'm so sorry"
"I couldn't"
"I didn't want to"
"I should have been there"
Nathan had heard his Goddesses voice and looked up to see h running straight towards him. As soon as he laid eyes on her, his reality hit him. He hadn't been able to help Bell or Mikoto. He stood there in front of their two deities and hadn't brought either of them back to them. And worse of all, he had committed something he thought he would never do again. He had killed someone. And not just one person but three. His cold voice of him swearing a new promise echoed in his mind. A shallow excuse to justify his release of anger. He had let his anger get the best of him.
A hand to the cheek brought him out of his state. A soft, warm, kind hand graced his face as he followed the hand to an arm, which led to a body, then to a face and finally a smile.
"Nathan, calm down. I can still feel their blessing. They are alright." Hestia's calming words helped.
"Tell meWhat happened?"
Hestia's voice calmed Nathan down more, allowing him to come back to his senses, his mental fortification kicking in, helping him clear his mind. Because of that, he was able to explain the situation clearly to the people around him. He left out the killing until it was just the Hestia Familia present. After Welf, Lili and Mikoto saw him, he won't be able to hide that part of him any longer.
"Ishtar Familia? Bell came to me after you guys went into the pleasure district. He mentioned something about a killing stone."
"WHAT! Are you sure he said that?" Take asked frantically.
"Yes. He said he met Hermes there and he was delivering it to Ishtar Familia. Why, do you know what it is."
"It's a stone that absorbs special magic from a species called a Renard," The half-elf spoke out
After Nathan said this, he suddenly realised where that level boost had come from.
'Hermes is going to give Ishtar something that will give that much power. Does he even know about it?'
"How do you know about that?" Take quickly questioned Nathan, stepping up to him with a glare.
"Because I was the one who delivered it for Hermes. He told me what it did."
"Why would you deliver it to Ishtar, do you even know what it does."
"What do you mean, I just said."
"Yes, but do you know how they do it?"
This puzzled Nathan. He just thought it was like his gemstones in his swords.
The raised eyebrows signalled to Take that Nathan did not know.
"Lord Takemikazuchi, what do you mean," Chigusa asked next to her God.
"Let's talk about this somewhere else."
"Come back to our house. Take could you send one of your children to get Miach so he can treat Welf and Lili."
"Chigusa can you go. Ouka, go help young Nathan over there and help him carry one of them back to Hestia's place."
"Yes Lord Takemikazuchi" Both adventurers answered.
The group made it back to the Hearthstone Manor where Takemikazuchi started explaining the killing stone. Nathan gave off no response but by the constant tightening of his fist, it was clear that he was made unaware of its true nature and what was needed for it to be used.
"Nathan, I do not blame you for this," Takemikazuchi said after his explanation.
"No, but I blame myself for helping that piece of shit."
The two gods present didn't need to ask to know which certain travelling god he was on about.
If it wasn't for Nathan's mental fortification, he would've already gone to beat the God to a pulp and then take on the Ishtar Familia on his own. However, he was being kept in a calm mind, allowing him to think things through.
'Hermes probably told Bell about this knowing him being a hero. This Haruhime is probably the same girl those two want to save. He knows Bell will run headfirst into danger to help the girl.'
Nathan's eyes narrowed as his final thoughts came into mind.
'He is using Bell as bait to get Freya to attack Ishtar. That confirms that Freya wants Bell, and Hermes knows about it.'
"Let's plan on how we are going to do this then," Hestia said.
"Hestia-sama, there is something I need to talk to you about."
"Ok, what is it?"
"Alone would be better, if that is alright."
Hestia looked around at the other God present, a look of confusion on her face.
"That's fine, we shall go help Miach with the smith and supporter. Come on children." Take said, leaving the Goddess and child alone.
Hestia turned back to her child, worried about what he wanted to tell that forced them to be alone.
"What is it, Nathan?"
"Goddess Freya wants Bell."
"What?"
Nathan began to explain what he had gathered to come to this situation. He got the necklace, showed her the emblem, and said that the waitress that gave Bell thet necklace works in a pub run by the ex-captain of Freya Familia and that's how the exchange happened.
He then mentioned how Bell kept looking at the top of Babel tower, saying how he thought someone was watching him.
"Freya lives at the top. So she is interested in my Bell."
"And Hermes has found this out and I believe told Bell about the killing stone in hopes he would run to fight Ishtar, which would entice Freya to join."
Fortunately for Nathan, he didn't need to explain why Hermes wanted Ishtar gone as Hestia was too busy thinking of Freya.
"So what does this mean for tonight?"
"I believe, since Bell has been captured, Freya will attack the Ishtar Familia and destroy the Pleasure District. We use that to get into Belit Belili and then find Bell and Mikoto."
Hestia seemed to think about this but eventually nodded.
"Let's not tell the others about Freya and Bell. Let's just time it right so it seems like a coincidence. Use the excuse of Ishtar's and Freya's rivalry as to why she is attacking."
"Ok. I'm glad you have calmed down Nathan. Let's wait for Welf and Lili and go and rescue Bell and Mikoto."
Nathan nodded and headed off to prepare for tonight, not bothering to correct the Goddess that he was calm. He was at his tipping point throughout the talk, only getting closer and closer to boiling over. Each time he mentioned Hermes, Ishtar or Freya, his teeth were grinding against each other in an attempt to stop him from commiting the highest sin on the mortal realm.
A few hours later and the combined might of the Hestia and Takemikazuchi Familia was standing just outside the entrance to the red-light district. The group had noticed a sort of distance between Nathan and the other two Hestia children. Welf and Lili also recognised how Nathan was only interacting the bare minimum with anyone, especially them.
"Can we discuss what happened in the dungeon after we rescue Bell and Mikoto please?"
Welf remembered back to how Nathan had made this request, mask still glued onto his face.
'It's like he has sheltered himself again'
Welf and Lili were slightly uncomfortable after they woke up and recollected what had happened. The sight of a flying amazon whizzing past them, sword wedged in her throat.
Hestia was currently arguing with the Amazons guarding the gate, demanding entry. The smug grin on the women's faces already gave their answer.
'Their faces are pissing me off.'
Nathan didn't want to let his wrath take over, not while his Familia and friends watched. He didn't want to bring them into that world. However, as the amazons kept grinning and denying entry, it became harder and harder to tame the black flame from burning and destroying everything in front of it.
*BANG*
Suddenly a massive explosion went off, a mushroom cloud overshadowing them.
"Do you see that, that is undeniable proof," Welf shouted at one amazon, pointing towards the cloud?
"So what if it is, you want to start a war."
"We're Ishtar Familia!"
The amazons backfired, not backing down in the slightest.
This about tipped Nathan, who was about to take a step forward, blade about to be unsheathed. Before he could though, a massive hulking figure walked up to the gate.
"Move"
And with that said, Ouka smashed the two women out of the way with his battle axe. His patience had also seemingly reached its limit and not wanting to waste another second, he barged his way into the pleasure district. The others followed behind the tank, not caring about the bruised and battered amazons now lying unconscious.
Nathan heard Welf laugh and saw him run next to Ouka to assist in taking on the amazons now running at them. Nathan knew those two could hold out for now as Nathan focused his attention on the large number of footsteps now heading towards the pleasure district from the south.
'Here she comes'
Nathan walked towards Hestia and leaned down to whisper.
"Freya is coming now, about a minute away."
"Really? We best get moving then. I don't know what I'd say if I saw her."
"I shall start clearing a path then."
With that said, Nathan stood back up and walked to the front.
"You guys start heading towards the massive explosion. That was definetly Bell and if those two are trying to stop the ritual then that will be taking place in Belit Belili. Welf and Ouka, you guys stay around the group and stop any stray amazons from getting near them."
"What are you doing then?"
"What do you mean by stray?"
Nathan neither answered nor looked at them. However, both were answered when Nathan drew both his swords. He then clicked the button on the right side of the hilts of his swords. This opened up a hole on the left side of the underneath bit of the hilt. It also made a small pole come out on the right side, with it seemingly being the perfect size to fit in the hole adjacent to it.
"What the..?"
"Just as cool seeing a second time."
Ouka and Welf had a different reaction to seeing Nathan combine his swords in the middle. This made Nathan's duel wield swords into one massive double-bladed weapon. Two blades on either end and one giant hilt in the middle.
5 amazons could be seen running towards them on the rooftops. 2 on the left side and 3 on the other. They had thought to do an attack from either side but it was already too late. Nathan had already chanted his magic. With one giant sweep of his weapon, all 5 amazons were sent flying backwards as a giant gust of wind slammed into them.
"I'll handle them." That was all Nathan said to the stunned people watching.
"Find those two quickly."
With that, Nathan vanished, having leapt onto the rooftops and started running around the perimeter of the group.
While he was jumping around, he saw a massive fire having been started at the south entrance of the pleasure district.
'They've arrived, best stay clear of them unless absolutely necessary.'
No amazon got close to attacking the Hestia and Takemikazuchi Familia, not even a stray made it through the merciless attacks of the half-elf. Nathan hadn't killed any of them, that he made sure of. He saw one amazon was running down a street towards them. Nathan didn't know if she planned to attack his Goddess but he wouldn't risk it. He jumped down and kicked her square in the stomach sending her flying out into another open street. As he went to start looking on the same street for anymore threats, his instinct kicked in.
'So they are near here. My feeling tells me she is close.'
Nathan ignored his instinct for the first time, choosing to know where the danger was, even if it meant getting into danger himself. However, he immediately knew what was coming his way. A sound that sent chills up his spine pierced his ears.
Ker-tap, Ker-tap
A giant Boaz warrior was walking down a street, lit by red lights and the embers of a fire roaring in the air. Next to him were 4 prums, their faces covered by a helmet. Each of them were wielding a different weapon. To his left was a dark elf standing on a roof. To his right was a white elf. Just behind him was a black-haired cat man holding a spear. In front of him though, was the only thing he cared about. A woman. The most beautiful woman in existence. Her body was the definition of perfection. Curves, hair, scent. Even the way she walked with such grace. Her aura demanded respect and to be worshipped. Everything about her was perfect. The Lady Freya walked through the fire covered streets with a devilish smile on her face, not caring for the screams going on around her. Ottar knew that they were being made by the Goddesses own children as he was there when she commanded it.
Suddenly, an amazon flew into their view. This brought up alarms as the Familia had always stayed behind the Goddess, never daring to walk in front of her. That was a privilege they didn't deserve. So either someone had disobeyed an order and had started fighting ahead of Lady Freya or it was someone else. Ottar knew the first one was not even a possibility. As did Freya. She had halted her march, a look of curiosity on her face, wondering who was about to walk out of the streets.
However, no one showed themselves. This made them more aware of their surroundings, not knowing who had attacked the amazon in front of them.
Freya paid this no mind after a few seconds of thought, so she continued walking towards the tower where Ishtar and her Bell were. She could tell that her children were a bit on edge but she just smiled, knowing that they would be able to deal with any danger that comes her way.
Just off to the left of her, encased in the dark of the night, was someone watching her and the rest of the people following her.
'They are all here. I didn't realise they were this close. I thought my instinct would have been screaming at me if I was this close to them.'
Nathan decided to question his ability later as put his focus on following Freya. He waited for Hedin to pass right over him and then quietly jumped up and stayed about 5 metres behind him. This gave him an overview of what was happening. He saw the fire had gone out of control and how the Freya Familia were mercilessly cutting down amazons, one after another. Not that he cared. He would be doing the same if it wasn't for his Familia being here.
As the half-elf continued to follow the Goddess and party of First-class adventurers a massive explosion went off. Nathan looked away a second after the rest of them and saw that it came from a bridge connecting the hanging gardens and a ritual place in Belit Belili.
'That was most likely either Bell, Mikoto or both'
He looked down to see a smile on Freya's face, knowing she had come to the same conclusion. Without being located, he stayed close behind the group up until they got to the doorstep of Belit Belili. He saw that everyone had stopped and followed suit. When he looked down to see why, he saw that Freya had been the one who halted the march.
"I wish to talk to her, Goddess to Goddess. No, woman to woman."
"Understood my Lady," replied the Boaz warrior, bowing his head to the Goddess.
Ker-tap, Ker-tap
Nathan watched as Freya strode into the fortress of her sworn enemy like she owned the place, with not a hint of fear or worry on her face. Her stride showed that she was confident how this night would end.
The half-elf turned his attention back to the first-class adventurers. As he scanned the area in which eight of the most powerful people stood, he saw something that made him forget where he was. A woman dressed in a purple ninja outfit, burn marks scattering across her figure.
'Mikoto'
Nathan recognised the girl. A girl who was part of his family. A family that had altered his mindset on danger. A new mindset that made him not care about any danger that would come his way if his family was threatened by it.
With this in mind, Nathan came out of his hiding place, ran past Hedin and dropped down in front of the Boaz warrior who had started walking up to the unconscious burnt body of the far eastern girl, not hearing the Kings comment about Ignis Fatus and self-sacrifice.
Nathan pulled out a healing potion and splashed it over the girl's body, not caring about the reactions of the people behind him, especially the shocked expression of the Hildrseif that had been jumped by the sudden appearance of the boy. The others as well were on edge, not liking that they hadn't noticed his presence. They looked on as they saw the boy turn to their captain and say something to him.
"Are you going to give me that your not? You were going to use it to help her anyway."
Nathan turned to see that Ottar had pulled out a healing potion, having now registered what the Boaz warrior had previously said. He reached out his hand in anticipation of receiving the potion, not bothering about the confused look on the muscular man's face. After a second, Ottar followed up the half-elf's request and handed the boy the healing potion. Without a second of hesitation, Nathan whipped the cork top off, opened Mikoto's mouth and shoved the tube into her mouth, forcing her to swallow the blue liquid.
"What are you lot staring at, your Lady went in there. There is nothing important to see here so go and complete whatever you are doing here."
With that said, Nathan picked up the girl bridal style and ran off in the direction he knew his Familia was walking down. He felt the gazes of the adventurers he had just left follow him for a few seconds, with the last gaze to pull away belonging to the only level 7 in the city.
"Who was that?" A prum asked
"He was shrouded in the darkness from which he appeared." A dark elf responded.
"I did not notice his presence when he exposed himself as well." A light elf stated.
"He was the little shit who took on half of that weak Familia in the War Game." A cat man said, spitting his words in the direction of the half-elf.
Ottar did not say anything, instead only doing what the boy said and continued on his Lady's mission.
A few hundred metres down the street, Nathan finally reunited with his friends.
"What happened to her?" The War God was the first to speak, seeing his child in the boy's arms.
"I believe she was that explosion just now. I think she used Ignis Fatus."
"So that is why there are burn marks on her."
"Where have you been Nathan? Are you alright? Why is there a fire?"
"Freya Familia is here, they have already infiltrated Belit Belili."
The answer to Hestia's questions sent a chill down her spine, after learning earlier what/who Freya was here for. The others too felt a similar shiver at the new information, now knowing they were in the middle of a War zone between two powerful Familia's.
"Don't worry, they won't attack us if we don't interfere with what they are doing. Let's just go and get Bell. He is most likely on that bridge where Mikoto used her Ignis Fatus."
The quiet, montone words from the masked boy helped the group regain their senses. With Ouka now carrying Mikoto on his shoulders, Welf and Nathan took lead and headed back the way the half-elf came from. The sounds of a ferocious battle were being heard, a cylinder of light illuminated the night sky, appearing above the destination of the group.
As they entered the castle, Nathan still had one thought in his mind. An objective he gave to himself after he had calmed down a few hours ago. He needed to split from the group to do this, as it would be easier done on his own and he didn't want to reveal what he wanted to fine.
"Nathan, do you want to just get over there now and find Bell?"
Welf had seen his companion looking slightly agitated and assumed that it was because he wanted to go and help as fast as possible.
"Are you sure, will you guys be able to handle it?"
"You don't think we can handle ourselves, what do you mean by that," Welf said in a cheeky tone.
"We will be fine Nathan, I would prefer it if you went and helped Bell as fast as possible anyway," Hestia remarked.
"Okay. I will meet you up at the top."
With that, Nathan took his opportunity and quickly jumped up the centre of the building, using the balcony railings as platforms to push off from. He had just left in time to miss an amazon try to attack the group he just left, with a spear now piercing her body to a wall.
Nathan started to run through the corridors. He had done very little reconnaissance work in Belit Belili but he still believed he knew where to go. He activated his magic again, giving him more speed. He ran past a lot of amazons, not bothering to waste time taking them out. Any time spent wasted fighting meant less time helping Bell.
After a minute of searching, he came to what he believed to be his destination. He entered the same room he had entered only a few days prior but this time from the main door and not the outdoor balcony. Last time he was here to deliver the Killing stone. This time he was here to retrieve a key.
Nathan walked over to where he had seen Ishtar open a secret door. He had seen it be opened a few times but he never was able to see what was in there.
'If she put it anywhere, it would be in here
That was what the half-elf thought. As he walked over to the hidden door, instead of trying to pick the lock, he kicked the door down. With this action, a treasure trove was exposed. Jewels, crowns, gold, gorgeous expensive dresses. Nathan ignored all this, only focusing on the ball like objective sat in a box. It sat on top of a desk, its silver and gold surface glinting in the light created by the other shiny objects surrounding it. The most intriguing part of it was the blood-red D carved in the centre. Nathan reached and picked it up, a familiar weight floating back into his mind as he remembered holding one of these before.
'Finally. I have a key to Knossos.'
Nathan pocketed his newly required item, his first objective now complete. He started heading back to help Bell and the rest of his Familia. He made it to a set of steps but before he could head down them, his instinct ability kicked in. It told Nathan to not go down.
A loud shriek could be heard, hurtling towards the half-elf, getting louder by the second.
"GEEEYYYYAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH"
A massive figure burst through the roof and crashed through the stairs he was about to start descending. The shriek followed after it, a larger crash ending the scream as whatever had fallen through the ceiling had hit the ground, hard.
Nathan knew who had made that scream, an image of a massive frog-like woman emerging in his mind. This enflamed his anger back as she was one of the ones who inflicted direct damage onto his Familia. However, he didn't jump down after her as his instincts only screamed more to stay back. Another large shadow jumped down the hole, following the giant Amazonian. Nathan caught a glimpse of the shadow. A large, well-built man with rust coloured hair and brown ears on his head. The red armour piece on his shoulder and the glint of the two giant swords strapped to its back gave away who was pursuing Phyrne Jamil.
Nathan followed straight afterwards.
'She's mine, Warlord'
How had this happened? How could that puny Rabbit defeat me? Even with the level boost, he still kept up with me.
He had cut her beautiful face and just when she thought she had gotten the upper hand with a punch, sending him flying off the building, Ottar appeared and punched her down over 30 floors. Why were they treating her this way, couldn't they see she was clearly more beautiful than both Goddesses of beauty.
Phyrne stood up and looked out over the pleasure district, now seeing it engulfed in flames. A look of horror contorted her features.
'Why are the Freya Familia here?' She screamed to herself
A large thud sounded behind her. Turning, she saw that the Level 7 Boaz had followed her. A straight, uncaring expression on his face. More people started making their presence known. From all directions, they came from. Eight figures united. Along with the Boar man, a cat man, a dark and white elf, and 4 prums. Looking at the faces of the adventurers surrounding her, all colour drained from her face.
"Vana Freya, Level 6 Hogni and Hedin, and the Gulliver brothers." It dawned on her as all the fight left in her had vanished. She was surrounded by the most powerful adventurers from the most powerful Familia.
"HYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEE! SPARE M-ME!
Phryne pleaded for her life, looking at each person around her.
"THAT'S IT My body, I'll pay with my body! I'll lay with you, so please LET ME GOOOO!"
"UGH" came a unified snap of disgust from the top-class adventurers
"No woman could ever hope to rival me! NO ONE!"
Phyrne was too busy talking herself up to notice the death stares emitting from the first-class adventurers.
Then an ominous smile grew on Phryne's lips as she made her final bid.
"Even that Freya looks ugly next to me!"
With that… her fate was sealed.
"UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"
Ottar lost it
"GHEE!"
"You have soiled the name of the most holiness of Goddesses!"
"There is only one fate worthy for the likes of you"
"Death, death, death!"
The chants of the adventurers around her made her face go ghostly white. A unison of steps closing in terrified her.
Just before the strongest man in the city slammed his fist on her with all his might, the worst feeling of dread encompassed everyone. Even the red fury in Ottar's eyes faded to see what had created this feeling.
Not a footstep could be heard as everyone watched on from behind Ottar, the bloodlust coming closer and closer. All the Freya executives readied their weapons.
Phyrne sat there petrified. Even though she may have just been spared from the might of the King, she knew what was coming was much worse. She remembered how she had felt this when capturing that rabbit, a hooded boy stood behind her, the intent to kill so clearly visible, dark vestiges of wrath hung off of him. Her fears came to pass as that very same hooded boy walked into view. A mask covered his face yet she could tell his eyes were fixed on her.
In the coming minute, she would wish that Ottar had punched her.
The Freya executives took their defensive stance, ready to attack at a moments notice. When the figure of the boy that had appeared walked out in front of them, the feeling they got from him even made their spine run cold. No one dared talk to the hooded figure. Even Ottar stood still, hand on his greatsword, readying his weapon.
Two Goddesses who were playing a game of tag suddenly stopped their bickering as they were slammed by the feeling of dread.
The battle on the bridge for that fate of a girl was paused as both fighters looked towards the wreckage of Belit Belili, sensing the bloodlust. One of the fighters knew all too well who was emitting it as the image of the half-elf swarmed her mind.
A group made up of deities and adventurers stopped their advance to help their friend. Three of the people were reminded of where they had felt something like this only a few hours ago.
As the boy walked towards them, a voice sounded from his direction. It was cold and desolate of any emotion. Only the feeling of wrath that radiated off his body signalled that this person was more than an emotionless husk.
"She is mine, Warlord."
Nathan had dropped down after the two first-class adventurers. He saw the toad-like woman make a mockery of herself. First with pleading for her life and then trying to offer her body up in hopes of sparing her life.
Throughout this pathetic display, the anger that had been pushed down for a while had started to come back and stronger. The memory of seeing his Family being pass paraded on, their lives almost shredded to pieces by monsters. The image of their battered bodies on the ground and the sight of Mikoto and Bell being carried off. The thought that this was all because of the jealousy of a Goddess. The thought that their lives were nothing more than pawns and playthings just so Ishtar could try and be above Freya. The thought of how Hermes had lied and used him once again. These surfaced memories of the past, how he was once used by deities. The hatred towards how he has been nothing more than a toy for the gods to play with, making him do whatever they felt like.
He couldn't contain his wrath any longer. He couldn't stop it from consuming his mind and body as he walked fowards. His anger was that great, his final skill unlocked itself for the first time in over a year, ever since that fateful night.
Skill:
The reaper – The distorted soul of the user unlocks this skill through feelings of intense wrath and the intent to kill, consumes the user with mass amounts of rage. The user gives off feelings of bloodlust and imbues their victim with fear. Heightens all stats to the max. Gives abnormal healing abilities and gives extra buffs to physical abilities when absorbing fear and other negative emotions.
Nathan walked past the Boar man who had yet to move, still struck with the sense of dread. He didn't even pass him a glance, his sole focus on the woman now crawling away from him.
"Phyrne Jamil, you have attacked and hurt my Familia."
The cold voice stopped the woman dead, not daring to look at the monster behind her.
"When I killed Tammuz Belili, I swore that I would kill all who hurt my Family."
Phyrne was frozen in place by fear. Little did she know that this only fuelled the creature walking up to her.
"Why did I hear that you had kidnapped Bell Cranel?"
Nathan had heard, from amazons he was about to beat up, that the captain of the Ishtar Familia had kidnapped Bell after they surfaced from the dungeon
The half-elf finally made his way up to her, his double-bladed sword firmly gripped in his right hand.
"What did you do to him?"
Phyrne managed to turn. She was almost grateful that there was a mask covering the boy's eyes, the fear of what was behind it terrified her even more. She still stayed deathly quiet.
Nathan crouched down, lowering his mask around his neck, staring directly into the amazon's eyes.
"Answer me." It was an order, not even the strongest willed people could ignore.
"I-I-I just w-was g-going to show h-h-him a good time."
Nathan only stared back at her, his cold expression almost making the level 5 blackout as a dark jade met amber. He stood back up, took a breath, put his mask back on and turned to Bringar.
"Dvallin Gulliver, give me your hammer"
The request shocked the brother in question, along with his brothers. He still felt the fear that was radiating off the boy in front of him, but he wasn't weak enough to bow to it.
"Why the hell should I?"
"If I used my swords, it won't last long enough."
The point was made directly, all the executives understood the meaning. After a second of thought, Dvallin handed his Hammer to the hooded boy with a smile, waiting for the punishment of the blasphemer to begin.
Phyrne was still paralyzed in fear, not knowing what was about to happen. She looked up to see her soon to be attacker twirl the large hammer twice in his hand and then slam it into her left leg.
"EEEIIIYYAHHHH"
The pain was immense. Her leg had been completely shattered. Crushed underneath the flat surface of the Hammer, blood spilling everywhere.
Nathan lifted the weapon once more and did the same on the other leg.
"GEEIIYYAAHHH"
Another scream echoed off the walls. The crushed limbs of the now pathetic looking level 5 were squashed like a bug under a swatter.
Nathan continued this brutal method, hammering down the weapon onto his victim for the next minute. The screams filled the air around them, not one of them affecting the boy's emotionless gaze.
With one final step on the neck, Nathan crushed the Amazonian's windpipe. Nathan had carefully hit in certain areas so that Phyrne wouldn't bleed out quickly. He then decided to end her life in the worst way her could give at the moment.
As he turned and handed the bloodied weapon back to the shocked Gulliver Brother, he left the now gasping woman to her fate. The Freya Familia turned, a mix of horror, curiosity, dread and a bit of fear was spread around their faces as they watched the boy turn away and head towards the now destroyed balcony. As they watched him jump from their view, they turned back to the woman squirming on the rubble.
Phyrne was clawing at her throat, desperate to get any air. Her vision soon started to get hazy and blurry. Phyrne was scared, knowing that she was about to die and knowing that she couldn't do anything to stop it. Yet she still struggled. To the onlookers, it looked pathetic.
"Just die already, you disgusting creature." Allen spat at her. He wanted this to end as quickly as the other people around him.
With one final desperate attempt at a breath. The massive body of the Androctonus lay still, now dead to the world.
The Freya Familia started making their way back to their Goddess, the thought of what they had just witnessed inprinted on the mind. One of them in particular couldn't get the boy out of his mind.
'He appeared right behind me like he appeared out of nowhere. He could have killed me if he wanted to.'
That thought stuck with Hedin Selland for a while, even earning a concerning question from his Goddess about his state of thought a few days later.
"Please Freya, I didn't mean anything by it."
Ishtar was now begging the woman slowly walking towards her.
"I didn't know you were interested in the boy."
Maybe in another world, Tammuz might have appeared to help her. This wasn't this world.
"I am tired with this game. I have let you do what you want and overlooked most of your silly plays."
The voice made her face pale.
"But you have stepped over the line. HE will be mine. I won't let any other woman have him."
Freya slowly walked up to the panicking Goddess, her exit now cut off.
Ishtar scanned the area, hoping to find anyone to help her.
'Where are they. Phyrne, Aisha come help me.'
Just as she thought of her captain, she suddenly lost her connection to the large Amazon woman.
'It can't be. Phyrne is dead.'
This was the final straw that told the Goddess she had lost. It had all started with the loss of Tammuz and now tonight she had lost so many blessings she lost count. This final one was the last massive nail in the coffin. She knew she had lost.
As Nathan made his way to his family, a large boom made him look up. A large golden beam of light stretched out into the night sky. Nathan knew exactly what this meant.
'So Freya got Ishtar'
He continued to follow the beam up to where he saw a woman looking down at the golden light. He recognised her as the Goddess that had triumphed today. He watched Freya turn to look in a certain direction. He followed her gaze and saw the white-haired boy.
Nathan looked on as he saw that he was standing in front of a golden-haired Renard. A pile of defeated amazons surrounding him.
'So he didn't need my help, thank god.'
Nathan quickly looked back at the Goddess of Beauty one last time to see her mouth the word love. His eyes slightly widening, he looked straight back at Bell and saw that he had seen what she had said. It didn't take Nathan much thinking to know what she had said.
Figuring this was something for another day, he jumped to where Bell was. He made it just in time to see his other Family walk out and see Hestia and Lili jump at Bell, capturing him in a hug.
They all shared smiles all around as childhood friends were reunited with each other and bonds were made.
One question still lingered in most people's thoughts.
"Did you all feel that horrible feeling a few minutes ago?" Bell asked everyone.
Most of the people nodded, signalling that they too had felt that overwhelming feeling of rage.
A prum turned to look at the half-elf standing next to her. He felt her glare but didn't return it.
'Guess there is no hiding this.'
"I'm sorry everyone but that feeling you got came from me," Nathan spoke, gaining a lot of confused and worried looks.
"W-what do you mean Nathan. Are you saying you gave off that feeling of anger?
A nod answered the Goddesses question, making her shake a bit.
"No mortal should be able to give off that amount of bloodlust though." The war god said, staring straight at the boy he knew had told the truth.
"I've already said this to Lili, Welf and Mikoto. Could we talk about this tomorrow? I promise I'll explain as much as I can."
Sets of eyes locked onto the named people who all looked away, not wanting to get into it.
"O-ok Nathan we can talk about it tomorrow. In the meantime, let's go home. I believe we all deserve a nice rest."
A murmur of agreement resonated from the group as they headed off back to their home. Smiles and chatter spread throughout the group. However, the distance between the 3 Hestia Familia members and Nathan had spread to the rest of the group, as Nathan visibly distanced himself from everyone else. He had used the excuse that he would go on lookout duty but it was very noticeable that he felt uncomfortable around them, again.
'I thought you had finally opened up to us, don't close yourself off now.' Hestia thought, a sad look in her eyes as she looked up ahead at Nathan, standing all alone.
As the group walked back, a Goddess of beauty was being informed of what had transpired while she was playing her game of hide and seek.
'So it was Nathan that gave off that spine chilling sensation. I thought it was similar to that one time in the Hostess but not that extreme.'
As the now only remaining Goddess of beauty in Orario made her way back to the tower in the middle, she thought about her bunny,with a small part of her mind being occupied by the half-elf's bloodlust. Though this did pale in the amount all her executives were thinking about him, as they couldn't remove the visceral image of what had transpired. Only their memory and the dried blood on Dvallin's hammer was the only evidence remaining of the horror show they all witnessed.
This one took waaaayyyy to long to write. I'm still not 100% satisfied with it tbf. But as I wanted to move on from this arc I just rolled with what i went with. I already re wrote the exchanges between Nathan and Freya Familia. I'm not that best pleased with the ending either but I wanted the Freya Familia to be thinking about Nathan. Not to mention this was almost 9k words.
Anyway, pleasure disctrict arc is done. Haruhime has joined the party. Wonder how the new dynamic will work. I want to write either one big chapter or two smaller ones until the Xenos arc, which will have more chapters than the origianl series (Half joking).
Again sorry I didn't post throughout the weekend but yh, this one was the most difficult one to write. I'm please with the important aspects, aka Nathan got the key to knossos and how he killed Phyrne and the introduciton to his final skill. Can't wait to explore that one.
The reviews:
mistalenny: Yes you were correct (Still a bit annoyed but we move). Glad you liked the fight and the next chapter is titled An explanation. Look forward to it.
With that, see ya next time and peace.