I am back. Hope you enjoyed the last one and hopefully you enjoy this one too.
It was a spartoi.
It is a human skeleton made out of earth. Spartoi usually spawn with a land weapon and right now, the one in front of Zhul was carrying a big sword. The sword had a dull edge and looked so rough that there is no different between the sword and stone on the ground. The sword is as bigger and bulkier that the one carrying it.
Is this the monster for Monsterphilia? But letting it loose, Ganesha isn't that kind of god. He would lost the interest of people if this leaks out. Zhul step backwards, one foot at a time. The spartoi never left his vision as he walks backward.
"!" The spartoi realise that Zhul was walking away. It launched itself at Zhul. With a full swing, it attacked Zhul with all its might.
Zhul slammed his body on the floor. The sword bruises his back. If only it was one centimetre lower, his body would be hit like a golf ball. The sword misses the target and broke the floor. Zhul uses this moment to roll away, grabbed 2 knifes from the weapon barrel and set himself fight. The damage….It is weaker. I thought it was supposed to be a level 4 monster. I guess this one is different than the one down there. Zhul lowered his upper body, spread his legs and bend his knees.
The spartoi lifts it weapon from the ground. The sword was raised even higher as the spartoi walks towards Zhul. It finally brought down the weapon harder than before. Zhul crossed the knife in front of him and block the attack. GH! The attack was strong but the force after it doesn't have as much power as the slam. Once you stopped the sword, you can handle the situation.
The spartoi tried to lift the sword again but Zhul quickly kick it. The kick didn't knock it down, but it did manage to disturb it's balance. Zhul swings his knife and severed one of it's knee joint. The spartoi swings it's sword as it fell down and manage to hit Zhul's abdomen.
"GUH!" Zhul can feel his stomach got rearranged. He stepped back a bit from the pain. He rubbed his stomach in hope of reducing the pain. Okay that still felt like getting hit by monster, at least in the middle floor.
The spartoi crawled it way toward the sewer. It left the sword in the basement and crawled as fast as it can.
"I am back. Here is the-What the heck is going on?!" Han who had just arrived with the magic stone lamp showed a confused face. The first thing he saw was Zhul rubbing his stomach, then the damage floor and the last one was the spartoi who was trying to run away.
"Kill…that…thing….first." Zhul asked Han the best he can as his injuries prevent him from saying something without hurting his inside.
Han jumped from the stairs and ran toward the spartoi. Han kicked it ribs, sending it flying into the wall. The spartoi tried it hardest and manage to lift itself up by using the wall as support. It then continues to walk into the sewer.
"It trying to get to something. Shouldn't we try to tail it?" Han asked. He closed the door to see what happen, but the spartoi didn't stop.
"Or someone." Zhul picked himself up. He looked at the spartoi that was trying it hard to get out. "If you want to follow it, I am coming. I can remember every turn we make along the way."
"Now we talking." Han opens the door and the spartoi went out when it reaches the doorway. It then crawled it way forward. "We better be moving."
"Yeah."
*Inside the dungeon present time
*SLASH *SLASH *SLASH *SLASH *SLASH *SLASH
Sutr was fighting a party of monster. He was in the middle of everything, using his two swords to keep slashing monster one by one. There are monsters who died because he was lucky his hit decapitated them, then there are other who just slash one of the legs. The monster is a dog looking monster that can breaths fire. A hellhound.
"AAAWWWWWWOOOOOOOO!"
Twenty more hounds showed up and closing in fast. There are currently six monsters left. With the added 20 it would be a mess.
One of the hellhounds manage to bit Sutr left arm and another shot a flame at him. Sutr lift the hellhound to protect himself. He then smash the hellhound into the floor and killing him right there. A hellhound jumped behind him and managed to trample him over. A hellhound tried to bit Sutr neck but Sutr thrust his sword inside it's mouth and dragged the sword down, cutting the hound in half.
As the other monster party closes in by the seconds, Sutr quickly dealt with the remaining hounds. He swings his sword and decapitate two hounds. He grabbed one by the neck and smashed it hard to the ground. He threw his sword at the last one while it was trying to burn Sutr with it's flame breath.
Sutr didn't get any rest as the other pack of hellhounds arrived to eat him. Sutr muttered under his breath. "[Prometheus]" Fire come out from both Sutr arms. It covered Sutr's arms like an angry blanket.
A hellhound jumped forward from the rest. It opened it's jaw wide and prepared to bite Sutr. Sutr tightened his fist and thrust it inside the hellhound jaw. His hand burn everything and punched through the hellhound like a piece of bread. Then all the hounds jumped at the same time. Sutr prepared his sword and hand. He launched himself forward, towards the enemy. He swings his sword and killed a hound. Sutr also use the momentum to punched a different hound into ashes.
A hound managed to bite Sutr left leg. Sutr slammed his body down at the monster and killed it by stabbing it with his sword. A hound jumped at him, but Sutr quickly kicked it. The hound was sent flying, unable to join the fight for a while. Sutr roll back as another hound tried to pound at him. Sutr punched the hound out of existent.
Three hounds use their flame breath at Sutr in which Sutr jumped away. Try harder. Two hounds are coming closer from the left and the right when Sutr jumped away. Sutr swing his body clockwise while sticking out his foot. His foot managed to kick one hound and crashing it into the other one. Sutr than uses the chance and stabbed both of the hounds, killing them.
Sutr than ran to his other sword that he threw earlier. A hound tried to pound at Sutr from behind but Sutr swings his sword and body. Slashing the enemy and killing it instantly. He picked up his sword and stare at the remaining enemy. There are still 12 hellhounds left and all of them look very angry.
"[Promotheus]" Sutr muttered again but now his legs are also covered by flame.
Sutr ran toward the enemy with flaming arms and legs. Sutr throw his two swords at two different hounds and killing them when the swords pierced their body. Sutr jumped at the pack of hounds with his two arms and legs lock and ready to kill. Sutr slammed a hound head into the floor and using it as a support. Sutr pushed his leg forward and kicking two hounds and sending them flying. Sutr than stomped on the hound and finally killing it.
A hound opens it jaw wide in which Sutr grabbed it's upper and lower jaw and forcefully ripping it apart. Fatality. Sutr grabbed a hound tail and swing it like a morning star, smashing it into its friends before slamming it into a nearby spike. A hound uses its flame breath at point blank range. Sutr pushed his hand forward through the flame, grabbed the hound tongue and ripped it out.
There is only six left. When Sutr ready to kill them, a spear suddenly appeared out of nowhere, killing one of the remaining hounds.
Who? Sutr looked at bewilderment at the sudden development. He saw someone ran into the fray while carrying a round shield. The person grabbed the spear and swiftly killed the remaining five hounds.
"I am sorry, but who are you?" Sutr asked after he make sure all the hounds were dead.
"Me?" The voice sound femine and after Sutr closely inspect. The one who stole his kills is a girl. Her hair was red and short except for front right. Her eyes are crimson blood. She wears a brown vest with a dark blue shirt underneath. She also wears a short pants that showed her legs, it looked like it was ripped and had been used for a long time. "I am Pyrrha and I am from Loki Familia. Could I help you?"
"You just stole my kill, woman." Sutr talked as he walks around and collecting magic stones. "What give you the big idea! I need this money to survive you know?"
"Ah," Pyrrha scratched her head while looking guilty. "sorry about that. You can keep the magic stones. I just thought you could use some help."
"Help is always welcome, but don't just throw your spear. What are you going to do if it hit me? Just to be cleared, I am going to sue you 10 times."
"Don't worry, it won't hit you." Pyrrha said to Sutr with pride and confidence. "If it hit you would be dead. You can't sue me if you die."
"If I can't sue you, I am just going to haunt you until you die."
"…" Pyrrha showed a lonely smile towards Sutr. "…yeah when I die, just make sure you die first. By the way who are you?"
"Don't worry, you would probably forget about me in a day or two. Also, why are you down here?"
"I am the one asking here." Pyrrha sound a little angry at Sutr not answering her question. "The one who would decide you would be forgotten or not is me."
"My name is Sutr. I can't say my familia name cause of policy and stuff. Now that I answered your question, answer mine." Sutr picked up his two swords and put it back into the scabbards.
"Why am I here? Because I am an adventurer, isn't that obvious?"
"The Loki Familia expedition had just ended right?"
This question raises Pyrrha eyebrow. How does someone from a different familia knew about this or maybe he is from the same familia just not as famous as the other. "How did you know?"
"I saw Vanargand and Sword princess at the fifth floor killing minotaurs which is odd, but its probably an irregularity. So I am asking, don't you have some sort of party to celebrate this?"
"There is. Its tomorrow. I am just vexing my stress until the time comes."
"So you are one of their executive huh? Well, shivers me timber how lucky."
"Stop that." Pyrrha bop Sutr's head with her spear. "I don't like being this big. Every thing you do will effect the others. So you have to show a good example every time and honestly I prefer to just dive inside the dungeon and went wild."
"You are their executive right? Shouldn't you be going now? How will the other react to seeing one of the executives suddenly went missing?"
"Its evening when I went inside the Babel tower. How long have you been inside the dungeon?"
"Noon."
"Shouldn't you stop now? Its already evening and you looked very, very, very hurt."
Sutr looked at himself and saw what Pyrrha meant. His shirt and pants are full of hole and there is a trace of fire. His body is covered in sweat, blood and dust. There are a lot of bruises, cut wounds, bite wounds and every kinds of injuries are present on his body. Well fuck. "I still have something to do."
"What is that?" Pyrrha asked out of curiosity.
"Because I am not a familia executive. I am going to dive inside the dungeon and went wild." Sutr said with a smirk. His smug aura really showed even if you only heard his voice.
"….." Pyrrha showed a troubled and annoyed face. She wanted to beat the crap out of the person standing in front of her. "You know I could invite you to the party if you want? But until then would you like to go dungeon diving with me?"
"NOPE!"
Pyrrha thrust her spear and only missing Sutr's face by a few inches. "You wouldn't reject an invitation from a lovely lady right?"
"Where is the lovely part? And we aren't from the same familia, so no."
"I could invite a friend."
"We are not. We just met."
"…" Pyrrha pushed Sutr's forehead with her index and middle finger. "You are coming." She then proceeds to pull Sutr's collar and dragged him with her. "And tomorrow you would join the party as my 'friend'."
"NO! NO! NOOO! RELEASE ME! HEEEELLLPPPPP! THERE IS A CRAZY WOMAN KIDNAPPING ME! HHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPP!"
*On the surface
"Hermes." Tez speak out his voice as he saw an orange-haired god in the corner of his eye.
"Hm? Tez. Could I help my child?" Hermes's suddenly went bright as he saw who was calling his name.
"Zhul asked me to invite you home. He wants to update our status as soon as possible."
"Oh? What with the hurry? Is there something going on?" Hermes act could easily fool an innocent creature but the one who he is standing in front of him is way above that.
The ex-demon king smile at the god's attempt. It was not a heart warming smile, it was playful one. He wanted to keep playing with Hermes's act but right now he needs to push his feeling aside. "Ask him yourself. He is probably planning something like going into the middle floor or something."
"Didn't you ask him?"
"No." He lied, but Hermes didn't catch it. Truth and lie are just subjective point of view. It was correct that Tez know what Zhul was planning but he didn't ask him, the one who ask him was Pern.
"I see. But did you hear anything from him?"
"Well I hear what he was talking about, but he mostly just blabbering about stuff." He said it plainly. He didn't hear what Pern and Zhul was talking about because he bolted out the moment Pern asked Zhul.
"I see, but you see…. A goddess asked me to something, so I am a bit busy right now."
"I am going to do the task. Just say what need to be gone."
"Gone?" Hermes sweat dropped.
"I mean done."
"….maybe you have a little too much hunting request." Or slaying criminals. "This one doesn't require you to kill someone." Hermes can see Tez's shoulder dropped. His concern about the mental health of his familia member grow bigger. "Are you sure you want to take this quest?"
"….yes."
Where is your spirit? Hermes thinks for a few seconds. He could get close to Zhul which is database of the entire group and found out what was actually going on. But here is the thing, Zhul is not someone who would let out any kind of information without expecting another one given. If you want a piece of information you have to give him a piece. The other thing, he could find out what you are talking about and you wouldn't know what he got from it. You could lose more information than what you gain. Tempting offer and I would like to have chat with Zhul if I can.
"Hermes? What's taking you so long?"
"Ah. Yes. I will go to your base, which way is it?"
Liar. How would you know it is a base and not an ordinary house, but our house really can't really be called a house to begin with. "Just follow the street and you would find it. It is near the Loki Familia home. It is a small house made out of wood."
"Okay." Hermes smile at Tez. He then handles him an envelope. "Here is a letter with my signed on it. Go to the Ishtar Familia home and give this to Lady Ishtar."
"You mean the big ass tower in the middle of the pleasure quarter?"
"Yes and don't take too long, you still haven't update your status." Hermes then said goodbye and went to his next destination.
"Liar liar pants on fire, huh? Hermes pants didn't catch on fire." Tez muttered to himself as he put the envelope in a safe place. Something is burdening his mind. He is usually not this careless. Tez climbed a house and watched everything around him before he spotted where he needs to go next. Time to go….oh yeah where is Asfi? He jumped down and ran as fast as he could. Next stop, Belit Babili.
*An hour before
Aol, Lug, Koth and Briar are now on the crime scene. The bar is now nothing more than hole on the ground. The explosion causes the entire wall and roof to flew away and destroyed the floor until there is nothing left but debris. Members of the Ganesha Familia surround the what now remaining of the bar.
"I am sorry, but nobody is allowed to enter this site." A member from the Ganesha Familia stopped them from entering. He was one of the guards that make sure nobody get in or out of the site.
"We have permission." Lug handed him an envelope. Inside was permission signed by the Guild official. It states that they can picked their belonging and carried it away. "The case is handled by the Guild and we already helped them."
"Ah, thank you for your cooperation and sorry for troubling you." The member moved aside.
"Thank you for your hard work." Koth said as he walked past the guard. The four of them walked inside and immediately began lifting the debris away.
"Search for something that we can use." Aol lifts up a sword from the debris. He swings it a couple of times to make sure the quality of the sword.
"I am the one who made 'em. They are stronger." Briar lift a big piece of debris and throw it away like a dried of branch.
"Than what? A piece of stick?" Snickers could be heard as Aol finish his joke. Briar answer by slamming a big plank on Aol's head. "GUH! That hurt."
"Good, yer suffering is nice for me ears."
"Well someone has to teach you how to talk properly." Koth thrust his hand between the debris and picked up a hammer. He spins it in the air a couple of times before putting it away inside his bag.
"Found something." Lug said to the others as he went inside the debris.
"What is it?" All of them walked towards where Lug went down. They saw a hole that lead into a room under all the debris. With the sun slowly going down, they can't clearly look what inside the room.
"We can't see shit." Aol went down and was welcomed by a pool of water. "Okay, fuck."
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Is it cold down there? Are you freezing to death?" Briar asked while holding his stomach. He is laughing like a maniac at the moment.
Light suddenly emit from inside the pool. Lug immediately appeared from inside the pool. He was carrying a light stick that looked like a dagger. "Come down."
"Why?" Briar asked. He didn't want to went inside since they haven't found a way to get out from it. "I don't want-DAAAMMMNNN!" Briar couldn't finish his sentence as Koth kicked him from behind. Koth then followed in afterward.
"Glad to have you aboard gentlemen." Lug said sarcastically.
"Just said what do you want."
Lug throws his stick away. Everyone expected it to went down the pool but it landed on somewhere dry and above the water level. The light showed them a tunnel that goes somewhere.
"There. We need to go there."