Hey, I'm back with a new chapter.

shinigami101505, thanks for the review, here's another chapter.

Guest, glad you liked the bonding moment between Bell and Welf. Bell inheriting Arthur/Artoria is something I'm trying to figure out how to pull off. Ideally, each arc will see one Heroic Spirit, if not two. It would also have to fit the situation.

So far, Arthur/Artoria is one I'm finding a hard time fitting in. Muramasa, on the other hand, is also complicated, mainly because the version of Muramasa he can contract is just... well, Muramasa Shirou.

AnimeFan13579, glad you find things progressing well. Okita is one I am potentially considering, as I may want to bring Alfia into the story too... Somehow.

PasiveNox, thanks

codywhite162, glad you found the last one good, here's a new one.

So yeah, here's the newest chapter. Hope yall enjoy it.

XXX

The next day, Bell was in front of the tower of Babel waiting for Welf and Lili.

Soon, the white rabbit noticed the pair approaching him, and he smiled, "Hey guys, good morning."

The redhead stared at him blankly, "...Good morning."

Lili smiled at him, "Good morning, Bell-sama!"

Bell smiled, "Ready to head down?"

Welf nodded, a blank expression still on his face, "Yeah. I'm still annoyed at you though."

The prum in disguise blinked in confusion as she looked at the blacksmith, "Huh? Did Bell-sama do something to you?"

The redhead nodded, "He brought me to this pub with a bunch of cute waitresses."

Lili instantly understood, "Ah, I understand. That is cruel of him, really."

Welf looked at her as if he had found a long lost friend, "Wait, you understand how it feels?!"

The prum nodded sagely, "As sad as it sounds, yes I do. I feel you, Welf-sama."

The redhead nodded, "And he did it after I forged him a new dagger! How cruel is that?!"

Lili gasped, "He what?!"

Bell made a complicated expression, "W-wait, I only brought him to the Hostess, I didn't do anything bad."

The pair looked at him with deadpanned expressions, "That is the problem there."

The white haired boy's expression fell, "H-how?!"

Lili and Welf just walked away from him, and Lili spoke, "Come on, Welf-sama, we don't need to bother him anymore."

Welf nodded, and the two shared a smile, "Agreed, lets get going."

Bell chased after them, "What did I do wrong?!"

The two ignored him as they entered the dungeon.

"TELL ME!"

(Linebreak)

A while later, Bell and his two party members stood at the end of the 12th floor.

The redhead smirked, "Here we are, right before the middle floors."

Bell nodded, "Yeah, hopefully we can handle it."

Lili chuckled, "Of course we can. Now, before we head down."

The two males turned to the girl, who reached into her giant bag and brought out three sets of cloaks.

Bell blinked, "Wait, are those-"

Lili nodded with a smile, "Cloaks made from Salamander wool, I got one for us each."

Welf stared at her, "Wait, aren't those pretty expensive?"

The prum in disguise nodded, "Well not that much considering we're going into the middle floors."

Lili glanced at Bell, "Besides, wasn't it your advisor who told us to get them?"

Bell blinked, "R-right, Eina-san did stress it when we saw her last time..."

The prum nodded, "Then its all good. Now put them on, we're heading down now, right?"

The two males shared a look, before Welf shrugged, "You heard her."

Bell sighed as he put his on, "We'll make sure to pay you back, okay?"

Lili stared at him blankly, before she shook her head and walked on, "We can talk money later. Let's go."

The three walked down the stairs, and they quickly reached a large area, not as bright as the last two floors, but the visibility was definitely better.

Welf looked around, "So this is the 13th floor..."

Bell nodded, noting the large boulders and pillars around them, "Yeah... It really looks different from the last few floors."

Lili hummed, "Well, I guess that's the dungeon for you."

Before they could continue talking, the walls shook, cracks forming as monsters started to spawn.

The redhead drew his sword, "Guess breaktime's over, here they come."

Bell drew the Hestia Knife and Mino-Tan, "Yeah, just like we discussed?"

Lili nodded, "Just like we discussed."

The monsters all left the walls, revealing to be hellhounds, and Bell dashed forward.

Flipping both knives into reverse grip, the boy jumped up to dodge the charging hellhound, letting it run straight into Welf's cleaver.

Taking the chance, Bell landed on the ground, and he swung both knives down into a hellhound's head.

The two hellhounds exploded into ash, but before the two males could regain their bearings, a gleam of light caught their eyes.

The pair turned just in time to see three hellhounds, flames brewing in within their jaws.

Lili yelled, "Bell-sama! Their fire breaths!"

The white rabbit caught on to her words, and he broke into a dash, using his fingers to grab onto the edges of his cloak.

The three hellhounds unleashed their breath attacks, and the boy threw his cloak up, effectively blocking the blasts of flames.

Not missing a beat, the boy appeared in the middle of the three hellhounds, and he spun.

In the blink of an eye, all three hellhounds exploded into a burst of ash.

The three looked around, and they quickly relaxed when they realized they were clear.

Welf grinned as he helped Lili pick up some of the magic stones, "That was a good one for our first fight in the middle floors, don'tcha think?"

Bell nodded, "Yeah, for now I think we're okay to handle the monsters on this floor. If we stick together, we'll be fine."

Lili nodded as she picked up the last of the stones, "And that's just with us fighting as we are. I'm sure if Bell-sama uses his magic, we'll probably be fine even on the 15th floor."

The white rabbit chuckled, "Now let's not get ahead of ourselves, okay?"

Welf laughed, "Coming from Lil Lili, there's gotta be some merit to those words, right?"

The 'chienthrope' nodded, "Definitely!"

Lili beamed as she was about to continue, only for a loud squeak to interrupt them.

The three turned to see a bunch of rabbits some distance away from them.

White rabbits with rubies for eyes.

Lili blinked, "Bell-sama?"

Bell himself blinked, "Eh?"

Welf nodded as he stared at the group of rabbits, "Yep, those are Bell's. Clones? No, more like siblings?"

The boy blinked again, before he realized what they were talking about, "Wait! Those are Al-Miraj!"

His outburst sent the rabbits into overdrive, as they bared their fangs and drew knives and small axes before leaping at the three.

Welf held himself from laughing as he did his best to act surprised, "Woah! Bell's coming at us!"

Lili nodded, a smile on her face, "Yep, Bell-sama's in a hurry huh?"

Bell himself found himself drawing his own knives, the irony not missed, "For gods sake!"

He dashed forward, knowing his two companions weren't lifting a finger to fight.

A part of him knew it was because they were absolutely confident in his ability, but the majority of him knew it was more likely because they were poking fun at him.

In the blink of an eye, all of the Al-Mirajs were gone, and Bell sheathed his knives.

"Wow, that was horrible."

"Yep, he just killed his own kind. He committed genocide, no, Bell-nocide."

Bell turned to them, a resigned expression on his face, "Are you two done?"

Welf and Lili shared a look, before they grinned at him, "Nope!"

The white rabbit sighed, "I wanna go home..."

The pair just laughed at his expression as they walked further down.

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile, Hermes was walking along the streets, with Asfi by his side.

The god of messengers glanced at his trusty captain, "So, how'd it go?"

The blue haired woman sighed, "I have no idea why you wanted me to go do it, but it seems like a majority of Orario don't quite have a high opinion of him."

Hermes hummed, "How so?"

Asfi followed after her god, "There are generally two groups of opinions, one group thinks he's a sham, that he can't exactly use the power of legendary heroes, while the other thinks he's cheating because of his unique abilities."

The god nodded, "I see I see, it's as I thought huh..."

The item maker looked at him, "Why the sudden interest in him?"

Hermes chuckled, "I've always been interested in him, my dear Asfi. I just never realized who he was."

Asfi blinked, "Wait, so you knew?"

The god nodded, "Sort of, I knew there was an heir to the Throne of Heroes. But I never really knew who he was, until recently, that is."

The pair reached a quiet alley, and Hermes turned to the captain of his Familia, a wide grin on his face, "I told you what the Throne of Heroes is, did I not?"

Asfi nodded, "Yes, you said its essentially a record of every single hero that existed in the history of Human Order. Time is not relevant, so heroes from the past, present and the future can be recorded."

Hermes nodded, "And those heroes are ones that do not exist here. Parallels do exist, of course, and eventually we will see some very familiar names."

He smiled at her knowingly, much to Asfi's annoyance and frustration, "Does it not excite you? We may very well see the birth of a true hero, in the truest sense."

Asfi sighed, "Perhaps. But I'd rather not."

She walked past him, "Now come on, you have places you want to be, right?"

Hermes chuckled, "Right you are."

(Linebreak)

Back in the dungeon, the trio were now on the 14th floor, having cleared the 13th floor with some effort.

Now, they were in a larger hall, surrounded by a large horde of Al-Mirajs and hellhounds.

Welf grunted as he hefted his cleaver in his hand, "What the hell is going on?"

Bell dashed forward, the power of Heracles flowing through his body as the boy cut through the monsters like paper.

He skidded to a stop next to Lili and Welf to regain his bearings, "The difference between this floor and the last one is huge... So this is what Ryuu-san meant..."

Lili nodded, "The number of monsters is just too much. But I think at the rate we're going... We may be capable of reaching the end of this floor."

Bell nodded, "Yeah, I think so too."

The monsters growled at them, and Welf raised his sword, "Here they come!"

Lili yelled, "Bell-sama!"

The boy glanced at her, only to spot her firing her crossbow at the army before them, the arrows sinking into the feet of the monsters, essentially stopping them in their tracks.

Bell nodded, "Nice, Lili!"

He dashed forward, the Hestia Knife and Mino-Tan in hand. Drawing from the memories of EMIYA he had gained, the boy moved.

Whatever he could emulate from EMIYA's technique, coupled with the strength of Heracles, the monsters all exploded in a burst of ash.

Yet, despite the number of monsters he had killed, more simply took their place.

Welf grunted as he cut down a hellhound with his sword, "This is going nowhere!"

Lili shook her head, "No, we're making progress. It may not seem like it, simply because there's just so many of them."

Bell nodded as he cut down another handful of hellhounds, "Yeah, they're spreading out more, that's all."

The redhead looked around, and sure enough, the amount of monsters around them had decreased by a good amount. But they were still surrounded.

The white haired boy was about to move, until he heard more footsteps, "Huh?"

Bell turned, just in time to see a group of five, no, six adventurers rush past him, and the girl at the back of the group glanced at him, a torn and frustrated expression on her face.

"Apologies!"

The trio blinked when the group rushed past them, and Lili quickly realized what had just happened.

The prum tightened her grip on her bag strap, "They used us as bait! It's a pass parade! We need to move!"

Bell glanced around, and he spotted a corridor close to them, "There!"

Welf grunted as the three ran, "You've gotta be kidding me!"

The redhead cut down whatever monster that got in their way as they ran into the corridor, but the monsters that were chasing the other group of adventurers quickly chased after them.

The trio dashed into a narrow tunnel, and they quickly reached a narrow bridge.

Bell's eyes darted around, Ryuu's advice ringing in his ears.

Take advantage of your surroundings. Be mindful, and make use of it.

The bridge was relatively small, and there was only one way forward.

"Load: Sakata Kintoki!"

Lightning erupted from his body, as Bell turned around, the Golden Eater in his hands, "You two go ahead! Now!"

Lili blinked as she snapped her head back, "What?! Bell-sama! No!"

The boy flung the axe forward, sending it spinning at the horde of monsters, taking down a good number of them before spinning back to Bell.

But the white rabbit didn't have time to explain, "Welf! Get her off the bridge!"

The redhead had never heard such urgency in the boy's voice, and he quickly complied, pulling the prum off the bridge.

Lili yelled, "Welf-sama?! What are you doing?!"

Welf grunted as he struggled to keep the girl in place, "Trust him!"

Lili glared at him, but before either could continue, the sound of thunder deafened their ears, tearing their attention to their friend.

Bell took a deep breath as he unloaded the cartridges on the axe, "Set..."

An axe was meant to cut things down, and what better way than to use an axe to break a bridge?

The boy raised the axe.

"Golden..."

And it came down.

"SPARK!"

The force, along with the lightning from the swing, struck the bridge, along with the monsters on it.

The effects was instantaneous, as the bridge collapsed, bringing the monsters down with it.

It also created a wide chasm, effectively blocking the monsters from chasing after Bell and the other two.

Bell let out a breath as the hellhounds backed up, vanishing into the tunnel, "Good, they're not chasing after us."

He turned to see both Welf and Lili staring at him speechless.

The boy smiled, "Alright, let's keep going, we should be able to find a place to regroup."

Neither of them responded, and Bell blinked, "Guys?"

Lili broke out of her stupor, "Bell-sama..."

"THAT WAS AWESOME!"

Welf cut her off as he jogged forward, "Was that another of your unique powers?! You broke the bridge in one hit!"

Bell was slightly taken aback by his reaction, before he realized Welf hadn't exactly seen any of his Noble Phantasms.

The boy chuckled, "Yeah, this is the Golden Eater, it lets me use lightning infused attacks."

Welf looked at the weapon, and his lips thinned, "Is this a magic sword?"

Bell shook his head, "No, I don't have any magic swords. Technically. They are fundamentally different, these are weapons who served their original wielders to their fullest. In fact they are the signature or preferred weapons of the heroes I inherit."

The redhead nodded, "I see. That's good to hear."

The white haired boy nodded, letting the power of Sakata Kintoki leave his body, "Alright, let's keep moving."

Both Lili and Welf nodded, "Alright/Gotcha."

The three walked further down, until they reached a T crossroads.

Bell hummed, "Left or right...?"

Lili opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the sound of monsters' growls from their left.

The girl furrowed her brows, "I guess that leaves us with right."

Welf spoke up, "Yeah, hate to break it to ya, but right's not gonna cut it either."

Bell and Lili turned to the right route, only to see a dozen sets of red eyes, obviously belonging the Al-Mirajs.

And if Bell was a betting man, he'd put his money on the ones on the left being hellhounds.

The boy narrowed his eyes, "We're surrounded..."

Welf took the sword in his hands, "No shit! Thanks, Captain Obvious!"

Lili placed her hands on her crossbow, ready to aim and fire.

Bell's eyes darted around, and his mind went to EMIYA, "Guys, stay in the middle, I can handle this."

The two blinked, and Welf asked, "I'm sorry, what?"

The boy took a deep breath, "Load: E-"

He was cut off when he felt something fall on his shoulder, and the boy realized it was a piece of rock.

Bell blinked, and he looked up, just in time to see the ceiling cracking, "Oh you've gotta be kidding me..."

The ceiling gave way, revealing a swarm of Bad Bats, and Bell cursed, "LOAD: EMIYA!"

But he was too late, as all of the monsters from all three sides charged them.

Bell tried to summon more copies of Kanshou and Bakuya, but before he could, every Bad Bat screamed, causing both Lili and Welf to fall to their knees as they covered their ears in pain.

The boy, on the other hand, was more resistant to the pain, and he managed to throw the copies of Kanshou and Bakuya in hand to mow down a small number of monsters around them.

As they had some space to breathe, Bell prepared to summon another copy of Kanshou and Bakuya to take down the bats.

Only for the soundwaves to cause cracks in the floor, and the boy felt the lose of his footing.

Then they fell.

Bell groaned as he pushed himself up, forcefully pushing off the rubble on his back.

Fortunately, he had taken on the powers of EMIYA. Despite not being the strongest, it still boosted his strength and endurance by a huge margin.

That had saved him from being crushed by the ceiling and the Bad Bats.

The boy's eyes snapped open at that thought. He had the strength to survive, but the same couldn't be said for Welf and Lili.

Bell looked around, and he yelled, "WELF! LILI!"

A soft groan reached his ears, and the boy quickly shot to his feet, moving towards the source of the sound.

To his relief, he spotted both Welf and Lili nearby, both groaning in pain, but very much alive.

Bell reached for Welf, who was closer to him, "Dude, you alright?"

The redhead's eyes pried open, and he quickly noticed Bell, "Ugh... Like shit..."

The boy chuckled as he helped him up, "Come on."

Welf tried to pull himself up with Bell's help, only to wince when a surge of pain shot up his left leg, and he fell to the ground again.

Bell's eyes filled itself with worry, "Welf!"

The redhead raised a palm, "I'm... fine... I'm fine. Sorry, Bell... But I think my left leg's shot."

The boy looked down, and sure enough, Welf's left leg was slightly bent in a weird way, most probably from the rubble crushing him.

Bell nodded, "It's okay, come on, I got you this time."

Welf nodded, and once more, the boy pulled the man up, but this time with much more care, and they managed to get him to his feet.

The redhead looked behind him, "How's Lil Lili?"

Bell's face was once again filled with worry, "I'm... not sure."

He glanced at Welf, "Can you..."

The redhead nodded, "Yeah, I'll be fine on one leg for a bit."

Bell nodded and let go of the blacksmith, letting him balance on one leg before he quickly squatted down before Lili.

The boy nudged the girl softly, "Lili. You there?"

The prum in disguise groaned, "Y-yes..."

She slowly got to her feet, and she glanced at her giant bag nearby, "My bag helped softened the fall... But our supplies..."

The trio noticed the amount of glass on the floor, along with the liquid. It didn't take a genius to figure that they had lost a huge portion of their supplies.

Lili grabbed her bag, opening it up and grimaced when she saw that almost all of their potions were gone.

Bell sighed, "Nothing we can do about it."

He quickly went back to help Welf on his feet as he looked around, "Let's figure out how to get out."

Welf grunted as he shifted his weight to ease his legs, "By the gods... We wanted to get out, but we fell further down."

Bell nodded, before he looked up at the hole, "Are we on the 15th floor?"

Lili looked up, the sound of monsters from the floor above filling their ears, "No, we're probably on the 16th floor. Falling through a single floor wouldn't have been that bad."

The white haired boy nodded, "That makes sense. We can't be on the 17th floor either."

Lili nodded, "This is obviously not the 17th floor, it looks too similar to the 14th floor."

Bell hummed, "Yeah..."

The prum furrowed her brows, "We'll have to find our way back up."

The redhead chuckled humorlessly, "In our current state? I guess we have no other choice..."

Bell looked down, and his eyes widened when he spotted a hole near them, "Wait..."

Welf blinked, "What's wrong, Bell?"

The white haired boy's heartbeat grew faster. It was a dumb idea.

It was a foolish idea, but Bell couldn't deny that it was a choice.

He was confident that he alone could make it. He wasn't that hurt or tired, if at all.

Bell's eyes darted to Lili and Welf. No, he couldn't risk it, not like this.

Lili evidently caught on to his thoughts, as her face turned serious, "Bell-sama, I know that look."

The boy blinked, "Huh?"

The 'chienthrope' stared at him, "It is a choice, and now that we're at it, I believe it may very well be our best bet."

Bell furrowed his brows, "But it's too risky..."

Lili looked at him, "Is it any riskier than going through all 15 floors again?"

The boy looked down, deep in thought as he debated if they should.

Welf, on the other hand, was more than confused, "Hold up, what are you two talking about?"

The two looked at him, and Bell took a deep breath, "If we can get to the 18th floor... We'll be fine."

The redhead's eyes snapped open in surprise, "The 18th floor?! Are you nuts?!"

Lili shook her head, "No, Bell-sama is right. The 18th floor... Rivira, its one of the few safe zones in the dungeon. The whole floor is one on itself, that means no monsters will spawn there."

Bell nodded, "And chances are, adventurers of higher levels might camp out there before going deeper down, or they might recuperate before heading back to the surface. If we can get there, we might be able to find help."

Welf frowned, "What about the floor boss? The one on the 17th floor?"

Lili answered, "The Loki Familia should've taken it down on their way down. If I remember correctly, that was approximately slightly less than a week ago. We'll make it."

The redhead asked, "But how are we gonna get down? Bell is one thing, but neither you nor I can make it any further, Lil Lili."

Bell answered this time, "The pits."

The blacksmith blinked in confusion, "Pits?"

Bell nodded, "Over there, there's a pit that'll lead us to the 17th floor. If we can find our way to the boss room before it spawns, we'll make it."

The white haired boy nodded, "Look, it's a dumb idea-"

"But it's still an option, if not our best option."

Welf cut him off, and Bell fell silent.

Lili looked at Bell, "Bell-sama, in the end it is but an idea. But we still need to make a decision, hopefully our party leader can make that decision."

The prum hated to push it on to Bell, but as of now, he was the only one capable of pushing through.

Welf, evidently, thought the same, "Bell, whatever decision you make, we'll follow you. We won't blame you no matter what happens."

Bell took a deep breath, his eyes trained on the pit, and he glanced up at the slowly repairing hole in the ceiling.

The white rabbit made his decision, "Let's head down. It'll take us too long to look for a way up. We have a way down, let's use it."

The pair nodded, and Lili reached into her bag, grimacing when she noticed the lack of supplies again.

The prum shook her head and grabbed three sets of rope and climbing gear, "Give me a minute, I'll set the hooks up."

A short while later, the three were slowly descending through the pit, and Welf grunted as he did his best to not use his injured leg.

The redhead glanced down, "By the gods, this is a long way down."

Lili nodded as she slowly lowered herself down the rope, careful not to let her bag hinder her, "Of course, on most floors, we might not notice it, but the distance between each floor is actually bigger than you can imagine."

Bell slid down bit by bit, "Yeah, which makes it even more dangerous than we thought it'd be."

The three slowly slid down, until they spotted the bottom of the pit.

Lili spoke up, "Okay, get ready, you two. We don't know if anything is waiting for us at the bottom."

The three found themselves descending, lowering themselves through the ceiling, and their eyes widened when they saw what awaited them.

Monsters. Enough monsters to be called a small army.

Or at the very least, a large battalion.

Lili's eyes trembled, "H-how?! We're supposed to be going into the 17th floor! There shouldn't be that many monsters on this floor!"

Welf grunted as he struggled to hold himself up, "No idea... but that doesn't matter..."

The redhead could spot hellhounds and Al-mirajs, all ready to pounce when the three came further down.

No, the hellhounds were already preparing to shoot fireballs at them, it was only a matter of time.

But what caught his eye, were the minotaurs behind the smaller monsters.

Dozens upon dozens of them.

Bell gritted his teeth in frustration as they hung in the air. He had heard of the dungeon being alive and throwing curveballs at people.

Never had he expected to face one so early on their first trip to the middle floors.

The hellhounds growled, and the white haired boy's eyes widened, "Shit! Guys, jump!"

Bell let go of the rope, and Welf gaped, "What the fuck?! DUDE!"

The hellhounds unleashed their flames, and Lili quickly followed suit, something mirrored by Welf.

As for Bell, the boy had the Hestia Knife and Mino-Tan in hand, already taking down the rabbits and the hellhounds.

Welf, on the other hand, winced as pain shot up his injured feet, "Ughh!"

Fortunately, Lili had used her bag to cushion her fall, and she managed to make her way to Welf, using her crossbow to keep the smaller monsters away.

The 'chienthrope' glanced at her party member, "Welf-sama, you good?"

The blacksmith grunted as he sat up, "Does it look like I'm okay?!"

Lili fired an arrow at an Al-Miraj, "Good point."

The girl turned and opened her bag, and her eyes dropped when she realized her fall had broken most of the remaining potions, including the ones Naaza had gifted them.

All she had left, were two vials of potion that survived the fall.

Lili pursed her lips, and she reached in and grabbed it, uncorking it as she gave it to Welf, "Drink this."

Welf glanced at the vial, before he looked at her, "How many do we have left?"

The girl clsoed her eyes, "Two, including this one."

The blacksmith looked at Bell, whom, despite taking down multiple monsters at once, was still getting busted up gradually.

Welf furrowed his brows, "Keep it. If anything happens, Bell will still have enough to keep him going."

Lili frowned, "What are you saying?"

The blacksmith stared at the girl in the eye, "Lil Lili, I'm pretty much deadweight now. Look, if anything happens, leave me. Bell can't make that decision, but I also don't want him to be held back because of me."

The prum in disguise stared at him, almost shocked, "Welf-sama..."

Welf's gaze held strong, "Promise me that, please."

Lili looked at Bell, who had the aura of Heracles around him as he took down hellhound after hellhound, before she looked back at Welf.

The girl pushed the vial into Welf's hands, "Drink it. Bell-sama will never forgive me if we left you to die."

Welf blinked as he found the vial in his hands, before he looked at Lili again, "Lil Lili... you..."

The prum cut him off, "While we're here, Bell-sama is fighting off that army of monsters. Alone. He won't let any of us die."

The blacksmith followed her gaze, and to his surprise, Bell had already mowed down at least half of the hellhounds and Al-Mirajs, which had to make up at least a fifth of the monsters around them.

The man sighed, "Guess his hero complex is getting to you too huh?"

Welf looked at the potion, before he downed it in one go, "Alright, I'll try to make sure I don't get in his way too much."

He felt the potion his work, and he managed to stand up, albeit still struggling very much to not wince in pain.

Lili nodded as she helped Welf stand, "Agreed, let's find somewhere to hide."

The two slowly limped away, something Bell easily noticed, and was happy to see.

With Bell, the boy was constantly moving, Heracles' powers coursing through his veins, and both knives slicing into each monster at every possible moment.

As he spotted Lili and Welf moving to a safer spot, so did the monsters, and they quickly tried to pounce on them, only for Bell to cut them down.

The boy panted as he tried to regain his breath, feeling the strain on his stamina and mind at the same time.

Until eventually, Bell realized that they were surrounded, cornered to a wall.

The hellhounds and Al-Mirajs were all gone, leaving only the minotaurs, but the fact that there were at least two dozens of them around didn't make things better.

The boy gritted his teeth, as he prepared to charged ahead, until he remembered something.

No, it was more accurate to say that the image was no surfacing his mind.

Bell let out a breath, releasing his hold on Heracles' powers, before chanting once more, "Load: EMIYA."

The power of the Counter Guardian filled his body, and he widened his stance, letting EMIYA's memories guide him.

"Trace... on."

Bell gritted his teeth as he felt the toll on his mind once more, "Set (Fake): Sword Barrel: Full Open!"

Countless nameless swords formed around them, much to Lili and Welf's shock, as the amount of weapons also put the monsters on guard.

The boy, on the other hand, was struggling to keep them steady.

It was a technique Bell had yet to be able to fully utilize. He would not be able to use it as a Level 1, the cost on his mind was too much.

Even now, it had a heavy toll on his mind, but he managed to hold on, just enough to send them all out.

Then, every blade shot out.

It ended in almost but an instance, for every sword met its target, striking down every minotaur in sight.

As soon as the coast was clear, Bell stumbled on his feet, struggling to not let his eyes fall.

The boy turned to his friends, "Come on... We need... to get past... the boss."

Welf and Lili could only nod, worry evident in their eyes as Bell forced himself to his feet.

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile, Hestia was in the basement of their church.

It had been two full days since Bell had joined his party in their journey to the middle floors.

Yet, the boy had not returned to their shared home.

Hestia had also asked Hephaestus about her Child, but the goddess of the forge had yet to see her favorite child.

The goddess tightened her grip on the bed sheets, and she stood up.

It was time to pay the Guild a visit.

XXX

Done.

So yeah, that's the chapter.

I had been debating if I should do this a different way, but I just found myself going about it similar to canon.

The next chapter will have Bell and co enter Riviria, as well as Hestia forming the search party.

Until then.

Read and review please.