Hearth Blade

Bell didn't know what happened. One moment, he and his Goddess were leaving the arena of the Monsterphilia, and the next, a rabid monster was chasing after them and only them. It ignored the terrified screams of the citizens, the sharp whip cracks of the Ganesha Familia's tamers, and the paralyzed forms of the low leveled adventurers. It mattered not if Bell ducked through a narrow alley, zigzagged through the streets of Daedalus street, or completely disappeared from the monster's gaze. It would chase him and his Goddess like it knew exactly where they were.

Still, Bell ran as fast as he could with his wide-eyed Goddess in his arms. A primal roar echoed behind him, the beast known as a Silverback hot on his heels. Silver hair covered it from head to heel, its foot ending in a hand like a monkey's would. Its arms were covered in steel cuffs with their broken chains noisily clanking along as the beast jumped from building to building, seemingly just a step behind Bell.

Bell made a mistake and was forced to skid to a halt. He ran into a dead end. There was no way out. The Silverback was right behind them, and there was no turning back. Not against an elite middle floor monster. Bell grounded his teeth together as he quickly came to a decision. At the far end of the cove stood a house with a steel gate. Bell apologized to the owner as he made his decision.

"Goddess!" Bell huffed as he set Hestia to her feet. "This steel gate should be enough to protect us from the monster," Bell said. It was a lie. Bell knew that the Silverback could rip the steel gate off its hinges with a whimsical flick of its large fingers. "And the house has a cement covering, it couldn't reach us from there."

The gods could tell if someone was lying, and Bell knew it was a futile thing to do. Yet he did so as he shoved his beloved Goddess behind the steel gate; it was for his own sake that he lied to her. With a kick, Bell sent the gate's bar into the stone wall, ensuring that his Goddess could not leave this way. "Bell?! Bell! What are you doing?! Bell!?" Hestia screamed.

"Please, stay safe, my Goddess," Bell didn't know what expression he made. He wanted to give his Goddess a reassuring smile, but felt his face frozen in despair. It hurt him to see his Goddess with tears in her crystal blue eyes, the pain in them making the guilt within him rise.

"Bell… You promised!"

Bell turned around to face the monster with his Goddess behind him. Other adventurers would get here, he just had to buy them time to save his Goddess, even if he had to sacrifice his own life.

Bell unsheathed the blade that Hestia gifted him earlier. The short sword was single-edged, just slightly longer than his usual knife. Bell's faint smile mirrored itself on the silver steel as he grasped the long hilt with a single hand, loving the way his fingers grasped the shark skin grip. It lacked a pommel, and the crossguard was not that impressive, but Bell was entranced by its beauty. Something clicked in Bell as he admired the sword. It was not crafted for defense, but an all out offensive. "The Hearth Blade…" Bell muttered to himself, naming the blade in the process.

The sword hummed as runes along its side glowed yellow and red like the embers of a fire.

A cloud of dust exploded in front of Bell.

"RRRRAAAAAAGHHHHH!" the silverback beat its chest and slammed the ground repeatedly. It was given a mission by a Goddess of Beauty: harass the Goddess of Hearth. It snarled when it saw a boy, a mere rabbit, stand defiantly in front of it. Raising its fists, it beat its chest again,bellowing against the useless defiance.

Slamming its chained arms to the ground one last time, it charged the boy.

Bell took in a breath as he dodged to the side. He felt the vibrations echo through the earth even as he stumbled to a clumsy stop. Dodging to the side proved to be a mistake as the monster started clawing at the steel cage that he placed his Goddess in. "Goddess!" Bell shouted, scrambling to his feet as he did so. He raised his blade high and brought it down on the beast's wrist.

It cleaved through flesh like butter but smashed hard onto the bone, lodging itself there. Shock reverberated through the sword and up Bell's arm. Bell sucked his teeth as he kicked the wrist and detached his sword from the bone. That few seconds of no follow up allowed the beast to swing its other fist and straight into Bell.

Bell flew. His bones were crushed and his flesh mangled. Pain was all he knew. The wall that he smashed into cracked. Bell would have gone through it if it were any thinner.

Pain like fire and lightning coursed through his spine and especially his torso. His head throbbed, and his vision grew hazy.

The silverback paid no attention to the downed adventurer and instead used both of its hands to grip the steel gate. The iron whined loudly and sharply as the pressure that the monster put on it grew stronger by the moment.

"Bell! Please get up!" Hestia shouted, caring little for her own safety. "Bell! Did you not promise me that you will never leave my side! Well I'm not leaving yours! Get up!" she rasped even with certain death clawing at the door.

"Goddess…" Bell grunted, coming back to his senses. "Ghwah!" blood spilled from his mouth as he detached himself from the wall and dropped to the hard ground. He hadn't let go of his sword despite that pain; it already felt so natural in his hand. His hold on it was like a death grip. That was a good thing. His swordhand was still usable.

Fire.

Bell felt fire fill his belly and spread throughout his limbs. It was hot. So hot that he screamed. "GAAAAAAH!" And yet, he mustered the strength to get onto his feet. Tears filled his eyes. It was all too painful. The golden blade acted as a crutch while Bell swayed on his legs.

The licks of flames healed his wounds and restored his sanity from the pain. Bell paid it little attention, his focus not on himself.

"Don't worry Goddess… I have not forgotten my promise."

Bell scolded himself in his mind. Did he not just promise that he wouldn't ever leave his Goddess? What was he doing now? He was throwing his life away to save hers. That wasn't what he promised. No, it was not. He was going to save her, but dying was not in the equation.

Fire filled his eyes. Bell yelled at the silverback as he charged. It did not gain the monkey's attention. It was as if the Goddess Hestia entranced the monster. As if its entire being was hellbent on killing Bell's Goddess.

Bell grit his teeth. He wouldn't allow that.

Aim for the vital spots like the neck, the head, and the heart; but if that isn't possible, go for the inside of the legs, behind the knees, the ankles, under the armpits, the stomach…

Bell reached the damned monkey that wanted to hurt his Goddess. Blood splattered across the ground. Bell had slashed the monkey across the shoulder. He had aimed for the ape's neck, but the monster moved to the side at the last second. The monster moved back still, assessing the puny adventurer in front of it. The white rabbit of an adventure was adamant to defend its target.

No matter.

The beast once again beat its chest. And once more, it charged at the boy. It worked earlier. It will work again.

Or at least, that's what the dumb monkey thought.

The boy charged back at it with a war cry of his own. The monkey was surprised, but that only lasted a moment. It leapt, intending to crush the boy. The boy skidded on the ground, ducking under the monkey's leap.

Bell yelled as he put all the strength into his legs. He jumped up with newfound strength. He dodged the chains trailing the wide reach for him and landed on the monkey's back. With one hand gripping his blade and the other gripping the white hair, Bell climbed. He stabbed the beast with his sword whenever he pulled himself up, making the monster thrash and howl in rage. He made sure to be careful not to waste time by accidently lodging his sword in bone.

The beast reached for Bell but was unable to. Its thick arms weren't flexible enough to grab hold of the boy, who hurt it. Fed up with the pain crawling up its back, it smashed its back against the buildings around it.

Bell was subjected to pain as he was ground against steel, stone, and glass. His wounds healed faster the more they accumulated. Still, it hurt. It hurt so much that tears flowed down Bell's bloodshot eyes. Yet the boy did not let go of his blade nor of the monster. He climbed steadily, even though he was nearly yanked off several times over.

The monster jumped backwards and landed on its back, thoroughly crushing Bell. This proved to be its undoing as the blade that was embedded skin deep went through its spinal cord, sending the ape howling as it turned to lay on its belly in an effort to somehow fix what had gone wrong. Bell recovered from momentarily being crushed. The boy huffed as he pried his sword out of the beast's back and ran to its neck.

"HAAAAAAA!" Bell shouted as he slashed. Steel cleaved through muscles, sinew, and narrowly between the spine's vertebrae.

The beast died in the next second, and Bell immediately moved into a defensive stance once again. With adrenaline and almost manic energy, he swiveled left and right, expecting more monsters, another ambush, but found none.

All he found was a crowd of onlookers, both civilian and adventurer, watching him as he defeated the monster. Silence filled the square for what felt like an eternity in his heightened state of awareness. Then, somebody started clapping. Like wildfire on dry leaves, the sounds of clapping filled Daedelus street.

If Bell had energy any in him, he would have basked in the glory — albeit with a hint of embarrassment. The shouts of the men and the pleased yells of the ladies would have filled him with joy. It was what he always imagined a hero would experience. But he had hardly any energy. And so, he focused on his mission and he searched the streets for his Goddess.

"Bell!"

"Goddess!" Bell found her and limped towards her. "Goddess! I'm sorry!" Bell collapsed in front of the metal grill gate and held the twisted steel bars.

"Stupid Bell…" Hestia reached out of her impromptu prison to pat Bell's white hair before pulling him close in a hug. The steel grills made it awkward, but there was nothing she could do about that at the moment. She held Bell close, comforting him and herself as best she could through the barrier. "Stop trying to throw your life away… Stupid Bell… You promised me…" Tears came unbidden to her eyes and the Goddess of Hearth weeped.

"I'm so sorry, my Goddess."

"Keep your promises, please."

"I will."

"Don't die on me."

"I won't die."

"Don't leave me all alone…"

"Yes, my Goddess."

Bell nearly fell asleep, but he still had a duty to fulfill. He broke away from the hug and with what was left of his strength, Bell threw open the frayed steel gate and freed Hestia. Hestia threw herself at him and hugged him tight. His ribcage ached in protest by the softness and warmth of his Goddess made him forget all about it.

"Let's go home…"

"We should…" Hestia sniffed and wiped her tears. It was unbecoming of her to be seen crying in public. She did not care though. What mattered now was that her child was still alive, and that they needed to go back to the place they called home.

Ais had watched the battle with the crowd. A small part wanted to help Bell defeat the monster.

"Will he level up after this, I wonder," Loki muttered. "That child looks pretty interesting, I should have gotten my hands on him."

Ais said nothing. It was her decision to leave Bell with the Goddess of Hearth. Who knows what could have happened if she brought him to the Loki Familia? She knew how handsy Loki got, and the Deity of Mischief was a true handful (and loved to get a handful). She did not want to subject Bell to the whims of her goddess. With how handsome he was… There was no telling what Loki would do…

"Handsome?" Ais muttered to herself.

"You say something?"

"Nothing important," Ais dismissed. Loki gave Ais a look that she could not decipher before shrugging, uninterested. Loki quietly slipped away into the crowd, and Ais followed her.

Akasha licked her red lips, her red eyes honed in on one Bell Cranel. She hadn't expected to bump into him this early, the pure white soul tainted sickly violet, the same one Sagarel cursed. Looking at the boy, he does look indeed delicious. No wonder her fellow devil played with its food… Akasha would honestly do the same.

Ahh the things she would do to the boy~ . He looked so innocent and his soul looked so delicious~~ . Akasha would love to tie him down to the bed and ride him until the dawn breaks. Maybe, she could also teach him how to inflict pain and pleasure so she would feel some of that pain that she loved so mu ch just to dominate him later on.

"I want him. I want him," the devil muttered to herself repeatedly as her fingers caressed her cheeks, slowly moving down to breasts and between her thighs. She licked her lips once more, uncaring if the lipstick she wore became smudged. She could simply reapply it later. It was a lost cause anyway, she felt some drool exit from the edge of her mouth and down her chin in an unbecoming manner.

"Getting into Orario was easier than we thought," Treseis commented, breaking Akasha out of her thoughts. The devil wiped her lips as she turned to her companion. "The guards at the gate did not ask us for a body check."

Akasha rolled her eyes as she let the Whore of Babylon continue speaking. She feigned listening, though, not wanting to turn this mission into a disaster by irking the older devil.

"I see you are not listening to me, Akasha," Treseis sighed. "Still infatuated by what you saw this morning. The boy, the Goddess, and the Silverback? To think the children of our sister would become mere entertainment…"

"I cannot help it, sister dearest," Akasha nearly sang. "That boy, despite being so weak, tried so hard. It was adorable!" she turned away from the window of the room they were staying in for the night with a hearty sigh. "It makes me want to make him bleed as I cut up his Goddess in front of him ! I want to see his tears, hear his wails of despair! OH! Tressie! Don't you think so too?"

The Whore of Babylon gave the Queen of Pain a dismissive glance and a roll of her eyes. "You find it adorable, I find it pitiful. What I want to see is a strong man be brought to ruin," Treseis rapped her violet fingernails on the wooden bedside table. "I would say though that I see a lot of potential in him. Maybe if he grows a little stronger, a little larger…" she trailed off.

It was Akasha's turn to roll her eyes. Despite both of them loving the pleasures that the bed gave, their tastes differed strongly. Akasha loved the weak men, men who would cave in to their lusts early on. Their delicious, innocent and honest faces made Akasha so very wet. What made her orgasm was when those same innocent faces, so full of excitement and expectation, turned into tragic faces full of pain and despair. She loved it. She was addicted to it.

Treseis on the other hand loved the heroes. The strong men who could afford any girl they want. She loved turning them inside out with her mind games, making them choose between his wife and her, his children and the lusts of the bed, the burning innocents in the city and the burning pleasure she would bring him. Once he has lost his mind thanks to the guilt weighing on him, the Whore of Babylon would abandon the hero to his tragic fate. She would watch in delight as the hero fell from their pedestal in society and was killed by those he thought loved him.

Akasha found the other devil rather twisted. But to each her own.

"So, what do we do now that we're here?"

Akasha turned on the bed to look at Treseis. Some part of her wanted to play. It's been a long time since she had seen so many men in the past hundred years. But she knew she wouldn't be able to hold herself back once she tasted their flesh and drank their semen. She wouldn't be able to hold herself back from sucking their life away from them . Maybe just one or two wouldn't hurt? Who would miss one or two ruffians going missing in the middle of the night with a beautiful woman?

"Akasha…"

"Yesss~ Yesss~" Akasha sang, shaking the thoughts of debauchery from her mind but unable to remove the grin on her lips. "Mmmm. The Loki Familia is quite closely knit, the Freya Familia only serves their Goddess," she nearly spat. "It's unfortunate that the Ishtar Familia is only filled with women."

"That leaves Ganesha."

"Indeed it does~ "

"Mmmm… How many men can we kill without them being too suspicious?" Treseis wondered.

"We could kill as many as we want. If we're able to get in there," Akasha pointed at the largest tower that crowned Orario. The Tower of Babel stood mightily above all other buildings. It acted as a lid that kept the monsters inside the dungeon while also having guards posted at the entrances, keeping the devils out. Akasha and Treseis did not dare get close to it because of the many gods that visited on the daily.

While humans are not able to sense the malevolent energy of the devils, the deities were able. Once the two devils got close to a god, their cover would be blown, and they would be hunted in Orario.

It seemed that the gods did not expect the devils to come directly to Orario either, seeing that the gate guards posted did not check them properly or that there was no deity watching the gates. The gate guards did not take note of their unnaturally pale skin. The sloppiness of the guards nearly made Akasha laugh out loud as they walked into the Labyrinth City.

There was a knock on the door, breaking Akasha out of her inner musings. Treseis stood and checked who was at the door before opening it. Men and women in white robes entered, followed by a tall red-haired woman. Both devils immediately noticed that the woman was not human, despite their human features. The woman was a bastardization of a human and a monster, something akin to the two devils, but at the same time not. It was more akin to a soul forcefully shoved into a human corpse and made to dance like a puppet.

"Ah, Evilus, I take it?" Akasha sat up, not minding that she was basically naked in front of many people. "Oh my, to deliver so many men right into my room. Is it my birthday~~ ?" she purred. She felt the gazes of the men on her pale skinned body. Her legs were spread, and her genitalia was only covered by a thin, red cloth. She licked her lips and wriggled her eyebrows seductively. She watched in delight as the men shifted uneasily.

"Devils. My master is surprised that you were so easily able to enter the city," the woman started.

"Indeed. It was laughable, really," Akasha laughed in her high-pitched manner. "So, what does a creature want with us? Ah, before that. Has our sister dearest been doing well? I heard that two of her three favorite children were slain, with only the Black Dragon remaining."

"The Dungeon is doing well…" the creature said uneasily. Shifting subjects, she continued. "My master, Enyo, would like to speak with you."

"Enyo? The War Goddess?"

Akasha tilted her head and listened. She, Akasha, was not one of the original demons that rebelled against the gods nor was she one of the older ones that saw the rise of the Heroes. Matter of fact, she was one of the younger ones, barely two hundred years old. She was a half-breed between a devil and a human king.

She loved bringing down the kingdom of her father. The way he despaired under her touch as she rode him in bed as his subjects burned—

Akasha shook such nostalgic and wonderful thoughts away. She nearly got lost in her musing, drenching her underwear in the process. Ahhh, those were the times .

"The War Goddess is gone, sent back to heaven. The one who takes up the title of Enyo now reads it as 'The Destroyer of the City,' " the creature informed. "She has been sent back to heaven along with Phobos and Eris in one of Rakia's many wars."

"Destroyer of the City?" Akasha heard the mirth from Treseis' voice. "What does he hope to achieve? I find it hard to believe that a god would want the lid over our sister to open."

"I do not understand his intentions either," the creature shrugged her shoulders.

"This could be a trap…"

"I assure you, this is not a trap. My master was the one who commanded me to open the beasts of the monsters to gain the god's attention to the center of the city so that you may enter."

"So this 'Enyo' saw us from that far away…" Treseis muttered. "Was he also the one who told the silverback to go after Hestia?"

"No, we know no such thing."

"I figured that silverback was acting oddly."

"Well, what's the harm in trying to meet this Enyo?" Akasha inserted herself into their conversation. "If the god is a liar we could just kill him on the spot and if he is what he says he is, then we join hands with him until our goals are complete."

"If I may ask," the creature started. "What are your goals?"

Akasha and Treseis shared a look, silently communicating with their eyes.

Should we tell her?

I see no harm. We could just curse her and the rest to not speak about it.

Akasha's eyes sparkled as the older devil gave her permission. She stood up from the bed, her bare feet touching the cold wooden floor. "We have come to reawaken Tiamat."

The creature looked like she did not understand, seeing that her eyes neither widened nor slitted but remained lifeless. Akasha assumed that the creature knew about Tiamat since she had answered her question about their sister dearest earlier.

"Ah, my bad. The mortals call her 'The Dungeon' lately," Akasha enjoyed how the creature's eyes widened. "Yes~~" she purred. "We have come to bring about the dark days once again." She reached out, lightning fast, to grab the creature by the neck. The blood on her fingers shot out and coiled around the creature's neck like a snake. The creature kicked Akasha, but the devil barely felt it. "I curse you to never talk about this."

The white robed people in the room looked like they were about to bolt. Some even turned around and lifted their heels. Treseis was faster though and tentacles sprouted out from the Whore of Babylon's back, entangling the Evilus followers. Similar marks of purple appeared around their necks before disappearing.

"Go on, run along now " Akasha released the creature, letting her tumble backwards. "And tell Enyo that we would love to meet up."

The tentacles unfurled, following Akasha's lead. In a mad rush, Evilus scampered out of the room and Akasha was left wondering about that boy with white hair once again. She spread her long and slender legs wide and let her fingers rub her nether lips.

"Hey, Tressie, mind if you scratch an itch for a bit?" Akasha licked her lips.

"Sure, why not?" violet tentacles surrounded Akasha. The only thing left that would have made this perfect for her would be the taste of a man on her lips, preferably that of the boy's. It's been a long time since she had felt this wet. Way too long. As the salty taste of Treseis' tentacles entered her lips, she closed her eyes and hummed.

Soon. Very soon.

Author's Notes: Okay. First off. Bell should've been Loki Familia but I rushed the chapter without thinking. The past is the past and what I have written is written; I ain't gonna rewrite that fact anymore. I tried to justify Bell being Hestia Familia by thinking "Loki only takes in those she thinks as interesting… Why should she take in Bell?" not realizing that the curse that the devil inflicted on Bell would make him interesting. Another line of thought against him being Loki Familia would be the fact that Bell's curse requires him to bed a virgin every fortnight lest he die. Loki wouldn't like that, she loves her girls too much. I could have written around that and used it as a plot device later on but was too cowardly and lazy to think of ways.

Secondly: If you guys think I am rushing the first few arcs of Danmachi. Then you are absolutely right, I am rushing it. The reason I am going through them in the first place is to add the small details that I wanted to add. Bell's skill [Inner Fire] being one of it as well as the Hearth Blade; further additions will be added down the line. There are hundreds other fics that take their spin on the first arc, going through the details well, and I do not want myself to get clogged there. Not saying that those fics are bad— in fact, they added so much insight into the first arcs that it is always interesting to read it. That said, I should be able to flex the timeline to my pleasure once Bell battles the minotaur once again and go into more detail from then on.

Thirdly? There is no thirdly. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review and join the Discord server. Link below. Remove the space in between.

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