Chapter 28
"Would you please change that depressed expression you are making; You are making even me feel bad for you." Lunor Faust exclaimed after putting a box with the symbol of the Soma Familia on the ground while many other members of said Familia did the same.
"Lunor, be nice." Syr pouted at the waitress as she rubbed Ryuu's back, who was looking down at her with an empty-eyed expression; almost as if someone had just died.
"Her whole beliefs were exaggeratedly outdated, big deal." Lunor flinched a little as the Genocidal Elf raised her head slightly to give her a deathly glare.
It had been the night of the same day Tsubaki had let Drake deal with the… issues Rose Fannett was facing. Syr understood why Ryuu was feeling down, or at least she thought so; seeing Ryuu decided to tell her what had happened with Tsubaki that day, especially the whole idea of love and romance the Elf had biblically believed in for so long.
Unfortunately, none of them had noticed Lunor or Chloe close by; most likely skipping work at closing hours, only to then be sold out by their own struggles of not laughing at the Elf's beliefs.
"In Tsubaki's defense; You shouldn't have shared that at all." Lunor snorted, only to flinch again the moment Ryuu sent her another glare at the mere mention of Tsubaki. "Hey, look on the bright side; at least she didn't tell Drake."
That had been the only positive thing about the situation, seeing as she asked the blonde yesterday when he finally appeared back in the Hostess after being in the Dungeon for reasons unknown to anyone.
She wanted to speak with him, but she couldn't; recalling that the last time they spoke was during his drunken state. She recalled his sudden hug and his proclamation about her being his favorite Elf. The single memory of it turned her into a mess before she could say anything… because she wanted to prove something.
Despite how she might feel about Tsubaki at the moment, she was right about her whole feeling of initially being attracted to him solely because she felt comfortable touching him being just plain stupid… something her co-workers also shared with her, slightly more mercifully.
"I mean, yeah, you can ask him about it and most likely be verbally chewed out by him; because as we all know-"
"He's an asshole." Not just Lunor, but all of the High-Level Waitresses commented sans Anya, along with Syr and Lili…
"Where did you come from nya~?" Chloe asked, looking at the newly appointed Captain of the Soma Familia standing around the others.
"Lili has been here for a while; Lili needs to keep an eye on the stock and make sure everyone is working," she narrowed her glare at them. "Something none of you are doing; Lili would expect this from Miss Syr, seeing Boss says she always finds a way to skip work."
"Hey!" Syr pouted before gently patting Ryuu on the back. "Besides, we are having an important discussion here."
"More like finding ways of skipping work again nya~" Chloe sighed before looking at Ryuu. "So, what exactly do you expect to prove nya~? As Lunor said, he would just tell you the same things we told you yesterday just in a more brutal way nya~"
Ryuu's eye twitched, recalling her co-workers' thoughts about the touching subject. "I do not get 'turned on' by having physical contact." she internally groaned. Ever since Zelos revealed the people of Drake's land's knowledge about Elves, they haven't stopped bothering about it whenever they had a chance.
"Miss Ryuu," everyone looked at Lili, who was looking with a blank stare at her. "Lili was there when you passed out after Boss' hug; despite covering the lower half of your face, Lili recalls your eyes seemed dazed… similar to the bliss people feel when they drink Soma."
Ryuu Lyon became paler before her head looked down at the floor in defeat while everyone but Syr laughed. "Preach it, sister; down five," Lunor stated, showing her palm to Lili before the Pallum clapped it.
The Elf sighed in defeat. "I'm just afraid that Tsubaki might be right; what if there's someone else whose touch I don't find unpleasant, I know myself enough to know I won't be able to stop pondering about it."
"At least you're being honest about it," Lunor commented. "And hey, you're no longer bothered about the whole Rose thing." Ryuu's passive-aggressive glare returned. "Or not."
"… I understand why he did it, and I can picture Tsubaki simply leaving him to deal with that alone," Ryuu commented, having understood and remembering how Animal People suffered from heat cycles; Neze, one of the former members of Astraea Familia also suffered from that. Ryuu never really asked about the details, seeing Neze would disappear around those times; Astraea used to say it was something she really didn't have control over. "But I still can't help but feel troubled about it."
Lunor sighed. "You are jealous; it's normal knowing the guy you like is sleeping with someone else." Ryuu clenched her fist, while someone else blinked a couple of times before looking at Lunor with a confused face, as if trying to understand something confusing.
"Wait… what?" Lili asked in honest confusion before Lunor lowered her head to her height and whispered something to Lili before her eyes widened. "… Boss fucks?!"
Lunor and Chloe snorted, while Ryuu and Syr groaned. "Don't tell me you are like the pair of virgins over here, believing someone should only sleep with the person they love." She ignored their glare as Lili shook their head.
"Even Lili isn't that old-fashioned," Ryuu received a verbal arrow through the back as Lili continued. "Lili is just surprised someone would willingly sleep with him; even though it was out of necessity, for a lack of better words."
Lunor and Chloe let the thought sink into their minds; nodding in agreement seeing the blonde was an ass despite being so good-looking.
*ahem*
Everyone's focus turned to Syr. "I think we are derailing out of the subject." She gestured at Ryuu, making Lili sigh in resignation.
"May Lili say something," Ryuu nodded after a moment. "Lili suggests Miss Ryuu tries to touch someone else," the Elf raised an eye, preparing to protest against the idea, but Lili beat her to it. "Not to see if Miss Ryuu find it disgusting, but rather to try and get over that thing about touching other people in general; so Lili would suggest starting trying with people Miss Ryuu finds unlikeable. That wouldn't directly solve getting flustered if Miss Ryuu finds someone that doesn't disgust her, but it's a start to getting used to touching other people normally."
"… That is actually a great idea!" Syr clapped her hands, seeing it might be the best opportunity for Ryuu to open up more.
"… huh," Lunor muttered. "It's actually a pretty solid idea, yeah." She started to ponder, resting her chin on her hand. "But where are we going to find people she may find l disgusting to touch…" she replied, only to notice as Syr and Ryuu were looking between her and Chloe.
"Oh, fuck you/Oh, screw you nya~"
"It's not that I don't like you," Ryuu suddenly said. "But I am sure we all recall what has happened every time any of you has tried to touch me, with the exception of Syr of course."
The two waitresses grimaced, remembering being knocked out cold on those occasions. "… In our defense, we were drunk most of those times," Lunor said before she and Chloe looked in the distance for the one other possible 'subject' for touching the Elf. "And then there's her."
"… what nya~?" Anya Fromel asked, carrying a big box over her shoulder while she used her free hand to pick up her nose, making them cringe at the sight.
"Nothing." They all replied before Ryuu looked at Lunor and Chloe extending her hands; each with an evil smirk on their faces.
"Go ahead… pick your poison nya~"
Ryuu's eye twitched as she frowned; she felt like back in the day when she was easy to pick on.
"Come on, Ryuu. Put in some effort!" Syr gently patted her shoulder before the Elf extended her hand hesitantly, only to stop mid-way as she didn't know whose hand to grasp.
"Oh, let me help you with that," Lunor said, softly but mercilessly grasping the Elf's hand. Despite the sly smirk Lunor had on her face, she couldn't help but instantly be on guard due to past experiences with the Elf. However, to her surprise and the others, it seemed she was actually putting an effort in not snapping at her… even though her usual glare remained.
"… you know…" Lunor said, having a firmer grasp on the Elf's hand. "I just can't believe how soft your skin is despite all that training you do." Ryuu's eyes twitched as Lunor started to rub her hands with hers; it felt like actual abuse to her.
"Really nya~? Let me see nya~" and then there were two, as Chloe fearlessly grabbed Ryuu's other hand to rub it against her. "Oh, it is soft nya~"
By this point, the Elf started to tap her feet in distress while her whole face twitched. "Remember when we used to fear this Elf?" and the fact that both of them seemed to enjoy helping/torturing her with this treatment while also mocking her just made things worse.
"Not anymore nya~," The former thief said. "Also, no blushing nya~; Otherwise you would be saying Zelos was right about Elves being a perverted race."
Her face heated up at the thought, making her suffering even worse as her whole body twitched at the prospect; now she couldn't stop thinking about it. "You did that on purpose!"
"Of course, I did nya~… also," Chloe's body trembled, as did the others. "Is it just me, or is it cold all of a sudden nya~?"
"Now that you mention it…" Syr said, noticing she was now able to see her own breath. "It is-!" her words died down before her head snapped at the Pub.
"Syr?" Ryuu asked, noticing her friend's sudden change in demeanor as she looked at the establishment, only for Mia Grande to break through the wall of the building while everyone was suddenly invaded by a cold, chilly wind.
"What the fuck!?" Lunor shouted before everyone, even the Soma Familia members nearby, rushed towards Mia.
"Help her stand!" Lili shouted, ordering the Soma Adventurers to do as told as they noticed part of her face had been partially frozen, while her whole chest was in a similar state.
"Mama! Who did this!?" Syr asked, never expecting to see Demi Ymir in such a state. Mia didn't say anything, only limiting herself to looking at the newly made hole done the moment she was kicked through the walls of her establishment. "… R-Ru-Run." She muttered as they all saw the person responsible for her state walking out of the hole; a dark figure surrounded by an icy blue light and glowing eyes of the same color while a cold air exuded from throughout his body until he got close enough for everyone to recognize him.
"… Vanagard!?" Lunor exclaimed, not understanding how a Level Five could just beat a Level Six with such ease; even if Mia had been retired for a while, she still maintained her status. "What the hell are you doing?!"
Bete didn't answer, instead, he looked in their general direction and asked the same question he had asked of Mia. "Where. Is. He?"
They didn't need to ask whom he was talking about, seeing as all the waitresses knew what happened the first time Drake stepped into the Hostess. "Really nya~!? All of this for something that happened almost two months ago; are you really that salty nya~!"
Bete didn't answer. He raised his palm, making all of their eyes widen as a Glyph appeared in front of it from which icicles were shot in their direction.
"Duck!" Ryuu shouted, taking Syr with her as she and the rest did as told.
"I will hold him off! You all go get your weapons!" Lunor shouted, seeing as she was the only person who used hand-to-hand combat.
"We won't take long!" Ryuu shouted as Anya and Chloe already jumped to the second floor to do as told. "Syr, go search for a safe place to hide."
The gray-haired waitress nodded as she went with Lili and the Soma Familia members carrying Mia to safety.
"Not gonna lie, I have always wanted to do this!" Lunor shouted as she rushed at him with a straight punch, surprised that Bete Loga didn't bother to dodge at all; that should have been a bad omen, something Lunor realized the moment her own fist started to freeze after touching him. "Aah!"
She jumped back grasping her right arm as she looked at her hand, getting frostbitten little by little as she no longer felt her fingers. She wasn't familiar with Vanagard's skill set, but she knew for a fact he never displayed this kind of power.
"Miss Lunor, up front!" Liliruca Arde's shout brought her off her train of thought, just to notice Bete's hand millimeters away from her. She panicked for a moment, feeling a sudden amount of pressure on her as she stared at his cold eyes; knowing that if that hand were to touch her she would most likely freeze in the same way as Mia did… but even so, she couldn't move… no, it wasn't that she didn't have it in her to move; her whole mind was telling her to run all right, it was her legs that didn't seem to do the job… "Shit!" she shouted, noticing her legs had frozen as well.
"Don't just stand there!" Lili stated, tackling Lunor into the ground before Bete could reach her.
"I can't!" she shouted as they rolled on the cold ground. "My legs got frozen without realiz-!" her words died down, seeing Bete extending his hands at them again, only for a Glyph to appear right below them.
They looked again in Bete's direction, their eyes widened as a green blur suddenly descended on him, smacking him on his head at max strength; interrupting the spell in the process.
"Ryuu!" Lunor shouted, seeing the Elf jump back from Bete. "Don't stop moving, your legs will be frozen otherwise!" she replied as Lili helped her up and away from the fight while the Elf took her friend's words to heart as she started to circle him.
"… so useless." Bete snarled, no longer showing a bland expression as he scowled at Ryuu, all the while blood ran down his head.
"Play around, Felez Cruz"
Bete snapped above, seeing Chloe diving at him to stab her knife in his neck. Bete growled before he extended his hand to shoot more icicles at her, only to see his attack going through her as his eyes widened.
"Where are you looking, nya~?"
Bete next felt a sharp pain in his neck before noticing a black blur moving past him.
"Even if he has abnormal resistance, the venom in my daggers should get you eventu-!" she shut her mouth, after turning around to see there was no wound on him. "… that's not fair nya~!" she said before realizing Bete was now aiming at her; no longer casting ice spells but rather charging at her at a speed that didn't belong to a Level Five seeing as he now had a grip on her neck.
"Chloe!" Ryuu went for his neck, slamming Alf's Lumina with enough strength to break it.
*CRACK*
And it did, and yet Bete Loga seemed unfazed as he kept a hold of Chloe, freezing her throat in the process, making Ryuu panic as she thought about what to do. Casting her Luminous Wing in the city and in an open area was a big No, and there was nothing else she could do as it seemed he was unaffected by physical attacks.
However, it seemed as if she would need to stop looking for an answer, feeling an inch of killing instinct coming from above. Her eyes widened, seeing Anya with a deathly glare before impaling her golden spear on top of his head-
*KLATSCH*
Only for both waitresses to see her golden spear break the moment it made contact with his skull.
'No.' Ryuu thought. Anya might have not seen it since she was looking from above, but the Elf could; the tip of Anya's spear had frozen soon after it made contact, only to expand through the whole metal before it shattered. A quick glance at the dagger Chloe used to wound him; its edge was completely frozen and breaking.
And yet, her Alf Lumina seemed unaffected for some reason; and it couldn't be just because it was made of wood.
She shook the thought away, remembering this wasn't the time for thinking about that. However, there was something she could do, as Bete moved his free hand up and grabbed the pole of Anya's spear before throwing both her and Chloe at Ryuu.
"fu-*cough* *cough*" Chloe tried to talk, but it hurt due to her throat being frostbitten. Anya approached her, ripping off a part of her uniform to wrap it around Chloe's throat while Ryuu looked with a deathly glare as he approached them, only to be overcome with panic and fear as Syr Flova stood between them.
"Syr! I told you to leave!" She shouted, quickly rushing up between them.
"All of you are so damn weak," Bete said as every single one of his steps started to freeze the ground, and them as well seeing they stood still for too long. "What was it that you expected to accomplish?" he extended his hand at them, with the sole intention of freezing them with his touch. "JUST TELL ME WHERE THE FUCK HE IS ALREADY!"
"And you just yap that fucking mouth of yours." Bete's ears twitched, moving his hand to block a kick that came at an outstanding speed.
Anya's eyes widened as she looked in Bete's direction; trembling at the sight of one of the people that discarded her. "Big brother," Allen Fromel didn't bother looking at her as he jumped back from Bete before he started to move around the whole backyard.
He had been watching for a while now; being there from afar in the beginning due to keeping an eye on a certain person; now forced to intervene now due to that person being reckless as always.
From what he had seen before that, he could not stay still due to his legs freezing, and his sister's spear had broken while trying to deal a critical hit; so using his own would result in the same thing. However, there was a very big difference between all of those pickup waitresses and him.
"Do you really think you can keep up with me, you fucking mutt!?"
Allen Fromel was still a Level Six; one level above Bete.
"That new fucking magic of yours won't do shit if you can reach me!" Allen shouted going through the backyard while throwing punches and kicks at Bete at a speed Bete could not keep up with; trying to go for critical areas like his head or throat, something the Werewolf seemed to be aware of as he tried to keep up with Allen while taking a defensive stance to cover his head.
Meanwhile, Allen just kept going at it, noticing every wound he managed to inflict with his high speed seemed to 'heal' in an instant, as it had happened with that black cat waitress landing an attack on Bete's neck; he thought that he managed to go even faster, he could inflict an even deeper wound on his neck with his hands… but then he noticed… Loga's gaze was now keeping track of him as he moved at his current speed.
Allen felt a shiver at that moment.
Not out of being cold, but out of recalling his first encounters against the blonde almost two months ago. It was at that moment that he felt the very same sensation from fighting Drake Aurion for some odd reason, he couldn't pinpoint why; that greatly infuriated him.
"You fucking Mutt!" he shouted and sped up, going at his max speed as he prepared his claws to rip off Bete's throat. "Just die already!" he charged, showing no hint of hesitation as his eyes only focused on the neck; not noticing Bete's mouth silently moving.
"[Ice Tornado]"
A Glyph suddenly appeared below them before a vortex of ice shards surrounded them, lifting Allen off the ground as the ice wounded him; grazing his skin and inflicting various injuries on his body.
"All that talk," Bete said as the magic continued, grabbing his leg while the Cat Person was still airborne to them slam him on the ground before he proceed to twist his leg with both of his hands to break it, making Anya flinch as she heard her brother's scream as the tornado died down; showing an unscathed Bete, and a battered Allen. "And in the end, you end up like a fucking street cat."
That comment infuriated Allen, recalling a time in his life when he lived in the streets along with her sister; who only cried, and cried, and cried… it triggered him. "SHUT UP!"
He never dropped his spear, which was swiftly moved to stab Bete in the neck; only to remember that his sister's had shattered the moment it landed its attack-
*KLATSCH*
-Just as it happened to his own weapon.
Bete didn't say anything, opting to just look down at Allen; figuratively and literally before he made a motion with his hand, making a glyph appear under Allen's good leg before it was pierced by an icicle.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Chloe embraced Anya's head, taking her eyes off that sight as her brother's screams invaded her mind.
"I am going to ask one last time…" he stood up, going for the waitresses in the backyard. "Where. Is-"
*CLINK*
His eyes widened as he was suddenly set on fire the moment some kind of glass crashed on his head. He looked to the side, only to see some waitresses, cooks, and even some Soma Familia members tying some sort of cloth to a bottle that had the Soma Familia logo on them before setting them on fire.
"At him!" The Captain of the Soma Familia commanded before many bottles were thrown at him, making him falter back.
"This is for my kitchen you piece of shit!" May shouted, throwing with more enthusiasm than anyone before the whole backyard was set on fire.
"Retrieve them!" Lili commanded, pointing at the waitresses as the member of her Familia rushed to help Ryuu and the others before the fire caught them.
"My brother!" Anya shouted, making Lili roll her eyes before she reluctantly nodded at a member of her Familia.
"Luckily that will stop him," Lunor commented, keeping her hands to a lightened-up bottle to warm up her frostbitten hand, making both Lili and May glare at her.
"Bitch, really?" May couldn't help but ask out loud at the obvious jinx, right before everyone could hear Bete Loga's roar through the fire before he created a massive wave of cold air that froze the flames in an instant. "See! This is why none of you should open your goddamn mouths."
Lunor frowned, seeing no run in her argument at the moment. "I liked you better when you were shy."
"WHERE IS-"
"Boss is in the Dungeon," everyone froze, even Bete; looking in the direction of the voice to stare at Liliruca Arde, still remaining unfazed by this development. "Now can Vanagard kindly fuck off? Nobody has time for your bit-hmph!" her words died down, or rather, Lunor covered her mouth before she could continue.
"Triggering the guy making a fucking mess, even more, is not wis- eww!" Lunor shouted, retrieving her hand and seeing Lili lick it before looking at Bete… or at least, where he used to be as he was no longer in sight.
"Well, that was one hell of an experience," Lunor commented out loud before looking at Lili. "And, have you always been so ballsy?"
Lili frowned, seeing as it was probably related to that skill whose name was still unknown to her. "No idea," she replied, as her eyes flickered with a green flame for a moment.
Drake rushed through the Dungeon, ignoring every Monster that spotted him as he went up the Floors while looking up, by now his eyes glowing..
"Whoever it is, they are heading your way."
'Eyes up front while running, please.'
The blonde rolled his eyes at his Big Brother's statement. "I hope the girls are alright." He saw how various Auras engaged with whichever member of Loki Familia obtained the Centurion of Ice.
'Mia Grande should be fine,' Flynn stated calmly, judging who each Adventurer was due to the Familia Symbol hanging above their Auras. 'Can't say the same about Anya's brother, though.'
Luke snorted. 'I can assure you nobody gives one fuck about that guy.'
'… You are not wrong there.' Replied the ever-humble Flynn.
"Facts; that guy and Freya have made Anya develop a trauma that triggers whenever those two are in her line of sight. For some reason, Allen also seems to carry some kind of trauma related to her; but I didn't give enough fucks to find out about it during our first fight."
'It seems Lili, Soma, and some of the members of his Familia were also there.' Jude commented, and for good reason; Drake still hadn't talked to her about that skill that appeared after he gave her HOPE to beat her own inner demons.
'I don't know what the big deal is. She's never gonna be afraid ever again in her life.' Luke commented.
'That isn't necessarily good,' Lloyd replied. 'That might cause her to be overconfident or even manifest as a lack of self-preservation in the long run.'
"Speaking from experience, dear brother." Drake snorted at the hypocrisy of what used to be the biggest hothead in the brotherhood once upon a time.
'Yes,' The First Guardian internally groaned. 'On another note; how are we going to deal with this? Because let me remind you that you can't use any of your skills related to Divinity on a full scale if you want to avoid attention.'
'And we already know what a person possessed by a Centurion can do.' Zelos continued, making some of the Guardians groan in annoyance.
"Blake Fucking Belladonna," he cursed out loud, recalling the Faunus had obtained one of the sealed Centurions and used it in an attempt to kill Lloyd, Zelos, and Guy.
She, of course, failed.
But the collateral damage she caused was too big for anyone's liking. "And then Ruby Fucking Rose has the fucking audacity of trying to defend her when we warned them what could happen."
'Pretty fucking similar to what is happening right now,' Yuri snorted, finding some humor in the irony. 'At least the fight in the Hostess didn't cause any casualties.' Drake hummed in agreement. 'Also, it's not the first time we have to deal with the broken dishes Team FUCKING RWBY have caused.' Yuri said with a somber tone, making everyone narrow their eyes while Drake held his forearm out of instinct.
'As much as I would love to continue with the hate train, we need to focus.' Guy grabbed their attention. 'Going back with the planning; summoning one of us might be detrimental in the long run, we might take too much of your Aura during the fight, Drake.'
"Agreed, but I will call upon one of you if the situation is required; at the best bet, only Zelos and his shield, Yuri's immunity to ice, and Jude's expertise with the elements might be able to help if we are talking about saving energy."
'Wait. What about Guy? Are you really gonna leave the Fire guy out of this?' Luke questioned.
"Nope," Drake replied. "Let me remind you that none of you have your Spirits with you, and Guy needs to absorb fire to fight at his best."
'Right, not to mention I can't activate my contract with Drake because that would also waste some of his energy.' Guy explained before going to the next subject. 'Now, equipment.'
"I have the two High-Frequency Aura Blades Tsubaki gave me."
'Right, there are also the three Storable Spell Knifes you were able to recover.'
He nodded; recalling he had already prepared two of them in advance over a week ago. "[Raging Sun] and [Indignation]." The third one had stored [Cyclone], in case I need to clear the room if the situation called for it.
'… hate to break it to you all, but that might not be enough.' Zelos narrowed his eyes. 'Not even Advanced spells will do much if the current host and the Centurion reach past that level of sync. What's gonna be the plan, then?'
"… let's hope it doesn't come to that; since I still need to keep a low profile with my divinity, I would have to cripple myself in the worst-case scenario."
Everyone but Drake groaned. 'And there it is!'
'For fucks sake! How did I know the planning would lead to this?' Lloyd groaned; it wasn't the first time his younger brother pulled this crap. 'I blame you for this, Guy.'
'Yeah, yeah,' the Sixth Guardian sighed. 'Being the aspect of Sacrifice ain't easy… by the way… where exactly are you going to intercept the Host and Centurion?'
"I can't let them reach the Twenty-Fifth floor. I don't know how much damage he might cause in the Dungeon if he reached the Water City, not to mention I would be at a serious fucking disadvantage." Contrary to the previous time, when the Centurion had been alone and slumbering; its whole dormant presence made changes in the floor but in a rather controlled rhythm, now it had a host, and is heavily influenced by negative emotion would no doubt cause even greater and worse changes.
"But that isn't what I am worried about…" they knew what he meant.
'Adam and Ratatosk might appear to retrieve the Centurion.' Lloyd concluded.
One of Drake's objectives had been trying to find Adam and confront him about what had happened on the Seventieth floor. But he had only managed to reach the Forty-Ninth before he felt Glacies' presence on the surface; something Adam and Ratatosk no doubt also felt, which meant conflict with them was imminent.
"I can deal with Adam if he comes alone; his blessing is only at two-eights of its power at the moment… but if Ratatosk is with him-"
'You would have no room to pull your punches,' Lloyd concluded. 'Another thing that worries me is… are you gonna be able to keep your cool?'
"… Wait and Hope,"
Translation: We will see.
'Goddammit, Drake… also…' Drake kept running as he headed to his destination without looking back; hearing what was without a horde of Monsters giving chase ever since the Forty-Ninth Floor. 'Could you please deal with those already?'
"Later."
"Mia!" Finn Deinme shouted, seeing as Mia Grande grabbed the Goddess Loki by the collar of her hood despite the frostbite on her chest, courtesy of Bete.
"Let her be, Finn," Loki replied as she stared at Mia with open eyes; her usual humor was gone by now.
"Many have warned you about this and I will remind you now; 'Put a leash on that rabid dog or there will be a fuck up not even you will be able to laugh off', and look around you, it finally happened."
A massive hole in the Hostess of Fertility went from the main diner to the destroyed kitchen, and finally the backyard. There were also some wounded waitresses that were being tended to by some Freya Familia healers.
Hell, the situation was so bad that even Ottarl was there to see Allen's state, who couldn't help but grit his teeth in anger and pain at how things turned out.
"And I am not laughing either, Mia," Loki replied. "We both know Bete might not be the most approachable person-"
"No shit." Mia snorted.
"But you know not even he would dare to attack others out of nowhere; especially you of all people," Loki explained. "My Familia recently obtained an artifact that may be the cause of all of this."
There wasn't any proof of her words; coming up with the statement on the spot with what they knew of the cone-like object. If it was so powerful to influence the dreams of others and apparently give ice powers to someone, even a Monster, what stopped it from influencing people negatively?
"You can give a rabid dog a knife, and it would still be a rabid dog."
Loki scowled, as she and the rest of the executives looked past Mia to see a rather familiar Pallum next to some of the wounded waitresses that were holding some kind of glass bottle with what her nose could easily recognize as alcohol.
"Girl, you have no relation to what is being spoken at the moment; so, shove it before you get on my bad side, I am not in the mood for games at the moment," Loki replied, while Liliruca Arde looked at her blankly, unfazed by her warning.
"Lili is here as the Captain of the Soma Familia; Lili and her Familia are related to this matter seeing Vanargard destroyed goods that belonged to our Familia during his assault." The Pallum pointed at the broken bottles and parts of boxes on the ground that were destroyed by Vanargand's actions.
Loki blinked a couple of times before noticing Soma was also there, along with other members of their Familia.
"Lili, right?" Finn asked, showing his usual smile much to Tione's annoyance. "I understand your Familia might have been affected by this, but this is a matter of great importance-"
"Lili would appreciate it if Braver would stay at least ten feet away from Lili." The Pallum replied the moment Finn stepped forward, as Lunor and Chloe stood between her as if to protect her from a predator.
'Right… she and most of Orario now have the image of me being a pedophile.'
"How dare-" Finn quickly grabbed Tione's wrist the moment she took a step past him; clearly to give Lili a piece of her mind.
"Now it's not the time," he scolded her before he looked back at Mia, knowing everything related to Lili would just go south for him at the moment… and there were more important tasks.
"To be honest," Riveria took the stage. "None of us expected Bete to gain such a buff from the artifact. If anything, we were expecting to arrive for you to have already resolved things on your own, Mia."
"Clearly it didn't go that…" Mia's words died right in her mouth, recalling a conversation she had with Braver earlier in the day before Lili arrived. He had come asking for Drake, and she had mentioned the blonde being on the lookout for something in the Dungeon; her response had made Finn rather thoughtful at that very moment… yes, she began to connect the pieces as she looked at him with a deadly stare. "… Braver… this artifact Loki and Riveria are talking about wouldn't happen to be the same one he went to look for in the Dungeon?"
Finn scowled slightly, which was all that Mia needed.
"In our defense, we didn't know things would ever go this far." Riveria mentally sighed in exasperation, seeing as Mia didn't take Loki's words very well.
"Are you telling me this could have been avoided if your Familia hadn't taken the damn thing for themselves?!" her grip on Loki's collar tightened.
"Hey, hey, hey! For all we know, he could have let us keep it just to cause us problems."
"I am afraid that isn't the case, Loki." Finn intervened. "I didn't have the time to report this because you gave us the news about Bete so abruptly, but Mia claims he's currently in the Dungeon because he believes that the artifact is still there."
The Goddess could feel tears of sweat starting to form on her forehead. "Hey! For all we know, he could have lied about it to misdirect-"
"He can't lie." it wasn't a single person, but rather the whole staff of the Hostess, along with Lili and Soma who replied.
"I can vouch for him, Loki," Soma said, seeing as his word as a deity held more weight than others. "Due to the interference of another deity, that man cannot like. Also, he's the type of person that hates dealing with annoying things; so I find it hard to believe he didn't warn you in any way to avoid this."
"… in our defense… he was really vague about it," Loki just stared at Mia, who might have just as well just made a hole in her head with the glare she was giving her. "Welp… I can't think of anything else to get out of this one."
"I have dealt with my fair share of stupidity through the years when it comes to Deities, but you just reached a new damn level…," Ottarl twitched, as did Syr; both knowing whom Mia was talking about. "Congratulations, Loki; you just took the top spot due to this bullshit!" Mia Grande shouted, just as she started to pant due to the frostbite on her chest.
"Rest, Mia," Ottarl approached her, gently placing his hand on her shoulder as he made it so she would let Loki go. "Heith. Could you take a look at her?"
"A little busy at the moment, Captain." The head healer of the Freya Familia stated, with no effort or care in hiding her tired voice. "Allen's wounds are grave; not even my magic seems to be doing anything about it."
"That means you're just useless! Just bring a damn potion and be done with it, you useless healer!" Allen Fromel shouted, not being able to move any of his limbs due to Bete piercing them with the magic icicles, not to mention the leg he broke.
"Why is it that your mouth could never get wounded? Maybe then I would do my job in peace." Allen gritted his teeth at the Healer's remark; the fact that she said something uncaringly made it even worse. But just as he was about to bash at her, someone else came at him with an Elixir in hand from one of the boxes the Freya Familia had brought with them.
"Oh no," Heith thought, seeing as Anya Fromel approached them with a somehow worried yet scared face. 'And just like that, things got worse.' She already knew how the two siblings acted, and it was anything but nice.
"…Big brother, here…" she forced an innocent smile on her face, while Allen simply started to snarl at the mere sight of his only blood relative.
"Get the fuck out of my sight! You useless piece of trash!" He snapped at her without much of a warning, making most of those present wince at the interaction between the two… all but a certain Pallum that looked coldly at the Cat-Person before making her way to retrieve something from a Soma Familia member. "You didn't even fight for ten seconds before that fucking mutt destroyed your spear and beat you! Why is it that I have to be related to someone so fucking useless!?"
Anya was taken aback by the comment, dropping the bottle of Elixir on the ground as tears started to form around her eyes.
"Vana Freya seems to be confident in calling someone useless when Mister Allen didn't even last three minutes."
Everyone froze at that moment, all of them turning their heads at the Captain of the Soma Familia slowly walking towards him with a calm expression while Lunor and Chloe retrieved Anya; patting her head and back to confront her.
"The fuck did you just say?" Allen asked with a deadly tone.
"It seems Mister Allen also suffered some head damage, not being able to understand." A tick mark appeared on his forehead. "But worry not, for Lili will explain. Mister Allen stated that his sister, a Level Four, was defeated too easily. But what about Mister Allen, a Level Six who also lost his weapons in a desperate attempt for a chance at victory, and didn't even manage to last three minutes against a Level Five?"
"… I thought that girl was rude… but it seems she's actually mental." Tione thought out loud, finding a little bit of amusement at what she was witnessing.
"By all means and right, it seems to Lili that Mister Allen is far more useless than everyone who tried to stop Vanargand."
"Why you little-"
"But Lili thinks that doesn't compare to losing under a minute against Boss." Allen's anger was subdued for a moment; not knowing whom she was talking about for a moment. It wasn't until he recalled his 'match' against a certain blonde a little under two months ago that he connected the dots.
"You…!" he growled, trying to stand up to shut her up by force due to remembering his biggest humiliation up to date.
Luke had told Lili offhandedly of all the altercations Drake had had with the Freya Familia; starting with Allen's mouthing off at him. "Lili seems to recall Boss still has yet to break one of your legs; but Lili guesses that will be for later." She exclaimed before approaching him with a tape and playing it on his mouth without worry; seeing as he was pretty much crippled from the state of his body at the moment.
"Although I do appreciate the silence," Heith said, ignoring Allen's silent rage. "I worry you seem to have a death wish, girl."
Lili shrugged. "Lili thinks this is related to a skill; so, there isn't much to do about that." She replied before walking next to her God. But not before turning around to double flip off Allen, whose face turned red out of sheer rage.
"Hey, Lass," she raised an eyebrow as she looked at Gareth Landrock. "when you say 'Boss', you wouldn't happen to mean-"
"It is exactly as you are thinking, Gareth," Mia said, being now tended by some Healers of the Freya Familia.
Her confirmation made Finn's thumb feel numb as to what might happen to Bete if he managed to find the blonde; or worse, what might happen to them if things kept going south.
'Defeating a Level Six in such a short amount of time is no joke. But maybe that artifact might give Bete an edge… not sure if that's good or bad.' Finn thought before looking at Lili with a serious expression.
"Mia already said she didn't know where exactly in the Dungeon he could be; do you?"
Lili crossed her arms and shook her head. "Lili doesn't know. And Boss' brothers didn't share anything, either."
Finn fought the urge to bite his thumb, seeing as they needed to search blindly. At worst, they would have an idea once they reached Rivira; seeing Bete would most likely walk through there, and someone would definitely spot him.
"Oh, I have an idea!" Everyone looked at Syr. "Why don't you ask Miss Ts-" Syr never finished the sentence, seeing as someone covered her mouth in an instant.
"You are going?" Mia asked, seeing Ryuu Lion nodding in her Adventurer clothes, covering her friend's mouth for almost revealing information.
"Oh! Right, sorry." Syr said apologetically as she 'recalled' Drake didn't want anyone to know about his connection with Tsubaki and Hephaestus.
"If possible, could you please continue? Anything you can share to help us find out his whereabouts will be helpful." The Braver said, a little intrigued about what name Syr was about to mention. "I understand you might be worried about him. But-"
"I am not."
Finn raised an eyebrow at Ryuu's sudden statement.
"I am not worried about him. He's strong enough to handle himself just fine," Ryuu recalled the time with Udaeus; Drake had beaten it with the help of Zelos alone, something she had thought almost impossible. "And I have the feeling one of his brothers will be with him, no doubt about that." She answered calmly before revealing where she was really going. "I am going because if anything, I would like to prevent him from possibly killing Vanargand."
Everyone from Loki Familia tensed at the proclamation, making Loki open her eyes at the Elf, ready to give her a piece of her mind. But someone beat her to it.
"Lili wonders if that would really be so bad." The Goddess moved her glare to the Pallum, scowling at how carefree she said it. "Vanargand has always caused problems; Lili believes this one just gets the crown for his behavior. And if Goddess Loki believes this is bad right now, wait until you hear from Rivira; because everyone here knows he will cause problems when he gets there."
Riveria sighed while Loki's eye twitched; realizing the damage they would have to answer for was gonna be bigger than expected.
"Even so, you really must have a pretty massive set of guts to mutter that to my face. I will move heaven and earth if something happens to one of my children."
Lili shrugged. "Lili believes Goddess Loki is free to try and make her threats true. However, Goddess Loki should realize that neither she nor her Familia is the center of the universe. Just like Zeus and Freya Familia in the past when they were expelled in their moments of weakness as if they were nothing. And then the world just kept moving on without them."
Loki Familia flinched at the mention of that past event.
The Goddess understood the Pallum's words; nobody would care if Bete died in the long run, and since he was making so much damage as of now; people would say it was because of his actions that he was put down.
But she was wrong.
"Now listen here you little shit- hey, come back here!" Loki screamed at Lili, who just ignored her as she walked towards her God, who nodded before looking at Mia.
"Our Familia Home has some spare rooms that you and your staff can use until you and your own are able to repair this. Feel free to ask for everything you need."
Mia sighed, relieved to see she wouldn't need to ask for any favors or pay for the staff to sleep somewhere. "Now, I just have to deal with the current tenants, which reminds me; Loki!"
The Goddess stopped struggling, seeing as Gareth was holding her from going into a fisticuff with a literal child.
"I will charge your Familia for this."
Loki and Finn twitched, seeing this was another expense they would have to cover.
"And so will Soma Familia," Lili said in a heartbeat, making Loki grit her teeth. "Also, isn't Loki Familia just wasting their time here at this point?"
"… She's right." Finn looked around. 'Riveria, Gareth, Tione, and Tiona. I don't know how strong Bete has become, but we may need more help.' He looked at Ryuu, that was one; even if she was a Level Four.
He looked at Ottarl. 'Nope. If anything he would make things worse for Bete due to what happened to Allen and Mia.'
"I heard what happened." His eyes widened, looking to the hole in the Hostess to Ais Wallenstein; with a replacement sword attached to her hip. "Where you able to find out where Bete is?"
Finn nodded. "The Dungeon, on the search for the blonde."
It was incredible they still didn't know his name by this point.
"… I see." Ais gripped her weapon's handle at the mention of him.
"Let me be clear, Ais," Riveria narrowed her gaze. "We will be going to retrieve Bete and only that. We will not start anything else of that sort with him unless we don't have any other choice."
Ais stared, and nodded grudgingly before nodding.
"It's settled then. We will be going ahead." Finn nodded at Mia with an apologetic look. "Again, I am sorry about the damages Bete has caused."
The Dwarf rolled her eyes. "I am sure you are, Hero." Finn smiled in spite of the provocation but headed their way regardless.
"Stay out of trouble, Loki." Said the High-Elf before leaving.
"Careful, Ryuu. Expect anything when you find him, and not just from the Dungeon."
Ryuu nodded at Mia's words as she followed suit; knowing what she meant seeing the Dwarf glaring at Finn and Ais intensively.
"As for you," Mia narrowed her eyes at Loki. "Get the fuck out of my backyard."
Loki frowned before sighing; seeing it was fair the animosity towards her. However, just as she was about to leave, she spotted one of the beer boxes of root beer that hadn't been destroyed by Bete.
"Don't even think about it, Loki."
The Goddess groaned before sulking her head as she finally left; hoping nobody of her children would end their end for their own mistake.
Bete Loga growled, entering the Twenty-Second Floor, feeling his body tense out of instinct; He was here.
He walked through the massive forest, increasing his pace before he started full-on running; feeling his mere presence as if Drake was some sort of beacon he was drawn towards.
The Werewolf jumped high in the air, spotting a figure surrounded by a black light. He gritted his teeth, propelling himself forward with his claws ready to tear him apart as he stared straight at Drake's back… only to go through him.
"!?" Bete landed on the floor immediately, crashing after landing to see the hooded blonde, snorting at him. "Dumbass." He replied before fading into black smoke.
"…His shadow," Bete replied, having already died more than once due to it in his nightmare. He closed his eyes, and he could feel Drake close by, almost as if he were-
*CRACK*
The ground below him suddenly cracked, before a black-clothed figure came out of it with his fist surrounded by Aura, delivering an uppercut to Bete's chin.
'[Dragon Shot]' Drake thought as both became airborne. '[Whirlwind Snap]' he raised his leg in midair to perform a powerful backward roundhouse kick as his Aura behaved as if it were wind to create a sonic boom upon impact. However, the blonde didn't expect Bete to raise his arm to cover his head; blocking his Arte with ease.
"Oh?" he thought out loud before Bete looked at him with a snarl, grabbing Drake's leg in an attempt to freeze it; only to notice he wasn't having much luck with it.
The blonde took this opportunity to extend his hand as it started to glow red; ready to execute [Raging Blast] to blow up his face. But his instincts kicked in, and he sensed a sudden flow of Aura around him; from above. He gritted his teeth, raising his free leg to land a kick on Bete, forcing the Werewolf to let go of his other leg and separating both before a rain of icicles rained down on where he used to be.
'Great, he can perform Magic Artes.' He thought before dashing at Bete the moment he landed, the Werewolf raising his palm at the blonde to make several glyphs appear in every direction around him.
'Not just that.' Jude started to speak as Drake kept going forward, avoiding icicles and ice pillars as he advanced without hesitation. 'The Centurion is forcing Aura out of his Soul while it's still sealed; not to mention it is also altering it; he wouldn't be so good at casting Artes otherwise' a massive glyph appeared a few feet in front of him to create a massive pillar of ice, an attempt to block his advance.
'He's gonna have a nasty side effect from this when it's over,' Drake concluded as he extended his hand to his shadow before one of his High-Frequency Blades shot out of it, turning around to dozens of icicles as he grabbed it.
"[Fierce Demon Fang!]" he shouted as he coated his Aura into the blade, making it glow black before slamming the blade on the ground, creating a shock wave that destroyed the whole ground in front of him, making a mess of it as various pieces of the earth destroyed all the icicles coming his way.
He gritted his teeth, his instincts screaming at him once more before turning around to stare at the ice pillar, cracking. He jumped back, pointing his blade at the pillar as it kept breaking while a red Aura accumulated on the tip of the blade as the pillar finally broke; revealing Bete Loga charging at him with an animalistic expression.
'[Hell Pyre]' he thought, unleashing a fireball from the tip of his blade. But his eyes widened, seeing Bete dodging the Arte with ease before extending his hand at Drake's face while still airborne.
"NOT SO TOUGH NOW, HUH!?" he slammed Drake on the ground; taking the momentum to lift him before throwing him away as he extended his palm, muttering the name of an Arte as if it was the most natural thing for him. '[ABSOLUTE!]'
A giant icy blue glyph appeared below Drake before he was caged in a massive pillar of ice, leaving him frozen inside.
Bete grinned, gathering as much Aura in his hands as he was able to create an ice blade like the ones he was used to wielding. He charged, with the clear intention of killing; to prove he was not weak.
"Well… that was embarrassing," Drake commented, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked around a black void.
"That's what you get for fucking wanting to resolve things without causing too much damage." Yuri scowled at him before the rest of his brothers appeared; all eight of them in a circle.
"Hey, I was taking him seriously-"
"But not enough, right?" Lloyd sighed. "I think I can speak for all of you when I say the Centurion might already have a good influence over him, even if Bete is still in control… although there was something that was bothering me."
"Clearly," Guy replied before an image of Bete appeared above them; it was the moment when Drake used his [Whirlwind Snap], or rather, the moment before it. All of them noticed a small twitch in the arm Bete used to defend himself. "We all thought it was a coincidence, even if the speed you used was fast enough."
"But then, this happened," Flynn clapped his fingers, changing the image to just when Bete was about to avoid the [Hell Pyre]. The last time, there wasn't a clear view of his eyes due to his face being slightly up due to Drake's uppercut. But now, they could see a faint trace of resemblance running in Bete's eyes.
He knew the Artes; and yet, Drake had never used them against them.
"The Centurion; it's the only explanation." Luke snapped his finger, making everyone look at him with tired expressions.
"No shit." The rest said, making a tick mark on the redhead's forehead.
"On a serious note; the Centurion most likely fed him memories of past encounters with Drake." Zelos sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "But a memory doesn't compare to the real deal, right."
Drake snorted. "I am gonna let you be a smartass only because it was stupid of me to think I could retrieve the Centurion with ease…" his sclera and hair turned black. "Now I am gonna actually try to kill him."
Fear.
No, that wasn't quite right.
To say someone felt fear could mean the person suffering from it was experimenting with the need of wanting to live.
But right now, what Bete Loga felt charging at the frozen blonde was not fear; it was absolute terror.
It happened in less than an instant.
When the ice cracked a little bit.
After that everything began to feel as if in slow motion as the cracks expanded at a great speed; leaking a black Aura from it before it exploded, pushing him back and Bete just barely managing to land on his feet.
He snarled, seeing as Drake was coated in his black Aura while his hair and sclera changed to the same color.
Their gazes crossed, making Bete snarl in an attempt to hide the sense of trepidation he was feeling. He raised his daggers, seeing as Drake used a [Sonic Thrust] to shorten the distance between them. However, he couldn't help but flinch at the speed used to shorten the distance… and then suddenly stopped when he got close enough.
'He canceled it!'
The Guardian raised his fist, the Aura around it intensifying while giving a step forward, Bete feeling an incredible amount of killing intent directed at his face. He raised his guard, seeing as there was no time to counter; the Werewolf would take the chance to grab Drake's punch and then get a hold of him to stab him with one of his daggers… but the punch never came to Bete's face.
"!?" no coherent word could come out of Bete's mouth, seeing he received a surprise uppercut to the chin. He gritted his teeth, recovering himself in mid-air as he aimed his hand at Drake before the young Dragon was surrounded by a dome of ice glyphs.
Drake only stared at Bete, who was smirking outside of the dome just before all the glyphs shot icicles at the center, where the former blonde was standing.
Drake raised his blade, just as it was coated with his Aura to change its color before stabbing it into the ground. "[Dhaos Blast]" he said calmly, twisting the blade to create a black shockwave with white outlines that destroyed the icicles and the circles, making Bete grit his teeth in exasperation.
"I never saw you using that one!"
"That's right," Drake retrieved his blade, just as Bete landed on the ground. "Bete. There are two things that thing might have failed to take into account when he showed you my Artes. You just witnessed the first one; executing Artes I have never used against the Centurion."
When he told Tsubaki and Hephaestus he had studied every Arte, he wasn't exaggerating. That included signature Artes that belonged to other Arte users; including his enemies.
"Personally, I just felt a bad chill using the Arte of that bastard with a God Complex… but it did the job," he lifted his katana and stared at its black form. "As for the second thing," he snapped at Bete, swiftly throwing his blade at him, making him block with his ice daggers before his eyes widened as he saw Drake standing in front of him.
"It's that the Centurion definitely didn't make you experience how fucking terrifying I can be."
And it showed.
Because all the versions of the blonde Bete fought seemed stoic; just opting to kill the Werewolf in many different ways.
Bete bent backward, avoiding another [Whirlwind Snap], Drake creating a wave of air that was created the moment the kick missed. The Werewolf recovered, assaulting with his daggers as Drake stepped back by using his arms to deflect the attacks.
"What!? All you are gonna do now is defend; is that it!?"
Drake didn't reply, opting to stare at Bete with a calm yet bored look. "Don't you fucking ignore me!" he kept assaulting Drake, deciding to make a motion with his hand to make the glyphs appear behind the Guardian before they launched more icicles, Drake side-stepping to avoid most of them while cutting down the last icicle with his hands.
"I got you!" Bete shouted, grabbing Drake's face just as he turned around to freeze it... but nothing happened, just like before.
"Looks like Glacies didn't impart that knowledge to you," Drake said as Bete saw the Guardian's eyes from in between his fingers. It looked like Bete never cared to question or wonder what the light surrounding his body was, or why it seemed as if his skin was indestructible thanks to the Aura Field… However…
"I will not go into detail," Drake extended his hand to the side to grab his blade just as it was about to fall to the ground. Bete stared frozen in realization for a second, staring at the blade in Drake's hand; the same he had parried away into the air before Drake shortened the distance between them not even two minutes ago, and now it landed right into his grasp.
No, it was too good to be the truth.
"You bastard," Bete growled, realizing all this time he had been guiding him to this very spot, ever since he parried that blade.
The Werewolf tried to let go of Drake's face and jump back, but the Dragon Faunus acted faster by using his free hand to get a hold of Bete's face, gripping it with enough strength to make him grunt.
"But let me give you a little piece of advice," his blade glowed with dark flames as he slashed Bete, who raised his dagger up; only for it to be broken the moment the High-Frequency blade made contact with it. '[Apocalypse Toll]' Drake thought as his blade pushed Bete backward, with a very light burn that didn't seem to do much damage.
Bete checked himself; snorting as he saw there didn't seem to be much damage. He was about to look up and boast, only to notice the black crimson glyph on his chest.
"What is this!?" he looked at Drake, who simply raised his open hand to start a countdown backward, making Bete growl in realization; trying to scratch the glyph away before Drake finished his countdown.
"The funny thing about Aura fields-" Drake started to say as the final finger went down.
*BOOM*
Bete shouted in rage as the cloud of dust dissipated, looking at his hands as he noticed the icy-blue force field around his body starting to blink before finally breaking.
"It's that they break." His eyes snapped, looking up to see his enemy grasping his throat, having a firm grasp around it.
The Werewolf raised his hand, trying to create an ice glyph again, but this one seemed to take some effort. "You don't have the training or experience, so you don't know how to properly use your Aura when the field is broken."
This was one of the things that separated Huntsmen and Huntresses from Artes users. The former depended too much on the Aura Field, choosing to leave it to fade if it so happened to be broken. Artes users on the other hand trained their Aura so it could still flow normally and not rely on a single thing.
"Not that it matters, anyway," he thought out loud before raising his foot "[Beast]" to slam Bete's knees as a black dragon's head made of energy went through his knee, breaking in an instant due to the extreme force used.
"And of course, now that the field is gone, you are once again vulnerable to attacks." Drake narrowed his eyes, seeing as Bete's eyes started to water as he tried to scream due to the intense pain. But he couldn't because Drake still had a grip on his throat. "Any questions?"
He let him go, making Bete wince as he tried to stand with a single foot. The Werewolf didn't shout or curse. He gritted his teeth in anger, raising his fist to punch him in a final attempt born of desperation.
'Piece of advice, stop playing with your food before things escalate even more.' Yuri commented, just as Drake easily grabbed Bete's hand to twist it a little; forcing the Werewolf to bend his good knee.
'I was just about to do that,' Drake thought as he took a deep breath. 'Also, just in case, cover your ears.'
Bete's body shivered, having an ominous feeling as he saw Drake taking a really deep breath.
'Way ahead of you brother, go for it.' Zelos commented humorously right as Drake opened his mouth; unleashing a dragon-like roar that was heard through the whole Dungeon.
To say things couldn't get any worse would have been an understatement.
The search party for Bete was currently rushing through the Twenty-First floor, moving as efficiently as possible so as to not lose valuable time. And while Ryuu Lyon didn't care about the state of Loki Familia's reputation, the same could not be said about the Familia that was considered one of the strongest due to obvious reasons.
Leaving the damage Bete had done to the Hostess of Fertility, its staff, and the damage to the Soma Familia goods, now they also had to deal with the damage done to Rivira; courtesy of the same Werewolf.
He hadn't wounded anyone directly or at least hit them. According to Bors, Bete had walked onto the floor with a cold violent wind around him; unresponsive to anything as he walked through the city in a straight line, going through the buildings as if they were nothing but an obstacle made of paper to him.
Of course, that infuriated the citizens of Rivira, which prompted them to try and stop Bete; with no real results.
Suffice it to say Bors was infuriated when the search party arrived; demanding compensation for all the damage and the wounded the Werewolf was responsible for.
"I can see the budget for the next expedition gone by the time this is over," Finn chuckled sadly as he ran. "At least it seems we might be close to reaching Bete. Not sure about our enigmatic blonde."
"Speaking of which, did you notice, Finn?" Riveria asked, referring to Bors's behavior when they asked him if he had seen the blonde. The eye-patched man turned around despite his previous anger and said 'I know nothing.'
"He clearly knew something." Riveria looked at Ryuu. "Could you perhaps have any knowledge of your friend's activity in the Dungeon?"
"With all due respect, Lady Riveria; I fail to see how this information is relevant to the current situation," Ryuu replied as cordially as any Elf should to their royalty, but everyone could feel there was a subtle tone of reprove.
"Damn, Mama got scolded."
Riveria twitched at Tiona's comment. "It is relevant. Because that way, we may have a guess as to what Floor he might be on."
"… I don't think he's doing his usual job in the Dungeon at the moment." The Elf replied, knowing full well Tsubaki Collbrande didn't ask for one of her commissions.
"His job?" The Royal Elf asked, only to be completely ignored. They internally sighed, not remembering Ryuu being so stern.
"As far as we know," Finn started. "Your friend is still looking for the artifact which he believes we didn't have in the first place. So, our best bet is that he's at the Great Fall. Hopefully, we will reach Bete before he reaches that Floor." Finn started to ponder. "But I can't help but wonder, Gale," Ryuu internally flinched at the sound of her alias, but didn't show it. "Do you perhaps know anything about this? You were there when those two hooded individuals retrieved one of those divine artifacts."
She recalled, the day Drake and Zelos beat Udaeus while she was delegated onto the next Floor to see what was going on.
"Did he say anything about it?"
"… No. He kept his personal experience to himself, and that's something I and everyone in the Hostess have no place to intrude upon," she replied, seeing everyone in that place had something they didn't want to remember or talk about. "But, if there's one thing, I can tell you; it is that he was completely surprised and enraged by seeing whomever that hooded individual was."
Tione snorted. "I could have told you that," she had also been there. The amount of tension and killing intent that she felt the moment the blonde appeared was enough to make her think for a small moment she was going to die. "Don't waste your time, Captain. This Elf clearly knows nothing."
"… It's true. I don't know a lot of things about him," technically a half-lie, seeing as he had opened up about Adam and Ratatosk a little bit. "But that's because he, like many others, would like to keep our personal matters to ourselves… unlike someone, I seem to be talking to."
"… the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Tione asked, just as Riveria swore she could see Ryuu's lips twitching from the corner of her eye.
"Just seeming to recall a rumor about a certain Amazon of Loki Familia admitting to the whole city about having a rather questionable fetish."
Finn sighed, not needing to look back to know Tione now had a tick mark on her forehead.
"I didn't say shit! That was that narcissistic red-haired bastard that made that up on the spot."
Ryuu never thought she would be thankful for something Zelos Wilder did. "Denial is such an ugly thing," her eyes narrowed as she looked at Finn, ignoring Tione's harsh comments as if she were a young kid throwing a tantrum. "Don't think I don't what you are doing, Braver."
Finn smiled sadly, feeling he didn't have the need to defend himself.
"That nasty habit of yours is still there," Ryuu commented, referring to collecting information by starting a conversation and leading it to a point where the target would reveal some vital secret; even an offhand comment could be counted as information.
"Can you blame me? I just want to have a better handle on what's going on."
"I understand that. But I can't just believe the audacity you have to continue with such an attitude when all that is happening right now is your Loki Familia's fault."
Everyone, even Ais, seemed to flinch at her words.
"… You are right. Let us focus ion n the task at hand-" his words died in his mouth, just as he stopped all of the sudden to stare at his thumb; it hurt, a lot, more than anything he had experienced before.
"Finn?" Riveria asked, just as the Floor started to shake. Everyone looked alert, but it was only the two Elves in the group that looked at the entrance of the next floor with a frightened look before they covered their ears. "Everyone! Cover your ears!"
They did as told, just as they heard a massive sound wave that nearly broke their eardrums.
But what shocked them most was what they heard.
A roar… but not just any roar-
*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR*
It was a Dragon's; one that felt way too familiar to a certain member of Loki Familia as she fell on her knees.
"Ais!" Riveria shouted, seeing her in such a state, not that she could do anything about it.
"I knew it," Ais muttered, over and over again as her face adopted a dark expression with a very unstable smile. "I knew that he was it." Riveria's eyes widened, being able to read the girl's lips.
"Awaken," the roar had died down, just as they all heard Ais muttering those words while a black wind started to surround her.
"Ais! Wait!"
"TEMPEST!"
But it was too late, as she dashed forward; leaving everyone behind her with a panicked expression.
'Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse.' Finn muttered just as Ryuu dashed first before them.
At this rate, a full confrontation was unavoidable.
'… You overdid it.'
Drake raised an eyebrow at Jude's comment, kneeling on one knee to take a hold of Bete's hair to raise his head. The eardrums in all of his four ears were now broken; with blood coming out of them in rivers. There was also the very noticeable fact that his eyes were rolled back all the way in his head, making it seem as if he had no pupils, and then there was the fact of his broken leg. "… Nah. He went off pretty easy in my opinion."
'Fucking sadist.' More than one of his brothers commented before Drake took a deep breath.
His black hair and changed eyes started to glow a little as he raised his right hand as if it were a sword. "Let's get this over with." Part of his own shadow moved around his body, gathering in his hand before coating it as if it were a globe. "Be grateful, otherwise this would have been far more painful with you awake."
He moved his hand forward, ready to go through Bete's chest, only to stop at the last moment when he felt a rather annoying, yet familiar killing intent coming from behind, along with the smell of a rather putrid wind.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" he thought out loud. He didn't need to turn around, knowing full-well Ais Wallenstein was charging at him while airborne; with her sword aimed most likely at the back of his head. "This is getting really tiresome." His eyes and hair returned to normal, just as he remained in the same position while Ais got closer.
She hadn't hesitated in her attack.
Her course was precise, direct, and unwavering.
With this, Ais Wallenstein will finally be able to get rid of what she thought was the Monster that ruined her life… or so she thought.
Because even if Ais was focused on her objective, she couldn't help but wonder why there was a foot coming out of the blonde's back; going straight at her face.
"[BEAST!]" His shadow's foot landed straight on her face after materializing out of Drake's back; breaking her nose as the impact from the black Aura Dragon sent her crashing into a wall, knocking her out.
"Fucking airhead! I don't know what her fucking deal with us is, but I am fucking done with these clowns' bullshit." His instinct, his shadow, exclaimed out loud as he approached the unconscious Ais, only to stop as they heard more footsteps coming from the distance. "Here comes another headache." He replied before fading, just before Ryuu arrived.
She panted slightly, looking at Drake, then at Bete, and then at Ais, and finally at him; a mixture of relief and annoyance could be easily seen in her eyes.
"How's everyone at the Hostess?" he asked, deciding to break the silence just as the rest of the search party arrived.
"Ais!" Riveria exclaimed before rushing to tend to the girl.
"Gareth, you and the rest go see how Bete is," Finn commanded, staring at Drake with a neutral look, while the taller blonde just kept staring at Ryuu;waiting for an answer.
"The establishment was damaged. Lunor, Chloe, and Anya got slightly wounded, as well." His eyes narrowed at Finn, acknowledging his existence. "But they aren't in any danger." She quickly replied, trying her best to salvage the situation but failing miserably at it.
"… you do know all of this could have been avoided if you didn't try to pull your bullshit, right?" Ryuu sighed, fighting the urge to facepalm. "And just to be clear, we did warn you."
"You call that a warning!" Tione shouted, recalling Yuri's words. However, she was immediately silenced when both blondes looked at her with a glare that made her flinch.
"Even so, I feel all of this could have been avoided. You didn't need to go overboard with Bete… and Ais."
Drake's eye twitched. "Do you really believe the shit that's coming out of your mouth, runt?" Braver's eye twitched. "Let me remind you both of them came looking for me; ironically, the latter put more emotion into it seeing she was going for the back of my head while I was 'distracted'."
Riveria's face twitched, not having any sort of argument to defend her seeing she wasn't in the best state of mind when she rushed off.
"At least the situation has already been solved…" Finn looked at where Bete was, having a more or less decent look at the state he was in. He couldn't help but ask himself again just how strong the person glaring at him was.
Bete had been able to beat Allen with so much ease; now he lay beaten by the unknown blonde… and yet, for some odd reason, his thumb wasn't reacting to him right now.
He inwardly sighed, deciding to press the issue on what exactly those artifacts were, and who the other group that was collecting them was.
"That artifact, whatever it was; it affected him, corrupted his mind-"
"It didn't corrupt him," Drake said mercilessly; focusing on Bete. "I know what you are trying to do; so drop it."
Finn gritted his teeth, seeing as words didn't seem to lead him anywhere.
"There seems to be divine artifacts inside the Dungeon; affecting it and people alike. This is not something that you should just-!" he shut his mouth, and not because of Drake, seeing as both of their eyes widened while Finn's thumb hurt.
"Stay back!" Finn shouted to Gareth's group, just as Drake took off his scarf to throw both of its ends at them;changing its properties with Aura before wrapping them and pulling them back before Bete's body started to glow.
"What's going on!?" Finn asked Drake, while Riveria carrying a semi-unconscious Ais got closer to them.
"The coming of the worst-case scenario," Drake replied calmly before Bete unleashed a raging roar, making his body expel a sudden storm of icy wind on the whole floor; freezing anything in its path.
"Don't go too far away." He replied calmly, stabbing his blade in the ground before having his Aura run through it. "[Guardian Zone]" he twisted his blade, and created a black glyph that surrounded them; protecting them from the ice, but that still didn't protect them from the overall temperature of the floor.
"Gods dammit, can't you make it warmer in here?" Tione asked, opting to embrace her sister for heat.
"Beggars can't be choosers, bitch." Drake said, unaffected by the cold as he took off his scarf and jacket while he approached Ryuu. "Told you your clothes showed too much skin, you stupid Elf."
"Do- don't y-ou st-art" Ryuu tried her best to maintain her composure. But it was clear she was cold seeing how her whole body shivered while her teeth kept tingling as she spoke. "Wh-at a-re you-" he suddenly wrapped his scar around her before making her wear his jacket; changing its properties to make it hot.
"I swear, if you moan-"
"I won't," she replied, seeing as she was already embracing herself with his clothes while hiding a blush behind her mask.
"Is this the work of the artifact?" Finn suddenly asked, getting his attention.
"He didn't have it on him, Finn." Gareth suddenly said, making the Pallum look at Drake with narrowed eyes; earning a snort from the blonde.
"I don't have it, runt." He replied, looking in between both of his hands for an unknown reason. "It's not on him. It is in him."
Their eyes widened as Drake continued.
"I was just about to retrieve it before that psycho over there," he pointed at Ais. "Interrupted me."
"He-" Ais tried to speak up, managing to recover some of her consciousness. "He was going to kill Bete."
His eye twitched. "You didn't focus on that. Your sole objective was running that cheap rapier of yours into my skull, your killing intent said it all." Ais frowned, mainly because she could feel Riveria and the rest's glare on her. "Now that we are on the subject, may I ask what the fuck is your damage? Because at this point it's obvious there's something fucked up in your head."
The scary part was not his bluntness, but how calm he sounded while he stared at her as if she was absolute trash.
"Hey, hey, hey. No need to be so harsh on her, even if you are mostly right." The youngest Amazon said, trying to come to her friend's aid.
"That airhead has tried to kill me twice now and has done nothing more than glare at me with killing intent despite never meeting each other. Does that make sense to you?"
Ais gripped her fist, trying to muster some words to explain why she acted in such a way. But Bete interrupted her.
"DRAAAAAAAKE!"
Everyone looked outside of the barrier, seeing a now healed-up Bete with blue icy eyes floating; snarling as the cold wind came out of his mouth.
"DRAKE MOONLIGHT AURION YGGDRASSIL! COME AND FACE ME YOU COWARD!"
"… full name… so cringe," Drake couldn't help but deadpan as he felt the stare of many on him.
"… Moonlight?" Ryuu asked, with a little humor; if also a little intrigued seeing she finally knew his full name.
"… Mom wanted a girl." He replied, not needing to see her face to know she was smugly smiling.
"Is there anything that can be done?" Finn asked, seeing as Bete started to be surrounded by ice… no, it was more accurate to say an armor made out of it enveloped his body.
"I can't get a read on his magic. This is unlike anything I have seen before." Riveria said, not making them feel any better.
"What about you?" he looked at Drake, who kept staring at both of his hands before he gritted his teeth.
"… Fuck it," he suddenly said, unbuttoning his left sleeve as he looked at Ryuu. "Search my left pocket, there should be a red knife in there."
Ryuu did as told, taking a familiar knife out of his jacket.
"Oh, oh, oh! It's one of those knives, the ones that cast spells!" Tiona's sudden outburst made the eyes of the executives, especially Riveria, lit up.
The High Elf could not comprehend the magic dagger she was seeing, let alone the magic in it. It was unlike anything she had seen before; all she could tell was that it was powerful fire magic.
Drake walked closer to the edge of the barrier after retrieving his knife from Ryuu. "I am gonna act now, and for fucks sake, I hope no further interruptions." He replied, looking straight at Ais as Finn gave a step forward.
"I need to know, will Bete be safe?"
To his surprise, Drake replied without spite.
"He will. However, he will go through a lot of pain, which is the main reason I knocked him out earlier. I am afraid that's no longer possible."
Riveria felt Ais flinch, knowing full well that was her fault.
"Here I go then… " he held the knife from the tip, channeling some of his Aura as he took a stance to throw it. "[Raging-" he threw it, aiming it a couple of meters above Bete. "-Sun]"
The knife glowed brightly before it was suddenly engulfed in a sphere of fire that started to grow in intensity to the point it looked like a miniature version of the sun, which kept growing as it descended on Bete; caging him inside of the Arte.
"The ice will protect him." Finn turned around to see Drake; stretching his legs as he continued. "If anything, only one of those won't do him any damage at this stage."
"What was the fucking point of it then!? If that isn't gonna stop him then what will?" he ignored Tione's outburst just as Finn looked back between Bete and Drake.
"… that magic is just to weaken him," Finn concluded, to which Drake nodded.
"I won't be able to do much at this level with that armor on him." He replied as he cracked his neck. "With this, I will be able to retrieve it… oh, and one last thing," he took a stance to charge. "You fuckers owe me a hand." his whole body was surrounded by his Aura, right before he shot himself forward.
"… I am sorry, did he say a hand?" Tiona asked, while Ryuu seemed to remember all of the wounds around his arm; some of them went completely through.
'… don't tell me.'
He only focused on dashing forward, moving to the side to avoid any icicle or chunk of ice his eyes managed to spot.
'Kindly reminder; Ten seconds before the Arte ends.'
'Oh, you come with a reminder function all of the sudden; how do I turn it off? it's annoying' Drake thought with a snort at Zelos' antics as his left hand was wrapped in his shadow.
'Sorry bitch, I am like Alexa; always on. Also, five seconds.'
"I know" He gave a sudden stop, giving one step forward as the Arte faded; revealing a semi-conscious Bete, with all the ice around his body completely weakened.
Drake gave a final step forward, with a thrust of his left hand into Bete's chest… no, it was more accurate to say into the Werewolf's soul. Everyone saw from afar as Bete started to roar in inscrutable pain, as his chest glowed due to the blonde's hand trying to invade his very soul.
'Put your back into it, bitch.' Yuri commented, being serious despite how he said it.
It was the truth, it was giving him some problems pulling the Centurion out of Bete's soul.
Worse of it all, since he was using part of his shadow as a glove, none of his brothers could appear to help.
'Put more Aura into it!'
'That will just damage Bete's soul.' Jude replied to Luke's comment.
And as much as he disliked the piece of shit in front of him, he was only partially a victim of the Centurion and the stupidity of others.
"Just… a little-" he stopped, seeing as another pair of hands got a hold of his arm. "The fuck are you even doing here?"
Ryuu Lion gripped his arm tightly as she helped him to pull it back. "You never said anything about staying in the barrier. Also, your clothes are really warm." Right, he had given them to her; being the main reason why she was able to stand with him now.
"Don't get too comfortable, that's my only jacket! Now, pull!" he shouted, putting more effort along with Ryuu.
"Where are your brothers anyway!? Shouldn't they be giving you a hand with this!?"
Drake would feel how the Elf's criticism metaphorically pierced his brother's souls.
"They are not available! Now PULL!" his hand moved backward, just as Bete's screams of pain intensified.
"Almost there!" she shouted, right before they both fell backward. She quickly recovered, looking to her side to see Drake standing; a stern expression could be seen on his face as he held a bright cone-like icy blue object.
"Fuck, I hate being right." He commented, just as Bete fell onto the ground while the blizzard disappeared. "Stay back!"
She didn't say anything, opting just to do as told as her eyes witnessed how the black glove on his left hand seemed to start breaking apart as he held the artifact.
"Let it go already!" she shouted, making him grit his teeth in response.
"I am trying." he felt how the sealed Centurion seemed to leech on him like a parasite. "FUCK. OFF!" he shouted, managing to throw the glowing artifact to the ground, making Ryuu sigh in relief… but it seemed as if it wasn't over, seeing as Drake still had a scowl on his face.
She was about to ask what was going on, but her answer came in the form of Drake's palm freezing, only for it to be engulfed in ice a moment later. The Elf panicked, seeing as the ice started to extend to his whole arm; she wanted to ask what she could do, but her help wasn't needed.
"... What are you-" she started to ask, seeing as Drake raised his right hand as if it were a sword while it was surrounded by his Aura; it was then she confirmed what he meant by the hand comment, seeing as Drake used his right hand to cleanly cut the left one off.
She rushed to his side, ready to use his own scarf to cover the wound. However, she stopped, noticing a black-like energy covering his wound. He sighed, making her feel relieved as well before he looked at the severed hand; completely frozen in a chunk of ice.
"... So that's what he meant by 'owe a hand'," they looked at the Loki Familia approaching them, with Tiona making a comment about his hand.
Meanwhile, out of all of them, Riveria seemed to be the most guilty as she stared at the place where his hand used to be. Sadly, the same couldn't be said about the rest.
"I am really sorry about your arm," Finn Deinme said, having the sheer audacity of saying it with a smile on his face.
"... How would you like to be one foot shorter? runt."
He laughed a little. "Sorry, it's just a form of habit to smile when everything has been solved." He replied, knowing his smile could trigger people sometimes. "Loki Familia will waste no expenses in getting you a healer for your wound."
"Can we touch it?" He suddenly asked; looking at the glowing Centurion, making not just Drake, but Ryuu as well, twitch as they both pointed at Drake's wound.
"Sorry, sorry, stupid question." He said before moving on to check on Bete, but not before giving him a narrowed look.
Yeah, this wasn't over. Because now, Drake had to deal with the aftermath… But first things first.
"?" Ryuu raised an eyebrow, seeing as Drake extended his only hand at her. She stared at it for a good while before her face heated up, thinking he wanted a handshake or anything of sorts all of the sudden.
They had touched hands not even three minutes ago, and she didn't feel anything, but that was due to the heat of the moment, and there was no time for such thoughts. But now, it was different. Maybe now, she would be able to strengthen herself in getting rid of such a notion about feeling good by touching the one she liked… but her thoughts were not what he wanted; far from it.
"My clothes, now." she stared for a moment, just enough before her eye started to twitch.
"... Are you being serious right now?"
He snorted. "Elf. Those are Drake Aurion Originals, easily twenty times more worth than that stick you are holding." He made a motion with his hand. "Now, gimme."
Her face turned even redder, but out of anger, seeing as she took off his jacket and scarf before tossing them in his face, then storming off.
'... Why do I have to have feelings for such an asshole!?' she mentally cursed, managing to stay stoic despite her inner thoughts. However, she stopped, looking to the side as she felt an amount of killing intent coming her way… no, towards Drake.
'Kenki.' Ryuu narrowed her eyes, seeing as Ais Wallenstein seemed to still want to attempt something, not having learned her lesson at all.
"Ignore her," Drake suddenly walked past her, going to retrieve his blade after already securing in the shadows the Spell Knive he used. "There's nothing she or her Familia can do to me," he took his blade, resting it over his shoulder as he lazily looked at Ais. "Although I have to admit; I am fed up with her bullshit by now."
"You might want to consider putting a leash on her as well; otherwise I am gonna do something far more drastic than breaking her nose." the blonde thought out loud, making Riveria snap at Ais by grabbing her by the ear; getting an earful from the High-Elf.
He sighed, trying to calm himself as he thought about the things he would have to deal with… but there was something that worried him more.
"That son of a bitch didn't appear in the end."
She raised an eyebrow, wondering who he meant.
"Is it ok if we can talk now?" The blonde pinched the bridge between his eyes. "I hope you understand that because of the circumstances, we cannot let this go just like this… even if it is partly our fault."
"Partially?" Drake, and surprisingly Ryuu, asked sarcastically.
"All of it." he corrected himself, rubbing the side of his head with a little laugh.
"I swear, you are more insistent than fucking telemarketers." He replied, ready to shove him off and take the Centurion with him. But a familiar sensation invaded him… an itch, coming off from the wound around his neck.
"... Fuck my life," he cursed, scratching his neck slightly while he still held his blade. "Get ready, we are about to have company."
Finn raised an eyebrow. "What do you-" his thumb started to hurt, even more than before. "Everyone! Get in position!"
"Ryuu," he sighed. "Don't get close to me, for your own good," he said tiredly as he gave a couple of steps forward while Loki Familia took a formation, not seeing a single enemy in sight.
"Wha- why!?" she asked, but didn't get a reply as he suddenly held his katana upside down, looking tired as he raised his head to the ceiling to take a deep breath-
*CLANK*
Their eyes widened, seeing as someone suddenly appeared in front of Drake; slightly kneeling as his red blade was millimeters from Drake's left-side neck; right where his scar was. And the only thing stopping it was the blonde's blade, which moved over his left shoulder to block the attack at the last second.
"Appearing after I had already dealt with the problem; something only shit like Ozpin or Salem would do." Drake looked down coldly at the hooded figure, who slightly looked up to reveal a smirk.
"Now you are just being an asshole," Adam Taurus replied, tightening the grip on his blade. "Sorry to keep you waiting, friend."
AN: This chapter was meant to include a short fight with Loki Familia, but I felt I was just dragging it.
Ais's behavior... for those who had read the Sword Oratoria Manga or Novel, you know she's not the most stable person when it comes to monsters; her behavior is as erratic as it is creepy with that smile of hers when she sees Bell helping out a Xenos; refusing to accept the reality shown in her eyes. having that into account, and that she sees a resemblance in Drake that reminds her of the One-Eyed Black Dragon; the origin of her whole trauma, I feel like her behavior and actions are in character.
