DANMACHI VOL 18 SYNOPSIS IS OUT ON THE WIKI, GO READ!
"5 years ago"
Those final words were the tipping point.
He remembered that incident well, he was in the middle of it all.
His senses had dulled out the gasps beside him, he didn't need to hear the retelling Braver gave. The pools of blood, the ear-piercing screams, the demanding, mind-numbing feeling of dread that persecuted everyone within the lower levels.
And now Fels just said his Familia was now experiencing that.
His mental fortification was not strongest enough anymore. Nothing could hold it back any longer. It was too much for his fragile mentality to contain.
Nathan broke.
Finn observed the boy in front of him. The day had just gone from bad to even worse for the half-elf and Finn saw it take its toll. The small flinch of the boy's body when Fels finished was followed by a completely unmoving statue. Then it hit him.
"!"
It swept through the Loki Familia camp. Those not at a high enough level blacked out immediately. Those who were strong enough to stay conscious heard their companion's bodies slump to the floor. Only those in first class could manage to stay on their feet, apart from the three that came in direct contact.
This was what Finn had underestimated when he tried to stop Nathan from leaving after the fight with Barca. Never again would he make that mistake.
Finn looked over at Ais' unconscious body. Her constant battling and use of her magic must have put a strain on her mind and now this just pushed her over the edge. Riveria, like himself, was barely hanging on, forced to their knees like their level 4 subordinates. Then it ended.
Just as quickly as it arrived, the suffocating feeling evaporated, only residuals of the feeling still hung in the air. Finn immediately got to his feet, instinctively drawing his spear at the one that had caused this feeling. Others had done it as well. To his left stood Bete, his razor-sharp fangs ready. To his right stood the amazon twins. Gareth was off to the side, cradling an unmoving Goddess Loki. Beads of sweat flooded down their faces as they all faced their power towards the statue.
Seemingly unfazed by the almighty strength behind him, the half-elf slowly went to stand, only to immediately fall when pressure was put on his left ankle. He tilted his head slightly towards his ankle.
"Y-you ca… can't sta…nd up y-yet."
The half-elf didn't seem to care what Riveria said, showing no signs of registering her even talking to him, only taking action of his own.
He ripped off his poorly built-together splint. His ankle hadn't been properly set, so Nathan was going to fix that. Grabbing his ankle with his left hand, he set it back in place. The bone-crunching sound of the ankle being forced back into place was incredibly unsettling but the half-elf barely flinched. He preceded to grab his spare knives, drawing them from the inside of his boots. Then he ripped off his already tattered black battle top, exposing his scarred back. Dried blood had battered his back into a pasty dark red, almost being enough to hide some fresher scars he had gained. His front not showing much of his usual white skin either.
He cared little for the reactions behind him. Riveria's quick glance away or Tiona's loud gasp, his senses had become too numb to hear them. Only one thing mattered now and that was his Familia. So Nathan placed the two knives on each side of his ankle, using them as supporters. Using his ripped top as a bandage, he wrapped it around the two knives, holding them in place.
Once again, he stood up and finally spoke.
"Finn Deimne."
When Finn heard his name spoken in that voice, a cold shudder ran up his spine. He couldn't describe it except with one word. Haunting.
"I am going to go now. I will return."
"Wa-wait. I know you want to…"
Finn was quickly quietened by the most terrifying death stare he had been given. It made him want to convulse right there. Dark green irises were being swarmed by tendrils of black like an infestation was ravaging the half-elf's eyes.
"Do not interfere. I said I will return. This battle is not finished, not while life still exists in there."
The voice didn't wait for Finn to respond before the Prum watched the scarred back move at an ungodly speed in the direction of the dungeon. It left the Loki Familia in stunned silence. Not one sound could be heard. Only the beads of sweat dropping to the floor broke the deafening silence that was encompassing all who had heard the voice.
"Captain? Who… w-what is he?"
Tione's question was the one that was engulfing the other Loki executive's thoughts. None of them could provide an answer.
"Did… did you see-e-e his back?" Tiona managed to stutter out. The image of the half-elf's back had now been engraved in all of their minds. The taunts Barca had spat out started to hit home, seeing that the cursed man had not been lying about the mass usage of his cursed weapons on the boy.
"Those eyes… them were filled with anger," Gareth's normally soothing voice was shaky and coarse, and his throat dried up.
"Oi, old hag, you know anything about that."
Even Bete could not conceal his fear. He was a beast person, and that wrath had attacked his internal primal fear to its core. His fight and flight had kicked up to 100 and for the first time in his life, he almost chose the second option.
Riveria didn't respond. She had crawled over to Ais to check to see if the golden-haired girl was all right. As her hand went to stroke the golden blades of hair out of the girl's eyes, the uncontrollable shakiness was visible for the rest to see.
"Bete, Tione, Tiona."
Finn didn't receive the usual grunts of acknowledgements or a "yes captain". Instead, they all just turned their attention to him as he began to slowly stand straight.
"Go round and check to see if everyone who fell unconscious is alright. Make sure to wake the healers first and help anywhere you can."
Finn managed to give his order without stuttering or shakiness in his voice. But as he watched the three follow out his order, he still felt that dread within him. His gaze had never left the direction in which the half-elf had run down. Finn was left with what looked like an unsolvable mystery for the first time. He had been given clues and other sorts of evidence pointing down different roads. No matter how many times he had tried to deduce, he was always left at a dead end.
And now that all mighty amount of wrath and anger poured from the half-elf he tried to examine countless times only made more dead ends and added more questions. Finn didn't like it, not one bit.
Finn didn't want to admit it but he had come almost obsessed with trying to figure out the half-elf as soon as he learned of him. He knew he wouldn't get many answers out of the boy himself but now as he turned his attention to his vice-captain, one question he thought could be answered was in his mind.
"Riveria… did you recognise those eyes?"
Nathan's mind was blank.
He was purely running on instinct alone. His body knew the dungeon by heart and so he knew every shortcut, every hole that lead to the furthest floor they could reach. Every turn he passed was done with the utmost efficiency.
Nathan's mind was hollow.
The half-elf cared little for any living thing in his way. His body was doing everything it could to get to the water capital as fast as possible.
Floor 3 came and went.
His speed cascaded his wind onto the barren dungeon walls, making rocks crumble just from his passing, almost causing a cave-in.
Floor 5 now.
A group of tired adventures had no time to react as a gust of wind blew past them, slamming them into the wall. If not for one of them owning a shield and helmet, preventing the head trauma she would have experienced without it, all of the party of 6 would've become unconscious, meat waiting to be eaten in the gluttonous dungeon.
Casca was surrounded by killer ants. Her captain, Leon, aimlessly swung his almost shattered swords at the monster horde. Everyone taken down was another one taken along with them. Behind them lay the rest of their Familia. Two were still breathing but only one was able to walk. She cradled her broken companion in her arms, waiting for the cold embrace to take them as it had for the other member of her Familia. Bryan, Kelly, Dormon. All gone.
But then a giant barrel of wind flew through the room. Casca watched as Leon slammed into the wall behind her, losing consciousness immediately. Then she looked back and realised that all the Killer ants had been vaporised, only piles of ash proved their existence. Not even the monster's purple stone heart had survived. She thanked whichever God in heaven had answered her prays as she began her chants of healing once more.
Nathan's mind was black.
His body ran off the main route of floor 9, diverting to a back room.
He dropped down one of the many holes that plastered the large room, knowing exactly which one led where. He ran down the side of the hole, his body knowing that falling was slower than him running downwards on his wind.
Landing on floor 13, not even wasting a millisecond, he ran through the air. Anytime falling to the ground was time wasted.
Lisa was surrounded. The Hellhounds left no room for escape. She knew she shouldn't have come down this far. She should've listened to Rose, her guild advisor. But it was too late now. She had no flame-resistant clothes as she narrowly dodged a fireball. The magic singed her bare arm, causing her to wince. But then she saw it. She was saved!
"Hey, over here! HELP!"
Lisa shouted as she saw another adventurer coming her way at blistering speed. But then she froze, as did the hellhounds in front of her. She wanted to run but her legs wouldn't move. What she thought was an adventurer coming towards had a presence that made her want to throw up and cry. But just as quickly as she spotted them, they ran away down another passage.
After the feeling subsided, Lisa breathed a sigh of relief. But then she felt something else. The heat of a fireball coming directly towards her. She tumbled under it, the magic pelting the wall she was now leaning on, melting the rock. Her eyes went towards the passage in which that thing had gone down. She was sure it was an adventurer by the wind magic. Then why weren't they coming to help her?
Lisa wanted to cry but the three fireballs that were now coming towards her singed her tears away. The last thing she saw was that passageway in which her only and last hope ran down.
It had been just over 15 minutes since Nathan had entered the dungeon. Taking all the possible shortcuts he knew. Every corner ran around was navigated while carrying the maximum amount of speed possible. He had used his wind to propel himself forward the entire time. His mind was close to shutting down. After the fighting in Knossos in which he had used most of his magic supply, this was becoming way too much for his body to handle. But yet he persisted and now in front of him stood the Wall of Sorrow. He caught a small glimpse, not even wasting a glance towards it. He had no time to sightsee.
15 minutes.
That was all Nathan needed to get to the 18th floor. This immense run wouldn't be recorded as such a claim would be considered absurd but Nathan had completed it, blowing any previous record out of the water. Though the half-elf cared little.
The 18th floor was one massive, expansive, open floor and Nathan took great use of it. Taking one giant leap from the top of the entrance into the safe area, he managed to scale almost the entire floor. Some residents of Rivira would claim to have seen a new type of flying monster had entered the dungeon but the velocity it was flying made it impossible to make out.
Using a small wind platform to push off to complete Nathan's 5-second visit to the 18th floor, the half-elf dove into the great tree labyrinth.
For the first time since entering the dungeon, his mind finally bore fruit a singular thought.
'somethings… different'
Nathan could tell, his instinct agreed with him. This only backed Fels' claim that something had happened. This only pushed the boy even further. He was at a speed that would be impossible for any level 4 to reach, even Bell would have struggled to keep up with him.
No monster could even register him. They all froze when he drew near, the wrath emanating from his body spread through all that felt it. And then when the feeling left their shaking body, they could not find the culprit that had encapsulated them.
Nathan quickly ran through the 19th and 20th floors. He didn't know them as well as he did the first 18 but he still had enough experience here to know the quickest route to the next floor. But as he entered the 21st floor, he saw the first proper sign that mirrored the travesty that occurred 5 years ago.
Adventures were sprinting towards him, going the complete opposite way. Nathan registered the look of fear and panic on their faces. Though they all froze when Nathan ran past them and just like the monsters they would not know who or what made them feel that way but it only made them run faster.
The second major sign was after Nathan entered the 23rd floor. No more monsters were spawning.
'This happened before.'
Now Nathan knew what Fels' meant by a repeat of the horror that happened 5 years ago. It made his heart pound with a fever. He began to sweat as he once again picked up even more pace. Now that he had figured out what had happened, this time it was Nathan's mind that made him move forward as his body, mainly his instinct ability, was screaming at him to run away as fast as possible.
There were only ever three existences in the entire mortal world that had ever made him feel like this.
The first was the Elf King. He feared him as much as he despised him. It only took one look from the high elf to establish that childhood fear.
The second was whenever Goddess Hel found out about him trying to go against her. Even the smallest of things and she would use that smile and that voice and Nathan could only freeze and await the punishment. She lived up to her title as a Goddess of Death.
The third and most recent one he met was 5 years ago. He found… it. He could never fully describe it but it was terrifying to him. It was the worst his instinct had screamed at him in his life. The blood dripped from the creature's claws. Even though it was clearly missing its front right limb and its rear left, it moved at a speed the eye could not track. Those ferocious jaws clamping around half of a beast person, the adventurer's dead eyes stared back at his very own, forcing him to take in every inch of the monster.
If anyone asked what he thought of when the word monster came up, that… thing would be one of the first things that entered his mind.
And now it had possibly spawned again. The only thing that Nathan could think to convince his body to go along with him was that he was a lot stronger than last time but then his body countered with fatigue and the threat of mind down. The argument between mind and body distracted the half-elf until he finally came upon the entrance to the water capital. Then something else caught his attention. More like four things had.
"…is the Water Capital always such a hellish landscape, meow?"
A hellish Landscape was the only way to accurately describe what the four women were viewing from the top of a steep cliff.
What was meant to be a sparkling ocean blue that glistened to the brim with water and shimmering caves with lustrous crystals was now being burnt away by a scolding sapphire napalm that scoured across the water's surface and melted the dungeon rock to a liquid.
Enormous roots and branches that had fallen from the great tree above, provided fuel for the inferno to only increase in size and temperature. Debris filled where the great falls had once cascaded from the top of the 25th floor right down to the pool that was nestled on the 27th floor.
"Looks like the floor boss went wild here. Bet you haven't even seen anything like this?" Lunor commented, her gaze directed towards the half-dwarf high smith.
Tsubaki only narrowed her one open eye.
'We're too late.'
She recognised that the Amphisbaena had already been defeated and that they were too late to help whoever had fought it. The high smith clenched her fists in frustration.
'Please be alright Welf.'
The group of four quickly discussed options on what had happened and what to do. Anya, Lunor and Chloe were still adamant about going down to save Ryu and Tsubaki wasn't going to leave Welf and the rest of the Hestia Familia in this without checking if they were all right.
Anya was about to give an idea. She had seen her brother, Allen, do it many times and she had wanted to try it. Now seemed like the perfect time. However, before she got the chance to voice her idea of scaling the cliff face, her cat ears perked upwards as the fur on her head on tail stood on end. She immediately swivelled her golden spear around and faced the passageway that led to the 24th floor.
"What the hell's gotten into you two?" Lunor asked as she saw Anya and Chloe suddenly get defensive, their breathing turning shallow and quiet as they got low enough to get down on all fours.
"Stand back!"
Tsubaki now felt it, a second after the cat girls and was now readying her perfectly crafted naginata-style polearm as her spine ran cold.
Lunor was the last to feel the cold sensation that had trickled down the other's back with her joining her party's positions.
None of the four battle-clad women dared ask questions or even talk. They kept their breathing as quiet as possible, hoping to be able to hear something… anything.
However, they did not hear anything. Lunor and Tsubaki constantly glanced at the cat girl's ears as they slowly turned like sonars though they never twitched, indicating they picked up no sound. The only thing that happened was that that… feeling was getting worse, or closer. They did not know which one but they still did not move. It wasn't until Tsubaki made the first call. It was in the quietest whisper possible.
"We make a leap backwards, get away from whatever is back there and continue our search. Agreed?"
Three slow nods gave the confirmation for the smith to begin the countdown.
"..3…."
The girls tensed their legs.
"..2…"
"…1.."
They all took a quick breath, preparing to jump into the fiery Water Capital rather than face whatever is giving off such a haunting feeling of dread.
"Now!"
With Tsubaki's shout, the four women immediately turned around, their legs poised to run off the edge of the cliff.
"OW! Why'd nya stop, nya!"
Anya got off her bum, which she had landed on after crashing into Tsubaki who had stopped alongside the other two.
"I thought we were gonna jump, nya!"
Anya's complaining was met by silence. The brown-haired cat girl wanted to know why the other three hadn't gone along with the plan to jump. (Anya really wanted to jump off the cliff)
As she stood up, she looked forward to hopefully see the cause of why the plan had been halted. And then she too joined the rest of the party as she completely froze up. A figure stood ahead of them. As soon as she laid her chestnut eyes on it, that dreading feeling heightened drastically. It felt like it was swimming through her blood, turning her entire body cold.
All four of them couldn't move as they stared at the shadowy figure that had caused them to freeze. The only member seeming able to almost resist was Tsubaki. As a Level 5, it was taking all of her strength to fight back against the ungodly feeling. But before she could talk or try to attack it, it slowly turned its head towards them. While its body still faced the catastrophe below, its head was now sideways and all of them caught the side of his face that was being illuminated by the flickering of blue fire. A large gauge was embedded in his face as the dark green eye that was in the centre of the scar stared into their very being. And then…
"Tell me everything you know!"
"Kazuki!"
Welf shouted as he swung his newly forged magic sword. The beautiful fire engulfed all the monsters unfortunate in its path, which was all because of how much of the room the fire was able to encompass.
The expedition party all turned to marvel at the smith's new creation. An obsidian blade with red engravings stood proudly in the firm grip of its creator.
"-Bout time!" Aisha said as she smiled at the young man who was now the party's saving grace. Their odds of leaving the 26th floor had now drastically gone up.
"Everyone! Thank you for putting your lives in my hands. Now it's about time I repay you!"
Welf's determination became immediately infectious and the rest stood ready, waiting for the inevitable barrage of monsters to swarm towards them but now, hope once again burned inside them, preparing for the battle of their lives.
While the party battled their way through the water capital, a floor above them stood a confrontation that would ordain their survival.
The stare-off was unbearable.
For the four women, it felt like they were staring death itself in the eye. The dark Jade Iris that surrounded a black abyss was at risk itself of being consumed by the darkness as black tendrils flicked through the white lake in which they were nestled.
Nathan didn't have time for this stare-off.
Tsubaki readied her first-grade weapon as the figure fully turned its body to face them.
"Wh.. who are you?"
No response came, only the slow advancement of the figure coming towards them. Black swirls of wind encased the figure. Tsubaki recognised that the figure was a person due to her level 5 exposed eye taking in the figure's scarred, bare and very human chest.
"Where?" Nathan asked, not knowing who he was talking to. He had already sacrificed his sense of smell and taste to put more energy into running, no matter how small it was.
"Where what?"
Tsubaki stood firm. Even though she felt her blood run cold just from looking at him, she was not going to back down. She too saw this as a waste of time. Lunor did her best to stand strong alongside the half-dwarf, not wanting to waste valuable Ryu searching time. Their feline companions did not share their resolve, their primal instincts telling them to keep low and ready to dash away.
"Hestia Familia. Tell me where they are?"
"""-huh?"""
All four had the same reaction.
"Wait, you're also looking for Hestia Familia?"
Nathan tilted his head slightly. Without warning, he walked forward with a bit more pace, hoping to get a better look.
What reached their eyes was a worn-down half-elf. His torso was exposed. His legs were barely covered by what could hardly be described as clothes anymore, more like bits of torn-off rags. His left ankle was encased in what was a homemade splint, struggling to stay put. His other foot was wearing a fairly well-kept black boot, though it was shrouded by a black wind.
In each hand was a pair of firmly gripped swords. However, the most striking feature of the half-elf was his face.
"-Nathan?"
It was Lunor who recognised the boy first. She recognised his bleached hair that had visited her workplace many times, though most of its usual colour was masked by a crimson red. She also concluded her answer through the scarred chest that she had once treated almost 2 years ago. She only knew of one Falna that had not gifted its bearer with the power to heal scars. Though the blood that was plastered over his chest and torso was something new to even her major experience in the line of her old profession.
"Masky, nya? It can't be!"
Anya was not convinced that it was Nathan and Chloe and Tsubaki were inclined to side with her over Lunor. None of them had ever seen his eyes so they couldn't judge on that but they would have definitely noticed the massive gauge on the right side of his face. And then the voice…
"What are you doing here?"
Now recognising who he was conversing with, Nathan too was just as shocked as the four girls.
'Why are they here and are they looking for the others as well?'
"Wait a minute. If you are Nathan of Hestia Familia, why the 'ell you 'ere and not down with your Familia?"
The response was a despondent look to the ground before a dark glare met Tsubaki's eye with the rise of wrath being felt by all.
"Doesn't matter. Why are you looking for my Familia?"
So Tsubaki filled in the half-elf on everything. How Hestia herself requested help from the waitresses and herself. All the while Tsubaki was explaining, the three waitresses could only examine the boy's face.
With his identity confirmed as Nathan, they became wide-eyed. Mainly due to the massive wound on the boy's face. What must have happened to give him such an awful scar? They also looked at his eyes, which they had never seen.
'No wonder he wears a mask, Mama Mia would kick him out of the bar for scaring off customers' Chloe thought to herself.
'This feeling, is it from Nathan?' Lunor pondered. She still felt the dread run down her spine. The only answer that made sense was that the half-elf was emitting it.
"So it seems we are on the same mission," Tsubaki spoke.
Nathan gave her a questionable look before giving a rough grunt.
"So cause of that, I say we work together.
"Don't have time, you'll slow me down."
Nathan's blunt response hit at three of the women. They'd slow him down. They might not be as fast as him but they were level 4 and he was a registered level 3, which none of them believed. However, Tsubaki gave a retort none were expecting.
"Ha! Don't you mean you will be the one to slow us down!"
"What!"
"You heard me. I'm being nice and offering you to help us even though I know that you might slow our search cause I know you want to find them as well."
"I could kill you right now Cyclops without breaking a sweat."
Nathan's threat was not taken lightly by Tsubaki. Lunor, Chloe and Anya only watched on as the two seemed to be preparing for a death battle.
"Like hell you could, look at you! You can barely stand, dried blood everywhere, presumably, some of it is yours. That nasty mark on your face probably makes running at high speeds difficult and that not very well fixed ankle will slow you down, not to mention that feeling of bloodlust you are giving off has been slowly fading just from the passing of time."
Now Tsubaki had pointed them out, not only did the three women notice what she meant by how weak the boy actually looked if you got past the bloodlust but it also pointed it out to Nathan himself.
He had blocked out almost all of his senses and it was only now that they had been pointed out has Nathan fully realised the state he is in.
"It's ok to ask for help ya know. Your Goddess wasn't afraid to do it for the sake of her Familia. Shouldn't you do the same?"
'Lady Hestia…'
Nathan contemplated those words properly. Hearing that his Goddess had asked for help wasn't that much of a surprise to him and thought that was something Hestia would do it almost made him smile if it wasn't for the increasing pain he began to feel now that he was becoming more aware of the state of his body.
His condition had only worsened since entering the dungeon. His quick healing before was like putting a small plaster over a gaping wound and his sprint through the dungeon had ripped off that plaster and had been detrimental to his recovery.
Considering the condition he was in and the massive help the four adventurers in front of him would provide in saving his friends Nathan came to the only conclusion.
"Ok, I will accept your help," He said in his usual quiet voice, making the party of four, especially the waitresses that knew the voice, calm down as well.
"Great and I'm glad you got rid of that weird thing you were doing with your voice."
"Let's go, meow! We've wasted enough time, meow!"
"Chloe's right, we should get going."
"Agreed. What was your plan for finding your Familia?" Tsubaki asked the half-elf.
Nathan just shrugged before saying "Just run around and wait to hear anything."
"Better than nothing and it's not like we can come up with anything better, let's get going."
"Nathan?"
"-yeah Lunor?"
"Could you drop that feeling please, it's really off-putting?" The brown-haired woman asked.
"I think… if I got rid of it, I'd probably collapse right now," The half-elf sighed, not wanting to admit that he was in a weakened state.
"Nya! Wasting too much time. Let's go Nya and jump off the cliff Nya!"
The others didn't seem to want to say anything else, the now rescue party of five began to descend the face of the cliff, their shared mission becoming one. The search for the Hestia Familia continued.
Chloe and Lunor almost felt useless.
They quickly realised just before entering the dungeon that they were almost totally reliant on Tsubaki and more annoyingly, Anya.
Yes, they could easily beat up all the monsters before the lower levels but they had no idea in which direction to head or their way back when they would've inevitably gotten lost. That is why both had decided to put more effort into taking care of the monsters.
Lunor was always the first to jump at the monsters after a quick appraisal, while Chloe always had her ears turned up to the max to give insights and where enemies could ambush from.
They both recognised what the other was doing and quickly, with only a glance, to not overstep into the other fighter's main advantage. This gave them a sense of use in their search for Ryu.
However, they now felt useless.
Tsubaki must have been lying when she called Nathan weak.
'Bullshit is he weak, he's not giving us a chance to do anything.'
Lunor could only stand stunned as she observed the half-elf dive sword-first into a massive pile of merman, not seeming to care about his still broken ankle or the massive hindrance to his sight that was plastered on his right eye.
'If this is him being weak, I'm glad I've never started a fight with him.'
Chloe was growing a small fear of the boy. The way he ripped and teared his way through a school of monster fish that had attempted to jump them, he had begun his attack before they even attacked, before even Chloe had noticed them. Only her fear of Mia's wrath could beat her fear of the boy.
Even Anya was questioning Tsubaki's evaluation of the boy but she didn't mind. Her simple mind only saw the boy as a massive help in making Ryu finding easier and quicker.
Tsubaki was the only one who saw the truth.
'The fact we aren't carrying his lifeless corpse is a miracle.'
Chloe and Anya couldn't smell the boy's dried blood through the pile of monster blood splattered around the room nor could they see it and Lunor couldn't tell the difference. Tsubaki could and she saw how much of it was not a monster. She was one of the few who knew of Knossos while not participating. Her joining the Loki Familia after squaring off against them during the Xenos incident would look bad. Though it seemed Skias Alf did not care about that. It was the only explanation that made sense to her.
'How much of that is his blood and how much is it Evilus.'
The dried blood that covered the boy's body had little to no monster blood infused in it, well that was the case before he had begun to slice through every moving thing that wasn't them. She noticed how he didn't even flinch at a scrape from a very sharp scale that had grazed his bare arm. It was like he grew numb to the pain.
Nathan had blocked off his sense of touch. He now only relied on his hearing and eyes, only of which being in half-decent working condition.
He had reduced most of his vision from his right eye as it had already begun to blur to a point where Nathan considered it useless. His left eye could tell the difference between his temporary allies and the monsters he slashed down but he struggled to differentiate the monsters themselves.
He had become completely reliant on his hearing and instinct to guide him. He was now glad that he had found the girls because he now realised that he would have struggled to find his Familia in this state.
The only positive thing about his condition is that with his sense of touch being out of commission, he couldn't feel the throbbing pain that pulsated from his left ankle whenever he put pressure on it. Though that brought about a slight problem as he forgot about it being broken on multiple occasions.
While he couldn't feel the pain, his ankle was still broken and whenever the half-conscious half-elf put any sort of pressure on his left ankle, it would buckle. This forced the boy to keep his wind magic active at all times as it alleviated the pressure. Ever since he entered the dungeon, he had barely touched the actual dungeon floor. The only times he came into contact with the dungeon surface were the few times he pushed off the wall or roof and he made sure to do it with his right foot.
"A scream!"
The whole party turned to Anya who had shouted out the statement. They all froze for a second before…
"It must be, Meow!"
"Let's go!"
"Lead the way kitty cat now!"
"SSSSHHH NYA!"
Nathan didn't speak but was already standing right next to Anya, poised to follow the girl and hopefully pick up any sound that she might miss. Anya was clearly listening out for the second sound that would indicate a direction to run down as well, her chestnut feline ears rotating from side to side, catching any sound wave that passed by.
Another few seconds went by. Lunor and Chloe were about to shout at the brown-haired cat girl for wasting time and being stupid before the ex-adventurer suddenly darted down a corridor.
It was only Nathan that registered this, immediately chasing after the cat girl. The other three just stared down the dungeon pathway in which the two had disappeared.
"IT'S THIS WAY NYA!"
That was all the other party members needed before beginning their chase of the half-elf and the waitress that had just left them.
Quickly they caught up to the other two, having once again stopped. Though it was only a brief pause caused by a fork in the road, it was enough for Chloe, Lunor and Tsubaki to catch back up.
This time it was Nathan who was the first to make a move, the others dashing after him as he leapt down the right corridor.
The people became louder and louder, and now all of the party knew which direction to run down. It wasn't until another minute after that something strange occurred.
"What's that up ahead, meow?"
"Damn, that's a large group of monsters!"
"And they are heading in the direction of the people, Nya!"
"Tch!"
Tsubaki could only click her tongue at the damning sight ahead of them as the three waitresses all expressed their various concerns.
Running in front of the group was the biggest wave of monsters they had encountered since either Nathan or the women had entered the dungeon.
At this point, Nathan had almost gone blind. Blood from the right side of his face had begun to fling over into his good eye. When he went to wipe it away, the blood that coated his arms replaced the wiped-away blood, ensuing an endless cycle.
Because of this, Nathan decided to slowly degrade the power in his left eye and slowly push it into his ears. He sacrificed his sight so he would be able to track down the culprits of the human shouts. Because of this, he allowed the others to take lead when navigating the twisting caverns of the water capital.
But as he heard the other four complain about the enemies what sounded like 100 metres ahead of them, he also heard something else.
As he tried to register all the monsters that he might have to take down, he picked up a strange noise. One that should not coincide with monsters situated above the deep floors.
The fluttering of robes was the first thing that offset the half-elf's mind about the monsters. The second sound that completely changed his view put a small grin on his face and almost made him laugh.
The sound of armour and weapons scratching on the dungeon's surface made its way through the thunderous pounding of feet. It could only mean one thing.
'Xenos.'
With this new revelation, Nathan was given a new flame. If the Xenos were the ones ahead of them then that means they must be going in the right way to his friends. He would not let them be the only ones to save them.
"Tsubaki…"
"What is it?"
"Those aren't monsters, don't fight them."
With that statement shocking the whole party, Nathan set off to catch up to the Xenos with everything he had. His body had already overreached its limits, but Nathan through sheer will, forced it to give even more. It could do nothing but oblige.
The Four battle-clad women saw the half-elf race off ahead, clear intent on getting to the large pack of monsters first.
"What does he mean by that?" Lunor shouted.
"What else can they be, meow?" Chloe asked, not understanding what Nathan meant.
Tsubaki was in shock. She was running close to the boy, ready to pick up his unconscious body any second, preparing for it to give way at any moment. But then he finds more speed and even breath to talk. But regarding what the boy meant, Tsubaki understood.
'It's them, isn't it? What were they called again?'
Tsubaki figured out what the boy meant when she saw him race towards the dungeon-made army. She managed to spot what Nathan had heard. The billowing black robes just making enough movement to be seen. The glints of armour and blades were something her pride as a high smith would never let her miss.
"Don't worry about Skias Alf or those monsters, focus on getting to Hestia Familia."
That was all Tsubaki felt comfortable saying at that time, not knowing where the waitresses stood in terms of their knowledge or experience with the armoured monsters.
They were trapped.
In front of them stood the black wall of death. Voltemere, Chloe's monster fish, flew towards them. It looked like they were swimming through the air itself. They could do little to defeat it.
Welf was at his mind's limit with his constant use of Kazuki.
Cassandra was close to mind down, as was Haruhime.
Daphne, Bors and Chigusa's well-honed skill was fading, their movements becoming sluggish.
Aisha and Ouka were doing their best to keep the monsters at bay but this was too much for them as razor-sharp teeth dug into their skin.
Lili could only stare at the singular darkness that completely blacked out her vision.
Then she spotted it. It was the end.
Coming from their flank was an army of monsters.
This was it; it must be. How could they survive this?
Faces flashed through the young Prum's mind.
Her parents.
The kind elderly couple that housed her.
Soma
Hestia
She looked at her fellow Familia members as Nathan's half-elf face was next in her mind. How she wished he was here. She knew he would've changed the circumstances on its head.
Then the final face that she envisioned before she accepted death.
The white hair. Rubellite eyes that only housed kindness and compassion. The boy she loved.
"I'm sorry couldn't stay by your side, Bell," Lili whispered before she closed her eyes.
She heard the slithering of a Lamia come right up behind her… and then straight past her, followed by a gust of wind. Lili opened her eyes just in time to see it. The Lamia slam straight into the wall of Voltemere alongside a dark wind that wiped away enough of the monsters to form a small gap in the formation. Then the other monsters followed.
It was then she saw it. Armour and weapons.
"The Xenos!"
Lili fell to the floor in sobbing joy, her blubbering scream of ecstasy alerted the others. They too now saw the armour on the monsters. But then they saw something else that gave them even more joy.
Twin blades glistened. Entrapped in a dark green wind, much darker than they had ever seen, cut through another part of the wall just before Aisha, Welf and Ouka were about to be torn limb from limb.
"-Bout fucking time!" Aisha shouted in an overjoyed sigh.
"-Nathan!" Welf could only bark out his brother's name.
A half-naked boy dropped down just in front of the smith. It was too dark to see the full extent of the boy's previous battles earlier on but Welf recognised the scars that he first saw back when Nathan first joined the Hestia Familia.
"… I'm sorry I'm late," was the only reply they got before they watched Nathan join the battle.
"Welfy! You're alright!"
Welf turned to see a large bronze-skinned woman standing just behind him.
"-Tsubaki, what are you doing here?"
"Here to help of course!" The high smith retorted.
Welf then looked over to the Xenos just as a lizardman walked up to his side.
"Welfchi."
"Lyd!"
Welf had never been as happy to see a monster before in his life. But then he realised that the Xenos leader was next to the level 5 captain of the Hephaistos Familia.
"Tsubaki…"
"I already know, don't attack the ones with armour. Skias Alf has already told me."
After her answer, she too joined the fray, her first-grade naginata weapon ready to tear down the flying fish. Two cat girls, one wielding a golden spear, the other sporting assassin blades followed alongside a human brandishing a pair of knuckle dusters.
The dark wave of death that had previously flooded the expedition party's vision was now little more than a figment of the past. The fight only took a minute.
The combined might of high-level Xenos, a first-class adventurer, 3 pro fighters with enough power to travel into the deep floors and a half-elf fuelled only by remnants of adrenaline and willpower with the goal to keep his only friends safe was too much for the Voltemere catastrophe to overcome.
The Xenos took a step away from the adventurers, only Wiene being the one staying as she was still clinging onto Haruhime, the Renard not wanting to let go of her adoptive daughter.
Anya, Chloe and Lunor were catching a quick break as they stood alongside Chigusa, Ouka and Bors as Lili gave them the basic information on the Xenos, not going into too much detail. One because she didn't want to give too much information out as it might endanger her Familia and Bell. Two because she was currently still wiping away her tears of gratitude and trying to catch her breath as well.
Tsubaki was pestering Welf to let her examine his Welf magic sword, claiming how amazed she is at the level of stupidity her underling was to do something like craft a magic sword in the dungeon.
However, all of their attention was brought to the half-elf. None of his Familia had properly registered him being there, still trying to recover from what they had just been through. It wasn't until now they got a proper look at the boy as he held the amazon figure of Aisha up against the wall by her throat.
"You said you would keep them safe and you tell me you let Bell go on his own!"
"Nathan calm down!" Haruhime shouted to her Familia member. But it was then that he faced her and the rest of the party.
The atmosphere was killed immediately. They all saw it simultaneously. The ones from outside the Hestia Familia had never seen much of the half-elf boy and now they got a full shot of him. All the scars that littered the boy's back and torso. All the dried-up blood that plastered his skin, turning it into a murky red instead of the usual elf-like pale white. But they barely registered all of that. Just like the Hestia Familia and Lunor, Chloe, Anya, Tsubaki and more recently Aisha before them, they were all focused on the boy's right side of his face.
"what… h-happened?" Lili shakily asked as she took in the massive chunk of missing flesh that had been replaced by an ugly red canyon that stood from the boy's blood-soaked bleached hair all the way down to his chin.
Cassandra had finally thrown up, the sight tipping her over the edge. Daphne was looking into the boy's eyes. She had previously seen them and thought they looked nice but now they held a strong sense of hate and anger, the emotions only being enhanced by the black that threatened to swallow his Jade Irises whole.
Haruhime was shaking while Wiene, who was now firmly placed in a protective hug, had averted her gaze off the half-elf. She was the one who was scared most of the boy's eyes.
"That doesn't matter… where's Bell!"
They all flinched at the boy's question. The three who had already heard this voice took a step away from the boy, and only Tsubaki moved a step forward.
"Nathan?" Welf asked, scared for and of his brother.
"I can't hear him, where is he?"
"Oi Skias Alf, I thought I wanted you to stop with that voice."
Nathan turned his right towards the only talking person and responded with a new wave of bloodlust. He despised his alliance. Wiene shook more in Haruhime's arms as Cassandra and Chigusa passed out.
"And what do you mean by you can't hear Bell? Surely you mean you can't see him?"
Tsubaki had picked up on what the boy said.
Nathan had sacrificed his penultimate sense completely when he caught up to the Xenos. Throughout the entire fight with the Voltemere, Nathan could only hear and listen to his instinct to guide him through the battle.
Tsubaki only walked towards the half-elf. As she had pointed out earlier, the dread feeling was getting weaker and weaker. As she got to the boy, doing her best to make as little sound as possible, she slowly helped release Aisha.
"Nathan, you need to rest now!"
Nathan couldn't even hope to fight the level 5 as she easily released Aisha from his grip. He heard the amazon drop to the ground, gasping for air.
"What d-did… y *gasp* you do *gasp* that f-for!"
Aisha spluttered out her complaint at the boy who had nearly choked her to death. Though she could feel the boy was much weaker than he usually was, she was fairing no better after her whole ordeal.
"Antianeira, I'll deal with him. Go and have a sit down."
Aisha looked at the high smith before deciding to agree, her body making the choice easier as all it wanted to do was shut down. She dragged her padoa over to Haruhime and sat down next to her little sister, trying to give her some comfort.
As Tsubaki turned away from Aisha and returned her attention to the half-elf, she saw that he had dropped his arm. In fact, his arm had become limp. She felt the feeling he had been emitting vanish and any bloodlust had disappeared. The twin swords crashing to the ground brought everyone out of their shock-induced state as they all stared at the half-elf. Then the boy crumbled.
Tsubaki's level 5 speed was enough to catch the boy and she had been anticipating this for a while. As she dragged his unconscious body over to the group, she was amazed. The Hestia Familia immediately came to his limp body, as if nothing had happened.
"What happened?" Lili asked.
"Is he alright?" Haruhime worriedly asked her own question.
"Oi Tsubaki, what did you do to him?" Welf spoke up.
"I didn't do anything. The boy had been running on fumes for the past hour and that's not including the time before we met up.
"Was wondering when that was gonna happen, meow?" Chloe chirped in.
"Masky had been getting weaker and weaker Nya!" Anya stated.
"Bout time he rested," Lunor voiced her concern.
The Hestia Familia all looked at the four women.
"Please, could you tell us what happened?"
"Only if you give your side of the story as well prum, deal?"
Lili nodded.
And so the rescuers and the rescuees began swapping stories on what happened.
The Hestia Familia were not surprised by the fact the rescue party was formed by their Goddess asking for help on their behalf.
Tsubaki could only listen in silence as she listened to the catastrophe that unfolded.
Chloe, Lunor and Anya tried to get any detail about the gale wind they could, especially from Bors who could do nothing but cooperate.
It wasn't until a Xenos mermaid appeared before them from the clear water off to their right was the full story revealed.
With everything now fully revealed, a new plan was formed.
And so, a new party was formed. Led by the Xenos that carved a path through the dungeon, the adventurers followed further behind. With them, they carried any supplies that had survived or been brought down.
Lili carried the supplies in a makeshift supporter's bag.
Welf carried his magic sword.
Bors carried the remains of a shield and a battle hammer.
Chigusa carried her bow as she ran alongside Ouka, who was carrying a now awoken Mikoto who was being filled in on the new mission.
Daphne carried Cassandra as she ran parallel to Aisha who was carrying a sleeping Haruhime, sleeping to recover her mind and strength.
Ahead of them all was the still-fresh rescue party of Lunor, Chloe and Anya. They picked off any stragglers that made it past the main fighting force up ahead, almost killing Lett in the process.
Tsubaki remained in the middle, taking command of the operation as Lili was in now the right place to do so at the moment. On her back, she carried some weapons and the unconscious body of Nathan.
Wrapped in makeshift bandages to stop the bleeding that had been flowing nonstop since he entered the dungeon. Welf, Ouka and even Haruhime had given pieces of their clothes to help bandage the boy up to the best they could.
Daphne made him a proper splint for his ankle while Lunor had done her best with coating, cleaning and bandaging the hideous scar on the boy's right eye.
When the mermaid Xenos offered to give the boy some of her blood for the half-elf, they were stunned by how it had no effect. Even the Hestia Familia, who had heard of the pungency and effectiveness of mermaid blood, were shocked at how powerful Nathan's Absolute Residence really was.
It had taken over 15 minutes of continuous scrubbing to get the boy to a passable level of being considered clean. It felt like that they would have to use all the water in the cavern just to get rid of all the blood.
Those who treated the boy were quiet. With the blood now washed off, the boy's true condition came into view. None mentioned the scars, scratches or wounds. Lili, Welf and Haruhime couldn't answer when Aisha had tried to get a proper answer on why he couldn't join them but none of them actually knew what he was doing apart from he was dealing with a dangerous enemy.
Welf held on to the boy's swords, saying that Nathan had sworn him so that only he or Nathan could hold onto the half-elf's swords unless the boy gave permission himself.
And so the second rescue party was formed.
Their destination?
The 37th floor or more commonly known as the white palace. the entrance to the deep floors.
And finally Nathan is reunited with his Familia and now they are on the search for Bell.
Sorry for the small wait but I got pretty sick for over a week, would not recommend tbh.
I'm not sure whether or not I should spend a bit more time in the dungeon and discover the lower levels or save them for the next time the Familia delves this deep (Which will happen)
Nathan's body is completely ruined at the moment if I hadn't gotten that point across already. I never like stories where a character will just leave from a fight with no consequences like injuries or fatigue and so I wanted to show the wuick decline in Nathan's physical health.
I'd just like to address something. While this story clearly has some edge to it, I have proper explanations to why Nathan can do some of things he does and why he acts the way he does, it shall be properly explained and delved into later on.
Also, with the new synopsis for Vol 18 out, plans for the Freya Familia battle has changed. I'm going to combine my idea and Oomori's idea and I've already liked the way its tunred out in my mind, so look forward to that :)
Anyway Reviews:
Jank7457: Yep, Nathan completely lost any semblence of his remaining humanity he had left during this chapter, though only for a short perioid of time. I also enjoyed where I went on the last chapter and don't worry Riveria's importance will only grow as will her presence.
Noone: Cheers mate
NinjaFang1331: Appreciated my guy, hope you enjoyed this one as well
Guest (Weird name but we role): Bit of a gap between this chapter and the last but I will not stop.
With that, thank you very much for reading my story adn I'll see ya next time, peace!