I don't own anything. All characters and all rights belong to Natsume Akatsuki*

M for mature topics. No children allowed. *

Konosuba (Not): Thanatos Blessing Upon This Broken World

By Try Another Time

The gates opened themselves without input from the team as if they awaited the arrival of more prey for its deadly trap.

"Kazuma…. I feel like something is watching us." Aqua said as she stepped inside with the group.

"I know. I feel the same." Kazuma replied as he looked around for any source of surveillance.

As Megumin and Yunyun described it, they found themselves in a palace chamber with many columns.

The Blue Monolith drew their attention. Aqua felt the mysterious presence more clearly as its eyes observed her every movement as they stepped closer. "Kazuma, Kazuma, I think it knows who I am," Aqua whispers to Kazuma as she grasps his hand for emotional support.

"I see. Let's check this out." Kazuma approaches the monolith, and at first, he can't read what it says besides a single word. "Igarashi."

The mysterious text changes into full-on Kanji as soon as he reads the word.

"To those that seek to test their skills, I welcome you. Push deep into our creation and seek the treasures that await you. Be smart about your choices, or let your overconfidence drag you to hell itself. Good luck, my fellow countrymen. Be strong for this world's sake." Kazuma said as he read the text out loud.

"So it was created by someone from your homeland?" Yunyun asks.

"At least someone from my homeland was involved in its creation. Someone who likely came to this land ages ago. He might have made this alongside influential people from an old civilization to test their own warriors. I don't think he created it for someone like me, a fellow man from his old homeland." Kazuma said.

"Well, at least we have an idea of what to expect. Let's run through our formation once more and our own strategies." Megumin says as she pulls out a pocket watch.

"I'll be at the lead and draw aggro to myself while blocking most damage. I'll need constant healing and defense boosts." Darkness starts.

"I'll be right behind darkness as the primary physical attacker. I'll need attack boosts and some healing, just like Darkness. I will also draw the aggro away from the back." Kazuma says.

Megumin raises her staff. "I'll be the primary spellcaster. I will keep my attack power to a minimun to allow others to get the kill unless I see an enemy that needs to be eliminated as soon as possible to prevent a wipeout."

Yunyun raises her white magical rod. "I'll be our secondary spellcaster who will also play the part of supporter. I will target any enemies capable of using magic or those with strong physical stats. I will blind them and immobilize them as necessary."

Finally, Aqua raises her scepter. "I'll be our main supporter and healer. I'll trust you to protect me from attacks."

Everybody nods.

"Our first goal will be to get Aqua, Darkness, and me to achieve level 40 before day 20. If we reach level 40 precisely on day 20, we're escaping. If we reach level 40 earlier, our team will continue until Megumin and Yunyun reach level 70 while also raising our levels beyond level 40. We will stop moving forward on day 22, regardless of our level. If everything works in our favor, meaning we reach all of the above before day 22, our team will push on until the 100 challenge. After the 100 challenge, we need to escape; Yunyun will be ready to use the teleport skill and get you four out while I stay behind if something goes wrong. Facing the boss after the 100 challenge is a no-go. Escaping is the only option." Kazuma says.

As soon as his words echo across the chamber, a strange, cold atmosphere takes over before the doors that lead outside shut themselves up.

"... That is not supposed to happen," Megumin says with a concerned expression.

Kazuma looks around the chamber until he notices tiny sets of eyes hiding behind some columns. "We're being watched. Circle formation."

The team moves until everyone touches each other's backs and has a broader view of the area.

"Eyes? We don't recall those." Yunyun says as she notices the eyes.

"We lacked Kazuma back then. It likely fears him." Megumin adds.

"Show me how far you can go. Cowardice won't be allowed." A voice says in Japanese, confirming Kazuma's ideas.

"Kazuma, Kazuma," Aqua calls out to him.

"I know, stay calm. It wants us to go forward and reach as far as possible. It said that cowardice won't be allowed." Kazuma tells the group.

"That's a threat!" Megumin shouts.

"A massive one. Let's go for the door. We can't turn around now." Kazuma orders.

The girls nod before following Darkness towards the open doors leading to the trials. Kazuma takes the rear as his instincts tell him to distrust his environment. Once everyone has passed through the doors, Kazuma sees a holographic figure waving his hand at him in the distance.

"Show me what you got." The hologram says in Japanese before it disappears with a cocky smile across its face.

Kazuma curses his luck before he turns around and joins the others.

Wave 1.

The team found themselves in the mysterious, endless hallway that Megumin and Yunyun experienced the first time.

"It truly seems to go on forever. But doesn't it seem too wide for a hallway?" Darkness asked.

"It changed. The hallway wasn't as wide the first time." Yunyun said with a concerned expression.

"It is giving us space to fight, but we'll keep our formation while remaining as close as possible. If we spread out, it could ruin our strategy. Remain calm and trust each other." Kazuma grabs his scythe from the back before he takes his spot behind Darkness. "Ready?"

Darkness nods. Her hands are already holding her shield and ax. A second ax remained attached to the opposite side of her waist. "Yes, sir."

Megumin turns to Yunyun. "Let's prove to ourselves that we have grown since last time."

Yunyun nods before she activates her enemy sonar. "Let's hunt them down."

Then, a magic circle appears before seven large creatures with six legs, a scaly green sky, and yellow eyes are dropped before the team.

"Basilisks! Everyone close your eyes." Yunyun orders.

The group closes their eyes before Yunyun creates a tiny sphere of light that implodes on itself. The reaction disperses, blinding light in all directions, which affects the basilisks.

The beasts trash around as their bodies crash against each other.

"Don't let them recover and cut their heads off. If they recover, they can release a gas that could turn all of us into stone." Yunyun orders as she opens her eyes.

Kazuma opens his eyes before he jumps on the offensive. As he dashes forward, he injures the beast's legs and causes them to lose stability.

"Back away from them!" Megumin shouts.

Kazuma backtracks before he sees how a magic circle has appeared on top of the beasts.

"Minor Comet." Megumin chants the name of the spell before a tiny celestial body impacts the bodies of the basilisks.

The beasts cry in pain as the attack seriously injures their bodies.

"Finish the job, you three. Aqua, take three; Kazuma and Darkness can take two." Megumin tells them.

Aqua and the rest waste no time eliminating their prey. They behead every beast before even 10 minutes are up.

"That… was rather anticlimatic." Darkness admits as she looks at the corpses of their prey.

"Don't say that," Yunyun says as she looks at the head of one of the basilisks. "One of these things led to the death of two party members last time we came around. We focused our attention on different targets back then and ignored the basilisk. That beast turned two good adventurers into stone before it shattered them into pieces with a swing of its tail."

"... We need to consider everything when we push deeper in. Weak monsters might be placed alongside strong enemies, and we could play it off as mere luck, but that could lead to our demise. The randomness will be our enemy if we don't act carefully." Megumin adds as she recalls the other deaths.

"I agreed. Yunyun, keep the sonar active. There could be invisible enemies amongst the waves. We're playing with fire now." Kazuma says as his eyes look towards the distance.

Nine waves after.

The team found minimal issues against the previous waves, but this wave was already looking bad for them as they witnessed the brutal setup.

"9 Bro-rillas!?" Yunyun's eyes widened as she counted the number of muscular gorilla-type monsters.

"6 high wizards. Our magic is going to be repelled and blocked by those." Megumin adds as she counts the robed spellcasters behind the Bro-rillas.

"And one Siren Queen… We're in troubled guys." Darkness said as she prepared herself to draw the Bro-rillas to herself, although they were bound to break through her shield due to their immense strength.

"... Aqua, focus on healing Darkness. Yunyun, Megumin, wait until I take care of the high wizards before you go on the offensive. I'll endure the assault of Siren Queen." Kazuma said that, as he made a mental trajectory, he would follow to eliminate the spellcasters as quickly as possible.

"Kazuma, this is a bad idea. The Siren Queens are known for targeting males. She'll try to charm you; if that fails, she will kill you for daring to ignore her." Megumin says as she sees the smirking expression on the mermaid-type monster, its toothy mouth blowing kisses towards Kazuma.

"Is the only way. If I don't kill the wizards, Darkness will fall to the Bro-rillas. The wizards come before the other two. Darkness, don't let go of that shield for as long as possible." Kazuma ordered as he activated his skill to hide his presence.

His body turns invisible before he shoots out like a meteor, ready to strike his prey down. The head of the first wizard flies through the air as Kazuma beheads it with a single strike.

"Let's do this!" Darkness shouts as she activates her skill to draw the aggro of the Bro-rillas. "Come and get some."

The buff humanoid primates grin from ear to ear before rushing to assault their target. The brutality with which the Bro-rillas punched and kicked Darkness was akin to a horror movie, as they left no place to breathe for the Fallen Knight.

"I got this," Aqua says as she uses her healing skill to counter the damage Darkness was receiving.

The High Wizards tried to block this skill, but their spells didn't work since Arcane Operation is not a magic spell.

"Is a summon. So it can't be blocked like a spell. He knows his partner skills." Yunyun says as she sees the dark torso working at full speed to heal any damage that Darkness receives.

"Come on, guys, that's all you have!" Darkness shouts as she continues to smirk while holding her shield up.

Then, another head goes flying as Kazuma continues to hunt his prey.

Kazuma's POV.

He felt like a mad dog as his senses were focused on one objective: Kill.

The High Wizards continued to levitate and move around as they tried to find him, but they did not turn their gazes away from Yunyun and Megumin for too long.

"They know. The bastards know what they can do." Kazuma told himself as he jumped to cut another head.

"~Where are you, My Prince?~" A harmonious voice started to sing.

Kazuma shook his face awake as the voice tried to infiltrate his mind. "She can see me. I can do this."

The reaper continues to speed up as his eyes can barely see Darkness due to the wide muscles of the Bro-rillas.

His next prey panics as it tries to leave the ground, but Kazuma has none of it as his cape reacts to his intention and transforms long enough to catch the high wizard.

"Three more." Kazuma falls to the floor before he notices something unusual. "Water? Why is there?"

"~There you are, My Prince.~" The voice calls out to him before the water transforms into arms that try to capture him.

Kazuma speeds away while remaining invisible to everyone's eyes. "But how? Wait, don't tell me she is doing this?" His eyes turn to the Siren Queen.

The humanoid monster starts to secrete water from its body before it spreads around like tentacles, seeking him.

"~Why are you running from me?~" The hands stretched out once more as they followed Kazuma's movements.

"Damn it." Kazuma curses his luck as he is chased while trying to kill the remaining wizards.

The wizards start noticing where the hands are going and try their best to escape Kazuma.

"You won't get away!"

"~Neither will you!~"

Kazuma jumps once more before he barely slices the neck of his fourth prey. "That makes four!"

"~ I got you now, sweet prince~" The hands finally catch up to Kazuma before they coil themselves up around his invisible body like snakes around prey.

The smirking Siren Queen moves across the ground like a shark swimming towards its prey thanks to the water across the floor.

"Kazuma!" Aqua shouts his name as she sees how he's trapped within the grasp of femme fatale.

"~Why must you run? Am I not beautiful enough?~" The monster song becomes stronger as she comes closer to Kazuma.

The ears of the reaper start to bleed due to the intensity of the frequency.

Kazuma struggles as hard as he can, but the water hands are set on keeping him trapped.

"~You pain me, my prince. You reject me, and rejection deserves a punishment.~" The monster grasps the sides of Kazuma's face before it releases an intense scream that shatters the floor beneath.

The sound is so strong that even the Bro-rillas and High Wizards are affected as they fall to the ground for a few seconds.

Aqua's POV.

"My ears! This pain is unbearable. This is bad. Kazuma!" Her eyes look for the reaper, and the sight she witnesses shatters her as the motionless body of Kazuma falls to the floor while almost every orifice in his body is bleeding. "Ka…zu…ma?"

Her chest feels a painful sensation as her body understands what's happening.

Kazuma was dying.

Kazuma's POV.

His body wouldn't react. Almost every organ inside of his mortal vessel was bleeding due to the devastating damage he had received.

"That's a terrifying power. A mere scream has put me down for the count…. Damn it. I can't even hear the outside."

His eyes continued to stare at the ceiling as the pain increased with each second. Time seemed to slow down as he tried to move.

"This is bad."

Kazuma forced his eyes to turn to the side. "Ah, Aqua…. She's calling for me…."

He could clearly see the panic on her face as she called out to him, but sadly, there was no sound.

"I've seen you cry a few times already… crying is something usual for you…. But now you look so sad."

Kazuma tried again, but his body didn't react to his will.

"Move."

His eyes saw a glimpse of Darkness. She was bleeding as much as him, but yet she was standing up.

"Move."

Then he saw Yunyun and Megumin calling out for him.

"God fucking damn it, move, I say. I'm not letting them die here. Move, you stupid vessel. Move as long as I can still feel this heartbeat in my chest. Move!"

His body twitched as signals started to reach every nerve.

"Grasp that damn scythe and finish those stupid high wizards."

His hand slowly grasped the handle of the scythe before the rest of the body followed soon. His cape transformed into wings as his body forced himself to stand up.

"All or nothing. Don't fail, Kazuma. You need to finish them."

His skill activated as the energy he still held inside was absorbed by the scythe, which then increased the size of the blade.

The Siren Queen turned around only to witness Kazuma's broken body grasping his scythe before it took off after the remaining high wizards. The monster tried to stop him, but the reaper was already moving.

The high wizards panicked as they saw the glaring expression of Kazuma, who was holding his scythe with his last gasp of life before he released one final attack, which cut them in half even if they were a bit far from each other.

"That's enough."

His body gave up after that as it started to fall. His heartbeat decreased at an alarming rate as he approached the floor.

"Megumin and Yunyun can take care of the rest."

The reaper smiled one last time as his body crashed with tremendous strength.

His last moments allowed him to see Aqua calling his name until the very last moment.

He couldn't hear her, but he could sense it. "You're starting to care."

Death counter: 2

….

…

…

"Kazuma, wake up." A voice called out to him.

Kazuma opened his eyes only to find himself on the same chair as when he died for the first time. Eris was sitting right across from him with a sad expression on her face.

"... I died?"

"Sadly, you did. It was a death worthy of a hero if I say so. I didn't expect your team to go into that nightmare of a dungeon."

"We needed to raise our levels. You gave us a deadline to get ready."

Eris nods. "I know, and I'm sorry. Things are moving this fast, but I promise it will be worth it."

"Don't be sorry. I trust you. If we don't act now, we might not get another chance for some time. Tell me, what's Talus's status?"

"Still recovering. Megumin and Yunyun's attack did more damage than we initially expected. The demon forces are working as fast as possible to fix the damage to the outer shell. We're slowing them down even more as we attack their supply chain. Rest assured that they won't get to repair the damage so quickly. You can continue raising your level with the girls. I'll continue to take care of the rest."

"Kazuma, come back to us." The pair could hear Aqua's plead.

"Seems like she's done. Go ahead and continue with your quest. We'll see each other soon." Eris smiles as she waves her hand.

Kazuma nods before closing his eyes and feeling himself dragged away by dark forces.

Back with Aqua.

The dark priestess watches as Kazuma's body is released from the black chains that once covered his body. She rushes to catch his body before it hits the floor.

"Kazuma, please open your eyes. We need you." Aqua pleads as she holds him in her arms.

Kazuma starts to open his eyes only to find the worried expressions of his teammates focused on him. "... Sorry for dying?"

"Idiot!" Megumin shouts as she wipes her tears away. "You gave us the scare of a lifetime. Your body fell to the floor like a marionette without the strings. You… died. You had no heartbeat."

"... I have seen party members die before, but yours was another thing….. Please don't do it again. I don't think I have in me to see another death like that." Yunyun says as she tries to control her tears.

Darkness doesn't say anything as she just kneels and cries while holding his hand.

"Darkness, I'm-"

"Quiet, just keep quiet for a while. This was too much for my heart." Darkness says as she continues to hold his hand.

His attention then turns to Aqua. The goddess cries in and holds him with care as she trembles due to her distressed emotions. "... It was painful…. So cold…. So silent…. I…. Kazuma….."

Kazuma caresses her head as he remains silent. "She can show care, Lord Thanatos. She can still grow."

Waves completed: 10

Chests to be open:1

Time until next waver: 1 hour and 20 minutes.