Two Gunshots. That was all. It might have been done out of mercy. Out of some twisted sort of volition shared between my Passenger and I, we had chosen Death. An Ending.

That Woman… My recollections, fragmented as they were, didn't paint her as one for mercy. Could she even feel mercy? I hoped she could, it would mean her questions had been genuine and that her reason for giving me the choice between life and death was out of compassion rather than some great purpose she had for my rapidly approaching death.

My already broken body tumbled through something. But I knew I had been on solid ground. My head should've come to rest on the soft grass and mulched dirt. The flask of water in my hands poured over me drenching the remnants of my Costume as it fell.

The cool sensation was a comfort as I neared peace.

Ah… I had already accepted defeat the moment I had seen that woman. So was this what it felt like to die in peace?

It wasn't that bad.

No.

No I think it was that bad. I wanted to live… do something. Anything. But even if I had somehow managed to live, would anything I could've accomplished ever be comparable to what I had done?

Passenger… You were the one that made us stand down against those strangers. Did you want peace too?

My body hit the hard ground, it was somewhat damp and cold. Or at least… That's what my dampened and confused senses told me. There was something on my back that had softened the blow. It crunched as it did. Broken.

I closed my unseeing eyes. And waited for death to come.

It was close… so very close.

I heard a squelching noise coming from near. Some sort of massive fleshy creature moving around.

Go away… Can't you see I'm trying to die in peace?

Something touched the remains of my right arm. It curled around it and pulled my body along. A tug and I lifted to the air dangling from its appendage. It whispered something to me. It might have had some meaning, but even if I knew the language before I was broken I couldn't recall it now.

More and more tendrils began covering me, dragging me inside. I was being eaten before I could even die.

But I couldn't feel death approaching. No… It was the opposite. I could feel myself becoming more whole, more intact by the second. But there was a wrongness to it. The same way that a needle in your arm would feel in a hospital. Foreign.

Something foreign had settled over my chest. Or rather inside of it. Squirming inside it found its way deep. Then the pain began. My senses were still confused, ineffective. But even then, the pain was mind shattering.

I hadn't felt pain this pure in years.

Every single inch of my body felt like it was being ripped apart and put back together. I tried to lean into my Passenger for some scrap of comfort.

No reply came from it. I couldn't feel it. It was only then that I noticed that I was without my swarm. Either there were no insects in the area… Or my connection to my Passenger had been cut off.

Somehow that shook me worse than the pain.

I had nothing to lean onto for a moments . Suffocating. I tried to cling onto consciousness, but I faded away.

I was so weak. After all I had done. I was still so weak.

Cold and damp. That was what I first felt when I came to. My eyes opened and I began to survey everything around me. The dark, dusky walls formed of rough stone seemed to imply I was in a cave of some sort. The suffocating darkness all around me supported that thought.

I could see no sign of the creature that had… done something to me. Dreading what I was going to find I surveyed my body.

What greeted me was… oddly normal. If you ignored the torn costume and missing right arm, I was hale and hearty. Too hale and hearty, scrapes I had accumulated throughout that last fight were gone, even the blood and ash that had stained me was gone. Checking my stump showed that even the burn marks that cauterizing it had given me were healed, almost as if my arm had healed naturally.

Even the pains I had come to live with, the scars I had accumulated over the years were gone. I felt better than I had in years. All that remained was the finely trained and prepared body that I had worked tirelessly for. It had been almost useless in the end.

I stood up carefully. And kept my head on a swivel, it felt unnatural to not be aware of everything around me for hundreds of metres on end. Eve though my eyes could see unnaturally well in darkness now, the anxiety didn't fade.

Something moved in my chest. A grimace came over my face. Time to face the music then.

I grabbed on to a bit of my costume over my chest that had been torn and stretched it to get a look. At first it was reassuringly normal, what I had come to know. A well-built chest with not much in the way of feminine characteristics. The usual.

But it began to morph, flesh parting like sludge even though it still had the appearance of how muscles should look under the skin. It all parted around a stone that came to the forefront.

The rainbow-coloured stone glowed maliciously. Some primal instinct told me to protect it at all costs. I knew instinctually that if anything happened to it, I would die right then and there.

I let the flesh cover it again and let go of my costume. I felt like puking.

From a fragmented and insane being with overwhelming power to a mentally sound abomination. My situation had improved… somewhat.

A shaky sigh escaped my mouth but then I heard it. Stones being shifted. I tried to get a look discreetly towards the noise…

I had to do a double take. It was… a werewolf. Or at least it looked like one, a humanoid body covered in fur with a vulpine head. It wasn't all that tall, maybe a metre and a half, but it was corded with muscle and wielding a stone club.

I felt its bloodlust. A similar bloodlust answered it. I found myself almost salivating at the opportunity.

Bring me… Aria.

A ravenous hunger came over me. My left hand found its way to my knife. It came out and was turned on with a whirring noise. The werewolf thing snarled and leapt.

It was fast… faster than almost all parahumans that were not dedicated speedsters, perhaps even faster than most flyers. It had crushed stone under its feet when it moved.

Despite that, I was faster. I sidestepped the cudgel blow, and my knife severed its carotid artery cleanly. Or at least where it should've been.

Blood came out but nowhere near enough to kill. Cutting the neck wasn't enough?

I pushed forward for a second blow. Whatever demented biotinker had created this creature was thorough, but you could kill almost anything with a nanothorn knife.

Not much survived being cut into three distinct parts after all. A slash ripped it in half from the waist first. A second came after I evaded its desperate claw swipe towards my face and severed the head right off.

The beast fell apart, the parts that had been severed from the chest exploding into ash as it did so.

I was strong… Much stronger than a normal human, most likely Brute six or maybe five. That scale wasn't entirely accurate, but it felt close enough. I could probably move faster than most cars too, though I wasn't sure of it.

It would need some testing. If I managed to get out of this place.

While I was thinking my legs had unwittingly moved me towards the remains of the werewolf. I licked my lips; the hunger was overwhelming. My hands tore at the monster, but the flesh wasn't my objective.

I didn't know what my objective was. But I still tore away scraps that turned to dust moments later. And then I finally found it. A stone, like mine but of a duller purple colour.

I ripped it out and the werewolf turned to dust the moment I did.

So that would happen to me too, if my stone was torn out. I inspected the newly acquired stone in my hands turning it about. Instinct came again. I chucked it into my mouth and chewed.

It tasted like lightly salted nothing. Not all that bad to be honest but not exactly good either. Just… food. It felt filling even if only slightly, furthermore it felt… energizing.

Grow. Reach. Find Aria.

A voice came from inside my head.

I see. I've been mastered. This transformation was a way to master people to act as pawns for that monster. Did that explain my mental state too?

Then… It probably wasn't a good idea to listen to those instincts.

I continued chewing. I needed the energy; I had no idea where I was and no idea if I could even find water and food in here. I needed every scrap I could get.

Then I realised something. My mask was missing. It had been missing when I spoke with… the name didn't come to mind.

Oh.

A girl riding on massive monster dogs flashed through my head. Her name was… R-something. It didn't come to mind either.

A blonde-haired girl with a smug smile. Her name was… not there.

A lazy bastard, pretty boy. His death I remembered. But the name was missing.

A Dark-skinned man tall and athletic. Something where my heart was supposed to be clenched. There was nothing but dust.

The man's little sister, the voice in my ear. She wasn't there either.

A woman hiding behind a doll mask and her partner with the rapier. Those two women… Who were they? Comrades? I think so.

A series of faces and masks flashed by all of them familiar. Flashes of memory; moments of pain, anger, pride. But no names.

I'd… lost it all. I see.

I was a fool to think I could escape what I'd had done to myself without losing something.

I shook my head. I could wallow in my grief after I was out of this cave, right now I needed to move.

I crouched down where I had first been laying when I came to. A mask was there. Almost unscathed, as if it had been placed there. I picked it up dusted it off and put it on. The weight on my back reminded me of another thing. My… jump pack. It was inoperable now even if I still had my powers, it had been crushed and destroyed as I fell.

Tinkertech was finicky even when it hadn't been battered. Best to get rid of it before it explodes. I shrugged it off and threw it to the side. It erupted into a shower of sparks.

My distrust of Tinkertech just saved me a lot of pain.

I took stock of my remaining equipment… There wasn't much, a few medical supplies some extra ammunition for my now lost handgun my broken PRT phone. A few zip ties and the like.

More importantly no water. I needed to find some and fast. I had been without water for… at least a day.

A clacking noise came from behind me. Like sharp stilts of bone hitting the rough stone. I turned my head towards it. It was a bunch of sheep skulls. No, there was something dark covering the rest of their body, but I assumed it was some sort of skeleton sheep.

Whichever biotinker made this place must've had a fascination with fantasy monsters and the like. Would I see some sort of skeleton soldiers too?

My knife whirred to life with a press of its button. The sheep things flew at me with no warning. They were even faster than that werewolf thing. I spun around the first one and halted the second in its tracks by gripping it on the skull. I tossed it at the third with a spin and turned back to the first one that was making a second pass.

My knife flashed by, and it was neatly bisected. It turned to ash in an instant and two halves of a stone fell out of the ash. I made note of it.

The stone was a weak point it paid to know where it was for each species.

Hearing the sound of something tearing I jumped to the side barely avoiding a volley of bone stakes that had been sent my way.

Great, they had a ranged attack too. From the corner of my eye I saw one rushing towards me. My leg slammed into the side of its head crunching the skull and ripping the head along with the stone off.

Only one left. I turned my eyes towards the last one and saw that something under its skin was morphing, bubbling. I didn't remain standing. I jumped to the side picking up speed as I went and brought up my knife to protect my centre of mass.

The black, skin-like cover ripped apart and a mass of bone stakes flew towards me. So that's how they do it.

The first two stakes flew wide and the last one I caught with a swing of my knife turning it into dust in less than a millisecond. I kicked the ground with all my strength and leapt towards the recovering skeleton sheep. The Tinkertech blade carved through the spine and left a neat little skull along with the stone for the taking.

I ripped the stone right out. This one looked just like that werewolf's. A dull purple stone about half the size of my palm. My mouth was salivating as I looked at it. I doubted that it was the taste.

Grow, Reach

I see. It was the Master-effect. The instincts that came with my altered form. Then I probably shouldn't eat them.

…

Yet I could feel the hunger. I was starving.

I didn't know how nutritious these things were but they were something edible. I needed energy if I was going to get out of this place. If I didn't eat I would waste away here and never be able to get out.

Stuck. Purposeless. Alone. And Afraid. And if I really did die this time I would die knowing I could've lived if I had taken this small risk.

I had already convinced myself. I threw it into my mouth and chewed as I retrieved the rest of the stones. They followed the other one into my mouth.

The taste was nothing special. But the rush of energy that came was wonderful. I felt stronger, more alert than before.

Now then… I needed water and had to get to the surface. That means going up... probably

Hopefully I'd even stumble upon some people.

There was just one problem.

I was lost.

The white curved walls of white cave stone didn't inspire much in the way of pathfinding.

I gulped down the despair that came over me.

Better get going.

I didn't know for how long I'd been wandering. It might have even been a week. I had seen a lot of monsters. Including some large and furry bipedal monsters with red fur and horns, actual skeleton Spartans like some homage to the dragon tooth warriors. Tough the skeleton part might've been added later to the myths.

Not that it matters all that much but still.

Oh and also, Lizardmen. Blue lizards that looked kind of like bipedal crocodiles. Lots of them. Lots and Lots of them. I had eaten so many Lizardmen stones that I was sure those things were digested in a different manner than food. No way could I ever eat that much.

And that was solely the Lizardmen stones. I must've eaten thousands of stones as I wandered the stone hewn halls and corridors. And now I stood before something. Something unusual.

Four bridges led to a massive stone structure, polished and smooth. It stood like a naturally made colosseum. I was able to sneak a look inside from far enough away to not alert the incredible amount of monsters inside. And it really was a colosseum.

Inside monsters of all kinds fought each other ripping each other to shreds and then respawning from the rooms built inside the walls of the colosseum and doing it over again. They were endless and I was sure that if I alerted them, I would die.

But I didn't have much of a choice I had to get by. I hadn't been able to find any kind of exit on this side and couldn't risk wasting more time going around finding another way to the other sides.

I peeked below. There was solid ground underneath the bridges. Maybe I could climb down and go around the structure that way then climb back up?

It was worth a try.

I sheathed my knife and began the journey down. My hand and feet dug into the wall like climbing picks and bit by bit I made my way down. Until I saw something looking at me from the side of the wall. It was crawling along the wall like I was.

It looked like a lizard. A particularly large quadrupedal one with quills all over its back. It opened its mouth, maybe to call for help, maybe for a ranged attack.

I didn't let it. I leapt to the side shutting its mouth with my singular hand trying to crush it to death. It didn't quite work. The bone wouldn't give way that easily. This thing was much tougher than the average monster.

A barrage of quills came from its back. I avoided most by swing myself off it and into the wall again and kicked the last one away.

Damn it. I need to kill this thing somehow. The lizard turned its head towards me a light appeared in its mouth.

Oh you have to be kidding me. A second later a torrent of fire erupted from its mouth.

I unlatched myself from the wall letting the blast of fire breath cover where I was moments ago.

The thing wasn't a lizard. It was a dragon.

I fell for a second then kicked off the wall again to jump back. I almost missed my target but managed to latch onto its tail. It flung me about as I kicked it in the side. In response it slammed me into the wall multiple times.

Bastard. I kicked at the dragon's legs causing both of us to fall down. It tried to get a grip on the wall. Like hell, you bastard.

I flung myself to the side forcefully spinning it around and under me. Finally blissfully we crashed onto solid ground. The dragon exploded into ash. I grabbed the stone and chucked it into my mouth.

It was good. Better than any I had eaten thus far. My gaze wandered about and now that I had seen it once I was able to see the rest camouflaged against the walls. They were all over them.

If I do climb back up it's going to come to a battle. And I was getting weaker, the thirst was starting to affect me. Even continuously eating those stones hadn't been helping anymore. I might lose that fight.

I saw a nearby passageway heading towards the other side underneath the colosseum.

It was either that or dying to a bunch of overgrown lizards. I wandered towards there and as I stepped underneath, I was greeted by a most blessed sound. Running water.

I followed the sound letting it guide me. I came against a wall. I gave it a tap. The sound rang out. It was hollow.

I kicked at the wall, and it crumbled easily. Inside was a small alcove with a tiny wellspring in the middle. To me it might as well have been paradise. I kneeled and drank greedily. I didn't have anything to purify the water with, but I had to hope that the lack of smell and the clear colour meant it was safe. I drank it down.

Once my thirst was finally sated, I sat down by the side. My knife in hand in case anything found me.

I hadn't slept in days. But there was no swarm to keep watch and no one to lean on. Still even as I resisted, I could feel sleep coming for me. I hid myself against the walls and leaned back with my hand resting near my knife.

A light, cautious sleep eventually came.

Sometime later a soft creaking noise interrupted my sleep. My eyes shot open, and a rock flew towards the noise.

A surprised "Ah!" came from the intruder. But they managed to dodge the rock that flew as fast as a bullet. It caved a hole into the wall. The intruder raised their hands in the almost universal gesture for surrender.

I eyed the hooded figure in tattered robes with their face hidden by shadows. Their entire body was hidden, even the hands were covered by metal gauntlets.

"I apologise for startling you." Came from them. Their voice was… odd. Androgenous in the manner that it was like hearing a man and woman talk at the same time.

"Who are you?" I asked as my hand gripped my knife. It was shaking lightly; I wasn't used to being snuck up on even in my sleep. I stood up and thumbed the switch of my knife.

The figure sat down instead. Trying to placate me. "I am Fels, a servant of lord Ouranos." Ouranos? Like the Greek primordial god?

What a pretentious name to take.

The figure thankfully didn't see my cringing face.

"What do you want? I don't suppose you came here for the water."

The figure bowed their head at my question.

"Truthfully speaking, I came to request your help." They spoke.

I raised an eyebrow. Had I been found out already? In another world, without having even talked to anyone?

"You were the only adventurer I could find strong enough to help." Adventurer? Strong enough to help?

I tilted my head slightly, it got the message across.

"A group of Evilus followers have plotted to lure another Familia into a trap and kill them. But that will not be all, due to the nature of their trap they will unknowingly unleash a guardian of the Dungeon. You are most likely unaware of it. But a rare species of monster, one that is faster and more intelligent than any that spawn till these floors and with the ability to reflect magic acts as a defence mechanism of the Dungeon."

Evilus? Magic? Dungeon? This guy was listing off things I had no clue about and expecting me to get it. It must've been common knowledge.

Dungeon… Must've been the place we were in. If they were mentioning it by name I could have them lead me out of this place. If they were knowledgeable enough to find someone in the depths of this labyrinth, then they should also be knowledgeable enough to lead them out of it.

Aria… Outside.

And there was Evilus… the stupid name was indictive of some sort of gang. Gangs usually were the only people idiotic enough to take names like those as far as I could remember.

I suppose that made Magic, parahuman abilities.

The figure went on before I could say anything. "The Astrea Familia, are going to be caught in the middle of that trap if they aren't helped." Astrea Familia, named after the ancient Greek goddess of justice, purity and innocence. Often seen as a figure of progress in literature.

My Mother had told me that. Or at least I thought so.

They must've been allied with this person and supposedly some sort of law enforcement if they were fighting against a gang. Should I help them? They would be killed if I didn't, but I didn't even know who they were, or their goals.

"Why can't you help them?" I asked instead of pondering.

The figures shoulders sagged. "Though my talents for crafting magical items and sneaking past foes is possibly the best in the world, I am powerless to help. Please, I implore you to help those girls. They've done no wrong but to try to save others."

Law enforcement then.

Ones that were aiming towards a sort of Heroic ideal as well if this person wasn't lying. Well they did bear the name of the Goddess of Justice.

I… wanted to save them. It sounded stupid but… As I had told the woman in the hat. It had always been about the people. Jack, the Endbringers even Scion they had all been unimportant. It had always been about what I could do and about the people who I could help.

Even in my worst moments that had been the one constant.

Taking my silence as hesitancy Fels continued their pitch.

"Your help won't go unrewarded. I am one of considerable material po-"

That didn't matter. Even if I hadn't needed this person to lead me out of this "Dungeon" instead of wandering around for eternity. Even if that reward, they were mentioning, wasn't something I would need in the future once I made it outside…

I had long ago given myself a purpose. I wanted to help.

"Lead me to them. We can discuss the reward later." I spoke.

The figure's hooded head stared at my mask for a moment. It was shock. I imagined they expected to fight harder to convince me.

"Y-yes! Of course!" They stood up and quickly made to get out of the alcove.

I glanced at the small spring in the middle of the room one last time.

Time to get back to work.

Maybe this time…

It'll all be worth it in the end.

Ryuu Lyon the Gale Wind

Blood. It had stained my eyes, my skin, the inside of my mouth, the half eaten or torn apart remains of Maryuu, Neze,Ryana, Noin, Asta, Iska, Celty. And even… Kaguya, Alise, Lyra.

My hands wouldn't stop shaking and I could barely even see. My vision was blurry. I couldn't breathe. A stabbing pain came every time I did. I couldn't move, my limbs didn't respond to my commands.

I could see that thing… The monster that had killed them all. A skeletal beast shaped like a dragon. Faster than any of us and possibly even stronger. Armour that reflected magic and prodigious speed that outpaced even adventurers.

A beast whose sole purpose was to kill adventurers born with the razor-sharp piercing claws it wielded and a cutting tail. That thing wasn't a monster. It was a guardian. A guardian of the Dungeons natural order.

It took seconds for it to slaughter the remnants of Rudra familia. Seconds. A bunch of level 2 and 3 Adventurers slaughtered faster than a person could write their name.

"Forgive me you two. But I need you to lay down your lives. I… want to save Lyon." Alice's voice brought me back to the real world. I stared at her.

She couldn't mean…

Her reassuring smile told me exactly what she meant. No… Not after I had finally found a place to belong in. Not after I was where I should be for once in my life…

"Sure. Count me in." No! I snapped my gaze to Lyra.

Lyra… of all people you aren't supposed to agree with Alise! Aren't you supposed to value your own life more than anything. Isn't that what you told me? Weren't you the one who taught me to keep myself safe? One that taught me what your life as a Pallum had thought you?

"My life is more important to me than anyone else's. But… If I tried to fight blind I'd probably kick the bucket before anyone else."

Liar. You could run. You could run and hide.

"Yeah, if I die here, then so be it. It means that the time has come to make our choice." Kaguya's usually playful, sarcastic voice replied.

The stone under my arms felt like it was made of needles.

"But captain, shouldn't you be the one to survive? So long as you and Astrea-Sama are alive, true justice will prevail." She continued.

I felt like screaming. Why did you ask her that, Kaguya? You know how she will reply. You of all people know the best exactly how she will respond!

Alise smiled softly. But a grim look came over her eyes.

"No, Kaguya… There are as many types of justice as there are people. How do you define "Justice"? I still don't know the answer…

But I know Lion… She always does the right thing." In contrast to my eyes coated in the film of despair, her eyes still shone brightly.

I felt filthy just looking at her. Please don't rely on me like that. Please don't look at me like that. I'm still just that bull headed elf you found in an alleyway. So please… don't leave me.

"She always stays true to her own justice."

My heart was torn apart.

I shook my head. Begging her not to go forth with this foolish idea.

"Listen to me Lion. We need your magic to kill that thing." I shook my head more vigorously.

"We are going to tear off its shell. So you need to stay here and start chanting all right?"

I wanted to scream. I wanted to beg them not to go. But only a choaked noise came from my mouth.

Please… Someone…

"It is pointless, you will all die trying." A voice… A voice! My eyes found the source, though I could barely see, the lithe form covered in some sort of white body suit seemed like a blessing sent by the Gods.

Lyra, Kaguya and Alise all turned towards her weapons at the ready. But I couldn't even perceive her as ever being a threat to us.

"P-please…" I tried to beg.

I could feel the woman's eyes settle onto my tear-filled ones. "Fels, can you help them?" The figure called out to someone else.

A moment later another figure this one shrouded in a hood and covered in robes appeared. Their form lanky and their voice androgenous. But they replied. "I should be able to stabilize them." They said.

Alise, Lyra, Kaguya… They could live!

Alise's sword lowered slightly and I saw Lyra pull her hand out of her pockets. But one blade remained. Kaguya didn't lower her sword.

The woman looked towards her. Expression unreadable through her mask.

"Do you think you can beat that thing?" Kaguya asked. Though her face was pale from the blood loss it was also stern, ready for anything.

The stranger turned her head towards her and replied simply. "No. But I can buy you lot enough time to get the hell out." She spoke, I could almost hear the bitter smile on her face. The hooded figure next to her flinched even as they kept taking out potions and some medical supplies out of their robes.

Kaguya's mouth was set in a tight line. It was then that I noticed that the figures right arm was missing. Kaguya's eyes settled over the same spot.

"You don't have much left either." Kaguya commented.

"I have no home to return to and nothing left but purpose."

Kaguya relented and lowered her sword. "I see. Then I will be selfish and return home in your stead." She spoke with utmost seriousness.

"Of course, but there is one thing I will request." The masked woman spoke again.

She turned back to me. "Girl, may I have your wooden baton?" My eyes went to the Alf's Lumina. The sword I had had made from the branch of my home forest's Holy Tree.

It was all that I had brought from home, the only piece of home that I could stand. It was still nothing compared to the lives of my friends, the warmth of my new home.

I forced myself to take hold of it and shakily stood up. I passed by Alise and tossed the sword at the woman.

She caught it with her singular hand. Giving it a few practice swings she tried it out. The sword, though of a decent length looked undersized in her hands. More like a short sword rather than the arming sword it was designed as. She was tall, maybe a meder and another third tall.

"It'll do. Fels, you wanted me to save them… Take care of them, if they end up dying to their wounds it'd make this all pointless."

With those last words she began walking towards the Monster. "You are going to die." Alise finally spoke. I looked at her in bewilderment.

"Yes." The stranger replied as she passed us.

"Aren't you afraid?" Alise asked again. A mix of admiration and pity in her eyes.

"To the death." The masked woman said. She had meant for it to be the last of what we heard. But I was closer than most and my hearing sharper than almost any other thanks to my Level four Falna elven heritage.

"Yet all I can think is "It can't be worse than Leviathan"." She whispered to herself. I thought I had misheard for a second. The others didn't react to it, they must've missed it. But without a doubt that was what I had heard.

My eyes, blurry with tears and tired from the stress opened wide.

H-Hera familia?

A particularly though stick, a Knife that could cut through anything, and a monstrous body with only a single arm. No powers, no swarm no background calculations by my passenger to smooth things over.

Against a monster that was beyond any I had fought in this "Dungeon". With a speed that I had only seen outpaced by Leviathan and A few of the other Endbringers if they decided to push themselves that day.

Despite what I had said to the girls… I didn't want to die, I wanted to live. If I had avoided death barely and gotten mastered by some freak and given the body of a monster I had to live. There must've been something more I had to do.

Find Aria

Not that. Something else.

People I could meet. People that could still need me.

Those girls. Their friends had been killed before I could even get here. I was late and the other three were about to sacrifice themselves to let the Elf-like girl escape.

I hated it when people sacrificed themselves for their loved ones. It was selfish, leaving people behind with their last memory of you being your death. That girl would've blamed herself for their deaths forever.

So I was going to have to fight a creation of the absurdly powerful biotinker of this "Dungeon".

A quadrupedal, dinosaur-like creature made out of bones or maybe just a shell that looked like bones. I had seen it fight as I ran here carrying Fels. It was a speed specialist, the same way Leviathan was a speed specialist. Meaning that it could gore me easily, it had the strength for it.

It was slower and less agile than Leviathan was, sadly for me that was still much, much faster than my current state. Though I doubted it could turn and stop on a dime like Leviathan could. That left me with a singular plan, the plan for which I had borrowed this wooden baton from the Elf.

I would have to defend myself and attack with my singular arm. Defend myself with the baton until I could get into position and then wound it with the nanothorn knife. Simple plan. Execution was complicated.

I needed to bait it into a lunging attack and then get above or below it to be somewhat safe from its tail and then drop the baton to pull out my knife.

That was a precision I didn't have without my bugs, but I had to try.

I began running. Stone turned to dust beneath my feet as I picked up speed. I had one chance at this I couldn't match its strength or speed, but its durability didn't matter against my knife.

The beast's eyes flashed. With a roar and an explosion it kicked off. I didn't hear the sound until we were face to face. It lashed out with a claw. My legs braced against the ground as I slid, and I batted it away.

Another swipe came, I stepped under it and kicked off to deliver a kick towards its head. The blow connected, but it had been a mistake. The razor-sharp tail reached around as the monster twisted its body away from me.

It baited me. I brought the baton between me and the tail. Impact. The treated wood held despite the horrid scraping noise, but I was blown away. I let myself be sent flying till there was some space between us.

Another push off the ground and I leapt back before it could land and get its balance back. The animalistic cunning of this thing wasn't so easily defeated though. It slammed its tail into the ground to turn towards me. Claws flew at me again only for both to be deflected by the baton.

I knew what was coming next. The maw flashed forward, but the heel of my costume slammed into the upper jaw closing it. I jumped forward from the head towards the back. The tail was already coming, that was this monster's pattern. The baton flew from my hand and slammed into the end of the tail deflecting it to the side.

This was the only opportunity I would be able to make. My knife came out of its sheath and the whirring began instantly. I slashed as deeply as I could into its back, but the brutal cunning of the bone creature was great. Great enough to recognise a trap card. It forced itself to go to the ground by straightening its body and dragged itself along with all four limbs.

My cut was shallow. Only two inches maybe four inches deep against a body that was as thick as a small car. The thing screamed in pain regardless. I knew it would retaliate so I raised the impossibly sharp knife in defence.

I wasn't fast enough. The tail flashed by my vision. I had barely avoided it with my momentum. No, I hadn't avoided it. Just prevented a fatal blow.

Pain came first. But the image of my only intact arm flying off was worse. Blood following after it like some sort of rope connecting it to me. It flew off somewhere I couldn't see.

Dread came. Even then I managed to land on my feet and rolled to bleed away momentum. I stood and right next to me was the wooden baton stabbed into the ground.

It was almost as if fate was taunting me. I had the weapon but no arms to wield it.

I stared at the monster' visage. Growling or smiling, or maybe both. This was it. I had no way of killing it anymore. I could only buy more time.

I let a shaking breath out and steeled myself for death. The pain in my newly made left stump intensified. The blood that had been flowing moments ago from it had stopped. Something flowed out of it. A green tinged flesh, it reformed into the shape of an arm and then it slowly faded back into a normal colour and consistency, an identical copy to my actual arm.

High speed regeneration. What an odd feeling. I feel kind of cheated that it didn't regrow my other arm too. Was it because I had already lost it when I had been turned into what I was?

I grasped the baton again. It didn't matter. I ripped the wooden baton out of the stone and brandished it again.

I needed to find my knife. But that was impossible against that thing.

I prepared myself for another go at the thing, even if I couldn't make a dent in its armour with this, I could still beat it down.

Then I heard it. Steps, impacts upon the rough stone followed by a shout.

"Agaris Alvesynth!" It was that girl with red hair now covered in flames behind her followed the Japanese looking girl with a single arm and further back I could see the elf with the tiny pink haired child along with her.

Those idiots. They hadn't run, they'd come back after getting healed by Fels.

The beast began turning its head towards them.

Like Hell. I pushed forward. If they are suicidal enough to come back here. Then I would be kicking their asses the moment I was done here. None of them would die till I could get my hands on them.

It turned back and dodged back from my swing attacking with a thrust of its claw as it did so. I ducked low and slammed the wooden baton into the limb with enough force that I heard creaking. The girls were almost here. They needed an opening. I jumped high my feet forcefully closing the monster' maw as I got a second boost from it.

The baton in my hands slammed into the open wound on its back earning me a delightful scream from the monster. I tried to pry open its shell.

As I pulled the tell-tale whoosh of the tail slicing through the air alerted me. I ripped the baton out and parried the cleave. I hadn't done much damage, but it was enough to distract it. The girls were here.

Two swords came from two different directions thrust straight towards the unguarded ribs of the monster. They found their mark.

The sharp points pierced through the bone-like shell and got access to the insides.

The red-haired girl screamed something.

"Agaris Alvesynth!"

Flames erupted from the red-haired girl's blade. Eating away at the monster but that magic too was reflected at her. She screamed in agony but continued her assault. The easterner drew her sword back out and slammed it back in pushing it even further in response to the other girls screams.

I didn't sit back I pushed myself down and slammed the piece of treated wood in my hands over the monster's wandering jaws. Saving the black-haired swordswoman from certain bisection.

This still wasn't enough. I could see a fading but still glowing barrier over the monster. That must've been the magic reflection. I glanced at the elf; she was preparing for something. Her supposed magic.

We needed to strip that armour down for her to kill it.

I needed my knife.

"HEY! Weird lady!" A surprisingly mature voice called out. It was the pink haired kid. Her eyes were half open, she was stumbling as she ran, she must have been mostly blind even with Fels' help. In her hands were two things. My knife and a bandolier of round objects. If I had to call it, I would call them grenades.

She threw my knife. Thankfully it was inert. With a kick to the left claw of the beast I pushed off and threw the baton at an errant tail, the two girls backed off with me. I flew through the air and grasped the handle of my knife and brought it to life. The wonderful screech of the mechanism was brought a second wind to my aching body.

Once the pink haired kid saw we were safely away she threw the bandolier in her hand. The mass of explosives sparked once and then exploded right as it was against the back of the monster. A screech came from it as it was forcefully pushed to the ground.

"I am going to open another wound on its back from the base of the spine to the tail!" I shouted as I regained my footing.

When I saw that I had the attention of the other front-line fighters I continued.

"Once I'm done wedge your swords in and pry open the wound! Then your elf can blast that thing apart!"

"Got it!" "Understood." Came their replies.

I took in a great breath. And began running with my knife in my hand. I ran faster than I ever had before. A pair of claws came and were beaten back by two swords. Then the maw came only to be shut by a fan like weapon with blades on the ends getting lodged in its mouth. I saw a glimpse of the pink haired kid with another similar weapon in her hands.

I stepped onto the muzzle and kicked further up bringing my knife down as I did. The tail came for me, but I had already seen this kind of attack. A slash from the side and the tail's blade was cut. Someone was screaming.

It was me. I brought the knife down sliding it easily through the carapace of the monster splitting it right open. From the neck to the base of its tail a tear had been opened.

I let myself fly off and watched as the two girls stabbed their swords inside the wound and pushed. Trying to part the armour. It wasn't enough just yet. I sheathed my knife as I flew. They needed my help.

I found the wooden baton lying to the side a crack was visible on it from my rough treatment. I only hoped it would hold.

I grabbed onto it and ran. Jumping onto the stunned and screeching monster's back and wedging it in.

"PUSH!" I shouted.

I was answered by something like a war cry from the girls. "AAUOGHHH!" They chorused. I joined them as we pulled the bone plates apart exposing the ashy flesh underneath.

I heard a series of cracks come from my weapon and pulled one last time. It snapped with a resounding crack. But the deed was done.

"LUMINOUS WIND!"

I jumped off and the other two girls followed right after. We made it out of the blast zone as hundreds of orbs of glowing green wind and stardust slammed and exploded against the creatures exposed back. Buffeting wind shook us as we tried to hold our stances, in case even that barrage hadn't been enough.

But the monster cried out one last time. It almost sounded like it was apologising. For some reason I could hear the remorse in its tone loud and clear. But whatever the feelings of the thing were it died all the same.

A blast of ash and nothing remained.

It was done. The Monster had been slain and the remains of Astrea Familia saved. We had won.

An: Welcome to my new Fic everyone. As I am terribly stuck in my last Fic and inspiration suddenly struck me like a slap from god at 1 AM in the morning on a weekend night I had to write this down.

Frankly speaking I was really torn between making an Alfia Fic and A Taylor Fic as the person who became a creature. But I ended up choosing Taylor for two reasons:

I just reread Worm and it really hurt seeing just how much Taylor wanted to matter, wanted to help people because she thought it was the only way she could justify her existence. I had really almost forgotten that aspect of her character. So I wanted to write this fic as a sort of "Even when she's nothing but an abomination Taylor Hebert still has a core that wants to do good." Hopefully with less self justification this time!

Alfia is really difficult to characterize for me. She's obviously a monster in the heart maybe even more of one than Taylor is but she also gets these really brief moments where she's a Hero pushing others forward. And I don't know how to write that well.

So you have Creature Taylor instead. Also don't worry about the Powers, if you read my last Fic you'll know that I really like Queen Administrator as a general concept. So she'll play a major role in this Fic as well.

Besides all of that, thank you for reading and please do Review if you think there is anything you want to tell me. Criticism is always welcome but please make sure you've read either Worm or Danmachi.