Danmachi is not in my possession, neither is any of the characters aside from my OC

Side note: I'm running out of these.

"Li'l E, I bet this is your first one."

"Um…"

"your first adventure without Bell."

The party's eyes were locked on the red-haired man at the tail end of the group, his casual kimono swaying in the wind, his hands firmly grasping the hilt of his greatsword, fire blazing in his eyes.

"It's about time we show Bell what we are made of!"

The fire spread from the smith's eyes and re-ignited the fight in the rest of them. Chigusa readied her bow, and Haruhime started chanting while Lili shouted out commands to the rest of the expedition force. Aisha smiled as she too prepared herself, her padoa resting on her shoulder as the Hestia Familia party turned to face the floor boss that fate had spelt for their doom. The Amphisbaena roared in retaliation at the bold declaration, showing it too was not going to back down in this battle to the death.

"You must be Thanatos?"

"Oh, Loki."

The two head gods of either side finally met as if fate itself willed it. The climax of this fight was soon to arrive.

"I don't want to take any chances. Will you please help me and my Familia?"

Two cat girls and one human looked at the petite Goddess, her gaze stern and unwavering at her plea for aid.

"Hmmm, I don't know but I don't exactly like the thought of leaving Ryu down there in danger," Lunor spoke while scratching the back of her caramel hair in contemplation.

"Stupid Ryu, she nyaeds our help nya!" Anya said as she was already running up the wooden steps to get her gear.

"Plus meow, if Ryu gets to skip work then why can't we, meow" Chloe concluded as she began to follow her fellow cat waitress. Lunor just sighed before smiling at Hestia.

"It appears we are accepting your request, Goddess Hestia. If you could just give us a few minutes to get ready, then we will leave immediately."

"Of course and thank you," Hestia said as she gratefully watched the final waitress rush up the wooden steps that she had seen the other two hop up. With her first mission completed successfully, she started heading back to her home in hopes of getting a final recruit. However, the recurring thought that was plaguing her since she got the letter alongside the well-being of her Familia was the whereabouts of her final child.

'How are doing Nathan? If you only had returned or was able to go with them as well.'

Once again checking that she had all of her falna's still connected to her, sighing in relief when she felt all were still connected.

"…how bad?"

'Very bad then' Nathan concluded judging from the looks of Finn, Asfi and Falgar. Carefully, he put his hand back up to touch the part of his face that was still throbbing in pain. He removed his left glove which had been shredded from the two impacts and constant use.

"Tsss!"

The half-elf winced but he kept his hand on his face, slowly moving his bare fingers over his sensitive skin. His vision out of his right eye was still blurry through the water that had welled up because of the pain. Nathan started just above his eye and immediately recognised the touch of blood. Slowly, he caressed his fingers downwards, crossing his eye. Worry built up the more he went down as he had gone past his nose but he could still feel the pain from just the smallest of touches.

'Yeah... it's pretty bad.'

Finn watched as the young boy moved his fingers across his wound. Part of Finn thought that he was lucky to get off with just that as that whip would've killed anyone below level 4 and from what Finn saw, there wasn't much blood and thankfully no exposed bone. That train of thought was dashed away as Finn got another proper look and once again gave a slight wince.

The right side of the boy's face had been gashed. A long wound stretched from the chin all the way up to the hooded bleached hair. It was a dark, meaty red that carved a small canyon through the boy's right cheek. It had missed the half-elf's mouth but it had come in direct contact with the boy's right eye. The eye itself was barely open, constantly fluttering. Finn couldn't tell if any blood had gone in the boy's eye but he guessed some had judging from the blood that was rolling down his cheek. From the looks of it, most had gone into his hair or down the side of his face.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Getting up," Nathan answered Asfi's hurried question.

"There is still… a mission… to complete."

"No!"

Finn found it admirable that the half-elf wanted to continue but he wouldn't allow it, no matter what kind of stare the boy threw his way.

"You can barely talk without taking deep breaths, you have been thrown twice into a wall which has resulted in broken bones and now a wound that greatly impairs your vision. What you need to do is rest."

"…and what, let you lot... do the rest?"

"Exactly!"

Finn shot the boy down instantly.

"I give you my word that we will finish this. You have done enough and have been crucial in helping perform this attack but now you need to sit back and rest. There will most likely be another one after this to finish Evilus off for good, for which we will need you."

Finn has had to give this speech many times to many younger adventurers. To sit back and let others finish off the fight. While they rest, others are still risking their lives. Finn knew there were always two outcomes. Either they accepted and did as were told without any pushback, or they rebelled and Finn had to force them to rest. Either path led to them not joining in and getting rest, whether they were conscious or not was up to them. He couldn't count the number of times he had to force Ais to stop fighting and get some rest, and that's not adding to the amount Riveria had to do it. And Finn was pretty certain which path Nathan was going to choose. But he did a very unlike Braver thing to do, he underestimated something. It wasn't the boy's strength or even his willpower, Finn had come to know how powerful the half-elf was in both categories.

No, what he had underestimated was something Nathan never unveiled unless he lost complete control. Finn had only glimpsed a portion of it back at the first time the two had officially met in Knossos, not realising it was nowhere near full capacity. Finn underestimated how far Nathan would go to sate this carnal hunger.

He didn't think Nathan would throw a kick his way, catching him off guard with a swift strike to the stomach, pushing him away.

He didn't think Nathan would then point his sword at previous Familia members, forcing them backwards as he readied his magic.

Finn, while having had to push forward many times through pain and suffering, could never imagine the drive that pushed the boy to fight through so much pain just to accomplish one goal.

The Braver, in all his experience and intelligence, never fully conceived why Nathan wanted to take down Evilus so bad.

The thirst that could never be quenched until every single last one of them was dead, or so the half-elf told himself, as he jumped over the main force, even as they tried to stop him at their captain's gasping command.

The one thing that Finn realised he underestimated as he saw the boy disappear into the darkness.

Revenge.

Nathan raced down the dark passageways. One after another came and went. It was turning into a blur, his swollen right eye not helping to keep a watchful lookout. He felt his bones grind against each other, feeling that the bottom of his left leg, where it conjoined with his ankle, was marginally dislocated. The rushing wind made the burning on his face even worse as he had no mask to cover it. He didn't care though. He only had one goal in mind. Take down one of the main leaders. Why? Because he wanted to hurt them the way they had hurt him.

Nathan could no longer receive any information as his oculus had been shattered upon his first impact into one of Knossos' concrete walls. So he based his destination on what he already knew. He had two targets in mind. Thanatos or Revis. Taking these two out, alongside Barca, had been one of the main objectives of not only the invasion but Nathan's personal ones too. The place where one of them always liked to reside was a lot closer.

Nathan stumbled into the room where he had seen Thanatos spy on Knossos countless times. To his frustration, Thanatos was not there. But the room was completely empty as in the middle stood something that Nathan had marvelled at many times.

Thanatos' mirrors.

They were something equivalent to a divine mirror as they allowed Thanatos to choose where to look at. The only restriction Nathan knew of was that they were secluded to Knossos, as if they breached the surface, another God would be able to notice the arcanum and track down where it had come from. Other than that, they were nigh omniscient in Knossos and Thanatos had three.

As Nathan walked over, a small limp on his left leg that he chose to ignore, he looked at the mirrors. He couldn't see through his right eye and the left side of the mask had now become a hindrance and was beginning to ruin his vision. Snatching it from his face, the half-elf threw it to the ground. The sound of the metal mask slapping on the cobbled floor echoed through the expansive room. No other sound responded to it.

With his left eye now free, a dark shade of jade stared down into the sparkling divine mirrors.

One showed the scene of the group of beast people forming a line of supplies and communication.

The second showed the room he had just left and that the main force was currently leaving. Nathan's hand's clenched into fists at the thought that the androgynous god had been watching him again.

The final one though made him clench his other fist and gave him a destination. It showed a fierce battle. A flurry of Gold and Red flew about the screen. The sounds of clashing swords melded together with the shouting and taunting. A tall, jade-haired elf stood off to the side, a large magic circle forming beneath her.

Riveria's chant reverberated throughout the now empty room, as Nathan had already left, his mind now set on the location and his now chosen target, Revis.

"Wssshhh"

"CRRRRRRRRRRRRRSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Ais was currently fighting for her life. She felt shockwaves flood through her body as the creature almost shattered her defensive block, her grip barely holding on to the hilt of Desperate.

"Ais! Lookout!"

She barely registered Riveria's warning, her entire mind and body were putting all of their energy into just staying alive.

'Why am I struggling so much? It wasn't this bad before?' Ais thought as she narrowly dodged a sweep attack from her right but not quick enough to keep her complete balance.

"Come on Aria. Is that title of yours just for show?"

Revis laughed at her prey, that is how Ais felt. And that smile answered her question. She had known the answer from the moment their blades clashed.

'She's gotten stronger.'

If it wasn't for her intense training with Ottar, Ais was sure she would've been beaten by now. However, while she would welcome the outcome, she didn't need to win. As soon as she realised she was outclassed in pure strength her goal switched to two things. Survival and stalling.

It was clear Revis understood this too but it almost seemed like she didn't care, having too much fun playing with her food. The only time Ais ever seemed to get the upper hand was when Riveria threw one of her powerful spells at the red-headed creature.

It took all of Ais' skill just to keep Revis at bay. Even though Revis' taunt did little to nibble away at Ais' mentality, Riveria thought to herself she must be seeing a different fight. To the high elf, Ais had never been more skilful with a sword. The way she seemed to dance with her feet, her sword just an extension of her arm. On the other hand, Revis was sloppy and brutish but that skill gap was overruled and more when Revis just needed to overpower the girl with her overwhelmong strength.

It reminded Ais of her training with the absolute pinnacle of strength and skill. Whenever she attacked, all Ottar did was a simple parry or a half-hearted block and yet every time their weapons connected, her muscles vibrated with tremors at the unmovable object that was Warlord.

'She's close to him… but she isn't on the same level.'

This was one of the thoughts that kept the Sword Princess continuing to dance, parry, block and attack. Other thoughts kept the creature at bay. How she couldn't disappoint Finn and let down the Familia. How she needed to prove her worth to herself, to make sure to know that she had gotten stronger. And even though she had tried to stop them, she couldn't help but think about… him. How he stood there. Even though his pure white hair shook with his trembling body and his ruby red eyes, while showing hints of fear and pain, stood strong with resolution and determination. When he stood before that gate, he was just as unmovable as Ottar.

Then those words she heard him say on top of the wall, their special place. She had to win this fight and show her strength because of his determination to grow strong as well. She wouldn't be left behind. And so the Sword Princess parried another lunging attack from Revis and preceded to attempt another attack of her own, swiftly being blocked by the landform weapon.

Revis was enjoying herself… well she used to be. At the start of the fight, she was revelling in every moment. Every swing of her sword, every clash of the weapons she loved because it showed how much stronger she was now. Aria's little moves meant nothing to her strength. She felt she could take on the Warlord himself. But then that annoying pest interrupted their fated battle. Elven singing always pissed her off.

It then spiralled down from there. It became clear to Revis that Aria wasn't trying to win but only stall. This pissed her off even more. What was the point of their fighting if she had no intention of winning? Like, why should she give a crap if Aria wasn't taking this seriously, well that's how it felt to Revis anyway.

So she tried another tactic. Taunting Aria had worked previously before. Why try something new when the old version wasn't broken? But it wasn't working this time around. Aria didn't respond. She got a little grimace or frown here and there but she never broke that doll face. She was starting to get pissed off again.

"Wynn Fimbulvetr!"

That mage really was a piece of shit. Revis had attempted to take her out but that was a mistake. While only a mage, the elf could still move with decent speed. Not to mention by the time she had even gotten close to attacking, Aria had been able to capitalise off of the distraction. It had taken almost a minute for her to get back on level footing after that stupid miscalculation.

Revis and Ais were having one of their rare stare-offs that were becoming less rare as the battle dragged, which only served to annoy the creature more. Revis' eyes followed Ais, mainly her feet. The slight tap on the cobbled floor indicated every time she made a move. No matter how skilful Ais had become, Revis' absurd hearing could still pick up even the slightest of sound and was almost impossible for one to move completely silent. Revis had only met someone who was able to pull it off and that was because he had a cheat skill that completely masked his presence.

'Wonder where that failure has run off to now?'

Revis couldn't help but think back to her former student. Aside from Ais, he had been the only one who had come close to killing her and if not for her experience teaching/beating the boy, he probably would have succeeded. No, she was sure he would've succeeded as she had taught him how to be ruthless, efficient and effective. It was that pink-haired bitch who had taught him to be vicious and violent. She was almost proud of the fact that he had taken more from her teachings if it wasn't for the fact that she despised the little shit, his only value being a stress toy.

Once again, she heard the faint sound of Ais' footstep touching the ground…except Ais still hadn't moved. She took a quick glance over Ais' left shoulder to see Riveria hadn't moved either. Her brain finally registered that the sound came from behind her.

"SLLLLLLLLLCCCCKKKKKKK!"

Revis looked at Ais' golden eyes go wide as she felt something uncomfortable around her torso area. She looked down to see what had made her feel… something. She smiled, glad she had shifted her body the tiniest bit at the last second as if she hadn't, she wouldn't be able to play with her favourite stress toy again.

Riveria stared wide-eyed at the creature and the sword that was protruding from its stomach. She internally gasped when she realised how close the sword had come to killing the creature. But that only heightened her worry when she saw the creature smile at being impaled.

Riveria saw no one behind the creature holding the end of the sword and just as quickly as the sword had appeared, it vanished again but this time she managed to catch a glimpse of movement as the attacker darted from behind the creature to the edge of the room. Ais too noticed this, giving it away to everyone in the room who had now entered. Revis felt like she should be the one to welcome the new arrival.

"HAHAHAHA. Well, well, well. If it isn't the failure," She taunted, a sadistic smile on her face. She was answered with a shocking amount of bloodlust. She wasn't fazed, though she did move further away from any of the walls which housed more darkness than the centre of the room.

"Oh I'm sorry, would you prefer the name Reaper instead?" The bloodlust only heightened.

"Still as pathetic as before aye! What stupid name do you go by now then? You know it doesn't change who you are."

Revis missed this, she always enjoyed taunting the half-elf. Even when that Goddess sucked almost all of his emotions out of his body, she could still get under his skin.

Riveria and Ais stayed back for the time being, both internally thanking the boy for showing up to give them a well-needed break from the constant fighting. They wouldn't waste this small chance.

"Still hiding in the shadows I see. You were always a little bitch whenever I so graciously trained you."

Both Loki Familia women shuddered at the thought of having Revis as a sparring partner, let alone a teacher.

"Not gonna say anything then. I don't expect you to show yourself but if you hope to get near me, you need to come out of those hiding spots of yours."

As almost an immediate counter-argument, all three combatants watched as a small part of the darkness separated from the wall and began to walk towards the creature. She smiled in response to what seemed to be a stupid reaction.

"Aah, that explains it."

'That's probably why he didn't catch me off guard and finish me off.'

"Got into a few fights before getting here then, hmmm?"

Riveria saw what the creature meant. Nathan was slightly limping, putting more pressure on his right leg to alleviate pressure off the left one.

"I thought I taught you how to fight through the pain and get the kill off. I'd be almost disappointed if I wasn't enjoying watching you struggle in pain so much."

Once again the creature laughed but her eyes were still glued between Ais and Nathan, with Riveria in the middle of the two. She was now cautious as she could become overwhelmed, though she didn't let that show.

"Sword Princess."

The quiet voice grabbed the aforementioned girl's attention, along with the other two in the room.

"You attack… I'll back… you up."

Once again, they all noticed the boy's speech was halted and sparse, a clear indication that he wasn't at full strength nor in any proper position to fight, let alone someone of Revis' calibre.

But as much as she hated to admit it, Riveria wasn't about to turn away assistance right now. Any alleviation of pressure off Ais would be welcomed, no matter how little or weak. It seemed Ais came to the same conclusion as a quick nod was all she gave before she gave her full attention back to her main foe.

'Bell trusts him, so I will too,' Ais thought before she readied herself to engage with her rival once again.

'This should be good,' Revis thought as she pulled her landform weapon up, prepared to intercept any.

Riveria watched as the once fierce battle only got more ferocious and got as close to death's edge as it had ever gotten. It immediately became clear that Nathan was struggling. If it had been the half-elf Riveria had seen decimate the Evilus group or help her, Finn and Gareth take on Revis before, this fight might have been won in their favour. But that wasn't the case. He hung back a lot, letting Ais do most of the work. But then, like a miracle that not even she could spot, he found a chance to dive in. The opening must have been within a fraction of a second but Nathan found it. Always pushing off of his good leg and when he was always in Revis' blind spot, Nathan managed to get close enough to pull off an attack. It was like he had some sort of foresight ability.

Ais and Revis clash once again. Ais was now able to meticulously keep up with Revis now that Nathan was obviously on the creature's mind. With a quick parry, Ais threw a low jab with Desperate at Revis, which was blocked by the dull edge of the landform weapon. It was at that moment did Riveria watch Nathan push off. Sprinting low, he ducked under the current hold the two rivals found themselves in. This took Revis by surprise, as she had expected another attack through her back but when she saw the hooded figure appear below her, she had to push back just before a sword's blade flew up just past her body. This small attack did what it was meant to do, knock her off balance. Just like before, Nathan left just as quickly as he arrived, allowing Ais to throw another volley of attacks at the creature, pushing her back once more.

Riveria was stunned at the lack of preparation the half-elf needed to be able to fight alongside a level 6, and Ais at that who was notorious for not being the best at side-by-side cooperative fighting. However, the most important part that Nathan offered was how he managed to never get in Ais' way. Riveria didn't understand how he could judge his attacks so well as she observed him as he stood off to the side. She prepared another attack, this time an Arcs ray. His head was low, his hood completely masking his face, which she quickly noticed he did because he was not wearing his usual mask.

The boy hadn't looked over at her once, which she didn't mind but something about it made it feel like he was intentionally avoiding any sort of eye contact, not that it mattered. She was still irked by the fact that she couldn't heal the obvious wounds that he was concealing.

The high elf shook her head. Now wasn't the time, Ais was fighting for her life right now and Riveria needed to give as much backup as she could. Though, ever since Nathan had joined the fray, Ais had been able to keep up with Revis and almost pushing her back.

Ais was trying to get Revis near a wall. Riveria knew why and was impressed with the girl's quick thinking. It seemed Revis saw this as well, her smile had been wiped off her face, clearly not wanting to go near the shadowy wall. If Ais managed to get Revis closer to them, then Nathan would be able to abuse his abilities and Revis wouldn't stand a chance no matter how much strength he had lost throughout the still ongoing battle.

Nathan saw this and gladly went along with Ais' plan. His eyes darted along the battlefield, looking for the next opening. This time he would go for a fake slash on Revis' back, only to go low and hit a sweep kick. The least it would do is knock her off balance again which Ais would instantly jump at.

The half-elf always stood behind Revis, trying to keep out of her eyesight. He couldn't hide in the shadows just yet, as they were still too far away to utilise, only putting distance between his target which would allow it time to block him.

'NOW!'

"TCH"

Nathan pushed off his strong leg, cracking the floor below him as he took off. The clicking of the tongue came after as Revis stumbled back when Ais pushed both their swords upwards and shot a straight kick towards the creature's stomach, forcing her to take a quick step back. It was clear that Nathan was going to use this to attack but Revis wouldn't be able to do anything as Nathan had already anticipated it instead of waiting for it to occur, which gave him an extra second than if he had waited. That was crucial in this fight.

'!'

Nathan ducked under the roundhouse just in time, stopping his head from being taken off. If it wasn't for his instinct kicking in, he would have defiantly been killed. Revis' kick was that powerful, it created a gust of wind so strong it pulled Nathan's hood off his head.

"Tch, those cheat abilities of yours can be fuckin' annoying to deal with," Revis spat as she composed herself. Ais had backed off after being surprised by Revis' kick that almost took her out too. She looked over to see if her current fighting partner had managed to get out unscathed as well. Ais struggled to hold back a gasp. Riveria could not.

"What… happened?" Riveria shakily asked as she gazed upon the boy's face. This was the second time she had seen it without a mask. The first time was after his fight with the black minotaur that had put small wounds and cuts on his face, dust and what seemed like embarrassment stopping her from getting a proper good look at the rest, mainly his eyes that he always covered up. This time was much worse.

"What the hell happened to you?" Revis boldly stated. "First time I see you without a mask in ages and this is what I see."

They all saw the large red swelling that covered the boy's right side of his face. The massive gash that caused his face to pulsate; the visible meat oozed slight drops of blood. It was obvious he couldn't see out of the eye that was surrounded by swollen flesh.

As Ais and Revis continued to examine the right side of the boy's face, Riveria couldn't drag her look from the other side, more so the half-elf's eye. As if Nathan felt the stare, he turned his head quickly away but it was too late.

'That colour… it can't possibly…'

'Shit!'

Nathan was pissed now. Not only was Revis now laughing at his very visible and very painful wound, but even worse Riveria had seen his other eye. No mask, hood or dust this time to try and hide it.

Nathan turned his attention back to Revis who was enjoying seeing the boy's wound.

"That looks like it came from a whip. Takes you back, you know… before you turned traitor and ran away."

"Shut…up."

"Heh, come make me Lil halfling."

"I almost… killed you twice… I'm gonna finish… off now."

The tension in the darkened, isolated room was palpable. Previous enemies now allies facing off against a common enemy that has haunted them. One for a few months, the other for years. All waited for the other to make the first move. The silence rang in the ears, only the sound of Ais' and Nathan's wind fluttering around the user's body could be made out. No one dared blink, too worried that in that fraction of time, the opponent would seize the opportunity to initiate the battle once more. However, an outside occurrence would be what determined the outcome of those who left this battlefield of their own accord.

"!"

It was Nathan's instinct that felt it first. Revis spotted the boy's unmasked reaction by noticing the smallest of ticks that it had learnt over the years recognised something had now happened. Ais and Riveria only found out what was happening when they felt it.

Out of nowhere, the ground rumbled furiously. Most would assume that it could be some sort of earthquake but most earthquakes weren't paired with an ear-splitting…

"BBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"

They all recognised what that was, Nathan especially, his most recent experience being the invasion of the Red light district. The mortal realm only ever heard that noise when a specific thing occurred. A Deity had been returned to Heaven.

"Hehehehe…"

The three adventurers' eyes were locked on the creature in the middle of them all, watching it cackle in sadistic delight. Its head pointed towards the ceiling as it struggled to control its laughter, even as it received multiple death stares from its three enemies.

"So that was the plan then, took long enough ahahahahaha!" Revis continued her cackling as she looked back at Ais, green eyes meeting golden.

"Prepare yourself Aria."

"What... do you mean? What's just happened?" Ais responded, her voice quivering, her mind trying to figure just happened. However, Revis wouldn't need to respond as it was the half-elf was the next one to speak.

"RUN!"

Nathan had felt one of the loudest screams from his instinct ability he had ever received. He didn't know what caused it or why but it was an order from his falna and conscious and he would never disobey or ignore one of this magnitude.

Running past Revis without a second thought or one look back, the half-elf raced up to Riveria. For the first time in his life, he looked her dead in the eye with nothing to separate Jade meeting Jade. When he looked back on it afterwards, he wished it would have been a better time and that he had better words to say. But at that moment there was only one thing he could say.

"RUN NOW!"

Before Riveria could ask why the boy was shouting at her to run, her question was already answered when she looked behind where Revis was standing.

She couldn't make out what it was. It was green, that she could tell. But what exactly was it?

A monster?

Another type of creature maybe?

She was struggling to get a good look at it as she was being dragged along at a blistering pace. She looked down at her hand, more specifically the other hand that was holding onto it. The half-elf that was attached to that hand was currently pulling her through hallway after hallway. The quick turns raced by, but she noticed one thing. For her level 6 ability, they weren't going as fast as they could.

The dark hallways stretched on, going by like they were only a couple of metres long but Riveria caught on to how they should be going faster than they were. She immediately summarised it was due to the limp the boy was carrying.

"Nathan, you can let go. I can run by myself and this only makes it worse on your injured ankle."

This was the second time she had tried this but again it seemed it fell on deaf ears. She could tell by the intensity of the boy's grip that he was not planning on letting go. Her thought was backed up by the boy once again squeezing her wrist even more and it was beginning to hurt.

She turned back around to see what was happening. Like before she saw the tidal wave of what seemed to be green flesh hurtle towards them at an ungodly speed. Just in front of it, barely staying ahead was Ais and the creature still fighting. Ais was partially quicker than Revis and would have gotten away but she had to hold the creature off to stop her from getting to Nathan and herself who would struggle to outpace the red-headed creature. She still didn't fully understand what was wrong with that flesh exactly but judging from Nathan's terrified reaction to it, no good would come from coming into contact with it, that she did conclude.

Riveria turned back to face forward, her legs still pumping forward alongside the young half-elf still grasping her wrist with all his strength. Suddenly, Nathan reached into his back pocket and pulled out an object. A key of Knossos. Riveria watched as the boy threw the spherical object at full might straight ahead. A small clang was heard, then a couple more, growing louder. Riveria saw the key bounce backwards towards them. Then, before her level 6 eyes could even register it, a large door suddenly began to open farther up ahead, the small sparkle of red indicating the key had opened it.

She was almost stunned, she hadn't even spotted the door yet Nathan had already known that it was there, pre-empting the key to open it so as not to lose any time to the cascading green wall of flesh.

Nathan went to bend down to pick up the Key he had tossed forward, already knowing the route he was taking would lead to a door. He lowered his body down to the right side, his body still not wanting to let go of Riveria's hand. His mind hadn't even fully processed what he was doing as the only thing he was thinking at the moment was how he wouldn't let her die here and his instinct told him that what was behind them was most certainly death.

His instinct ability was still screaming at him, making him aware of how death was right on his shoulders. It only motivated him to run through the ever-growing pain in his left ankle. He could feel the out-of-place bone rub up against his skin. A jolt of pain racked his body every time he slammed his foot on the ground and the two bones scraped against each other. Nathan picked up the pace again. As Nathan lowered the right side of his body a bit more as he was now in grabbing distance of the Key, fate had other ideas.

Just as Nathan went to grab the key, he accidentally put more pressure on his now-broken ankle than it could handle. At the exact moment his hand clasped the object, his ankle buckled beneath him. Nathan felt the pain more than he had ever that day, causing him to shout out in pain as he braced for impact on the hard floor. He had forgotten he was still holding onto Riveria's wrist.

Ais was just ahead of Revis again. She had given a big enough gap to Nathan to allow her to stop fighting with Revis and start running back. The mass of green flesh was almost touching her blue boots when she began to sprint away. Her Ariel allowed her to run faster than Revis. The only issue was that because of her immense speed, even though she left Revis a centimetre away from being swallowed whole, she caught up very quickly to the two in front of her. Just as she was about to catch up, she saw Nathan bend down to pick up something, she couldn't quite see. And that's when it happened. He tripped and let out a shout of agony that she knew was correlated to his left ankle which had only been making him limp worse and worse. But then something even more startling happened. Just before the half-elf slammed into the ground after his trip, Riveria took action.

Almost as if she had been preparing for this to happen ever since they had begun their escape, Riveria used the hand that was holding her wrist to yank the boy's body upwards. She had timed it perfectly, allowing the boy to grab the Key to Knossos before she hoisted him up. As his body was now in stasis in the air, Riveria held out her arms and caught the boy in a bridal carry. And just as if the high elf couldn't do anything else, Ais immediately recognised the drastic increase in pace.

Riveria having had to slow down to rescue Nathan had allowed Ais to catch up, now matching her pace to the elf. Just before they got within reach, both women saw the cradled boy hold his arm up again, activating the door now that they were in range. The door began to close.

Realising what the boy hoped would happen, Ais turned her head around. She saw Revis sprinting straight for them, the wall of flesh close behind. The girl spun her head back around, her golden hair slamming into her face momentarily. She was unsure if they would make it.

"RUNNING AWAY AGAIN ARE WE!"

Having seemingly caught on to the adventurer's plan, Revis threw one last ditch effort at her taunting. At first, Ais shrugged it off. Yeah, she didn't like running away but she knew that this fight was the important thing right now.

300 metres away

"YOU'VE GONE AND DRAGGED MORE PEOPLE TO THEIR DEATHS ONCE AGAIN!"

Ais didn't like hearing that as she looked at the half-elf in Riveria's arms and at Riveria herself. The person who had come closest to a parent to her since she had arrived in this time and she had been attacked and hurt by her fight with Revis.

200 metres away

"JUST LIKE THAT GIRLFRIEND OF YOURS!"

Ais was confused by that taunt. However, she came to realise what was happening. She realised that those taunts weren't for her. She suddenly felt cold, horrible feeling encompassed the escapees.

The door had just sunken below halfway

"THAT'S RIGHT! I WAS THE ONE WHO KILLED HER..."

Ais looked at the boy that was practically radiating death in Riveria's shaking arms. She thought she recognised his eyes when she first saw them, the colour resembling Riveria's. But now, they resembled something else. As her gold met his dark green, she saw a fire that burnt everything away.

100 metres away

Only one thing remained.

"...AFTER WE FOUND SHE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH YOU!"

50 metres away

Hate.

The door was almost shut. Riveria and Ais made one last push forward, ignoring the horrible wrath radiating from their disabled companion. Just before the door slammed shut, the two Loki Familia members slid. Ais' sword produced sparks as it skated alongside the floor. Riveria bundled Nathan closer to her chest, her green robes shredding at the velocity she was sliding at.

The Orichalcum door slammed shut with a resounding thud. Ais and Riveria slowly got up.

"THUDDD! THUDD! THUD!, THUDDDDDDDDD!"

Ais drew Desperate, pointing at the door they had just barely slid under. The sound of slamming against the door awakened her adventurer instinct to automatically draw her weapon. But to her surprise, when she faced the doorway, there was no Revis.

It had worked.

"It's not… over yet."

Ais heard the faintest whisper. She turned to see the boy in Riveria's arms. He pushed himself out of her grasp and shakily attempted to stand up. He grimaced as he tried to place any pressure on his left ankle, but it wouldn't allow it. But what did the boy mean?

As Ais turned back again to face the door, she saw what he meant. The door had stopped Revis but it didn't stop the flesh. It was starting to seep through the cracks in the wall. As Ais began looking everywhere through the room she could see it seeping through all the other cracks. That was when it happened… again.

"BBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!"

The sign of another god being sent back to heaven.

Just what was happening?

Where did this green stuff come from and why?

Is Revis dead or can she survive that stuff? Ais' instinct told her that it was dangerous before Nathan had shouted to run.

Are the others ok?

All these questions were spiralling around the young girl's mind, making her lose concentration on the matter at hand.

"Ais"

She was immediately brought back to her senses by the one person who could always somehow reach her. She watched as Riveria stood up, dusting her tattered robe before talking.

"We haven't escaped yet, stay focused."

Riveria had taken charge of the situation now. Ais gladly accepted this and chose now to do exactly what her vice-captain and parental figure told her to do.

"We don't have much time to stand around. Let's get going, now!" Riveria ordered as she headed over to Nathan. However, just as she reached out her hand to touch him, Nathan immediately stepped away.

"DON'T… don't touch me."

It came as a shock to Riveria. He seemingly had no problem before when she had picked him up and he had never come across as having the horrible elven pride of not wanting skin contact.

"Now's not the time to be like this. You clearly can't walk and you would more of a burden if we allowed you to try instead of having one of us carry you."

Riveria hit Nathan with a guilt trip and a slap of realisation. She didn't like to do it much but now the time called for it.

"If you don't me want to do it, then let Ais carry you. We need you to lead us out of here as quickly as possible. Understood."

Nathan didn't argue, seemingly nodding after a few seconds of contemplation. His head had been down the entire time but then looked over at Ais, only briefly, before giving her a quick nod also.

"We are nearest the exit... the 9th floor. The flesh doesn't... seem to have made... that way so... that way," Nathan spoke in a quiet voice as he pointed towards the left side of the fork.

Wasting no time, Ais picked up Nathan the same way Riveria had and began running down the passage way the boy had pointed towards, waiting for Nathan's next instruction. Riveria was right behind her but Ais didn't use her wind magic. It would only give her more speed which was unnecessary as it would only leave Riveria behind. She was also close to mind down and she needed to save her mental energy for this last leg of the battle if she wanted to escape.

Nathan was a mess inside. Not only had Riveria seen his eyes, but he had also grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him. Then he had stupidly tripped and had to be rescued by her, with it turning into her carrying him. He didn't like how comfortable he felt when she hugged him close to her as she dove under the closing door. Then he shouted at her, only making him feel even worse. He thought he had gotten over that fear.

He was annoyed he had to be carried but was relieved when Ais didn't use her tempest magic. It was similar to when he looked at Amid, it always gave him a bad feeling and he didn't know why.

These thoughts pestered his mind as he was being carried throughout Knossos. He gave instructions and directions sparingly but that was the only time he talked; his mind was too preoccupied.

His mental fortification was trying to keep those thoughts going. It was trying its best not to give in. It was fighting a losing battle as Nathan did his best to contain it.

His wrath

Those thoughts were secondary. They meant nothing to him right now but he did his best to keep them spinning in his head. Because if he knew he didn't he would only be able to think of one thing. His mind was struggling to not cave in. It failed.

'she killed Elisha…'

It took everything to keep his wrath and anger in check, only one emotion was beating it currently.

'… and it was all because of me.'

Guilt.

Finn made his way to the site where most of his Familia was currently standing. Rei, after saving his life, dropped him off a bit away. He told her to wait and that he would come back to collect her, instructing her to be patient and hide for the time being.

As he walked back, Tione was the first to meet him. She actually tackled him to the ground, wrapping him in a deep hug as she cried out "Captain" over and over again.

Finn looked around. He started making a mental checklist, counting everyone in his Familia. As his eyes jumped from one person to another, he saw a similarity in all of them. A sense of defeat. He knew why. He was already being informed of what had happened as he kept ticking off his list.

'That's almost everyone, just Riveria, Ais. And Nathan, where is he?'

Just as Finn thought of the final two and one extra on his mental tally, he spotted them sitting down off to the side.

As he began to walk over there, his Oculus lit up, the small shine of green interrupting his vision.

"Finn Deimne!"

"Yes Fels, what is it?"

"Do you know what just happened?"

Finn tightened his hand into a fist. He resented the thought but it was the only conclusion. He continued to walk over to the three people.

"We were beaten. But mark my words, we have not lost. This isn't the end!" Finn resolutely said.

"I agree. I believe most of our enemies have been taken out as well by whatever that green stuff was."

"We lost no one apart from the Dionysus Familia on our end, how about on yours?"

"We are only missing a siren, Rei. Have you heard anything about her?"

Finn smiled slightly. "Don't worry, she is with us and safe."

"Oh good."

"Is there anything else you want?"

"Yes, actually. Do you happen to know where Nathan of Hestia Familia is? I need to talk to him, urgently."

Finn was perplexed but nonetheless answered the skeleton's request.

"I'm just about to speak to him now, I'll pass you over."

Finn walked up behind Nathan, Riveria and Ais. The girl had wanted to go look for her friends but she hadn't been able to spot Lefiya anywhere.

"Riveria, everything all right on your end?"

"Oh, Finn." *sigh* "We made it out alive and almost uninjured."

Finn looked at where Riveria motioned to and saw Nathan's ankle dressed up and in a splint. Finn tilted his head in confusion.

"Your healing magic not working again?"

Riveria shook her head in shame.

"What about potions?"

"pointless."

Finn looked down at the boy who just spoke, his quiet voice quieter than usual. The scar that he witnessed being inflicted was just as visible as before.

"What do you mean?" Finn was confused by the statement. "If you are saying they will go to waste, I disagree. You need to get bet…"

"I'm saying they don't work, like healing magic doesn't work."

Finn was stunned by the statement. He had never heard of this before.

"none of it works," The boy finished off, his voice filled with frustration and pain.

"Braver, it is urgent!" Fels spoke, his patience running dry as a sense of hurriedness filled his voice.

"Oh yes, sorry. Nathan, Fels wants to talk to you about your Familia."

Nathan snapped his head round to face Finn so fast it was a marvel he hadn't broken his neck. He hastily grabbed the Oculus out of Prum's hand.

"Yes Fels, it's Nathan. What about my Familia? Are they alright?"

The silence that followed Nathan's obvious worrying did little to settle the half-elf's mind. After a few seconds that felt like years to the Hestia Familia member, the green orb slightly glowed once more.

"Nathan, I'm sorry to say but something has happened in the water capital."

'Oh no.'

"The whereabouts of the Hestia Familia are unknown…"

'Oh no, no, no.'

"…and even more troubling; the monster rex has spawned 2 weeks early."

'NO NO NO!'

Finn and Riveria listened to what the orb had said and could only look on as they saw the boy's face. It was motionless, with no expression to read.

Ais sucked in a sharp breath. She had wondered how Bell's expedition had been going. She really didn't like what she had just heard. Her heart began to race as a horrible thought forced its way into her mind.

The half-elf became numb to the outside world, his sole focus on the orb in his hand. It glowed one last time, Fel's finishing his report.

"It is believed… it is believed that the Hestia Familia have been caught up in an irregular the likes the dungeon has only seen once, 5 years ago."

That is chapter 30 and I'm finally done with SO 11 light novel. It feels good. I've been looking at that book since august and now I

m past it. Onto LN 14 and SO 12. We are out of Knossos and back on the expedition arc for a few chapters.

Anyway, Nathan got a new scar, now on his face. Speaking of... Riveria plot is gonna start spicing up. I've held it off for a bit but now its time to slowly start implementing it.

Reviews:

jank7457: Cheers and yh Ik it was a bit shorter but this one is back to usual length, so hope you enjoyed.

Noone: Don't why I'm responding to noone but eh, someone must have posted it. Cheers for nice reiview, appreciated. Btw what comes after the &, dying to know.

Uoduh: I did my best to give as little interaction with Riveria and Nathan and the one I gave I tried my best to explain why she didn't notice. Riveria is one of my favourite characters and I try not to underestimate her intelligen, nor overplay it either. The fact I read this review just after I had finished the part why Nathan and Riveria's eyes meet was a bit made tbh, so good timing and hope this chapter plays that part up to your liking.

Anyway, cheers for reading once more. The time 3:30 am EST. Have a good one and I'll talk you later, Peace!