Almost passed SO LNs now as we are back in Knossos.

Don't own Danmachi btw but maybe if I ask nicely.

"For our fallen comrades who now reside in the funeral procession up in the heavens!"

There was only 10 minutes left before the attack. The anticipation and nerves were felt throughout the camps of the adventurers lined up, waiting for the allotted time to strike.

"We shall go down as nameless heroes but ones that will be the cornerstone to those in a thousand years!"

Only the unbridled charisma of the Level 6 Loki Familia captain could rise above all the anxiety as he boomed his speech across all those who listened.

"We shall write our own story!"

With hundreds of pairs of eyes glued to his frame, Finn Deimne hurtled his resolve onto the others that would be fighting alongside him.

"We shall create a new ORATORIO!"

As the sun began its descent down the clear sky, a roar of excitement, commitment and determination filled everyone's ears. The speech of the prum turning their inner turmoil and dread into a flame that ignited under their hearts. Spurring a passion that was required if they were to enter the darkness of Knossos.

At almost the same time, as if he could sense the attack nearing its beginning, Nathan got up off the cobbled floor that was previously his bed for the past two nights.

He casually walked over to the door, held up the Key to Knossos he had stolen and watched with a glazed look as the giant orichalcum door juddered open.

The Ganesha Familia or the Mogni and Magni Familia hadn't come this far to dig through the green flesh. So now the half-elf was faced with a giant barrier of magical, spiritual, dangerous energy.

He reached out and touched it. Nothing.

His skin didn't melt. His finger wasn't eaten nor did the flesh try to pull him into its bowels. Instead, it flinched. Nathan watched as it almost seemed to recoil just from his touch.

He had thought that it would not harm him, with his absolute resistance but was intrigued that it decided to not even want to be touched by him.

The boy gave a weary smile.

'Even this thing thinks I'm too disgusting to touch.'

Nathan let some of his wrath seep out. Lying in a dark, cold alleyway for almost 3 straight days, with no food or water, a lack of sleep and zero company to take his mind elsewhere. His mind, nearing a breaking point, had all the time in the world to build up a storage of anger once again. Releasing this much was nothing for the half-elf as it was barely a fraction of what had slowly been building up in his self-isolation.

And to his theory, the flesh moved away. Almost as if it was scared of the boy, it moved on itself, doing anything it could to not come into contact with the half-elf.

And so, with his rage being his shield, Nathan stepped into Knossos as the green flesh made him his own path, hell-bent on staying clear of whatever had just entered.

'This just proves that she succeeded. Whatever Goddess Hel put in me 5 years ago, I truly became a monster… her monster.'

The green flesh slowly merged back together as the Skias Alf walked down the corridor, the giant door creaking shut, a resounding thud vibrating through the mass of meat.

The second invasion had begun.

After hearing from Shakti that the green flesh was no longer active, more and more adventurers became willing to jump down the giant shaft created by the God Thanatos returning to heaven. The groups that had been divided up by Finn formed quickly. As they began to divide and start branching out along to the designated spirits, one final thought crossed Braver's mind before he led his party into the heart of the enemy.

'I wonder where Nathan is. He must have been the one who stole that key from us so he is probably in here somewhere.'

As Finn ran down the main road, one of his subordinates would be the first to receive the answer.

Tione and Tiona were making quick progress, darting through the green-covered walls of Knossos while making sure their teams were keeping up with them.

Bete, along with Aki, were almost at the spirit they were going to attack. Lefiya followed along, clutching the weapons of Filvis that she had found lying in the room the fairy had watched her dear friend die.

As a door closed behind her, Riveria led the rest of the fairy force along with other members of the Ganesha Familia to the 5th spirit. Just like her captain, her mind had wondered more than once as to where the half-elf is. She was certain he was in Knossos; she would bet her life on that.

But it would not be any of these 3 groups that found the half-elf. It wasn't the Xenos who had found their demi-spirit either as they currently dodged an explosion from a dormant trap, one that had been re-ignited after Nathan had deactivated before.

No, the place where the ex-Evilus member would appear was a destination he had been making his way to for the past 30 minutes. While being in the wall of flesh, while not coming into direct contact with it, he could still vibrations through it. It was almost like he could see throughout the entirety of Knossos just from his sense of touch. Realising this, he poured his energy into his sense of touch, leaving sight and hearing at a bare minimum while taking everything away from taste and smell. Taste was always the first to go, never having any underlying use and smell was not relevant at the time as the flesh only smelt of… flesh.

With his heightened senses being fully utilized in touch and with his sole target in mind, he made his way through the thick slabs of meat. He could hear it breathe, the way it laughed slightly to itself in anticipation.

Even though many doors were opened, the one he was focused on was finally released. Then it spoke.

"I've been waiting for you, Aria!"

Ais didn't have time to attack before she was stopped. Pressure pushed down on her as she instinctively drew desperate. Her golden irises hadn't left Revis though and she could see that the creature was feeling it too, judging from how she was also motionless, only gripping her landform weapon with even more ferocity. Though one thing was different from Ais. The smile on her face, like she knew what was coming.

Ais didn't need to move her gaze as the door behind Revis opened. Revis didn't need to turn around as she knew who had opened that door. Both feel the presence of the boy who has been at the centre of all the chaos in Orario during the last decade.

"Before we begin, can I ask something?" Revis said with a cackle. The silence was her sign to continue. So she turned her head and gave a malicious stare and vindictive grin at her old pupil.

"Who am I fighting, the persona you hide behind or the real monster you are?"

The cold stare from the boy alongside the invisible coils of black wrath seeping out of his body gave the creature her answer.

Ais didn't know what to do. Revis was her fight, she was her responsibility. Finn had briefly mentioned that they had no information about Bell's friends' whereabouts. There had been speculation he would show up for Revis after what she had told them about last time when the red-haired woman mentioned that girl's name. Was Finn expecting her to work with him or…

Ais was an airhead but she had worked under Finn for 9 years, she could pick up on things and the way he had talked about the half-elf was not the way you talk about an ally or friend. So she decided to sit back and watch. It seems the creature had the same idea.

"Aria! My main fight is still with you but first, let me have a warm-up."

Ais stood back and dropped her stance, signalling her cooperation with her plan, though she did not sheath desperate. She was not an amateur.

Revis flashed Ais a wicked smile before turning to the half-elf, gleefully readying her landform sword.

"So… Reaper, how you been holding up."

Revis always enjoyed playing with the boy. She always acted cold and calculating when around other members of Evilus but for some reason, she didn't mind the Goddess of Death. Maybe it was their shared joy in finding delight in tormenting the young high elf. She could let out her sadistic and vicious side when 'training' him. Even better, his Goddess had encouraged it. These were the only times she was able to have fun nowadays.

The unflinching boy gave off no signs of care but she knew he hated that Alias. She watched as he slowly drew his swords, carefully gripping the hilts.

"Even after all these years, still clinging onto them, like a child. Do you still sleep with them, shivering alone in the dark?"

The boy only continued his slow advance, his gaze burrowing into Revis' skull. Something was different. Something was… off about him. Revis narrowed her eyes.

The half-elf had yet to speak, snarl, furrow his brow, spit or even show any signs of movement apart from his legs and arm moving, almost like they were running on auto-pilot.

"What's wrong? Finding out I murdered your precious girlfriend broke you? Is that it?"

Not even a flick of emotion from the boy. His rage had not spiked, his mouth hadn't twitched and his hands were still by his side with his swords almost scraping on the ground. He hadn't even tried to use his wind magic; she would have seen with his neck muzzle around his neck. She didn't know the only purpose it served was to hide his chain/necklace.

Still, he walked forward. Not once looking off to the side to examine the room he had entered. He didn't need to as he knew where he was, or so Revis thought.

Then it happened…..

The boy's left ear twitched, causing his left eyebrow to do the same thing. It seemed whatever he had heard caused him some discomfort as he showed his first sign of emotion and gave a small grimace.

Revis immediately worked out what it was that made him grimace as it brought her some discomfort. It also made the girl behind her get a small shudder up her spine.

All three in the room, while being the furthest things from each other in terms of personality, ideals and soul; all had one thing in common. A deeper connection to spirits, such as the demi-spirits chanting the attack that is meant to blow up Orario. Though, unlike Ais, Revis knew both herself and the half-elf were on the other end of the spectrum with spirits. To say they disagreed with them would be an understatement. That was why Revis was so caught up in wanting to kill Ais. She was her opposite, her natural enemy.

'I wonder how he feels about her?'

Revis gave one last thought to their shared circumstances before she decided she had waited enough.

Bending her left leg, she pushed off the ground with an almighty speed. Her sword raised as she cleared the distance between herself and the boy within milliseconds. She had gotten stronger still, even in the short time since they last met. But the boy had recovered, with only the side of his face being any indication he took part in the last attack. He could pose more of a threat than the Sword Princess.

'She may be stronger but he, he is a lot more…'

Revis didn't get a chance to finish that thought as the boy had dodged her attack, just like she had expected. He always dodged and then pushed away. Distance was his greatest asset with his instinct ability being given more time to work.

But this time was different. This time, he immediately pressed her with a counter-attack. She could count on one hand how many times he had done this. There was a reason for this. Her overwhelming strength and speed over the boy made it so she could always see it or be able to easily deal with it. Such arrogance had always led to a massive beat down, making him want to perform the strategy a lot less than trying to escape. But this time, and for the first time while in open combat, he caught her off guard.

This time, it was Revis who jumped back as the boy's right blade barely missed cutting her in half. Revis didn't know what happened. She had still been able to see and react in time to the half-elf's counter attack but she didn't have time to block or defend against it that wouldn't put her at a disadvantage. And that was a big no when fighting the half-elf. As soon as he gained even the slightest advantage in a fight, no matter how strong his opponent is, he latched onto it like a leech. That was how he beat Valetta one time and how he went from level 3 to level 4.

The creature had never realised this was down to her 'training'. It was because of her brutal, merciless beatings that moulded Nathan into such a fighter. It was because of her he was able to adorn the Alias of Reaper and not be a joke.

Before Revis even managed to land properly, Nathan already began to advance but this time, at full speed. Revis was unprepared.

The speed in which he moved had caught her off guard but she could still keep up with it. Then he swung his left sword at her body, making her block it.

The strength. She was stronger than him still but she could tell the gap had shrunk… a lot.

This immediate increase in speed and strength only meant one thing.

'He's levelled up.'

Ais realised it at the same time Revis had. She could tell as it was something she had seen and experienced herself countless times. While the level 6 could still keep up with the fight that had broken out, something about it scared her.

She unconsciously thought of the same thing many in her Familia, Hermes' Familia and even the boy's own.

'what would have happened if he was our enemy?'

This thought that had danced around Orario's strongest had even reached the prodigal Kenki, causing her to think about that scenario. Just like everyone else, she did not like what she imagined.

For her though, it was her captain's last comment on the boy which had made her imagine this.

"Skias Alf's whereabouts are currently unknown. I'm only saying this once and that's to take precautions around him. Repeating what I said when we faced Hestia Familia and the Xenos in Daedalus. If you come across him, do not antagonise him. He is most likely a high-level 4 but only under the last resort, do not engage in combat as we are walking into what was his home for 7 years.

I do not know where he now stands and he seems to be unstable. I still believe his main focus is Evilus but there is a high likely hood most, if not all of them are now dead. This is a warning for all of you, leave him alone.'

All the executives in the room and the other leaders of the attack were left stunned by the prums lecture on the half-elf. Finn left nothing up to the imagination, mentioning everything about the dangers of the half-elf.

There was no witty remark from Gareth, no outburst from Bete or Tione or a stupid comment from Tiona. They all stood in silence as Finn quickly moved on after letting what he had said sink in. They all had varied thoughts but all got one thing from the statement.

Skias Alf can longer be perceived as an ally and should be anticipated as a threat.

Ais trembled slightly as she remembered the meeting as she watched the battle. She had seen a few openings for her to join in the battle but after what Finn said, she didn't want to risk the fight turning into 1v1v1.

So she kept watching as she saw the now first-class adventurer, if Finn's assumption was to be taken seriously, as it should always be taken, fight against her arch-enemy.

A quick kick from Revis was parried by the blunt side of a sword, whose wielder used the momentum of the kick to perform a spin kick of his own.

Revis could still deal with the half-elf's kicks, stabs, swings and other moves. She could be seen on par as a high-level 6 and even a level 7 with her strength. Though she was the one who was getting frustrated with this fight.

Before the boy had needed his wind to even stand a chance of evading her attacks but now he hasn't even begun to chant his magic spell. While Revis knew little about how the Falna worked, she knew enough of the boy's and could tell his instinct ability had gotten stronger along with his level-up.

Nathan had gone from a pesky, annoying and slightly troublesome opponent to someone she had to take somewhat seriously and couldn't use any of the mental games she previously had the luxury of using.

She went to push the boy back as they crossed swords. This was something his instinct would easily be able to tell him to evade, so Revis began to think of what to do next. Not even Ais made her think so far ahead in battles. She could enjoy fighting with Aria but this fight, she wasn't enjoying it. But to her shock, the boy didn't evade. Instead, he stayed firm and, without even trying to plant his feet on the ground, took the push head-on.

Even with his level up, he was still no match for Revis' strength and even though she hadn't used her full strength in the push, it still sent the boy flying back through the air. He slammed into the wall behind him, creating a cloud of dust. Dropping to the ground, he managed to land on one knee.

Ais watched as the half-elf stood back up, a bit shakily but seemingly fine. She was not surprised to see Revis not chase after him.

'He let me do it!' Revis thought as she too watched the boy stand up.

'Why!'

Revis had taught the boy most of what he knew and through her 'training' she had taught him how to fain being attacked and use that to set a trap.

She narrowed her eyes to slits, blocking everything out apart from the half-elf, though she still took note of Aria's presence.

The two women watched as the boy stood up, brushed himself down off the dirt, cracked his back and then his neck, and then vanished.

Revis was left speechless.

Ais was stunned.

Neither knew what they had just witnessed. The boy had literally brushed off Revis' attack, cracked his bones like he had just woken up and then disappeared.

It was a first for Ais but Revis had seen it countless times. The boy was used to pain, what Revis had done to paled in comparison to what she used to put him through. And now he is using the shadows, something he had only just started using which again annoyed Revis that he hadn't been fighting at his full capacity.

But now he was and he had just seemingly shrugged off one of her attacks, though it didn't compare to her usual, proper attacks.

Revis turned her head from side to side, trying to anticipate where the half-elf will strike from. The fight had taken a turn for the worse for Revis and as she could tell that Ais wanted to intervene and restart their fight, things began to look bad for the creature.

But then Revis stopped feeling the constant pressure of the boy's anger.

'He's contained it. What's going on?'

Revis was confused now and she hated that feeling. She would rather face overwhelming odds but know what she was up against rather than face the unknown. But she also knew this was the boy's biggest strength. Striking out of the unknown, being unknown. She was sure not even he knew what he was fully capable of.

This was just a way for Revis to try and stay calm. It was just another way for her to grab onto an explanation for what the half-elf was doing. She was beginning to get uncomfortable. The silence, the feeling of nothing… just nothing.

This nothing, this unknown, this… void. Revis began to get nervous. She did her best to calm her mind but as the seconds dragged on with nothing happening, her palms began to sweat. She started to get anxious and agitation had wormed its way into her brain.

'Where, why. Where!'

Concern and nervousness had begun forming in her mind, something she was not accustomed to.

Ais was not faring much better. She had wanted to press herself against the back wall, making her range of view of the room bigger but she realised she couldn't get too close to the shadows. He could kill her without trying if she stood in them.

Ais swivelled on her feet. The first time she had taken her eyes off of Revis. She had first thought of attacking Revis with her seemingly unfocused on the girl but quickly she fell into the same thought process as the red-haired monster.

Ais hated the feeling the half-elf emanated. It was like it was attacking her soul, her very existence. But now she wished for something she thought she would never wish for. She wanted that feeling back. She wanted something.

Information was everything on the battlefield and the half-elf was giving nothing for her to use. Sometimes opponents stopped breathing or stood perfectly still or erased any thoughts in their minds but they were still there. In her eyesight or earshot or even a scent. No matter how skilful the fighter, they always gave off something, even Ottar was not above this.

But this was different. She didn't feel like she was on a battlefield anymore. The Sword Princess, the one who had held the record for levelling up. The one who reached level 5 as a 13-year-old. The one whose goal was to take down the black dragon. That person now lost all of that and had descended into… nothing.

She felt like the shadows of the room were reaching out towards her, encircling her. She felt her throat tighten slightly as if the very darkness itself was beginning to suffocate her. She tried to take a step back but she knew it would do little if the boy wanted to strike.

Ais felt powerless and she was scared.

"SHOW YOURSELF!"

Ais almost welcomed the unbridled rage of the creature as it broke the suffocating silence. Revis wouldn't have to wait long either for her wish to come true, but not in the way Ais liked it.

"Sword Princess…"

Ais swung her sword with all her strength. She swivelled perfectly on the balls of her feet, falling into a stance that she had honed and based on her father, the sword king himself. Her sword was pointed upwards as she had crouched down low, with her blade pushing down.

What met her gaze was the half-elf. His head tilted slightly to the side as her sword narrowly missed his eye. A small bit of blood trickled off the boy's face as a shallow cut formed where Ais had cut him. Ais hadn't hesitated in using her full strength and speed in the attack and all that it had achieved was a small cut that amounted to nothing.

The boy met her gaze with his sunglasses looking down at her golden irises.

"I'm leaving this fight to you."

"-huh?"

"What?!"

"Make sure you kill her this time."

The voice in which those words were spoken gave off nothing. Like everything he had just done, his voice was no different. No emotion, no change in tone, no expression. Nothing.

With that small talk, the boy walked behind Ais as he made his way to the door she had come through, leaving her frozen.

"DON'T YOU DARE THINK YOU CAN JUST LEAVE!"

Revis was mortified with how little the boy seemed to care about her. How could he just stop fighting her? How could he just leave? How could he just walk away? Unacceptable!

Revis had never pushed off as fast as she had now, swinging her sword at the exposed back of the half-elf. Before it landed, it was met by a clean, silver blade.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY ARIA! I'LL DEAL WITH YOU AFTER I GUT THIS MONSTER!"

Ais held firm, not giving into the creature's request as the boy showed a Key, opening the large door.

"REAPER, GET BACK HERE! DON'T YOU DARE RUN AWAY FROM OUR FIGHT!"

Ais had never seen Revis so unhinged.

Revis had never been so affected by one person. Not even Aria made her feel this amount of hatred and rage. Only now, the person that had put her on edge, the one who gave her nothing and now wanted to just leave her with nothing. She hated it.

Nathan didn't even turn his head slightly, not wanting to give anything to the creature.

"I thought you said it was a warm-up."

The boy said nothing else and began walking out of the room.

Ais knew what that meant.

'He was using that fight to get his body and mind synced.'

Revis tried to get past Ais but she had now ignited her black wind and began fighting back, only enraging Revis even more.

"REAPERR!"

The boy did not respond to her as the door began to close.

Ais composed herself and focused on the fight again but before the door fully closed, she heard one last thing.

"Sword Princess. Don't die, it'll upset Bell."

The door closed with a thump as it once again left the two enemies alone with each other once again, though this time in completely different mindsets than when they began.

'I'm going to torture that brat until he begs me to kill him!"

Revis began to fight with hatred and rage befitting a mindless monster, pushing Ais backwards.

'Bell… would be… upset?'

Ais' wind flickered slightly as she skilfully evaded Revis and began her own offensive.

The intervention of the boy might have changed the outcome of the fight by the end of the day but it also had left an endless effect on both participants and how the fight would play out.

Revis would end up getting too hot-headed and eventually burn out as Ais overpowered her, driven by a Bell ringing through the catacombs, igniting a light instilled by the half-elf's words. If not for that simple sentence, Ais believed she would have let the black wind overcome her soul, forever losing herself to the rage.

Nathan walked out of the room. He didn't feel satisfied but he didn't feel upset. Walking through the green flesh for almost a half hour had left him with some time to think.

With his mental fortification slowly breaking, different emotions began to get past. With his anger already being out and used to keep the flesh at bay, other ones were allowed to slowly flood the boy's mind.

Regret

He believed, when walking into Knossos that he would die in there, almost as if it was a suicide mission. He wished he had said goodbye to his Familia one last time and had at least gotten one last look at Riveria. How she resembled his mother in more than just her eyes.

Guilt

He had thought of fighting Revis to death, eventually killing her but at the expense of his own life. For her direct involvement in killing Elisha, he believed she had to pay for what she did. But then guilt came in and he could only think of how it was his fault for her death. It was because he got involved with her and hadn't pushed her away. And now he had even joined a Familia, getting new ways for people to exploit him. More weaknesses.

Denial

He had done his best to not get attached. To fake laughs and enjoyment at the dinner table. He lied about why he wanted to spar with Bell, it was only for his benefit as he told himself that he wasn't doing it to help the young captain.

He only cooked for them as it would look suspicious if he didn't, that's what he told himself. He only ever hung back when they went dungeon diving, not because he wanted to keep them all safe but because he didn't care about helping them.

When Aisha and the Ishtar Familia attacked them, he only attacked back because a normal Familia member would help their Familia members. It would look wrong if he just watched it happen, getting mad was an act as that was the right emotion to feel at the time. That's what he told himself.

Haruhime, The Xenos, Weine. All acts just to try and blend in until he was able to defeat Knossos and die.

He never really cared about any of it. He only cared about taking down Evilus and then that would be it.

That's what he kept telling himself as he pushed the image of Hestia out of his mind.

Apathy

As he walked through the green flesh, he realised he didn't need to care anymore.

About Revis killing Elisha or how it was his fault.

He was going to die anyway.

He believed he never had the right to kill himself, having taken so many lives himself, he had no right to decide what to do with his own.

He would probably die anyway, not like it mattered.

Finn had figured him out. They had found out about him. There would be only a matter of time until Hestia and the rest found out. Then that would be it.

'Bell would be upset. Why did I even say that? I shouldn't care about that.'

It didn't matter now, even if he didn't die in Knossos they would execute him anyway. But he didn't want to see their faces when they found out how much of a monster he was.

'What would Mom think?'

'It doesn't matter.'

'But…'

'You won't see her again. It doesn't matter.'

He wouldn't be seeing her in heaven when he died. His soul wouldn't be allowed in, if you can even call it that anymore, Goddess Hel had seen to that personally.

Nathan walked through the corridor of Knossos, leaving the fight behind him. A day before, he would have still been fighting Revis. He might have tried to form a partnership with the Kenki to take her down. Maybe with his level up, he could've taken Revis on his own.

If he thought about it, he had just beaten Revis for the first time. He had succeeded in making her break. He had not been attacked until he let her. He had managed to keep up with her without his magic or use of shadows. He had left that room with the upper hand. For the first time, she was the one being left feeling humiliated and angry. If he truly thought about it, he could take a victory. But he didn't think about it. He wasn't thinking about anything.

Just like those two before, he was experiencing nothing. But unlike those two, he didn't reject it. He didn't push it away or embrace it. He did nothing with it. He didn't care.

Nathan didn't know why he had fought Revis or why he left if he didn't care anymore. Maybe it was to try and feel something. Maybe it was because that was what he would have done before. Was his revenge so engrained in him that it dictated his every more?

He shook his head, trying to get his head back into it but his mind asked him why if it didn't matter.

'I've still got something to do.'

'But it won't matter.'

With only his pre-determined destiny with death and his final resolution to take down Evilus, Nathan set off into Knossos but the only fight he could focus on was the one going on in his mind.

He didn't know how long he fought his own thoughts. How far he had walked. He had not seen or heard anything, clarifying his theory that all of the Evilus members had been swallowed by the green flesh.

'Why don't you just drop down dead now.'

Nathan was sure that Finn would find a way to win. He had faced him all this time and had never been able to beat him, so why should the Braver stop his wins now?

'You don't care anymore, there's nothing left now. Just stop.'

Nathan began to slow his walking but didn't stop. He had no answer. There was no path for him to take after this. There was nothing left now that his Familia would find out about him, not that he cared about them anyway.

So why does his feet keep moving?

And then he heard it, the sound of battle.

He slowly began to jog, making his way towards the sound. He was unsure why.

"KYAHHH!"

The scream of a girl made him run faster, he recognised that scream.

'Why does it matter, she'll shun you.'

"WATCH OUT!"

He recognised that woman's voice too. He picked up the pace.

If it wasn't for his fight with Revis, he wouldn't be able to smoothly run through the corridors like this, his mind still being out of sync with his body.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?"

'What is she doing there, I thought she'd be with… '

Nathan saw a faint flicker of light up ahead as he ran up ahead. He still didn't fully understand why he was running so fast.

'Why do you still care?' His mind asked him.

He saw the girl that had let out the scream, the one who made the best food.

'She doesn't matter anymore, why do you?'

She had accepted him as the others did.

'They only accepted you because they don't what you really are.'

He saw the dark tendril shoot towards the fox, there was no one near to help her.

'She needs…'

'Needs what? You? What do you expect will happen afterwards, they'll just let you go because you saved one life.'

Nathan kept running. He wasn't sure what he really why at this moment. But as he saw the Renard defenceless on the floor, memories flooded his mind. How she had helped him.

'That's irrelevant.'

When she taught him how to cook.

'You only did that to blend in, you didn't actually want to help.'

She held his hand. They all held his hand. They never shunned him.

'They will.'

'I know but until they do, I won't stop.'

'Won't stop what?'

'…..'

'Say it.'

'I want…'

'What, you want what?'

"I know what I want." The boy whispered to himself.

Aisha got up off the wall she had been flung at. She saw Ryu Lyon and Asfi Andromeda on either side of her, having shared the same fate.

It seemed even the level boost from Haruhime wasn't enough to take down that monster.

She saw Thousand Elf try and plead with the monster, probably she knew her from somewhere.

"Filvis, please! You can stop this!"

"I'm sorry Lefiya…"

A monster with long, black hair that stretched out like thick bits of seaweed and tentacles that reached the ground answered her. Though looking small and weak, she was anything but. The unconscious, injured Vanargand was enough to testify that as Lena crouched over the man she had vowed to impregnate her.

"… but there is no return for a monster like me."

"FILVIS NOOO!"

Filvis, even though she could handle them, didn't like the level boost ability gifted from the Renard. She didn't want Bete Loga being gifted that when he woke up. He would become more than a nuisance, and she wouldn't allow anyone to stand in the way of Lord Dionysus.

So she shot one of her tendrils to the now exposed Renard. She had knocked her to the floor but seeing that distracting her would not disarm the spell, there was only one thing for it.

She mentally apologised for her action but it didn't matter anymore now that they knew she was a monster. They would never accept her again, so why should she care anymore.

She was deadly accurate, there was no chance that she would miss.

"HARUHIME!"

But she did.

With a loud clang, her black tendril bounced off something metallic. All those in the room turned to look. They had all winced or looked away at the inevitable death of the Renard. But they all stared wide-eyed at the sword that had blocked the attack.

The sword's owner had blocked the attack with the blunt side of their sword while sweeping Haruhime low so even if they had failed to block the attack, it would've missed.

"What…?"

Filvis' confusion was shared with everyone in the room, but soon their question on who would be answered.

Stepping out of the shadows and into the light. Everyone present knew him. They had at some point had some interaction with him.

"N-Nathan?"

Ryu said shakily as she watched the half-elf appear. But it would be Filvis who continued the questioning.

"You! What are You doing here?"

The half-elf looked at the once beautiful elf, now barely resembling her past self.

"I want to save my Familia."

'I want to stay with my Familia.'

With his heart and mind finally becoming one again, Nathan prepared to fight for the Familia that he had involuntarily grown attached to.

It took seeing Haruhime in danger to figure out what Nathan wanted. Now he had a reason to continue to live.

'Even if they hate me forever afterwards, I still want them to live and to do that, I must take down Evilus, even if I go down with them.'

And so he raised his blades, ready to take on the monster in front of him, ready to die for the only thing he cared about.

Part 1 of the second invasion of Knossos.

For those who wanted another fight with Revis, I'd never intended it. 1) it should always be Ais' fight, even tho I made it significant for Nathan but this chapter is too show his low point and then his growth. Over the next for chapters, up until the freya war arc, it will be a very bumby ride of emotions for him and everyone involved, this is only the start of his mind slowly breaking.

Want to keep this brief so, Reviews:

UoDud: Thanks man, Hope the wait wasn't too long. Its been a lot longer before.

LegacySpellsword: Sorry about the misspells, I relly do tri and find them but their are goning to bee some that I miss, will trye too watch out 4 them. Also thanks and yh, you right in saying I shouldn't say I will never forget but I've made the promise so I shall have to do my best.

NinjaFang1331: Cheers and yh, that's a moment I've played over in my mind more than a few times, hope when I get to it it will be as good as i imagined.

jank7457: Yh, using Nathan to sneak up on people, even the strongest, is just backup for showing how he got so good at what he used to do. And climbing to the 30th floor is nothing when you practically walk on air. As for the royal Family, I'm not sure about that but there will definetly be some accusations of about kings and rightful heirs thrown around but thats still a bit away.

Anyway, thank you for reading this chapter. Please review if you want me to hear what you think about my story, its always appreciated. Also, go check out my other story, It's just begun so be there from the star.

With that, I'll see ya next time and Peace!