What's this?! A new chapter on the same day as the previous one! What's going on here?!

Well, I REALLY wanted to make up for the delay I gave you guys, as well as the short chapter you just received, so, I thought I'd give you a little surprise and do a double-feature on the same day.

I was also, admittedly, on the fence about whether or not to simply combine the chapters, but eventually decided against it in order to ensure that each fight was the focus of each given chapter and not sidelined by other events.

Anyway, that's enough explaining. It's time to get to the good stuff, and today that means Ryuu vs. Alise! So let's jump into it!

I do not own Danmachi

The horde of monsters and Evilus charged with reckless abandon towards the Expedition and no matter how powerful the adventurer, how tightly they gripped their weapon, or what they told themselves, there was no way any of them could not feel fear at that moment. But that didn't matter. It couldn't. This was the fight of their lives and if they were going to make it out alive, they had set aside their fear and fight with everything they had.

"Missile troops, mages, get ready!" Finn ordered as the first wave of the seemingly endless horde rushed towards them.

Instantly, dozens of adventurers readied their spells, drew back their bowstrings, or aimed their guns, waiting for the signal. It was not long in coming as Finn raised his hand high before dropping it like a guillotine.

"Give them hell!"

Dozens of missiles, bullets, and spells flew at the horde of monsters, along with a tidal wave of fire and lightning, courtesy of one of Welf's new magic swords, duly named The Cranel Blade.

In an instance, hundreds of monsters were obliterated and turned to dust. Yet, this was a mere drop in the bucket and the ranks were immediately filled by more monsters and, more importantly, by the two resurrected heroines.

Ryuu had immediately found her former captain and best friend the moment Dionysus ordered the charge, eyes watching the Scarlet Harnel's every movement until the moment she saw an opening. The moment she did, the Gale charged.

Alise's foreign, lifeless eyes, immediately centered on the charging elf and when Ryuu swung her wooden sword, Alise's rapier was right there to meet it.

"I will save you this time, Alise! I promise!" Ryuu vowed before using all her strength to force aside Alise rapier. With her old friend wide open, she thrust her wooden blade at the green stone in Alise's tiara with all her strength, desperate to destroy it. However, to her shock, Alise bashed away her strike and then attempted to slash the elf from shoulder to hip. It was only the elf's incredible speed that saved her from this fate as she quickly retreated.

Has she activated her Lubrude Bequia? Ryuu asked herself, before quickly deducing this was not the case. No, she's simply faster than before, and likely stronger, the Gale's hands tightened around her weapon. It doesn't matter. I will save you Alise, no matter how strong you've become.

With a cry, Ryuu closed the distance between them again, swinging down at her captain with the single purpose of rescuing the redhead from the fate the Evilus had inflicted upon her.

The two blades crashed against each other as Alise effortlessly parried, letting Ryuu's blade slide across her rapier before the scarlet warrior took a step back to make a thrust at Ryuu's head.

Ryuu still had the advantage of speed though, despite the apparent growth of her former captain, and let the rapier pass harmlessly by her head. Then, seeing an opportunity, she grabbed the sword's guard and pulled Alise forward, slamming her wooden sword against the tiara's gem.

Finding it did not so much as crack, Ryuu's eyes narrowed and she spun around, still holding Alise and threw the Astraea captain to the ground before twirling her weapon around to stab down onto the tiara.

"Arga! Arvana! Arvelia!"

Fire burst from Alise's limbs and Ryuu barely managed to jump away before her friend-turned-prisoner kicked out with a burning sole, looking to shatter the elf's shin.

Alise quickly jumped to her feet and went on the attack, swinging her now flaming blade at Ryuu, who was forced to bring up her own blade to guard.

"Gah!" Ryuu groaned as the blow struck and flames began to lick at her skin. The Gale of the Hestia familia was far from done, however, and quickly righted her footing so she could force back Alise's rapier and counter, swinging her sword around to crack against the side of Alise's head.

But the Scarlet Harnel was not some pushover herself, and she gracefully leaned back, allowing Ryuu's blade to fly over her, before suddenly kicking up, nailing Ryuu right in the jaw and sending her flying.

Ryuu soared through the air as her skull shook, but she knew well the onslaught had just begun and so, biting through the pain, she turned back to her opponent, finding Alise rushing through the air to continue her assault.

Alise slashed at Ryuu with her aflame rapier, but Ryuu managed to block it, even while still soaring. However, the force of the blow and Alise's flying body did send her shooting back towards the ground.

The landing was harsh, but Ryuu managed to turn a fall into a backwards somersault and was ready to make her own counter-attack the moment Alise landed.

"Raaa!"

The Gale charged, coming in low. Alise met her partway, bringing her rapier down like an executioner's ax to meet Ryuu's skyward strike. However, at the last moment, Ryuu stopped and spun around. Alise, ill-prepared for the feint, could not move quickly enough to stop Ryuu from cracking her against the skull with enough power to send the Astraea captain to her knees.

This time, Ryuu reached out to take the tiara from her friend and managed to take hold of it, before Alise's head spun around and she lashed out, cutting Ryuu across the arm.

"Aaah!"

Ryuu retreated, but Alise was right upon her, immediately sending a flurry of gabs at Ryuu's head. The elf dodged gracefully, even as her bicep bled, but she knew she needed to regain the initiative.

Wait for it. Wait for it. Now!

Seeing her opening, Ryuu once more dodged Alise's stab, only this one had been just a little overextended, which allowed Ryuu to quickly counter with a slash at Alise's leg.

Her brainwashed friend hissed, but the Scarlet Harnel's pain had just begun as Ryuu immediately took a step back, then sent an absolutely devastating uppercut strike straight to the Astraea's captain's jaw with her wooden sword, sending Alise flying.

"In the sky of a now distant forest," Ryuu began to chant as her former captain flew away. "Infinite stars scattered in the endless night sky." Alise landed with a crash. "Give the mercy of light to the note that abandoned you." The scarlet woman groaned, but quickly picked herself up, only to find Ryuu chanting. "Come, wandering wind, the wandering traveler." Alise rushed towards the elf, not wanting to let the spell finish and Ryuu rushed to meet her. Their swords clashed, with Alise desperately trying to stop the maiden of the forest, but Ryuu proceeded unabated. "Cross the sky and run through the wilderness, run faster than anything else." Alise struck down with all her might in a last ditch effort to stop the chant, and she nearly succeeded as even with her level 5 status, Ryuu was forced to her knees by the blow as her wound jutted out a stream of blood and her skeleton groaned under the weight of the the scarlet warrior's strike. However, Alise's last attempt had failed.

"Imbue the light of stardust and destroy the enemy. Luminous Wind."

There was no way for Alise to dodge or save herself from the sudden tidal wave of wind and starlight. It crashed into her like a Monster Rex and beat her black, blue, and even green as she was once more sent flying away from her friend.

Ryuu watched as her spell tore into her friend, feeling guilty, but knowing there was little else she could do if she was to succeed in her quest.

I'll make it up to you, Alise. I promise, even if I have to have Astraea-sama scold me and tell you every detail about Bell.

When the spell finally ended and Alise was deposited a good 30 strides away, Ryuu let out a breath of relief. She quickly used her Noah's Heal on her arm, knowing that she still had a great battle before her once she had fully saved her friend.

She quickly made her way over to Alise's downed body, sending a quick look to her rapier, which had flown a few feet away during the magic attack, before focusing back on her friend. She turned her eyes towards the tiara and found the stone within cracked, but not destroyed.

"Let's change that," the elf said, before twirling her wooden sword around and thrusting it at the stone.

Suddenly, Alise's hand caught the blade.

"What?!" Ryuu cried.

She was not permitted a chance to regain her wits, as Alise's furious eyes shot open and the Scarlet Harnel suddenly kicked the Gale's shin so hard, she shattered it.

"Aaaah!" Ryu cried, only to receive a flaming fist to the face that sent her flying.

Ryuu bounced across the Dungeon like a stone across a pond, losing her sword along the way before she finally crashed into a rock.

"Gah!" she coughed up blood.

However, she could not dwell on her pain or her injuries, as Alise was already upon her, fists and legs aflame.

Ryuu brought up the best defense she could, but even battered as Alise was, she was still able to attack her elven comrade with a furious barrage. If anything, the damage and pain she felt only seemed to drive her on more and she attacked with reckless, borderline insane, abandon.

She activated Agaris Alvesynth, Ryuu quickly realized as the powerful blows burned her flesh and cracked her bones. I can't let this continue or else she'll overwhelm me.

However, any attempt to counter, block, or parry Alise's strikes, was met with an even more vengeful strike and soon, Alise had Ryuu pinned against the rock the Gale had so recently crashed into.

Tears filled Ryuu's eyes as the knowledge that she wouldn't be able to save her friend began to set in.

Not only that, but I'll never see everyone else again. I will die a complete and worthless failure, she thought.

This despair opened up her defenses enough for Alise to send a flaming fist straight into her face with such force that Ryuu crashed to the ground like a stack of potatoes dropped from the top of Babel.

"Aaaagh," Ryuu groaned as her world spun. "Aaaah!" she screamed as Alise grabbed her head and pulled her up, before grasping her throat and slamming her against the stone.

"A-Alise," Ryuu tried weakly, but she lost all ability to speak as Alise's other hand came up and began to choke her.

Not too far away, Dionysus watched with a smile.

How delicious.

Slowly, Ryuu's life was choked out of her and things began to go dark.

I really am going to fail, she thought as her tears streamed down her face. Alise. Astraea. Syr. Both my familias. I'm going to fail them all. And I'm…I'm never going to see Bell again.

And just like that, everything changed. The tears stopped, and her eyes, which had been prepared to close forever, shot open.

No! Bell wouldn't give up! Bell would fight on! And right now he needs me! Her eyes turned down to her old friend. And so does she!

Ryuu took her hands away from their attempt to stop Alise from choking her, to raise them high above her head. The Scarlet Harnel looked confused, but did not stop choking Ryuu, even as the elf clenched her hands into a combined fist.

Using all her strength, Ryuu threw down her hands and slammed them into Alise's arms. The brainwashed adventurer grunted and her grip weakened, but she did not let go. And so, Ryuu struck again, getting another grunt as Alise's grip weakened further.

Let. Me. GO! Ryuu roared in her mind before sending a third and final blow straight down upon Alise's arms.

"Ah!" Alise cried as she was finally forced to let go.

Ryuu dropped and took a moment to regain her breath, but she knew she had to act quickly, and so, gritting through the pain, she rushed Alise.

The Astraea captain, seeing the elf rush towards her, threw a punch towards her face, only to go wide-eyed as Ryuu grabbed said fist and used it to throw the brainwashed young woman over her shoulder and into the ground.

Ryuu immediately got on top of her friend and as Alise prepared to send another strike at the elf's face, Ryuu grabbed the collar of Alise's shirt and pulled her up just as the elf crashed her forehead against the tiara's stone, shattering it.

"Hm," Dionysus said as his smile dropped. "Pity."

Ryuu's skull was ringing and everything else hurt like hell, but when she looked down on her friend, she immediately smiled.

Light began to return to Alise's eyes and she blinked a few times before she could focus enough to notice the person above her.

"Ryuu."

Tears filled the elf's eyes once more, though this time they were ones of happiness.

"Welcome back, Alise," she greeted, her voice gruff from the choking, but warm.

"Um…thanks?"

Ryuu slowly got off of her.

"What's going on? Where are we? Why do you look so beat up? And why," she paused, "does my…everything hurt?"

"I'll explain later. Right now, we both need to heal up and get ready for the biggest fight of our lives," Ryuu told her.

Noting the seriousness of her friend's words and tone, Alise let all questions go for the moment and nodded.

"Alright. Then let's kick some butt!"

Ryuu smiled and nodded before giving Alise a potion, drinking one herself, then getting up to fetch their swords.

When she returned, Alise was smiling and stretching as if nothing was wrong.

"Thanks," the Scarlet Harnel said as she took her rapier. "By the way, I like what you've done with your hair."

And done!

Okay, firstly, I'm really sorry this one was so short, in fact, I think it's the shortest chapter I've ever put out for this story. You can see why I was considering simply putting the chapters together. In all honesty, I really thought the fight would be bigger than this, but I wrote what seemed right and this is what I ended up with. I really hope you guys can forgive me for this short chapter. I doubt the others one will be so quick, but I suppose I can't promise they won't be.

Anyway, what did you guys think? As you've noticed, unlike Omori, I am sadistic enough to make Ryuu fight Alise. Mwuhahahaha! Ehem. Jokes aside, I added this fight, both to up the stakes of the arc and because I am aware that Ryuu and many other characters aren't getting a lot of screen time. My plan is to heavily address that in the next arc which is probably going to be the longest, and which I am, at this point, dubbing "The Calm Before The Storm", which isn't completely accurate as, I assure you, there will be plenty of action and drama, but compared to what else I have planned…well…hehe, you'll have to wait and see.

But seriously, I honestly had a tough time with this chapter and the previous one. I couldn't decide whether to make them one chapter or not in order to make it a properly sized chapter, or to split them. I also was having a lot of difficulty planning out these last two chapters for some reason and just couldn't get them done. All that to say, once again, I'm sorry for the delay. I know a lot of you don't like waiting weeks or a month plus for a new chapter and I do try to get them out within two to three weeks, but it's not always easy.

Anyway, pity party aside, tell me what you guys thought. Like it? Hate? Shocked by yet another old face making a reappearance and think I'm just pulling things out of my ass (in this case, I had this planned for a while, but you wouldn't be completely inaccurate on general principle if you thought that)? Tell me in the reviews.

Oh, and on one final note, how Alfia and Alice survived (or if they really did...bum bum BUM!) will be explained in the future, I promise. There IS a reason/explanation.

With that, I bid you all a fine day, evening, week, etc. and I will see you all next time!