Hello everyone and welcome back.
I know, I said it was my intention to have this chapter done as a Christmas present and I failed in that regard. I do that a lot lately and am always sorry when I do. My only, partial excuse is that I FINALLY finished my second book. That's right, Conquest and Conspiracies is finally out on Amazon, meaning I can now focus more of my time here! Yay! Perhaps that's a bit wrong to say, but I'm quite relieved to finally be done with that project so that I can move on to others, including this story and the next book (don't worry, I'm taking a break for at least a little while so I can relearn the ability to write because I LIKE to write).
Anywho, enough of my yammering, let's get back into this story.
I do not own Danmachi
"Where are Bell and Ryuu? If they don't hurry up there won't get any breakfast," Hestia stated.
"They're probably both still disappointed about not getting to join the expedition against the Juggernaut," Mania responded with sympathy, even though she was extremely glad that they weren't going.
"That's no excuse to avoid eating. The body needs nourishment, and disappointment does not fill a stomach," Alfia stated far less sympathetically.
"I'll go get them," Achilles jumped in, knowing that, if it was left up to his resurrected teammate, the two adventurers would be dragged down to the dining table by their ears.
"Alise-dono also hasn't joined us," Mikoto noted.
"I noticed that too. I was hoping to talk to her about her rapier and fencing, but she hasn't come down since yesterday," Patroclus added.
"Is Alise also disappointed she couldn't go?" Galadriel asked Astraea.
"She was, but she's over it now," the goddess replied nonchalantly.
"That's very mature of her," Mania stated with a smile.
Which is not the word I would use to describe that firecracker, Achilles thought as his brow furrowed.
His eyes rested on Astraea for a moment longer, but the goddess appeared to be enjoying his chocolate chip pancakes too much to notice. As such he eventually turned and headed for the hallway as Astraea's eyes finally lifted and she took a deep breath.
"Bell!" Achilles called through the door as he knocked. "Breakfast is almost over. I know you're upset that you couldn't join the expedition, but you really should eat."
He received no reply.
Wait, Achilles focused his hearing and quickly discovered that he didn't hear anything inside, not even the soft sound of breathing.
Eyes wide, Achilles burst through the door and found the room completely empty.
"Shit!" Achilles cursed as he rushed down the hall to Ryuu's room, where he discovered it equally as empty. There, likewise, was no sign of Alise, who had been staying with Ryuu per the elf's request.
Using his Lightning Steps, Achilles appeared downstairs a second later, making everyone jump.
"Achilles, what's wrong?!" Mania questioned.
"How much of a lead do they have on us?" the Father On High demanded of a certain goddess of justice.
Astraea swallowed her pancake and finally met his eyes.
"About six hours."
The three adventurers had finally reached the water levels, but didn't pause as they continued down the Dungeon until they came to a fork in the path.
"Which way should we go?" Bell inquired.
"I'm not sure. Hey Ryuu, you have some tracking experience, can you tell which way the expedition went?" Alise asked.
"Not easily," the elf responded as she knelt down to inspect one of the pathways. "The ground here is solid stone, not soil or mud, and even if I could more easily see tracks those tracks could be from other adventurers and not necessarily the expedition."
"That's unlikely, right? Didn't Ouranos order the Dungeon closed?" her captain questioned.
"He did, but any closure is met with hostility given that the Dungeon is the livelihood of the entire city," Ryuu pointed out. "Many adventurers will ignore the order or sneak into the Dungeon so that they can continue to collect magic stones and other loot, which will be more valuable now that the Dungeon is temporarily closed."
"Which is more than enough reason to sneak in here, despite the order and the danger."
"Well, we can't split up, that would be too dangerous, so how do we decide which way to go?" Bell asked.
"You have a luck ability or something like that, don't you, Bell? Ryuu told me about your ludicrous gambling ability. So it might be wise simply to head down whichever path you choose," Alise suggested.
"If finding the Juggernaut can be considered, 'lucky'," Ryuu replied seriously.
Bell wasn't so sure about that idea but, as luck would ironically have it, he saw a face peeking out from behind a nearby rock.
"I might have a better idea," he responded as he slowly made his way towards the hidden figure.
A "meep" squeaked out from the figure, who quickly hid herself behind the rock.
"Hey, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you, I was just hoping you could help me and my friends," Bell called gently.
Slowly, the face reemerged, revealing a pretty girl with blue skin and a shell in her green hair.
"You're…talking to me?" her lovely voice questioned with both apprehension and interest.
"Yes. I actually have a few friends who are Xenos like you. Wiene, Lyd, Ray, all of them are dear friends to me."
"You know Lyd and the others?" the girl asked as she fully departed from the rock, revealing that she was a mermaid, and a lovely one at that.
"Yep," Bell smiled at her, which immediately prompted the mermaid to smile back.
"Lyd said they had a human friend, but I wasn't sure if I could believe him! This is so exciting!" she exclaimed.
Bell laughed as Ryuu and Alise joined him.
"I'm happy you think so. I'm Bell. This is Ryuu and Alise. They're both friends of Lyd and the others too," he gestured to the young ladies who both smiled and waved.
"I'm Marie and I'm so happy I get to meet you all! I saw you coming down the path and remembered the descriptions that Lyd gave of his friend from the surface. Since you looked like how he described I was really hoping you were who he was talking about, even if I was a bit afraid to find out."
"That's understandable," Alise responded.
"Caution is best at first," Ryuu added.
Marie smiled in appreciation.
"Oh! But you said you needed help finding your friends. Do you mean that big group of adventurers that passed through here yesterday?"
"Yes, we were wondering which way they went," Bell explained.
Marie immediately pointed down one of the tunnels.
"That way. I didn't approach too closely as that many adventurers usually doesn't mean good things for us Dungeon folk, but it did seem like they were worried about something. Does it have anything to do with all that shaking from a little while ago?"
Bell's smile dropped as his heart grew a bit heavier.
"Yeah…something…bad happened and now there's a really powerful monster hurting people in the Dungeon."
"You mean the Guard Dog," Marie replied.
The adventurers blinked.
"Guard dog?" Ryuu questioned.
"The bony monster that only comes out when the Dungeon is hurt a lot. I've never seen it myself, but I've heard it's terrible."
Ryuu and Alise nodded.
"It is," Ryuu stated coldly.
Marie, for all her sweetness and bubbliness, knew enough to understand what their reaction meant and bowed her head in understanding.
"I don't like the idea of you three fighting the Guard Dog, since you're all so nice, but I also don't want it rampaging through the Dungeon, so I'll wish you all the best of luck."
"Thank you, Marie," Bell replied genuinely, even if his own mood had dampened. "I promise we'll visit you on the return journey," he continued, holding out his pinky finger.
"What're you doing?" the mermaid asked.
"It's a pinky promise. It's the most innocent and thus the most important kind of promise, which makes it completely unbreakable," he explained with a small smile.
Marie, on the other hand, beamed and quickly wrapped her pinky around his, the wetness of her hand making Bell laugh.
"I'll be waiting!" she exclaimed.
The two broke apart allowing Bell, Ryuu, and Alise to continue their journey to find the Bane of the Astraea familia.
"This couldn't have happened more than a day ago," Finn noted, looking at the dismembered body before him.
"I could have told you that just by the smell," Bete growled as he scrunched up his nose.
Ottar stepped forward, his cold eyes staring out into the Dungeon.
"It's near," he stated.
"Yeah," Finn agreed as his phantom thumb throbbed. "Everyone stay alert, we're going to have company soon."
It watched the adventurers from the shadows, its horrible red eyes filled with rage and hateful gluttony.
More prey, however, they are different from the others. Stronger. More aware. I can't just devour them like those who came before. Its eyes moved to the archers and supporters at the back. I'll start with them.
The Juggernaut slunk deeper into the shadows as it prepared to slaughter more of its prey.
"The supporters," Ottar stated as his hand went to his greatsword.
"Defensive circle around the supporters!" Finn ordered just as the Juggernaut lept towards the back ranks of the expedition.
"Aaaaah!" a young archer screamed as the monster prepared to remove the top half of her body with its jaws. However, just before it could sink its teeth into her flesh, a mass of muscle unlike anything the beast had dealt with before, slammed into its side while a hunk of metal that must have weighed a ton, slammed into its ribs, smashing a large chunk of its reflective shell.
The Juggernaut stumbled, though it quickly righted itself and eyed Ottar with contempt.
The boaz was unfazed as he charged after the beast while the Gulliver Brothers attacked from his right while Hogni and Hedin attacked from his left.
The Juggernaut unperturbed by the simultaneous assault, charged to meet Ottar, reaching him in the blink of an eye, then slashing out with its spear-like claws.
Ottar raised his greatsword and took the blow, saving himself from being gored. However, the force behind the blow was enough to shoot him backwards across the Dungeon, leaving small gorges of stone in his wake.
The rest of the Freya familia attacked, simultaneously aiming for its skull and all four of its limbs, only for the great beast to spin around and lash out with its tail, striking Grer, Berling, and Hedin and forcing Hedin and the two remaining brothers back.
"Raaaa!"
The beast's eyes shot around to find Bete aiming a kick at its seemingly unprotected spine. However, the monster merely lashed out with its tail again, shocking the werewolf, who was struck in the gut and sent flying across the Dungeon as blood shot from his mouth.
"Bastard!"
The Juggernaut's skeletal head turned again, finding Tione, Tiona, and Ais all facing towards it, weapons raised and ready to turn the horror to dust.
The monster shot across the Dungeon, slashing the two Amazon sisters' sides open and forcing Ais back with a quick whip of its tail. It refocused on the archers and prepared to devour the weakling creatures only for Ottar to reappear at its side and bring his sword down towards its head like a falling meteorite.
This time, the Juggernaut did not dodge the blow, but blocked it with a claw. Its bones creaked under the pressure, but it did stop the Freya captain's attack, allowing the monster to strike out with its claws, aiming to pierce the boaz from groin to forehead.
Ottar managed to stop the blow, though even his ludicrous strength barely managed to hold back the Juggernaut and his blade began to shake under the pressure of its claws. The beast, noting this, raised its tail and prepared to cut the boaz in half when it heard a whistling from behind it.
Jumping out of the way, the Juggernaut just barely managed to prevent Finn's spear from piercing its skull, though the weapon scraped its boney hide, leaving a canyon of damaged armor behind.
Its bones creaking menacingly, the monster turned on the Loki captain and charged, closing the distance so quickly that even the Braver found his eyes widening in alarm.
The beast struck and had Finn been anyone with less experienced reflexes, he would have been impaled then and there. As it was, he just barely managed to retreat backwards, saving himself from death, but not from having his chest carved open by the skeletal beast's claws.
"Finn!"
"Captain!"
Finn gritted his teeth and pulled out a dagger as he prepared to fight the Juggernaut, which was already on the offense again, intent on impaling the prum if it was the last thing it did.
CLANG!
Ais barely managed to force the monster's claws down and she glared at the monster that personified everything she hated about monsters.
"DIE!"
Tione smashed into the Juggernaut's side, pounding into its skeletal body with wrathful abandon. She was soon joined by Tiona, Bete, and the Freya familia who each gave their all to force the beast back.
"Are you alright, Finn?" Ais asked.
"Yeah, but this thing is nothing to sneeze at. I think only Bell in his White Dragon form was stronger," he commented, and even then, he was only faster when he was flying.
Ais's frown deepened, whether this was because of the comparison or the memory of her lover's terrible form, was impossible to say.
"Then let us destroy it as quickly as possible."
"Agreed," he replied. "Archers! Volley!"
The adventurers before it retreated a second before a volley of missiles slammed into its body.
Annoying pests, the Juggernaut snarled inwardly as it prepared to go on the offensive again.
No, pull back, they are of no consequence now. Typhon has finally entered the Dungeon.
The traitor is finally here?!
Yes, and heading right for you. Leave behind these vermin and capture him. You may punish him however you like, but do not kill him. Our power is more restrained by our Mother and Father now so we won't be able to resurrect him should his wounds prove lethal.
The Juggernaut smiled, its bones creaking with sadistic glee.
This thing is tough, but if we keep pressing it we can destroy it, he eyed the creature. Your rampage ends today.
As if it had heard Finn's thoughts and desired nothing more than to prove him wrong, the Juggernaut suddenly roared, making everyone but the very strongest grab their ears in pain. The great beast then shot off down the path leading to the higher levels.
"After it! We can't let it escape and hurt any more adventurers!" Finn shouted as he and the expedition gave chase.
Achilles, Alfia, and Galadriel all shot through the water levels.
"That boy is spending the next three days hanging upside down from a tree for this. He'll eat nothing but stale oatmeal with chopsticks and apologize before every bite," the Silence vowed.
"Think of punishments later, right now we need to reach them before Bell's ability to find trouble brings him straight to the Juggernaut," Achilles stated.
"Do you think he won't be able to handle it?" Galadriel asked.
"We don't know how powerful this version of the monster is. Nothing has blown a hole through several levels of the Dungeon since the Great Beasts escaped. This could easily be a level 8 monster on par or even greater than Asterios. Bell's also not in the right headspace at the moment. The knowledge of how the Juggernaut is made has brought back his guilt so he'll feel more compelled to destroy it as a kind of recompense. As such, its crucial he not fight it, and that's not even counting Ryuu and Alise who are in no way prepared to fight a monster worthy of a full expedition," the ex-captain replied.
The dark elf nodded.
"Then let us hurry."
The Juggernaut shot through the tunnels like a lightning bolt, salivating at the thought of finding the traitor. Finding its prey. Then…it found him.
"I heard fighting in the distance! We must be getting close!" Bell called as he, Ryuu, and Alise all unsheathed their weapons. However, none of them were prepared for their target to suddenly appear before them like a creature from the darkest of nightmares.
Reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah!
Ryuu's eyes widened as the creature that had haunted her for so long stood before her once again.
It…i-it really is alive once again.
CRASH!
She snapped back to reality as the beast's tail lashed out and brought down the tunnel from which it had arrived.
"It must be blocking the expedition!" Bell called.
"Doesn't matter! We came here fully prepared to fight it ourselves!" Alise cried before turning to her old friend. "RYUU!" The elf jumped and looked at her friend. "For the Astraea familia."
The fear in Ryuu's eyes finally dissipated as she took in the burning irises of her best friend and she nodded.
"For the Astraea familia."
"Raaaaa!"
The two turned back and found Bell was already engaging the Juggernaut, which rushed towards the snow-haired young man with single-minded focus.
"Come on!" Alise cried as she rushed forward, her best friend close behind.
Bell rushed at the great beast with the single-minded determination to destroy it.
For Ryuu. For Alise. For the Astraea familia. For everyone you've hurt. And, he swallowed back a bit of guilty bile, for myself.
With that last thought echoing in his mind, he met the Juggernaut's claws with a blow that shook the Dungeon.
"Gah!" Alise cried as she and Ryuu were blown back. "I was hoping our rank ups would be enough to match its strength, but it's way more powerful than before."
"Which means we have to use all our strength and cunning to defeat it," Ryuu replied as she watched with apprehension as Bell matched the creature blow for blow. "First, we have to break its shell so that we can freely use our magic."
"I'll handle that," her captain replied, earning a worried look from the elf. "Don't worry, this isn't going to be like last time. We know what we're fighting and we've got your boyfriend helping us out. All of us are making it home this time."
For once, Ryuu didn't blush at the jibe, she only nodded.
"I'll attack it from the rear. As long as Bell keeps it in combat, it won't be able to reflect my magic, but the sooner we destroy its reflective shell, the better chance we have of destroying it."
Alise nodded and the two ladies separated.
Bell continued to battle the Juggernaut, unaware of his friends' plan, not that he could have done much to help them given that he was barely managing to keep up with his foe.
It's fast. Faster than Ais or Dad. And it's strong, he thought as he deflected a blow that nearly knocked him off his feet, but I've never backed away from a tough enemy, he continued as his eyes hardened.
The Juggernaut, seeing his firm eyes felt the rage swell up inside its core.
I don't like those eyes of yours, traitor.
REEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAA!
The roar, which seemed to come out of nowhere to Bell, distracted him enough for the Juggernaut to attack.
"Ugh," Bell groaned as the Juggernaut's claws clashed with his knives and he felt the ground behind him crack and give way so that the beast before him could drag him halfway across the Dungeon.
Focus your rage, Bell thought as he closed his eyes. Scales began to grow across his face and his talons appeared. He opened his eyes as his draconic strength flowed through his veins, allowing him to finally stop the Juggernaut's charge.
His foe seemed shocked by the sudden power Bell displayed, which opened it up to a counterattack.
Acting quickly, Bell threw Hakugen at the beast as hard as he could, hitting its skull just above its left eye, making it cry out and stumble back. Not about to let the chance slip away, Bell charged, punching the beast square in the jaw, hard enough to break some of its reflective shell and force it down onto a knee. This allowed Bell to attack again and he slashed the downed leg with the Hestia knife, breaking off more of its shell.
Before he could attack again, however, the Juggernaut shot forward, mouth open and dagger-like teeth ready to devour his flesh. The Hestia captain just barely managed to bring his arms up to block the attack and even then, he could feel the razor sharp fangs cutting through his armguard and scrape against his white scales.
You are powerful, Typhon.
Bell blinked.
You…can speak…in my head?
The shock shook Bell's concentration, allowing the Juggernaut's jaw to close enough for its teeth to pierce his shoulder.
"Ugh!" Bell cried as he refocused on holding off his foe.
Why are you surprised, traitor? Surely speaking between our kind is to be expected? The Juggernaut hissed in his mind even as it attempted to force its fangs deeper into Bell's flesh.
Traitor? Our kind?
Before any answer could be given, a blur of red slammed into the Juggernaut's back, piercing its hide with a rapier.
The monster roared, more in annoyance than pain, allowing Bell to pull back and see Alise upon the beast's back.
"Get back, Bell!" Alise called.
The Hestia captain immediately did as she said and rushed backwards. Alise, once she saw he was safely away, was right behind him, jumping off the Juggernaut's back as it attempted to bifurcate her with its tail. It turned on the Astraea captain, ready to rid itself of this pest, when another voice called out.
"Luminous Wind!"
A tidal wave of green magic rushed past Ryuu and slammed into the ill-prepared Juggernaut, causing it to stumble as pain racked its body.
"Good job, Ryuu! Now let's finish this bastard!" Alise cried.
Bell, despite the questions still resounding in his mind, was ready to do just that when three familiar faces appeared at the end of the tunnel.
"BELL!" Achilles bellowed.
The Juggernaut turned to the new voice and, to its fury, three more adventurers had appeared, each one powerful enough to be a problem. As if that wasn't bad enough, the tunnel behind it burst open, allowing the adventurers from before to join.
NO! These vermin will interfere! I won't be able to punish the traitor with them all here!
You must capture Typhon! That is your primary goal above all else. To capture and bring him to us! The voices from the deep commanded.
How?!
Go for the elf! the voices commanded, She is close to him and he will desperately try to protect her. Use her as bait!
The elf? The Juggernaut's eyes turned to the blonde gnat glaring at him.
Needing no further invitation, the Juggernaut charged and appeared before the elf before she could even blink.
Ryuu's eyes widened as her old foe, her greatest nightmare appeared before her, claws raised and ready for the kill.
I'm dead.
"RYUU!"
Her eyes turned.
"Bell?" Ais stared in shock as she found her beloved rabbit battling the Juggernaut.
"Just couldn't stay away could they?" Finn sighed, shaking his head. "Surround the Juggernaut and hit it with everything you have! We destroy this monster tod-!"
"RYUU!"
Finn and everyone else shot back to the fight and stared in horror as Bell shot to intercept the Juggernaut that was now before Ryuu, ready to cut her down.
"Shit!" Achilles cursed as he unsheathed Dragonsbane. "Lightning Steps!" he cried.
But it was too late.
Time slowed for her. She watched as the young man who'd won her heart shot forward faster than Ais, Ottar, or even Achilles could manage. He was there in a split second. A thousandth of a second. There…right in front of her. Right in the path of the Juggernaut's claws.
That's how Ryuu learned that her greatest nightmare wasn't the Juggernaut itself. It was the sight of the Juggernaut's claws piercing the flesh and bone of her sweet Bell Cranel.
The first thing Bell felt was the wind getting knocked out of him. It was a strange sensation, and for a second, he wondered if Ryuu had punched him in the stomach. A peculiar thought, given the situation, but it was the only one he could initially come up with. Then the pain started to wrack every corner of his brain, compelling him to look down.
The Juggernaut's claws had pierced through his right hip, his stomach, and his left shoulder, causing a river of blood to flow down his torso and legs.
He then looked up at Ryuu whose eyes seemed even more shocked than his.
"BEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!"
Ais screamed out her lover's name as she and everyone around her stared in horror at the scene before them, too shocked to move until another piercing scream shook the Dungeon.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Alfia screamed as she finally comprehended the sight of her nephew's mangled body.
Without a second thought she launched at the beast, intent on tearing it apart, only for the accursed creature to raise Bell's body like a shield, forcing her to stop and allowing it to strike her with its tail, sending the Hera member crashing into the Dungeon.
The pest dealt with, the Juggernaut stared down at the traitor and smiled before throwing its head back.
"REEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" it roared triumphantly before throwing its enemy's body at the Dungeon wall with all its might.
Bell soared through the air, barely understanding what was happening, before his body slammed into the Dungeon wall with such force that the wall cracked and a wad of blood was forced from his mouth.
"Gah!"
Then…he fell. It was only for a couple of seconds, but for him it felt like hours before he finally crashed into the freezy water below and began to sink towards the bottom like a stone. Like a corpse.
Ryuu watched Bell fall, her eyes filled with the same horrible tears she had shed the day her familia was slaughtered.
She reached out to him just as his body disappeared into the dark water of the Dungeon.
"BEEEEEEELLLLL!"
I know, I'm a stinker. I didn't finish this chapter before Christmas like I hoped and I couldn't even manage it for New Years, AND I begin the year with a cliffhanger. I'm very sorry. At least about the first two parts. I've been suffering from a terrible lack of motivation lately, probably from a bit of writer's burnout and turning out even this short chapter took way more time than it should have. I know, I know, I'm always apologizing, but I swear, each time it is sincere as I don't like keeping you guys waiting. It's not fair to you all and I certainly don't want to abandon this story after nearly five years, a million words, and all the kind words you all have given me, so I'll keep working on improving myself. Good news is that I don't have my big project to distract me anymore. Yes, eventually, I'll be moving on to my third book, but for right now, I just want to relearn how to write merely for the enjoyment of it, which is precisely what Fanfiction is for. Anyway, enough of my yammering.
You all know the drill. Share your thoughts. Like it. Hate it. Think the quality of writing has dropped off or that my upload schedule is trash? Share it all in the reviews. I will also apologize to those who have sent me PMs. I know I've become absolute trash about responding. It's a mixture of Fanfiction no longer telling me when they come in, the previously mentioned lack of motivation, and sometimes, I just don't know how to respond to all the ideas and queries you send me. I know, dick move, but that's the truth of the matter. Again, I'll try to be better.
I know this is very late, but I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Season and I wish you all the happiest 2024! Bye for now.