The Fallen Argonaut
Rated; M (Blood/Gore)
Disclaimer; I do not own Danmachi or anything created by the author Fujino Ōmori, all rights go to him
Authors: Eli-er01 & ViceroyChalister
Summary: The will of a hero is strong, yet unwavering but all good things must come to an end, even at the cost of one's Heroic Will. Imprisoned and blamed for a crime he hadn't committed, Bell seeks a way out of his predicament so that he can live without fear of being hunted by the people he once looked up to.
3: Escape
Normal POV
=Kauhea Forbande, Underground=
Bell quickly got out of his bed. He slipped the shiv into his sleeve, making sure to keep it as inconspicuous as possible. Once the guards came to his cell, they opened the door and led him towards the showers. Once he arrived, he made sure that the shiv was well hidden before turning the shower on.
He flinched slightly at the cold water, but relished in it at the same time. As he finished cleaning his body thoroughly, he exited the shower and spotted Hayden, who smirked and gave a nod towards Bell who returned the gesture without the smirk. They got dressed and met up outside the doors to the cafeteria.
"You ready?" Hayden asked, smiling at Bell who returned an emotionless nod. They opened the door to be greeted by a full house. The only table that had two spots was the one that had been taken up by Poh, who waved at them.
Bell and Hayden nodded at him before going to get their food, Hayden being the one who nodded at a couple of men who they passed.
'So they are the ones that are starting everything' Bell concluded as he took the sorry excuse of 'food' into his hands. Once they sat down, Bell heard Hayden whisper something about 'Matter of time'.
Bell indulged in the food no matter the taste, knowing the nutrients will be put to great use later today. Hell who knows how long it's going to be until his next meal, if everything goes to plan.
"So, Poh, what are we all waiting for?" Bell asked after swallowing.
"We are waiting for Daxter to arrive. He is scheduled to get here any minute now" Bell nodded as he forced the last of his food down before drinking the last of his water.
Once that was done, the doors opened for the scheduled guard shift change. Bell saw Daxter being one of the guards.
Bell's eyes turned to the side of the men Hayden had nodded at earlier, seeing the scan through the guards before stopping, their mouths lifting up into smirks.
The men rose up with their plates and headed towards the bin as if they were done with their meal and were cleaning up.
The guards only batted an eye for a split second before returning to finishing the change, seeing nothing wrong with the approaching prisoners.
The men walked past Daxter, and emptied their plates, and only after the guards that were here before Daxters group, did they make their move.
They started heading back, but when they were behind Daxter, the man that seemed to be the leader of their gang grabbed Daxter by the throat and plunged a hidden shiv into it making the man gurgle in his blood, before it started flowing out and spewing everywhere around him.
For a split second, time froze for Bell as he was reminded of the carnage he once committed, but quickly threw those thoughts out of his head. The next second, all hell broke loose. Prisoners rose up, handmade weapons in their hands as they all rushed the guards who tried to desperately grab their swords.
Before they could, they were overwhelmed with the sheer amount of prisoners that came down on them at once. The place started to resemble what had happened after Bell was done with his rampage. The floor had basically become a land of corpses, blood flowing like rivers in all directions.
"COME ON!" He heard the man that led the prisoners scream as they all ran through the doorway towards the elevator. The next second, a large alarm bell could be heard, reverberating through the ground signaling a prison riot.
Hayden motioned for Poh and Bell to follow. The two obliged as they followed behind the inmates who headed towards the elevator. They stopped in front of the blocked off hallway, and snuck in between the gaps. The place was relatively dark, but there were lanterns on the walls, slightly illuminating the area.
As they continued forward, they eventually met a dead end. Poh looked around, before he reached up and grabbed an unlit torch. He pulled down as there was a mechanical sound.
The wall at the end of the hallway started to shake as it was pushed back, before it was brought up into the roof, revealing yet another elevator, exactly as Poh previously described. They walked inside the elevator and pressed the button that wasn't lit to indicate their current floor. The elevator started moving down as the wall they just opened was shut tightly.
The elevator continued it's descent for quite a while before it finally stopped before the wall in front of them opened up. The room they were in looked...abandoned. Spider webs were all over the corners between the roof and walls, showcasing how badly maintained this place was.
As they continued down the hallway, lights could be seen in the background, flickering as if a torch had been lit.
Bell drew his shiv, a bad feeling in his gut. They continued forward before looking around where the lights were lit. Bell held his shiv hard as the hair on his necks rose up, causing a chill to go through his spine.
"Bell is everything alri-" Before Hayden could finish the question, Bell jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding an arrow hitting him in the back.
After rolling on the ground, Bell looks behind him to see a guard who held a crossbow, before it was disposed of in favor of a sword.
Bell readied his shiv but before he knew it, the man had launched himself halfway towards Bell who tilted his head to the side, just in time to avoid the blade.
This man seemed to have a falna, level 1 at most since he's not fast enough to be invisible to Bell's eyes.
The guard launched himself at Bell again as the blade slid against his skin as he narrowly dodged the attack, blood starting to seep from the cut.
"Wait, please stop! I don't want to fi-" Bell tried to reason before the man tackled Bell to the ground before trying to dig the sword into his chest.
Bell quickly hit the sword with his fist, sending it flying to the side as the guard instead started aiming punches at Bell's face.
Bell continued to avert the hits, but the unending barraged eventually managed to land one strike, before the guard took a grip of his throat.
"Wait... Please... I... Just... want..." Before it was too late and he ran out of air. Bell brought his knee up full speed into the side of the mans back. At first it did nothing, but as he kept hitting the guard, he eventually relented and let go.
Bell breathed for air, before pulling a hand free and smashing it into the guards plated head, sending a shock of pain whirling through his body. Bell ignored it before looking back at the guard who was shaking his head
"Please... I don't want to fight. I just want to get out of this place and... end it..." Bell said the last part very quietly as he peeked up at the guard who stood there for a minute.
As Bell started getting some hope of the guard giving up, he started to move his legs in a full on sprint towards the sword to the side. After picking it up the man launched another attack with the sword which Bell yet again dodged before parrying the attack with one swift motion, relying on the training he gained from Ais.
"Please! Stop! I'm begging you! I don't want to hurt you" Bell all but screamed between attacks that were clearly aimed to take Bell's life. Bell's mind was reeling, all he wanted was to get out, and just end it. He didn't want to hurt anyone in any way to achieve that but this man didn't want to stop. Bell steeled his conscience and decided to do the only thing he could think of to end it.
Bell intentionally let the man hit him on the head. He rushed forward, sword pointing towards Bell as he seemed disoriented, but unbeknownst to the man, Bell tilted his body to the side last moment, and drove the shiv into the man's wrist, forcing him to drop the sword and scream out in pain.
'A finishing blow is the closest thing to letting your guard down and just when you've almost been beaten is when you truly have a chance' The teachings of Ais reverberated through his body to the core as he used that exact tactic against the man who had superior abilities than him.
Bell flinched at the scream before pulling the shiv out of the wrist and pushing the sword behind him with his foot.
"Please... Just stop fighting. I don't want to have to hurt you anymore than this" Bell pleaded to the man who held his wrist and shaking.
"I can help you with the wound to the best of my ability but... just don't try to fight me" Bell continued to try to end the conflict with as little fighting as possible but the guard just didn't seem to want to have it. Much to Bell's horror, once Bell got close enough, the guard grabbed Bell's wrist and threw him to the ground and put his knee to his throat.
Poh and Hayden finally decided to get involved and ran to grab the mans arms. The moment they touched the guard, they were met with a fist to the face as he stood up and hit the hard enough to go down, groaning. Bell coughed as he got onto his knees to get back his bearings.
Meanwhile the guard had retrieved his sword and swung it at Bell, forcing him to guard the attack with his measly shiv.
A crack could be heard in the weapon as it broke in half and Bell stumbled back and feel to the ground, the point of the sword following him downwards. Before the point could hit Bell, he managed to grab the sword in his palms and squeezed so hard that blood fell dripped down from his hands at an alarming rate. Bell's face contorted in fear as he looked around, trying to find anything to help him.
Eventually his eyes landed on the broken shiv to his side, still sharp enough to cut, but not fit for clashing with another blade. Bell reached for it and grabbed it, but before he did anything, his hand froze as a decision was put before his eyes. One he never wanted to have to be forced to make.
The tip of the sword, drenched in Bell's blood was slowly coming down as it was gliding though his grip. The tip trying with all it's might to pierce the skin that protected his heart and lungs.
The angle his shiv hand was at only allowed for one way to attack as the plated armor protected his sides and the exposed parts weren't in sight from that angle. The only open part being much higher, and being much deadlier. More tears started to fall down his eyes. This wasn't like the blind rage when he tried to save Hestia. He wasn't beyond reason. He knew what he was doing and the action he was committing, and this was full blown murder if he decided on that option, but what else could he choose.
As the tip of the guards blade touched Bell's skin, he closed his eyes, preparing for the worst but.
"GUH!?" Bell opened his eyes, before they fell into despair at seeing his own hand, holding the shiv which had made itself comfortable within the throat of the guard.
The man looked surprised at the very least before panic quickly filled his eyes. Bell just let go of the shiv, and threw the sword from the mans limp arm to the side. The guard fell to the side as he thrashed around violently, blood spurting out into his hands quickly and flowing onto the ground like a river in bursts.
Bell crawled backwards quickly before meeting a wall, hyperventilating as he looked at his hands, and seeing one drenched in blood again. His sight started to spin as his hyperventilation got worse.
"Oh god... Oh god..." Bell muttered in short breaths as the events from but 2 weeks ago flashed before his eyes. He could almost see the bodies and blood surrounding him. As the feelings just got worse, eventually Bell just exploded
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Bell screamed at the top of his lungs before smashing his head into the wall behind him, letting the tears flow down his face.
"I did it again..." He muttered sadly. He sat there for a good minute before he heard two groans
Bell turned to look at Poh and Hayden who seemed to have gotten back up and were looking around. Eventually their eyes landed on the limp form of the now clearly dead guard before they fell on Bell, leaning on the wall with tears in his eyes.
"Wow, you actually killed him..." Hayden gasped. Bell nodded sadly in response before getting up and sighing trying his best to not let the memories affect him. Bell swiped the tears from his eyes before looking at the guard. His eyes darkened before they fell half closed in sadness. Before it could get worse, he shook his head before stumbling towards the sword on the ground and picking it up.
He held the sword in his hand as he stared at it, a flash of it almost piercing his skin flew across his mind, making Bell shake his head again. Bell looked forward to see a door that had a lock on it.
Bell turned around and walked up to the dead guard, before spotting his keychain. He closed his eyes, silently begging for forgiveness before he unattached it from his belt and started testing key after key on the door.
Eventually, he found the right key as a loud click was heard. The mechanical wheels on it started moving as a series of clicks could be heard as if locks were being unsealed.
Once the noise stopped, he pushed at the door with all his might, making the door slowly open. Poh and Hayden seeing this decided to help out and did the same. The door opened eventually as the three stopped and panted until they felt like they could walk again.
Once that was done, Bell took a torch from the wall and walked inside, only to find it already lit.
Feeling dumb at brining the torch, Bell threw it on the stone floor before continuing down towards a large pedestal. Once he reached a certain distance from it, he walked over a pressure plate, causing the floor at the center of the pedestal to open up, before a kind of cage was brought up. It was made of metal with glass adorning most of it with a man inside, sitting on a chair.
Bell walked closer as the man inside looked at the visitors with a surprised expression.
"Well this is unexpected" Bell stared at the man, inspecting his features.
His black hair long with two cadet gray locks of hair to the man's left side. His eyes were completely gray as he inspected his visitors. The clothing he had was that of a suit with an undone purple tie and a white buttoned shirt.
"Has Ouranos finally allowed other visitors to visit good old me?" He asked jokingly as Bell continued to inspect him.
The man was about to retort something else before his eyes stopped at Bell.
"Wait… aren't you…?" He asked Bell who just raised an eyebrow
"Are you perhaps the son of Meteria and Mathias? Nephew of Alfia?" Bell furrowed his eyebrows in confusion
"I have never heard of these people before" Bell said, half lying, recognizing the name of Alfia from Hermes. The man ignored it and continued to stare Bell up and down
"You have Meteria's hair but clearly got 'his' eyes" Bell just looked more confused now
"What are you talking about"
"Is your name perhaps… Bell?" Bell doubled back in confusion. How did this man that looked like he had been locked up for years know him?
"How do you know that?" Bell asked as the man laughed.
"Oh how fate seems to have a funny way of working" The man exclaimed.
"Can you stop for one moment and answer my question? Who are you?" The man stopped before smiling at Bell
"I am the god of malevolence" Bell looked up before shaking his head
"Never heard of you" The man laughed again
"That's to be expected, they wanted to keep me out of the history books. You may recognize my other name though. Erebus" Bell stopped, he definitely recognized that name from Hermes on the 18th floor. He had taken him to a grave and basically just talked about it. That god was Erebus.
"God of malevolence huh… god…" Bell muttered as a possibility clicked in his head. But that would mean he would have to... but what does it matter now. He has already become a murderer
"That I am" Erebus answered back with a chuckle
"Let's make a deal, Erebus. If you give me something, I will get you out of here" Bell proposed, making Erebus' brows quirk upwards in surprise.
"Oh? What could you want from me?" Bell stared into the gods grey eyes before giving his proposal.
"Your blessing. I have prior experience as an adventurer and it would help us tremendously with getting out of here, including you" Erebus just stared for a second before shaking his head. A second later he burst out laughing maniacally
"Is that all? Then it's a done deal" Bell nodded as he walked forward. On the sides of the cage, there were levers. Bell pulled one, which released one side, but as soon as he let it go, it bounced back up into place.
There were two in total, and because of it, he turned around and motioned for Poh or Hayden to pull the other one. Poh scurried to the lever and pulled it, and when Bell did the same, the glass fell to the ground with a loud bang.
'It was done' Bell thought before shaking his head again. Also, the glass was very sturdy it seemed, since it didn't break after falling to the ground. No wonder there were no scratches on it. As Bell was inspecting the fallen glass, deity walked out before breathing in and out.
"Even though it's not outside, it still smells better" He muttered sarcastically, making Bell snort against his will. Erebus turned his attention to Bell, and opened his mouth.
"Show me your back, I will give you my blessing" Bell hesitated for a second before nodding and turning around, pulling his shirt up. Erebus picked up a rock with a sharp edge and slashed his hand hard, causing himself to bleed more than required before positioning his hand above Bell's back.
He formed a knuckle and squeezed, making blood fall on Bell's back quickly, all of Erebus ichor seeping into his skin. A light formed as a black symbol started to materialize like a tattoo.
The symbol resembles a dual headed dragon, screeching up into the sky with it's twin heads looking in opposite directions. If Bell could see it, his first thoughts would be of how malevolent a dragon is. Fitting for the God of Malevolence.
For Bell, everything became different. His senses improved drastically as his former status was bestowed to him, the world slowed down, his hearing, sight, smell etc. improving. The room was still dark, but there was a noticeable difference with what one could see before compared to now.
As Erebus stepped back, Bell rose and pulled down his shirt before sighing, knowing he had now willingly allowed the god of malevolence to give him his ichor.
"At least one thing has improved..." he muttered without thinking before turning around, seeing Erebus nod quietly.
"It should be. I only looked at your level without updating it, and I got to say, for someone so young, you're doing really good. I mean, level 3? Not a lot of people can get to where you are" Bell nodded at him, knowing full well that it was impressive, not to mention the time it took for him to do it.
"Are you two done, or are we getting out of here?" Bell turned towards Hayden's voice as he nodded
"Since this is a dead end, we should try to see if there is another way ou-" Hayden tried to say before Bell interrupted him
"No, we can walk straight through. I got my status back, it should be enough" Poh just stared at him before snapping out of his stupor
"You know that some of the guards are level 2 right?" Bell chuckled
"Yeah? Well I am level 3" the two had a big 'O' on their faces, understanding what he meant.
"I can handle them, so let's go and stay behind me" The two nodded as Bell led the now 3 people towards the elevator.
'How should I do this? Even with my status, it would be hard to get out with just fighting them head on. Maybe…' Bell thought as he looked at his hand 'Yeah… That would work. Just gotta be careful not to overdo it, Don't want a carnage on my hands again... One person is enough...' Bell finished sadly
He pulled up his second hand and looked at the weapon he had gotten from the guard. It was practically a standard issue, something only useful for a level 1 in the early and mid stages. If he used his full strength… he would no doubt break the blade.
Bell shook his head as they reached the elevator and started going back up. Erebus seemed to inspect his surroundings quite a lot, but Bell could understand why. He seems to have been trapped down there for 7 years. Before they take their own paths, he would have to ask him how he's still on Gekai, after all, Hermes had said that he was sent back to Tenkai.
They continued to go higher and higher, and once they reached the floor they originally were on, they walked to the next elevator.
Eventually they entered the elevator all the other inmates had gone too. Wanting to say something, Bell turned to the others.
"Alright, you all stay behind me, I will handle the guards. It will most likely be total chaos in there with all the inmates causing a ruckus" Hayden and Poh nodded as Erebus simply looked at Bell with mild interest.
"Alright then, let's get this over with" Bell said as they started hearing screams and swords clashing above them.
Eventually the elevator came to a stop and in front of them, the guards were overwhelming the prisoners, mostly because they had superior equipment and because there seemed to be guards that were moving quiet a lot faster than the average human.
'Level 2?' Bell questioned in his head. Didn't seem too far stretched, after all, this was supposed to be the most secure prison in Gekai.
Bell walked forward as one guard seemed to spot him. The guard smirked and rushed forwards, sword pointing towards Bell.
Bell simply stepped to the side, parrying the sword upwards, causing the man to gasp as his stomach was left wide open and a knee went flying into it.
The guard spewed out the contents of his bowels as he took a couple of steps back, but before he could get his bearings, Bell kicked him in the head, sending him down to the ground, unconscious.
'Good, no need for more blood'
Some of the other guards seemed to notice this and also tried the same thing only to quickly find out why that man lost.
At this point, all the prisoners apart from Bell, Poh, Hayden and Erebus had been taken down meaning that all guards had their attention on them.
Bell looked around, noticing that some of the guards seemed to have much superior equipment to the others.
They also had become less carefree in their attacks on him since the first couple of guards didn't really fare well.
Bell still rewarded them with a swift kick to the stomach and head. That was until one of the guards with superior equipment came forward. His speed was much faster than Bell had expected, forcing him to block with his sword.
As the swords clashed, Bell noticed the cracking in his blade causing Bell's eyes to widen with realization.
'Is that why they had better equipment? Are they former level 3 adventurers or something? From what I hear, people outside Orario rarely get to level 2, let alone level 3!' Bell thought as he sloppily let the enemies sword glide down his own to put the guard off balance.
That didn't work as the man didn't even have to recover since his footing was good enough to stay up right.
The man didn't let Bell have any breathing room as their swords clashed over and over, Bell's blade losing it's durability at a rapid pace.
'Guess I already have use it' Bell thought as he started to multi-task, focusing on his imagination and fighting.
White particles started forming around Bell's hands as the cheering from the other guards started up at seeing Bell slowly being pushed back into a corner.
"Yeah! Get him captain!" One of the guards screamed as others threw out similar cheers, trying to give encouragement to the guard in front of Bell.
Poh and Hayden were getting a little scared at the turn of events, but Erebus didn't bat an eye at that. He was instead mesmerized by the white shining lights around Bell's hands that were slowly enveloping his entire body and making a soft ringing sound that was getting louder and louder.
To Erebus, this ability was so similar to 'her' magic. The ringing sounded so similar to her magic's activation noise.
*Crack*
Bell's sword was cut in half as he started to use his body more as on the defensive, using his nimble and fast movements to avoid the guards blade.
He could feel it, his mind was draining at a rapid pace as his skill was absorbing it to generate active action.
He kept dodging and dodging until his mind wasn't draining anymore, and the sound of the bell rang loud and clear, causing confusion in the eyes of the others.
Bell jumped back, knowing internally that what he was about to do would be extremely dangerous.
Bell put his hand up towards the guard as said guard stopped and started laughing.
"What are you supposed to do? Chant a spell?" He said, clearly not understanding the danger he was in
"You're not wrong… but not entirely right as well," Bell said before opening his mouth wider, trying to limit the output before a certain goddess came into his mind.
The blade sliced her throat, releasing the divine blood to splatter on the debris on the side
A single tear fell down his cheek. As his mouth refused to move.
'Am I seriously about to do this again? My Argonaut is fully charged and would surely kill them... I... Can't...' Bell thought sadly as the guard started moving towards Bell, chuckling still.
"FIREBOLT!" Bell's mouth moved on it's own. Almost as if his body was naturally trying to protect itself from death with any means possible as the flames exploded from his palm at full force. Bell's eyes widened as he clenched his fist on his wrist as the flames were hot enough to slightly burn him.
If it weren't for the noise of the exploding flames, Bell would have heard the screams in front of him, and within a second or two, a loud boom could be heard.
*BOOM*
Once that happened, Bell's legs gave in as he flew back, luckily stopping the firebolt at the same time.
He crashed into a wall, causing the wall to cave inwards as Bell fell to the ground, bleeding out of his mouth slightly. Erebus looked at Bell as he got back up and simply wiped the blood off his face, ignoring the pain he was in.
Poh and Hayden were too distracted to care about what happened to Bell, their jaws almost hitting the floor. Bell looked forward before only then understanding why.
"Not...Again" Bell muttered through gasps
The magnificent building that Bell had seen before entering the prison had collapsed in on itself, and in front of them was the enormous building's rubble on the ground.
The tallest part of the building was still mostly intact, but only in the sense of it not being in pieces. It was on the other hand laying on it's side, Bell's firebolt incinerating the underside of it, making the main reason the part had fallen sideways onto the ground.
Erebus chuckled as he addressed Bell.
"That is some firepower you've got there. It reminds me of Alfia's Genos Angelus which was a sight to see" Bell frowned at the mention of Alfia again. Why was he making so many references of her?
He decided to ignore it as he got up to inspect the debris. He could see bodies buried here and there, an arm sticking up under some rubble. All of them charred to the bones. Bell's eyes lit up in horror at his actions before falling down on his knees, his body shaking during the entire time.
'Just another reason for me to end it...' Bell thought, his mind filled with self deprecating thoughts.
Erebus put a hand on his shoulder, prompting Bell to look up. Erebus looked down at Bell before looking down towards the ground quickly before reverting his gaze back at Bell.
Bell looked at where Erebus had, seeing the ground, lit by sunlight before understanding that he meant they had to leave. Bell nodded, forcing himself to stop shaking before standing up. He took a deep breath, in and out before carefully walking down, and into the light.
He put his arms and hands in front of his face as the sunlight nearly blinded him. He has been stuck underground for so long that the sun's bright rays were blinding to the eyes.
It took Bell a solid minute to get used to the light before looking behind him, seeing the other three reaching the ground
"We're free… I CAN'T BELIEVE WE ARE FREE!" Hayden screamed as he hugged Poh while laughing. Said person returned the gesture as the two hugged it out. Erebus didn't really do much, just simply sitting down and closing his eyes.
Once Poh and Hayden were done, they walked up to Bell with a smile
"Hey, I just wanted to thank you before we go our own ways. Me and Poh are most likely going to head to the far east since we aren't wanted there" Bell nodded before smiling slightly
"Don't mention it. I hope things turn out alright for you two" Bell responded as the three shook hands. The two left, before Bell turned around towards Erebus who had gotten up and started walking towards Bell.
"Hey, let me update your status before we do anything else," Bell thought about it for a second.
"Alright, but let me find a piece of paper" Bell said
Bell ran back to the elevator where some desks were still remaining, blank paper being piled upon one of them. Once Bell got back to Erebus, he gave the piece of paper and pulled his shirt up to let the falna show.
Erebus bit the tip of his finger hard, making it bleed before getting to work. He hadn't done this since he last updated Alfia's and Zald's 7 years ago. As he worked through the status, his eyes started to widen to the size of plates.
"Liaris Freeze…?" Erebus gasped, causing Bell to get confused
"What's that? Is that a new skill?" He asked as Erebus froze, wondering if he was joking.
"You're kidding? It's your first skill since it's placed in the first slot, the second being Argonaut" Erebus explained as Bell frowned
"I have never heard of it" At that, Erebus chuckled
"That would mean your old god kept it from you" Erebus said as Bell frowned slightly.
Meanwhile, on Erebus' side a certain digit moved causing him to smile at the boy under him. He was even more incredible than he thought.
He finished updating the status before copying the status on Bell's back on the paper Bell handed to him. Once that was done, Bell took the parchment and read it over before stopping at a certain point. Erebus instantly knew that it was on Liaris Freeze.
"So… That is why I grow so fast…" Bell said quietly "And this new skill…" Bell was thinking before Erebus interrupted him.
"Not only that, but you can level up as well" Bell looked at Erebus before sighing, knowing that it wouldn't matter with his end goal.
"The development abilities you have to choose between are Escape and Psych" Erebus said looking at Bell with a tiny hint of a smile.
"We don't have to level me up, since we are going our own ways anyway" Bell said, before Erebus waved his hand at him
"About that… I have been stuck down there for quite some time and was desperate to get out, and didn't really think about what I would do after or where I would go. Orario is out of the question with them completely hating me" Erebus said, chuckling as Bell nodded
"So, I decided that I would like to come with you until I figure things out" Bell sighed
"I don't know, I was thinking about either going back to my home village or Orario" Bell said, trying to dissuade Erebus.
"I wouldn't do that since they would probably kill you on sight if you were sent here as an ex-adventure. That leaves your village which would be just fine for me. I can figure things out from there" Bell couldn't find a way out so he just sighed and complied
"Fine, update my status if you wish. Take whichever development ability you want" Bell said as Erebus repeated the actions of earlier.
Name: Bell Cranel
Lv 3 - 4
Status:
{STR} A-812 - SS-1002 - I-0
{VIT} A-855 - SS-1153 - I-0
{DEX} A-814 - SS-1001 - I-0
{AGI} S-998 - SSS-1311 - I-0
{MAG} B-777 - SS-1189 - I-0
Magic:
Firebolt: Swift strike magic. Casts a bolt of fire and electricity on command that explodes on impact upon impacting any surface.
Skills:
Liaris Freeze: Precocious Maturation. The effect is maintained so long as the user maintains their feelings, and the effect is heightened depending on how strong these feelings are (Current Bonus: 1045%)
Argonaut: Heroic strike, the possibility of turning any situation around with an overwhelming amount of force. Able to be dual charged but drains massive amounts of mind power.
Scourge: Raises the power of the user exponentially depending on the amount of Malice the user lets out
Development Abilities:
Luck: H
Abnormal Resistance: H
Psych: I
Once the status was updated, Bell's eyes widened as he started shuddering. Tears started to fall as he sat down on the ground as his mind was reeling.
"What… What the hell…" Bell muttered as Erebus just stared
"Guess that's the effect of the new development ability" He said, Bell now staring at him with wet eyes
"I don't know what has happened to you, but whatever it is seems to have taken a large toll on your mental health, large enough to generate the ability, Psych"
Bell let his head lay on the sand outside, staring into the blazing sun from between his fingers. One of his hands were on his face as he felt like a complete idiot
"I actually wanted to kill myself…" He muttered as his mind started to settle down
"This development ability helps stabilize your mental state, as well as protects you from mental attacks to a certain degree depending on the grade of the ability from my understanding" Erebus explained
"Guess it helped clear your head?" He finished.
"Seems so..." Came Bell's answer as the two fell into a silence.
After a while, Bell got up before dusting himself off.
"Well, I kind of feel stupid now" Bell retorted to himself causing Erebus to chuckle
"Perhaps. By the way, are we getting out of here? Someone is bound to investigate that sooner or later" Erebus said as he pointed towards the now destroyed prison behind him.
Bell chuckled as he nodded
"Yeah, you've got a point. No reason to stay here, though... I don't really know where we are gonna go. Orario is a no go like you said, and my home village would probably know the news already. How about we just see where the road takes us?" Bell suggested as Erebus shrugged his shoulders.
Bell got up on his feet before wiping the tears from his face before clearing his mind. It still hurt thinking about everything that happened but at least not as much.
Erebus started to head in the opposite direction from the prison before Bell started following.
The two walked away together, leaving the prison behind, and not long after, carriages passing by started noticing the major change to the scenery.
=2 days later, Orario=
The city had gone into an uproar, people were panicking left and right at the news of the destruction of the prison known for holding the worst criminals in Gekai.
The guild had their hands full with people and adventurers alike asking questions left and right about the prison that was reduced to rubble even though they didn't have any jurisdiction when it came to it. The employees themselves were internally losing their minds as this was the last thing they needed after the uproar with the monsters who had managed to slip by the Loki Familias grasp.
Under a certain headquarters, there was a god, sitting on a pedestal alongside a fool.
"What have you found out, Fels?" The god said to Fels who raised an oculus, showcasing the prison from birds eye view.
"The Ganesha familia are currently investigating the rubble and pulling out charred bodies, but before they arrived, I managed to reach 'his' cell, Lord Ournaos" Ouranos took in the answer before addressing his friend once again.
"Was he there?" he asked as Fels shook his head
"The contraption seems to have opened. I also found a body with a homemade knife stuck in their throat down there. Most likely, two inmates made it down there" Ouranos put his hand to his face and sighed.
"Why would anyone release that god?" He muttered as Fels opened his mouth once again.
"I do not know lord Ouranos, but I fear for our mutual friend's life after what I saw of what the Ganesha familia found. Those corpses are unrecognizable" Ouranos knew instantly who he meant.
"Bell Cranel, I assume?" Fels nodded
"Hm, I would say that he is more resourceful than most. Let's not worry until we find out otherwise"
"As you wish, Lord Ouranos" Fels said before taking his leave. Ouranos took the time to contemplate the meaning of the events.
"That god will sooner than later turn up, and all I can do is hope it's not like last time" Ouranos muttered out loud as the severity of his escape started to hit him full force
=4 Days later, Town of Agris=
Bell and Erebus had traveled due south from the location of Kauhea Forbande for almost a week. The plains of desert rocks unending until, eventually arriving in a town Bell had heard of called Agris. He had visited this town quickly after the wargame to buy some supplies meaning that they were currently around south-east of Orario.
That gave him a general Idea of where he was and the geography around him.
Now that Bell was thinking clearly, he knew that he wanted to clear his name. He didn't want to be remembered as a traitor by everyone, especially Ais. Bell shook his head remembering that she didn't come to visit him. Didn't give him a chance to explain.
Escaping his thoughts, Bell looked around, seeing the evening sky and the burning sun. He had just gotten some free water from a kind man that had just gotten some from the local well. Luckily, this town is out of touch with Orario meaning that they don't know anything that has happened there since the war game. These people still see Bell as an adventurer and treat him nicely since they got a good impression the first time he visited.
Right now on the other hand, Bell wanted to get a quick job or request in order to earn some valis. Him and Erebus had no currency at all, meaning that they would starve to death before they would escape the barren fields of sand of the south east from Orario.
Erebus right now wasn't within the town since they knew about him, so Bell was going around alone, looking for a job to do, hopefully a quest that earned him enough for supplies to escape this sun-scorched land.
Bell eventually arrived at the local bar, since this place doesn't have a guild office, this is the best place to find any jobs that are available. Bell walked up to the counter, being greeted by the barmaid with a smile.
"Well, isn't it the local favorite adventure. What can I do for you?" Bell smiled with a tiny chuckled
"Oh, I just wondered if there were any odd jobs available. I'm looking to earn some valis" The barmaid smiled, before her face morphed into a thoughtful expression
"I don't know. Most jobs are taken care of already apart from…" Bell's ears and eyes perked up at the pause.
"There is a current problem with our old well. You see, we have recently dug a new well, but the water is not nearly as clean as we need it to be" Bell gimanched for a second, remembering that the water he was given did have some mud in it, somehow.
"The reason for this is that a sand worm had put up a nest by the well, meaning we can't go near without risking our lives. There is a bounty up for the monster's subjugation but no one has taken it and the price has risen all the way to 20 000 valis" Bell gawked at the ridiculous amount of valis for a sand worm. Sure, the monster usually only spawns on the 46th to 49th floor and is a monster only level 4's or above can effectively fight.
On the other hand, the surface version of it is barely strong enough to match a Minotaur according to one of Eina's long study sessions. Since Bell is a level 4 mpw, this was like saying 'If you do this easy task, we will give you a lot of valis'.
"Alright then, I will take the quest. Just point me in the direction of the monster" The barmain smiled as she gave him directions before Bell thanked her. He quickly made his leave and headed outside the city before heading towards the location Erebus was waiting.
Once he arrived, Erebus was leaning on a rock, looking borned to no end.
"You know, you should dye that hair of yours. It would help with people not recognizing you" Bell suggested as he arrived. Erebus peeked up and nodded slightly.
"I might just take that into consideration. Did you find anything worthwhile?" Erebus asked as Bell nodded
"Yeah, a quest to kill a surface sandworm. It should be manageable and the reward is 20 000 Valis" Bell heard Erebus whistle, impressed by the amount for one monster.
"That's a hefty price for a single monster, you sure it isn't a trick?" Bell nodded
"Yeah, these people are out of touch from Orario and should have no idea of recent events. Plus, last time I was here, they seemed to like me a lot" Erebus nodded before he motioned for Bell to lead the way.
Bell smirked as he took the lead down the dried, heated land. The small trip should only take around 10 minutes. The wells aren't that far away from the towns that use them for convenience.
"While we walk, why don't you start telling me about yourself Erebus? On the way to the town, I did tell you about myself" Said god contemplated for but a second before nodding.
"I came down to this world to cause Chaos. That is… was my only goal with my existence. I have always thought of Evil as something absolute, something that will always exist. Mostly, I did small things here and there until the time after Zeus and Hera familia's faced off against the One Eyed Black Dragon" Bell nodded as he listened to the story
"I met up with two members from the two familias, Zald and Alfia near the beginning of the promised time, which will happen within the next decade or so. Because of the arrival of this time was closing in, I wanted to find a new hero for Orario, and the rest of the mortals due to the weakness that had clearly infected Orario. So me, Alfia, Zald and a couple of others took upon the role of chaos. We created a great challenge for Orario to overcome in order for them to reach new heights"
"What is this Promised time?" Bell asked as Erebus looked towards Bell.
"That is a question I cannot answer. We gods, good and bad, made a pact to not share information of future events, no matter the severity of them, only to prepare them" Bell nodded, understanding his reasoning.
"Anyway, We created this challenge and they overcame it. From what I have heard, it allowed the current king of Orario to reach level 7, though that isn't anywhere near enough…"
"The events also made me look at things differently. Astraea, the goddess of justice told me that my evil isn't something absolute, but instead inevitable. It's something that's needed to make the world a better place. I have now had 7 years to ponder her words and come to a conclusion" Bell nodded as he quietly asked what he came up with.
"That she was right. Evil cannot exist without good, but the same goes for the other way around, if evil didn't exist, how would we be able to tell the difference between good and bad? It's through evil that we are able to understand the good deeds people do, and allow the world to appreciate these deeds. That's why I have taken a vow that my evil will remain, but I won't let it govern me, since if I do, then there is no way for me to tell if I'm doing anything good, or bad" Bell thought about it for a second before nodding.
"It makes sense, so you basically want to continue your deeds, but also do something good?" Erebus nodded
"It's hard to explain, but that's what I have decided upon" Bell smiled before he stopped walking.
"Well, we have arrived at the location, let me take the lead, the sandworm from what I was taught likes to ambush their prey" Bell said before he started walking towards the well.
As he got closer, he started getting a bad feeling and before he knew it, the ground started to shake slightly before turning into near full on earthquake.
Bell leaped to the side as the ground underneath his previous location was consumed in a massive jaw. This was the one thing that made the sand worm scary. It can sneak attack, but the weakness is the practicality of the attacks. If underground, they always go underneath their prey.
Bell, on his back now quickly jumped back up on his feet and reached for his daggers just to remember that they weren't there. The sand worm turned to Bell and launched itself with it's massive mouth opened wide.
"FIREBOLT!" Bell screamed as the flames were sent into the stomach of the monster. As a response, it flinched back and burrowed into the ground, most likely to put out the internal flames with sand.
At this, Bell ran as far away from Erebus and the well he could to cause the least damage and minimal damage to properties.
Eventually the rumbling started again. Bell jumped to the side, much like before but instead of aiming his hand, he jumped forward, clenching his fists as he launched it into the side of the worm.
The scales caved in as the worm was pushed to the side by the force. Bell's eyes widened as he landed. He took a look at his fists only to notice a kind of red mist surrounding him and at that moment, it was gone.
The screech from the monster pulled Bell's mind back into battle as he got ready for the worm to strike again.
The worm launched itself forward, but at the last second as Bell dodged, twisted slightly, and just enough for Bell's leg to get caught on the edge of the monster's mouth.
At that moment, the worm thrashed it's head to the side, impacting Bell's now turned body, slamming him into a nearby rock. The rock shattered as dust filled the area that surrounded the now demolished rock.
As the dust started to dissipate, Bell's silhouette stood up, checking his limbs before twisting his head to the side, glaring at the monster as his eyes started to glow a tint of red and the now more obvious red mist started to envelop him even more.
To the monster, the pressure from it's opponent was nothing like it was now. It was like it was an ant trying to kill a giant. The pressure ended up being too much as the worm flinched back, giving Bell a split second of time which he used to leap forward at immense speeds before launching his fist into it's wormlike body.
Blood spewed from the worm's mouth as Bell's fist was embedded within its body and the area around the impact now being severely caved in.
Bell pulled his fist back with all his might, causing some of its guts to spill out before it thrashed around, pulling itself out of the ground and trying with all it's might to find any way to stop the pain.
Bell just stood there and watched before the creature slowed down before stopping completely. The monster's body slowly started to dissipate into dust before the magic stone was left behind.
Bell walked forward and picked the magic stone up as a form of proof of the kill. After picking it up, he brought his other hand to his eyes as he stared at it curiously, trying to figure out what that was back there.
"Bell! You done?" He heard Erebus call out to him, snapping him out of his curious gaze. He quickly ran back to Erebus before nodding
"Yeah, the job is done. Also, do you know what that was about? I had a mist surrounding me" Bell asked as Erebus nodded slowly
"I have an idea, it's most likely the new skill you got, Scourge" Bell nodded
"So, since I wanted to end it so bad, I got a boost to my basic abilities?" Erebus nodded at the question
"That's awesome! So basically, the more I want to hurt my opponent, the stronger I get? Isn't this a really strong skill?" Bell asked excitedly at the prospect.
"Indeed it is. I believe it also has a suppressive effect that's stronger on weaker opponents, that skill is something most adventurers would kill to have, so consider yourself lucky" Bell nodded as he stared down at his hand that landed the final blow.
Bell pondered about the potential of the skill for a moment before looking back up. He had to get the reward for the monster subjugation, before getting supplies and leaving this wasteland.
"Erebus, we should head back" Bell said as Erebus nodded.
"I agree. By the way, which direction should we head in after we get the supplies?" Bell smirked slightly at Erebus as he threw back a retort
"You mean after 'I' get the supplies? I meant it when I said to get that hair dyed" Erebus couldn't help but let a smile spread on his lips before chuckling slightly
"If you can find something to dye it with, that isn't some bright color. Perhaps white?" Bell nodded
"Only if you get a haircut as well. Whatever that 'thing' is makes you look homeless" Bell snickered before he started to walk back towards the bar
"Amelia, It's done" Bell said as he entered the bar. The Barmaid, Amelia, smiled at the word before raising a cup.
"A TOAST FOR BELL CRANEL FOR SUBJUGATING THE SANDWORM!" Cheers could be heard around the bar as people held their cups up towards Bell with smiles and slight, drunk blushes on their faces.
Bell nodded at them before walking up to Amelia who leaned close to Bell
"You have proof of the subjugation, right?" Bell nodded as he pulled out the magic stone and put it on the counter. Amelia smiled before nodding.
She went into the back before returning a minute later with a pouch that looked filled to the brim. She handed it to Bell who peeked inside, to see the coins shining back at him.
"Thanks Amelia. Before I leave, I wanted to say that you may hear some bad things about me soon… just remember… They are not true" Amelia looked confused before nodding.
Bell left soon after, purchasing all the supplies he needed which included a single dagger, new set of clothes and basic necessary supplies. All this amounted to almost the entire bag of Valis, leaving Bell with less than 1000 valis remaining.
Once everything was purchased and ready, Bell finally left the town of Agris and headed to regroup with Erebus to see where the roads would take them.
fin