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.
59: The Raging Bull
=The 50th Floor=
Adrienne could only stare in awe at the display of raw power in front of her comparable to her father. The Black Bull's massive crooked sword smashes against the Juggernauts claws sending shockwaves that crack the ground around them and even cut her own skin.
It was a magnificent display of strength as the calamity staggered at the unexpected amount of force that shook its entire body.
The juggernaut, knowing its specialisation was speed above all else, tried to lean into that and leaped back just enough to disappear into the small amount of dust that still remained.
In response, Asterius smashed his sword hard into the ground, the wind splitting the dust apart, revealing the Juggernaut's missing form.
"Asterius! It's fast!" Rei screamed as the Bull's eyes looked at the group for a second before homing into the form of a certain young half elven boy. The memory the Bull had been reliving every night played in its mind for a split second before his senses picked up on movement and turned in the direction of the approaching ebony skeletal monster.
Its claws were approaching the bull who stared at it with the best imitation of a raised eyebrow it could muster with its facial structure.
With him not being one to go light on anybody, he used his horns to parry the claws of the monster before smashing its first as hard as it could into its chest as its armour cracked before sending it flying high and far into the air, practically flying across the floor.
Having bought time to analyse, Asterius looked back at the boy with white hair that bore striking resemblance to his rival. His red eyes, hair, body and facial structure being almost identical, if only being shorter and smaller than he remembered.
What stopped him from charging straight at the boy was his pointy long ears, a clear contrast to his rival's round and human ones.
"Wiene… Why are you here?" He asked as his low voice rumbled across the silent area, only the sound of the monster he sent flying crashing into the ground from far away disturbing it.
"Asterius, we were looking for you. You've been gone for a long time now, nearly a year without any contact." She answered with confidence, clearly used to interacting with the Bull. Something that most likely came with the territory of being leader of the Xenos.
"I was training… Preparing for my rematch with my worthy rival." The mention of the person the Xenos did not know who it was, not even Wiene, spiked a bit of curiosity that quickly died down in the three intelligent monsters.
He was very tight-lipped about it, never mentioning a name or any defining features. The only thing they had managed to get out of him was that he had a dream of battling against him in a glorious battle, one he lost and wanted a rematch for.
"W-Who?" The voice of Bache went through the air as the question hung in the air, Asterius looking straight into the Amazon's eyes as if evaluating her.
"Hmm… Perhaps…?" The unasked question hung in the air as a mystery as he looked towards Jannor once again, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Aralaya noticed this, looked back and forth once… then twice, then thrice until it finally clicked.
"W-wait! Your rival doesn't happen to have white hair and red eyes!?" She exclaimed as all eyes turned to her in confusion as Asterius huffed.
"You are correct. My rival is a human boy, as nimble as they come. Snow white hair with red eyes. Precisely like that boy in fact, though larger." The description made the entire group sweatdrop as that description could only fit a single individual back then…
"Can't be… right?" Jannor breathed out as he turned to Adrienne who looked at him with that one look that screamed 'Oh, you bet it is' in the most 'I don't want it to be either' way.
Ehm… Asterius-san?" Jannor asked politely as the Bull huffed out as he turned completely to him, the noises from the forest getting closer. They didn't have much more time for idle chatter.
"Does your rival have an instant magic that shoots a bolt of fire and lightning?" The question grew more and more quiet as he asked it but the Minotaur grew intrigued as that perfectly matched that magic his rival possessed.
"Yes… Do you know his name?" A gulp sounded from the boy's throat before a chuckle caught his attention.
Looking up, the amazon, still on her knees and heavily injured, was chuckling, slowly getting louder before finally breaking out into full blown laughter.
"Hahahaha! Got damn it Bell! Of course the biggest and baddest Xenos sees you as your rival! That's so like you…" She quieted down as the laughter died, her smile disappearing before looking up at the monster.
"How deep can you go?" The question seemed random to the Bull but he decided to humour her.
"The deepest I have gone… the 84th floor." His response was replied with a simple nod.
"If you help us defeat that thing… I'll tell you the name of your rival… and where he is." All three children looked at the amazon in absolute shock while Wiene, Let and Rei just stared at her in pure unadulterated horror.
Asterius stared at her for a moment as his excitement grew. Find his rival and finally have his rematch? And all he had to do was end that creature's life? He huffed out as his face contorted as close to a grin it allowed.
"You have a deal. As long as you honour your end of it, I will honour mine." The answer sent a chill down the Xenos' spine while the others saw a bit of possibility in what Bache had done.
With a Xenos of this strength, they'd be able to descend and rescue Bell… the question is… how deep is he at the moment?
It was a gamble, but as Lili said. The dungeon is a place where the only options are gambles at times.
Their conversation interrupted as a scuttling noise was heard rapidly approaching them as Asterius turned in its direction before anyone else.
The Juggernaut rapidly scampered between rubble to propel its movements forward with ease.
Getting his crooked sword ready, Asterius took one step forward before a sudden surge of pressure cracked and blew the ground he stood on apart, the Bull gone from view.
"He leaped!?"
"Indeed. Asterius had always been a bit… unhinged." Let sweat dropped as the Juggernaut narrowly dodged the bullheaded charge, tumbling across the ground as it tried to regain the balance it lost before impacting against some considerable rubble.
"Oh, they have no idea…" Rei sighed
Without giving it any time to get its bearings, Asterius, more swiftly than he appeared to be, did a 180 once he landed, bull-rushing the Juggernaut as it tried to block the attack with all four of its legs. Much to the Bull's surprise, it managed to hold him still though heavily shaking.
"MOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" The primal scream from deep within Asterius' throat roared as he began pushing harder and harder as his leg muscles tightened and the veins grew larger from the increased amount of force exerted.
Step by step, the Juggernaut's strength was overpowered by the Xenos who's power could be equated to a primal force of nature.
Finally, once he felt like he got close enough, Asterius grabbed hold of two of its legs before squeezing them as hard as he could, cracking the bones before finally snapping.
With the loss of half its resisting force, the remaining two legs collapsed under Asterius' strength, his horns tilting upwards as the Bull leaped once again, locking its throat between his horns, pushing it down onto the ground.
Stuck, the Juggernaut shook and struggled to no avail, not even being able to budge a single inch of the Bull's massive body.
Twisting his head, Asterius snapped the neck of his opponents to an unnatural angle, huffing as he waited for the telltale sign of it turning to dust after dying only for it to twitch and instead of trying to get out, it smashed its tail into the Bull's back as its razor sharp tip managed to pass by his defence and cut into his flesh.
Roaring out in pain on instinct, weakening his stance, allowed the monster underneath him to break free, using its two legs to shoot off a good bit away from its opponent.
Back with the spectators, Bache stared at the fight in surprise.
To her, the monster's strength was ludicrous. In raw physical power and endurance then… Well, Asterius is without a doubt stronger than Bell whom she thought was the strongest in the world apart from the one eyed black dragon and Kita according to himself.
While his endurance and strength were definitely stronger, Asterius' was not as nimble, agile and was not magically inclined whatsoever. Bell had an instant chant magic that without any skills was about the strength of a level 6 mage's short chant spell in raw power.
That was saying something as mages at that level all had the development ability, Mage, to boost their power and lower mind usage. An ability that's extremely effective at that too as when Aralaya got it on top of a level up, it was more than doubling her magic's destructive power.
In terms of speed, Bell is without a doubt, the fastest in the world at this point. He had managed to get away from the one eyed black dragon at peak level 6 and now being at peak level 7 makes him beyond ridiculously fast.
If she had to put a level on him… she'd guess the Bull had the equivalent power of a level 9. Something the world hasn't seen since the days the Empress was alive.
As the Bull once again rushed forward to the injured calamity, she couldn't help but smile slightly, the hope of rescuing Bell ignited in her heart.
The only thing dragging it down being the uncertainty of one singular fact.
Is he still alive?
=The 71st Floor=
The soft high temperature wind swept between his snow white locks, Bell began to regain consciousness as he began registering his senses one by one.
Eventually, his eyes slowly opened as he groaned, the pain in his leg making itself known. Confused, he sat up before inspecting the source of it, before remembering what he did.
Right… he burned the poison out of his system. Normally, it's not recommended to burn any poisons as they become gas that you breathe in instead but with the amount already inside of him, it was better to remove it with the risk of it getting back in then not removing anything at all.
Leaning back as he took deep breaths, he couldn't help but muse at the fact that Elora's teachings may have saved his life yet again. At the very least, a limb. It warmed his heart with affection at that knowledge and the memory of them on a sofa, cuddling as she taught him with the book in between them.
In a way, he missed those easy days. Where he could just sit with her, enjoy her warmth as his heart was filled with nothing but love and affection on top of wonder at the fact that she had chosen him of all people.
No worries of feelings for other women. No obligations of dungeon diving… nothing but them and their family.
But he knew that he would not be able to keep doing that. His very soul craved to not leave this world remembered as a criminal… a traitor… a craving born from his vigorous desire to be a hero.
Noticing that he was just laying there in the dungeon with a smile on his face while anything could happen at any time, he shook his head to try to remove the thoughts from his head.
Carefully getting up to a sitting position, he looked down at his leg.
The armour had survived. Still bent to hell and virtually useless, though salvageable. His skin was covered with burn tissue that was still healing. Nothing long-term like his back, but more short term. It was definitely a wound that'd take a week at bare minimum to heal… maybe longer.
Testing the waters by moving the leg, he figured he could walk on it, though he had to be careful. He'd definitely not be able to make complex movements with it during a fight so it was a big disadvantage.
Moving to get up, he noted that most of the rubble had disappeared, probably eaten up by the dungeon as it healed. The Canyon was about half way regenerated so that's why there were no monsters here. The dungeon was too busy repairing itself to spawn new ones.
That was something he was glad for, so the monsters for quite a bit would not be present as he'd killed most of them that were around within a mile or so. All the noise had to have drawn them to him as the numbers had felt unending before.
The deep floors were definitely nothing to scoff at. It just throws monsters after monsters at you until you die or it runs out of them.
Deciding that it was best to move as soon as possible, he got up onto his feet, careful not to use his injured leg before carefully climbing the half regenerated walls of the canyon.
It only took a couple of leaps with his good leg to make it all the way up to the ledge. Pushing himself up and over the gap between the top and still repairing damage, he quickly scanned his environments for any danger and in hope of triangulating his position.
He knew he was definitely close to the center of the floor, but he had lost his sense of direction during the battle.
A growl sounded from his right as he turned in the direction before his face fell into a deadpan.
A lone desert Hyena was slowly approaching him, its eyes glaring daggers at him as Bell couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"I don't have time for this… go away…" He muttered as it drew closer before it finally leaped towards him, fangs and claws on the ready to tear its prey apart.
"GO AWAY! FIREBOLT!" The torrent of flames engulfed the monster as through the smoke, the lone magic stone flew and bounced off his forehead.
His head limped forward as another sigh escaped.
"Even with an ability literally called luck… how am I still unlucky? I'm probably cursed…" He stayed silent for a few seconds before taking one deep breath before trying to think of a way to figure out what direction to go.
He couldn't just head in a random one or he'd simply end up roaming the floor for days before finally finding one entranceway, either down or into the passages.
He couldn't really use the wind as it wasn't coming from a single direction as it changes in intervals. There is a pattern to it but it's impossible to know how many intervals have gone by since he doesn't know exactly how long he was out.
Perhaps he could use the spear and embed it in the roof? Jump up and use it as a handhold to get a better view.
That high up should give him a good view of the entire open part of the floor. It was probably his only option, the issue is sticking the landing on one leg. It'd be difficult but not impossible.
Either that or he lets himself fall on his rear. Not like he could die from falling with his current endurance stat. The Terminal Velocity of a human being isn't fast enough to do that to anyone above level 3.
Making his mind up, he reached for his spear before only touching empty air.
Turning his head, he blinked once… then again before limping over to the edge and looking down, promptly feeling like a dumbass.
The spear was still in the ground where it landed before when it… recalled itself? He'd have to wrap his mind around that once he's safe on the surface.
Swiftly recalling it into his hand as it whisked through the air at high speeds, he quickly turned around and threw it hard straight up as it smashed and broke a part of the roof, creating a small crater.
All the better Bell figured as he leaned down, focusing his strength on his good length before jumping hard.
With a boom that echoed across the floor, he flew straight up as he slowed down after a second or so, stopping just at the right height to grab hold of the handle of the spear, leaving him dangling in the air.
Now in position, he peeked around the floor, going around the edge of the horizon by the walls before spotting an entrance. Focusing his vision, he smirked as he mentally cheered. It was a passageway, and not a staircase due to it not leading down.
Before he could do anything else, his eyes spotted something in the corner of his vision before he turned to it, squinting his eyes as he tried to make out more details.
It was a crack in the wall that wasn't natural and barely noticeable. If not for the slight reddening of the walls around it, he wouldn't have noticed it.
In fact, didn't the air around there look a bit hotter than the rest of the floor…?
He turned his head round as he noticed another crack that was just starting.
He had no idea what was going on, but it was without a doubt nothing good. His intuition was definitely telling him that it would do something that was going to be a pain to deal with.
Deciding that it was best to get a move on, he let go before quickly recalling the spear, he fell towards the ground while pointing his leg down and pulling up his injured one enough to not accidentally hit it on the ground.
The ground cracked a bit from the force as he landed as he winced slightly from the landing's force going through his body.
It seemed some wounds hadn't healed completely yet or more likely, some bones had healed improperly.
His hand seemed to be fine by now, the bones having mended quite well by his natural healing factor. He'd without a doubt have to see a proper healer, most likely Dea Saint after this.
Aralaya was good, but she was a mage first and foremost, not a healer so she isn't extremely specialized in it.
Forcing the pain away, he got back up and began heading in the direction of the next floor. Thinking back to those cracks in the wall, he did notice now that he was paying attention that it wasn't just his dehydration that was causing the increase in heat… were these cracks increasing the heat as well?
Right now it was bearable, but if they kept going… then how hot would it get?
"Shit… I've got to hurry up…" He mumbled as he began limp jogging, in the right direction, unable to get the bad feeling out of his stomach.
=The 50th Floor=
Explosions echoed across the whole of the 50th floor, trees that still stood being felled left and right. Every now and then hearing the roar of the bull, followed by another boom.
The screech of the monster was heard before the sound of an even and constant breaking of trees and a few stones made their way towards the adventurers and Xenos.
Suddenly the black bull's body came flying out of the tree line, hitting his back on the ground then immediately rotating in the air to land on his hooves. Coming to a screeching halt just a few feet away from them.
Asterius huffed, "Are you alright Asterius?" Wiene asked, the bull turned, "The thing keeps running from me…" he replied.
"That doesn't answer my question…" Wiene sighed.
Just as she finished her sentence the juggernaut appeared in its full enraged glory. Now showing severe signs of damage, Asterius's sword protruding from the left eye, its ribs broken or missing, and limping from the damage to its legs.
"It's not fighting me head on, this is really starting to make me mad" Asterius said, obviously boiling blood about to burst from his seams.
The bull in his rage after rushing towards the calamity, was a sight to behold, that would be assuming you saw anything at all except for the moments when these two monsters of monsters pause and flung themselves at each other again.
Bache was barely able to keep up, Elora still unconscious, their children however were holding on for dear life whilst Rei and Wiene held onto Elora to hold her still.
Asterius grabbed hold of the juggernaut's tail, slugging it in the back of its leg, causing the creature to lose its balance. Once this whole action was complete, Asterius proceeded to sling the calamity back and forth from one side to the other, over his head… over… and over, at one point it sounded like the sound barrier was broken, leading to the final slam that added all of the Bull's weight into it, grabbing hold of the tail with his other arm.
The moment the Juggernaut hit the ground, even Bache struggled to not get flung away by the wind while Elora's eyes squeezed a bit before opening slightly as she returned to consciousness, her hair swaying wildly in the winds.
The first thing she saw was a Black Bull, holding the tail that had severed her hand from her arm while huffing with a slight grin on its face.
She could do nothing but stare at it as it slowly registered in her mind.
After a moment, Asterius turned away from his victim and looked back at Bache, "I've held up my end of the deal" his deep voice sounded as Elora blinked before she began moving to get up.
"Mom?" the voice of her daughter entered her ears as the elf shook her head before looking at her in the most apologizing way she could.
"Sorry for worrying you… but what's going on?" she asked as she looked at her hand, flexing it but having some issues.
"Well…" Jannor said before Wiene cut in.
"The one we were looking for, Asterius arrived… he took care of the calamity." She said as Elora's eyes widened at that piece of information.
So it was real? Turning towards the Bull again before looking back where the body should lay, a pile of ash was all that remained.
So it was dead? And the Chimera was nowhere to be found? She couldn't even sense it… so was it over?
Letting out a sigh of relief at that fact, she began relaxing as her hearing picked up on Bache's words.
"He's down in the deep floors." The Bull huffed in response before nodding.
"How deep?"
"We don't know… another monster dragged him down… all we know is that he could be anywhere below." There was silence as the elf pieced it together. They were talking about Bell… but why?
Oh god, Bell. They had to-
"And I'd like your help in rescuing him. He's strong, but being alone without supplies on an unknown floor could be a death sentence for anyone, no matter their strength." As if she was voicing the elf's own thoughts, Bache suggested what she had wanted to do for him.
To rescue him. She'd even asked the Xenos that had managed to kill the monster that had moved so fast it practically teleported in her eyes.
"If it means I can have my rematch once he recovers… then I'll assist you in this endeavor. Just don't forget your side of the deal." The bull's words made the amazon gulp as she nodded.
"I won't…" She responded as Asterius stared at her for a moment before nodding.
"Good… then let's head out." Without even waiting for a response , he turned around and started walking as Bache sputtered.
"ASTERIUS!" Rei's voice made him stop as he peeked over his shoulder "Can't you see that they need a few minutes!? Have some manners for once in your life!" She told him sternly as the black Bull thought on it for a moment before letting out his equivalent to a sigh.
"Fine… I'll give you ten minutes." the siren nearly popped a vein in frustration. She swore that xenos had no patience whatsoever. It was always battle this, battle that. He was like an insatiable battle hungry toddler.
"Body worn and tired, mend thy self, be made whole, and rise again. Balm Touch!" Aralaya used her magic on Bache as her wounds began closing.
"Hey! There you all are. Lili and Haruhime-sama have been looking for you everywhere!" Everyone turned to the new arrivals of the three missing party members.
"The craziest thing happened. Some kind of blur shot past us and destroyed the forest… I could have sworn it was a black bu…ll…" The prum slowed down as she spotted said black bull looking at her with a hint of curiosity.
"HIEEE!" Haruhime froze as her tail's fur spiked, the tired far eastern girl on her shoulder looking around in a daze.
"Oh… Lili sees… The black bull helped us, am I understanding this correctly?" She asked, figuring that was the most logical conclusion to what was going on.
"Yeah… we're just healing up then we're going to get dad." Adrienne said, answering the prum's question but only creating multiple new ones.
"What!? We can't go down in our current predicament! Bache is injured and Mikoto just woke up from a mind zero. We all recently woke up from being injured on top of that. We'd never make it past the 60th floor!"
Adrienne pointed towards Asterius before opening her mouth.
"He's helping us." Was all she said as the prum added that to the equation.
"The black bull…? Well… I suppose that makes it feasible if he's leading the charge… if we use holes the valgang dragons make as a passage down…" She began muttering as everyone looked at her apart from Adrienne who was focusing on healing the last of Bache's wounds.
"Okay… if he's helping us then we'll go." She said before turning to Mikoto.
"Mikoto-sama… do you feel like you can stand?" She asked, the samurai blinking before rubbing her eyes.
"Yeah… just… one second." She said before slowly getting off Haruhime's back and standing a bit unsteadily on her own two feet before stabilizing.
Closing her eyes, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before nodding.
"Okay, I got it." Her eyes opened again and nodded.
"Then let's go… let's rescue Bell." Elora said with a smile, a sense of hope from the situational change from before as they turned towards the direction the entrance to the 51st floor should be.
It was time for them to save Bell from the depths of the dungeon.
=The Hostess of Extreme Fertility=
Ever since that noise escaped the dungeon, Ryuu had been completely inconsolable. She had been all but dragged out back by Lunoire and Chloe before everyone had given it a shot to help her.
Nothing worked, the elf was practically catatonic with her eyes shaking and sweat pouring from her skin in droves. It was like she'd seen a ghost or lived a true real life nightmare.
The only one who knew the reason why she was like this was Mia. None of the others were really that experienced with the dungeon, and even if they were, they'd never understand what had truly happened to Ryuu and never understand.
Most would understand losing one's family and friends, but what Ryuu had undergone had been so much worse.
She hadn't just watched them get slaughtered in front of her eyes, she'd even had part in the very attack that had killed Alise, the person that was a sister to her in every way but blood.
She had been broken so hard by the events that she'd gone on a rampage so gruesome and violent that the guild was forced to put a ludicrous bounty on her head due to the sheer amount of bodies that were being piled on top of each other each day.
The only reason Mia knew about it was because she'd had to console her during her bouts of nightmares after that goddess left and took the entire personality of Syr with her.
It truly made her pity towards the elf in the deepest way possible. It was something no one should have to go through.
Meanwhile, Ryuu couldn't help but imagine every way that thing could tear Cranel-san apart. He may have gotten much stronger than before, far stronger than she or even the entire Astrea familia ever was. But that thing…? It was something else. It was not just a monster, it was a true calamity only something far superior could fight effectively…
Having to relive her memories in a flash like that threw her in for a whirlwind, after being taken out of the Hostess, she stared at the tower, cursing her imagination for going to the worst case scenario.
'She should know better', this sentence played over and over in her mind, trying to get herself to a right place of being, her mind fighting her for every inch of mental space, a back and forth battle of hope and despair.
Her clothes now becoming drenched with sweat, they clung to her skin as if she had ran through the rain, Mia now coming outside and ushering the other girls back in, she walked over to her Elven friend and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Ryuu jumped, and fell on her back, Mia could only look concerned for her employee, maybe even friend if they were around the same age, briefly thinking back to her old friends.
"Mia…" Ryuu said breathlessly.
"Ryuu, take the rest of the night off, I think it would be best if you tried to rest" Mia said so gently, it was… unnatural.
"But!" Ryuu tried to respond but was cut off.
"Do not make me repeat myself" Mia scowled. Her stoic and crude demeanor returned.
Ryuu sighed at the command, slowly picking herself up. Moving into the tavern, she headed to the stairs and ascended them, Mia staring after her for a moment. Once satisfied with the knowledge that she had headed to rest, she turned around and headed back into the busy tavern to continue the rest of the work day.
=The 71st Floor=
Has Bell ever said that he hated it when his intuition is right sometimes? No? Well he'll say it now.
He absolutely hated it!
During his trip across the open area of the floor, he'd stumbled across a few more wandering monsters that he'd had to take down. Normally, that wouldn't be that much of an issue, even with the leg.
What was the issue was that the heat had decided to be cranked up a notch. If it was at 10 before, it is at 11 now.
Those damn cracks had begun appearing more and more, the beginning of hundreds on the walls began to be made apparent as they got larger and larger, intersecting with each other as the floor became like one enormous oven.
The worst part? The cracks were still growing and the heat was still getting warmer. It was almost as if it was slowly leading up to something, like a grand event.
It was like nothing Bell had never seen or experienced in the dungeon before. A phenomenon all floors above do not have.
At this point, each and every step made his entire mind go for a whirl, making it feel like he'd fall unconscious from the amount of spinning it's doing.
He could barely even think straight as a part of him just wanted to fall to the ground and collapse… but he knew he couldn't do that.
He wanted- no… he desired to protect his family with every fiber of his being. A desire that ate away at him similarly to his desire to become a hero did. A desire that burned his soul from its deepest part, making its own mark in it.
It was no new desire… but one that had steadily grown throughout the years as he had watched them all grow and evolve. After losing his family once, he never wanted to do it again.
This desire that's grown over the past 15 years inside of him had exploded out of him ever since that monster had nearly killed his family… and now, feeling powerless to protect them made that flame burn all the brighter, like a sacred one.
One that can never be put out again. One that moved his body forward, despite everything else telling him to just give up.
And thus he moved, time passing in around him without him noticing it like someone possessed. Each stride dragging his legs across the ground despite his injury.
It wasn't until he entered a passageway that he noticed how far he had walked. Blinking tiredly, he looked around before turning to peek over his shoulder to the way he came.
It was clear he had walked half that floor in that short span of time… no, how long had passed?
It was a strange and honestly terrifying feeling not knowing how much time passes even when one is conscious… but he couldn't stop now.
He had one floor left to go before he's out of this heat that had tortured him for what felt like so damn long.
One more floor until he could drink cold, precious water. To think that one could long for the freezing Glacier Territory, but that was exactly what this felt like.
"Hmm?" Bell hummed as he noticed a stark difference since the last time he had been in these passages.
It was bright… the cracks were in here too, and the light they produced illuminating the passages.
'Guess that's good… but doesn't that mean it will be warmer in these passages?' The thought made him almost cry, but he knew he had no real choice than to endure it.
Resigning himself to the face, he walked forwards. Each step felt like the temperature rose as he went deeper and deeper, his skin feeling like it'd be set on fire any second.
Each breath burned his throat worse than ever before as he truly began to think he'd had it easy so far.
He had to get through this quickly… he can't stay in this kind of heat long. Only someone with some kind of ability to resist this would be able to survive this for extended periods!
It truly felt like he was being cooked alive, like every nerve was being burned alive, screaming for release.
Is this what the floors would eventually become? The mere thought scared him, but he had to focus on the here and now.
Throwing caution to the wind, Bell shot forward, not caring if he aggravated his leg or not. Rather than being cooked alive.
Trusting his gut feeling and luck, he changed directions where he felt he should. On the way dodging a few explosive stingers from hitting him, though some scratched his skin as his ability to concentrate was at an all time low.
'Run… Run!... Don't stop!' Bell chanted in his mind over and over, the passages blending together in a blur.
He didn't even realize he had found the stairs until he tripped over them, face planting into one of the steps.
Bell blinked as he looked up before trying to get up, only for his body to protest. Trying again, his arms gave out like an overheated engine, buckling and causing him to fall over again.
'Come one… MOVE!' The truth was that he was running on fumes, practically pulled forward by his desire to live not for himself, but for his family.
'I can't leave them… so… Damn it all- '
"MOVE DAMMIT!" His voice felt foreign as it lashed out, so hoarse it barely sounded human whatsoever.
Smashing into one of the steps, he pushed himself up to one knee as sweat dripped onto the ground from his forehead, practically drenching it within seconds.
'I can't- no, I won't give up here!' His thoughts spurred him on as his other arm grabbed hold of one of the steps, pulling him up to the next.
'I will never give up!' The heat was excruciating. He swore that his body was a millisecond away from being set aflame.
'For my friends…' gritting his teeth, he managed to get up on his shaking feet.
'For my family' One step forward led to another as he began ascending the steps, one arm on the side of the stairway to stabilize himself.
'I can't give up and let down everyone that has ever believed in me so…' His Argonaut skill activated, his back glowing as his good leg started sparkling as tiny bells sounded
'KEEP PUSHING!' With a smash against the ground, he was practically sent flying up the entire staircase, smashing into the roof before landing with a thud, the cooler though still scorching air feeling like the most sweet thing in the world.
"Did… Did I use my skill?" He muttered the question to himself as he hadn't even noticed it. It was like some of those times during training where the skill had activated on its own due to his own subconscious calling for more power.
Bell forced himself onto his knees before leaning backwards, breathing heavily as he felt the heaviness of his eyes.
*Smack*
Without any hesitation, his fist collided with his own cheek, sending him back to the ground on one arm, spitting out a bit of blood. The action caused him to snap back to reality, the heaviness of his eyelids somewhat alleviated as a small surge of what adrenaline was led in his body was released in his system.
"Come on… you're not giving up here… right? Right!?" He mumbled to himself, saying the last words more forcefully to drive the point into his heart.
"No… I have to keep going, even if I have to drag myself on one arm across the entire floor…" He pushed himself onto his knees, the adrenaline giving him strength before he looked onwards to the open area.
Floor 70.
It was the last hurdle until the 69th floor where he could finally start to regain strength. He had to keep going… so with a determined fire burning in his eyes, he began marching forward into the floor whose walls were covered in cracks.
If there was one thing that was certain, it was that this last hurdle would without a doubt be the hardest of them all.
=Twilight Manor=
Ais hated the feeling of worry. It was something that gnawed away at you constantly until something relieved you of it.
And at the moment, the feeling was without a doubt, gnawing at her heart. It had been nearly over 2 weeks at this point since they descended into the dungeon. Normally, that wouldn't be a cause for concern due to large scale expeditions into the deep floors usually took 2-4 weeks depending on the familia.
But it was different for Themis familia. The reason it takes so long in expeditions is due to two factors, but only one applied to Bell and his familia. Excelia and Size. Whenever expeditions are started, the lower levelled members are those that have to gather excelia as they go deeper, as eventually they reach a point where these adventurers can no longer fight the monsters they encounter.
This means the familia has to stop and seek out monsters for those adventurers to gain excelia and eventually grow in strength and level.
The second one was that the sheer size of an expedition for an entire familia strong enough to go that deep slowed down the pace they would have if only the first class adventurers descended.
If only the executives of the Loki familia descended, it would take less than a week to reach the 50th floor, but with the entire familia, it suddenly becomes 2 weeks.
Themis familia should only be affected by them needing to let their lower levelled members gain excelia on the way down, but the small size of the expedition should allow them to traverse the floors quickly and efficiently, probably reaching the 50th floor by the one week mark.
If they stayed there for a day or so before heading back up, that would mean they'd have returned by now as ascending the dungeon is always faster than descending.
And thus, she's worried since they still have not returned. That added to that noise the dungeon let out…
"Auntie Ais?" The blonde swordswoman was snapped out of her thoughts as the raven haired daughter of the Braver was walking up to her in the courtyard.
"Fiona." Ais nodded back as the name left her lips.
"Are you worried for Themis Familia?" Fiona asked, as if knowing exactly what she was feeling.
Ais hummed in response as she turned back to look at Babel tower, the two standing in silence.
"Auntie… Do you like Bell?"
Silence ensued as Ais stared at Fiona, the question that came out of nothingness processing in her head. Moments passed as Fiona tilted her head, growing somewhat impatient while waiting for an answer until Ais' cheeks flushed.
That was an answer enough as a small smile spread across the blue eyes amazon's lips before looking up at Babel tower.
"Yeah… But it won't work… he already has someone." The sadness in her voice was utterly heartbreaking for the young girl, her blue eyes turning back to the half-spirit.
Golden eyes looked down on the grown, features contorted into that of acceptance. Ais knew that she had her chance all those years ago, but she'd blown it.
It was something she often mulled over and had come to accept to be fact.
"I'm sorry… I shouldn't have asked that." Fiona apologized, feeling bad for bringing such a sore subject up as Ais shook her head.
"Don't be… It's my fault after all that I lost him. I had to accept that and I have." Ais elaborated, turning towards the girl again, giving her a smile.
"Right… but that doesn't mean you don't care, right?" She asked as Ais nodded.
"Yeah… He's important to me and… I am determined not to lose him again. If he ever needs help then… I will help him, even if everyone tells me not to." Fiona was almost mesmerized by the conviction in the golden haired adventurer's eyes.
For a moment, the two just stared at each other, before they started talking about other things, unknowing of the high-elf looking down at the two from a balcony above, determined never to betray the girl again.
=The 52nd Floor=
"MOUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" With a loud roar, Asterius slammed his head into a charging Black Rhino, the two skull's colliding. While in natural circumstances in nature, the two different creatures they were based off of, the Rhino would have won, the monster Black Rhino's skin caved in as the skull splintered into a million pieces as Asterius continued his charge, tearing its body apart like splintered jelly.
The stomps as the rampaging bull continued its frenzied charge shook and created indents in the ground as he went along, leaving the rest of the party behind him staring at it with a deadpan expression.
"Is he really always like this?" Jannor asked, mirroring the question from earlier. Rei sighed in exasperation before nodding.
"Unfortunately… yes." was all she said as they continued forward.
"Well, with him going on like that, he's gonna get locked on by the valgang dragons at any moment." Adrienne commented as she tilted her head.
"Adrienne… I think that's what he wants…" Wiene said with a strained chuckle as the cackling noises reverberated through the floor due to the elevating danger heading straight up from below.
"Here it comes." Bache said just as Asterius was consumed by a bright ray of fire bursting from the ground. It took a moment for it to calm down before they saw Asterius' chape through the dust fall straight down.
"See, he was waiting for it." Wiene said before shrugging.
"Come on, let's follow him." The entire group followed behind as Rei and Bache carried Lili and Haruhime on their back as they still weren't one hundred percent ready for such a fall.
As they dropped down, they all noted the lack of wyverns flying about, most likely due to Asterius tearing them apart as he fell. It was quite literally like seeing a second Bell, only more tunnel-visioned and strength based rather than speed and dexterity.
Within a minute, the texture of maze-like floors passing by was replaced with a giant open room. Asterius being the single minded being he is, aimed his horns straight down as he plummeted at extreme speeds.
The Valgang dragon who had fired the blast widened its draconic eyes for a split second before the Bull smashed horns first into its nape right at the moment the area exploded with debris flying in all manner of directions.
The closest valgang dragon had no time to react before a boulder was launched straight into it hard enough to snap its neck before the Bull shot out of the smoke and cut through several entire bodies with a single swing of his sword.
Up above, the rest of the group came out of the closing hole as multiple dragons shot out their blasts only for Asterius to take them on without a single scratch.
"Can anything even hurt him!?" Welf asked as Let hummed.
"Yes, though it'd take a lot more than those dragon's." The answer made Bache and Elora sweat drop, the elf's arm with her reconnected hand pulled up into a makeshift sling.
Closing in on the ground, the group prepared to land before colliding with the floor. It was almost eerie how silent it became after the landing, only the sounds of heavy footsteps getting closer as Asterius dragged his sword along with him on the ground, gripping something in his hands.
"What-" Before Aralaya could even ask her question, the Bull held whatever it was over his mouth before dropping them in, purple stones of varying sizes with swirling energy within dropping into his mouth.
In an instant, Elora's back straightened as realization set in. He's eating magic stones… like an enhanced species. Is this how he got this strong? By continually eating more and more magic stones?
"Is that…?" Bache whispered, growing more alert as she remembered Elora talking about irregular and enhanced monsters and how they come to be.
"Magic stones…"
"He's eating them?" The group began to chatter as tension began to fill the air. Sensing this, Asterius looked towards them before tilting his head.
"Is something amiss?" His question made the mortals flinch slightly as if anything would set him off.
"It's okay, we all eat magic stones. It acts like an extra form of sustenance for us. It's the reason I am estimated around level 5 to 6. The stones over the years have made me this strong." Wiene chimed in, trying to defuse the growing tension as everyone looked towards the vouivre in slight shock.
"Oy, I thought you all ate fruits and stuff from the dungeon!" Welf argued back, his mind locked into the sheer terror irregulars can cause. Flashes of a black goliath and a certain moss huge that could injure even level 6's going through his head.
"Oh, that. Magic stones aren't always enough so we eat the fruits when we need or feel like it." Rei answered as Smith seemed to calm down.
"So you all are fine eating magic stones? There aren't any consequences?" Elora asked, wanting to get that question answered as quickly as possible.
"That we can. Magic stones never caused anyone to go berserk, and if anyone would, it would be this bullhead right here." Rei said, raising her feathers as if to point at the Bull just watching the whole interaction.
With that, Elora calmed down before putting her good hand on top of Bache's raised arms, slowly pushing them down as the Amazon glanced at her before nodding.
"I apologize for that, Asterius. We… surface dwellers don't really have a good history with dungeon dwellers eating magic stones." Asterius looked over the Elf, their eyes looking into one another without bending an inch. A tiny huff released from the Bull's nostrils as a tiny grin spread on his snout.
"It's of no consequence. Now that we have finished this pointless argument, let's continue." The Bull shrugged off Elora's apology before turning around and walking along towards the entrance to the 59th floor. It didn't take long for the rest to follow along, slowly witnessing the paths of absolute carnage the Bull carved towards his rival.
=The 70th Floor=
Bell's entire body was aching to the point of the limbs shaking from the simple action of standing. Exhaustion was something that clearly accompanied that of dehydration, his body being unable to function at one hundred percent, his body's blood count dropping from lack of liquids and thus losing a large amount of nutrients that would keep him going a lot longer.
Normally, he'd be able to go weeks, maybe an entire month without sleep. He'd probably be able to fight non-stop for days on end but these floors changed the rules on such a fundamental level that the benefits of the Status in those regards were completely nullified.
At the moment, everything was almost lucid as similarly to the floor previously, he had no idea how much time was passing. The flow of time blending in with itself so that a single minute felt like days and an instant at the same time.
He had no idea if it had gone four days or four weeks down here, or if he was at the beginning or near the end of the floor.
He felt as if he had no control of his body at times as he experienced passing inability to feel or even control a single muscle of his body, only able to watch as his arms and legs shake uncontrollably.
He hated it. He never wanted to go through this again… in fact… Why was he even going through this? What was his purpose down here?
Why was he here?
He had no idea… every moment of his life had blended together in a clump of unrecognizable goo. Who was he? What was his purpose?
Every step was a drag, why was he walking? Why was he pushing on?
Why wasn't his body giving up?
It confounded him, and despite wanting to stop, he kept going as if an invisible force was pushing him forward. Like a will that burned in his heart that wasn't his own controlled his body and not him.
What was even going on?
Question after question filled his mind with no answers to show for it. Nothing in this world made sense and despite wanting answers, none were giving no matter how much he asked.
It annoyed him, but not as much as his apparent issue with self-control of the pain in every inch of his body.
He hated it.
Why was his body tilting to the side? The question crossed his mind as his hand pulled forward, a dagger in it as something deflected off of it.
Am I fighting?
In a blur of motion, a monster that resembled a rock was suddenly in front of him as he was in the air. Another blur of motion and the dagger was embedded within its chest as it turned to dust, the stone left being cracked and empty of any activity.
Why am I fighting… why am I so confused-?
The questions kept piling up more and more as the sensation as if he was chained in his mind made itself more and more apparent. He could move and look around, but the moment he tried to remember events and information, or move anything, it was like he was locked in place in there, running on autopilot.
After a few more moments and tries, only resulting in failure, he gave up and just let his body move on its own.
The moment he did, was like a switch was flipped. Everything sped past his consciousness, like time was put on fast forward. He could make out a few times he fought monsters, a few where he was injured and got a few wounds… but the one feeling that stuck with him was the heat. The constant factor around him growing in warmth quicker and quicker. At this point, his skin must be slowly burning off.
Within an instant, that lucid-activity induced fast forward perspective was put to a halt as his entire body stood on end. It was as if something was happening… or was going to happen.
His position was right at the end of the floor, the entrance to the passageways in front of him.
His eyes shifted from side to side before a rumbling was heard overhead. He turned his head just on time as the roof exploded and something came falling straight down towards the ground in front of him, blocking him from going forward.
Jumping back, his body on autopilot drew out its spear on shaking arms as his eyes analyzed everything around him for any shifts in the dust to indicate an attack.
It took a moment, but eventually the dust cleared, revealing a familiar looking monster… what was it called? Right, the Chimera…
But why was it so skinny? It looked like something or someone had sucked it dry of everything, leaving skin and bones.
It stood up on its legs, around his own height in direct contrast to it towering over him before. As its eyes locked onto him he swore he saw pure and utter shock at seeing him here, as if it was an impossibility before it melded into anger before finally evolving into wrath.
It took a split moment before it launched itself at him, his body leaning back automatically as his knife parried its claws before backflipping as it went along with him. The two tumbled on the ground as pain from Bell's leg welled up as it was used.
Why is it faster? No… am I slower?
More questions and no answers came as they tumbled, twisted and turned, trying to get an advantage as its claws and Bell's knife was constantly either being parried, blocked or slammed into the ground.
His body slammed its fist into the ground after a moment hard, propelling him backwards from the backlash as he created some space between the two. Not wanting to give him room, the Chimera launched itself at him again as Bell suddenly, he regained a semblance of control as he charged argonaut for an instant, grabbing hold of one of its wrist and throwing a hard right hook into its jaw as he pulled it hard into it, squeezing its wrist, a satisfying crack sounding from both the wrist and jaw as the Chimera was sent flying at extreme speeds into the wall, blowing it to pieces from the force.
Bell turned towards the location only to flinch as more pain was added onto his shaking body. Now seemingly in control, he looked down only to see large gashes from its claws on his abdomen. Quite deep at that and in between the bent part of his armor.
Pieces were still not completely aligned in his mind as confusion remained. He still didn't know why he was here… his purpose here or why he was still going… He just didn't want to die and that meant one thing. Fight.
If he didn't fight right now, he would die. So it was what he did, he fought back against the exhaustion, his body an inch away from complete and utter collapse. He just hoped he would have enough to make it up to the 69th floor after this…
69th Floor? What's that?
More confusion filled his mind as pieces of information were missing. Bell's eyes widened as he narrowly dodged the Chimera from biting into his neck.
He had to fight… there was no time to try to resolve his confusion at the moment… just to fight.
But what to do… the last time he fought this thing, it healed every wound he inflicted- wait… Looking closely as he dodge, he noticed something odd.
Its jaw… it wasn't healing from his blow? Has it lost its ability to heal?- no… his eyes glanced at its wrist, completely healed and fine. Was it… being selective on what to heal? Why? It seemed almost infinite before so…
There was only one thing that made sense. It was tired- no, exhausted and needed to recharge… So long story short, he could actually kill it now. The only issue…
He looked down at his own arm, the entire limb shaking on its own and out of his control. He wouldn't last long either. He was already panting from that short bout and he was sure that this thing could outlast him if he didn't put pressure on it.
He had to end this as quickly as possible so… what should he do? He didn't know if he would last enough for a seven minute Argonaut blast to end it in one fell swoop… maybe…
An idea formed as he redirected its swipe over his head before he scanned his surroundings… something to buy time.
Locking eyes on something, Bell jumped between two of its arms before propelling him behind the Chimera with his arms quite a distance, close to the wall as he looked at it.
It seemed to understand basic movements so… he put his hand upwards and motioned as if to tell it 'come on'.
Its eyes narrowed in absolute fury as it screeched, shooting towards him faster and clearly with more power than before, but it was much more wild. Using an instant charge on his good foot, in a split second he leaned forward and launched underneath its armpit tilting forward so his head was upside down, he aimed his hand forward.
"Firebolt!" The magic shot forward one after another as he repeated the spell. The chimera moved to block the magic with its limbs, protecting its body only for it to shift in the air and smash into the wall behind it.
Finishing his magic barrage, Bell rolled on the ground before skidding to a halt, inspecting the damage as the Chimera looked confused before it turned smug at the apparent missed attack.
All it took to wipe that smug look away was a single cracking noise behind it as a large portion of the wall broke free, falling straight towards it as it had no time to react.
*BOOM*
The area shook as Bell sheathed his knife and pulled out his spear before trying something he had never tried. He had no idea what the spear was made of, but if it was a divine weapon then… chances were…
"Firebolt." The magic enveloped his spear as he activated Argonaut to trap the flames from escaping, creating a flaming tip. Activating the skill again and dual charging, using the second charge to empower the magic as he had done before all the way back in Lakrios.
As the flames slowly began to envelop and widen around the spear like dazzling ornamental decorations, twisting and turning and creating mirror images made of flames of the hieroglyphs engraved in the blade. The bells sounded in the air as the white and red hues mixed with one another in a brilliant pallet of colors all around the weapon.
If Bell's eyes hadn't been closed he'd have gaped at the beauty of it all. The Chimera in front moved out of the rubble, shaking its head as it looked around before locking its eyes onto Bell. It glared for a split second before freezing solid. Its senses and primal instinct feeding a single response again and again.
Run!
But it was too late, Bell's eyes snapped open as they glowed a brilliant bright red that would have illuminated any dark room, scourge being condensed into the mix of skills and abilities without Bell's own knowledge.
Twirling the spear to put it in the right position, Bell smiled slightly as he bet everything on this one attack…
'Let's see you take this attack-' Shooting forward as the tip of the flames burned through the ground as he went, leaving flames on the ground, the Chimera moved to try to do anything in the short time it had. To block whatever it could in hopes of survival.
"ARGO VESTA!"
*BOOOOOM!*
That's chapter 59! Phew, it's been an intense week. Going out of the country for personal reasons with the family, schoolwork and final's close by. I've had it quite intense, but here we are.
The Ark is close to finished, but there is still a little bit left, hehe…
Also, we reached 1000 reviews! Good god that is a lot of reviews. It almost feels unreal that this story has come that far!
Just a friendly reminder, though this Ark is coming to an end soon, we still have 3 or so left, with that let's go to the reviews!
Ninjafang1331: This just went from bad to worse to even worse to a grand rescue from a high level ally.
Author: Yeah, it's quite bad, and Bell currently is on his last leg… literally. He's pulled everything he had into that single last attack… let's just wait and see if it does the job hehe.
Lordfinn: BEEF making an appearance is a welcome surprise. But I hope the Juggernuggets provides enough challenge so that his blood wouldn't still be pumping a pick a fight with everyone else, especially his rival.
But then again I think now would be the best time for Argonaut and the Minotaur's duel to happen again. No spectators, no stakes. Just the pure drive of a rivalry that echoes through time until now. Might even be the final push for Bell to level up since his fight with Asty will always resonate deep in his soul.
Author: Hehe, BEEF only wants one thing. He's chasing that bunny and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. One way or another, these two will clash in a dazzling display of rivalry, sooner rather than later.
TokyoghoulKaneki: I won't post the review here since it's too long.
Author: Well it depends, if Bell has the conviction for that life, yes. Anyone can be a king, as long as they have that and competence. It sounds like something someone would write for a story, but that unfortunately is not me. If you really want to write that story in your vision though, then the only good piece of advice I can give is to write it yourself. No other way to get it like you imagine it.
Tempestz: Ah the inevitable feeling when you finally catch up with a long story and you can't read any more. Though I'll say that it was very fun to read! I love the way you realistically build characters up and give them interesting backstories and connections with the other characters. It's especially impressive with the way you've managed to make great OC's. Elora feels so natural at this point that sometimes I forget that she's an OC.
The plot itself is stellar and I've legitimately enjoyed it more than the canon story, which is probably because of how you've tried to make this fic more realistic. Great stuff all around.
This chapter specifically was a great read from the fighting to the reactions of the people on the surface to the Juggernauts awakening. This arc in general has been my favorite so far and I love the direction you and Viceroy are taking the story in. Major props to the both of you for what a great fic you've established throughout the years, and thank you for taking the time necessary for it.
Last thing I want to say is I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm sure you don't want to be thinking about it anymore than you have to so I'll keep it short. Whatever helps you grieve and feel better then take as much time as you need without worrying what other people may think. If what helps you is writing then great, and if it's something else then also great. Whatever it takes I hope you find happiness my friend. Have a lovely rest of your day whenever you read this.
Author: Thank you, as I've said before, me and Chalister have worked hard to make this story as realistic in world, story as well as characters. It is really rewarding to hear people enjoying the effort we've put in! Also, thank you. It's been tough, but I'm taking it a day at a time. I will make it past this tough time in my life.
Bluerose1937: I did not expect Asterius to show up. Not sure why. But can he beat a juggernaut? Unless he's like level 10 which honestly would make a lot of sense because he's always training and it's been years.
Also seen a bit of Bell suffering which is a good thing(?) dehydration is no joke which is kinda funny that his biggest problem is not any broken bones or exhaustion.
Also for just a moment JUST A MOMENT I was like Elora is about to die isn't she. Author-kun has been very cruel in the past when it comes to Bell in this story
Author: We don't play fair. We want to keep you on your toes as anything can happen to damn near everyone, so never feel like a character is safe… they might just die soon.
SentinalSlice: Can multiple calamities spawn at once? The spear idea may work if that's not the case.
By the way, is the reason that Bell's bones keep breaking is that the monsters are really strong?
I'm very sorry about your father. You have my condolences.
Author: Yes, multiple calamities can happen at once, just one per region. You don't want to summon four calamities across the dungeon at once. That'd be a calamity of calamities xD.