What up dear readers? Been a while since I published a chapter of this story, school's been hell lately, tons of assignments and whatnot, I couldn't consistently find the time to write, and even if I did have some time, I'd be tired as hell and not in the mood to write, so I apologize for the delay, it's been nearly a month since I last updated the story so I compensated by making this chapter a little bit longer than usual. That's all I have to say for now, anyway, you guys know the drill, please share your thoughts on the chapter or the story, any feedback will be appreciated and will help both with myself and the story. Thanks once again for the patience!

I do not own Danmachi

Chapter XI: Recollection

Bell Cranel's POV:

Darkness, stretching as far as the eye can... or can't see, encompassing all around me and even my body itself, snuggling against my body, I slowly raised my hand to my sight, it was just barely visible.

The endless void all around was, paradoxically tranquilizing and unsettling at the same time, it was as if it wanted to lull me into a profound repose, alleviating me of all my hardships and weariness, but at the same time wanted to swallow me whole, to drown me in its boundless absence of light, never to release me from its confines.

"W-Where am I...?"

Asking nobody in particular, I voiced out my confusion

It was akin to the feeling and experience of not yet having been born, it was disturbing yet... nostalgic, calming even, as if I feared what lies within the inundating darkness, creeping around as the nigh-total absence of light masked its presence, yet felt at ease.

Shifting my head here and there ever so slowly as I took in my surroundings, I did not find anything noteworthy within my field of vision.

My body was suspended, as if I were in the midst of free fall, the absence of the familiar pull of gravity made me feel awkward

"What is this...?"

Still deeply confused by my surroundings, I continued to look around for any clues, finding none.

Scratching my head, I turned to look at the Hestia Knife my hand gripped

'Wait... this wasn't here before?'

Confused by the odd detail, I took my eyes off and was surprised to see the familiar look of trees seemingly stretching endlessly, I was within the forest of the eighteenth floor once again

'Huh? When did I get here?'

Even more confused than before, I furrowed my eyebrows at the lack of answers to my rapidly piling-up heap of questions

Walking around, the only thing I heard was the numerous twigs and dry leaves crunching beneath my feet as I stepped on them, and a few crickets chirping, but nothing out of the ordinary save for the entire situation.

I was about to shout out to announce my presence when my ears heard a noise, it was a cross between a whimper and a cry, definitely a girl's

Alarmed, I turned toward the source of the sound, which I surmised not to be far away based on how loud it was, the direct source of the sounds concealed within the darkness of the deeper part of the forest.

Deeply uneasy, I forced my feet to move forward

My mind was telling me to run away, but something inside me, perhaps my intuition? was telling me to keep going, and not to delay.

Deciding to follow my gut, my uneasy steps became a walk, and that walk became a sprint, the pained cries becoming louder as I drew closer to the source.

Coming upon a small clearing illuminated by the light of the moon, my eyes widened in horror and I felt my heart drop at the nightmarish scene I was currently gazing upon

"H-hel-urg...!"

In front of me was the sight of a bloodied, familiar elf

Lefiya lay dying on the ground, bloodied, dirtied, and bruised everywhere, with a large, profusely bleeding wound on her abdomen, her life force draining slowly and painfully.

Unable to cry out to her due to the extreme shock locking my body into a state of inaction, I could only watch with bleary and horrified eyes as the poor elf lay dying, agonizingly choking in her own blood.

"This time... nobody's here to save you, elf!"

Up until now, my mind was inundated by sheer, unfettered terror that I had failed to register the figure that was imposing its will on the Lefiya, it was the red-haired, green-eyed woman we fought earlier, wielding a sword bathed in fresh elven blood, crimson droplets pooling on the weapon's edge and falling onto the ground.

Her boot firmly pressed down and painfully crushed the poor elf's chest, disabling her ability to adequately breathe, and further dealing damage as I heard the sickening crunch of her ribs likely being broken.

Lefiya's mouth gaped open but no screams could be heard, she was in so much pain that only a pathetic whimper accompanied by blood left her mouth.

'Move... MOVE DAMN IT!!!!!!'

I willed my body to move, but for reasons unknown, I could not muster even the slightest of movements, not a twitch of an arm, a leg, fingers, toes, absolutely nothing.

I could only hopelessly watch on as the cruel red-haired woman continued to inflict more pain and suffering on the elf

And as if finally noticing my presence, she slowly turned her head toward me, her green irises sending out the coldest of glares, as the twisted, derisive smirk on her face grew larger.

"You were too late, boy..."

The sword she gripped that hung loosely by the side was now raised above her head, its sharp edge pointed directly at the elf a step away from death's door, her own blood dripping onto her face, vainly attempting to transfer its warmth to her body that was rapidly growing colder.

"You couldn't save her"

The woman brought down her sword as everything went dark.

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"HAAH! Hah...!"

My eyes snapped open as I sharply took in a panicked breath, panting and sweating profusely from the nightmare I just noticed that I had.

'It was... a nightmare?'

And a horrid one at that, thanking the gods, I sighed out in relief as I felt the panic and horror slowly leave my body and calm return

Clutching my chest, I took a few more breaths to finally calm myself down as I regained my mental faculties to properly take in my surroundings now.

I immediately noticed that I was bedridden, with my torso bandaged like a mummy, but all my appendages seemed to be fine.

I was inside a tent, with minimal furniture inside, only the bed I was currently lying on top of, a crate with a book on top by its side that served as a table, and a chair off to the side where...

It was then that I finally registered another presence in the room

Lefiya sat, or more accurately, slept as she sat on the wooden chair, hugging the staff she held as if it were a pillow as her head cutely bobbed languidly from time to time.

I was confused as to why she was here but was nonetheless relieved and thankful that she was alright

I felt my lips curl into a glad smile as I continued to observe the cute, sleeping elven maiden, I was unable to take my eyes off of her for two reasons, the first being that I feared that if I were to take my eyes off of her for the slightest of moments, she'd disappear, and the second one, I admit that I found her sleeping form very cute.

As if sensing my studious gaze on her, her eyes fluttered open as she groggily took in her surroundings

Then, blue irises met rubellite ones

A few seconds of awkward silence passed between us, so I decided to be the one to break the ice

"Uhm... Good morning Lefiya-san?"

Then, the last thing I remembered was a girlish scream and the end of her staff violently coming into contact with my face, and then all became dark once more.

...

Third Person POV:

About thirty minutes later, the three executives of the Loki Familia, a deeply embarrassed Lefiya, and a recently awakened Bell Cranel nursing his throbbing cheek crowded the small tent.

Finn and Gareth chuckled to themselves as Riveria sighed while rubbing her temples, whilst Lefiya continued to glare at the repentant boy in a shy manner, if that was even possible.

"It's good to see that you're awake now, Bell Cranel"

Finn broke the awkward silence, starting a conversation with the boy

"Y-Yes..."

Bell meekly replied, his eyes briefly glancing toward the still embarrassed elf that continued to glare at him, when their eyes met, she looked away shyly.

Deciding not to comment about her behavior, since he was probably the reason for it, he sighed

"Aye lad, ya' took quite the beating last night, and the lass here decided that the injuries you sustained yesterday're not enough and decided to take matters for herself, HAHAHA!"

Gareth guffawed as he added, making the elf even more embarrassed

"I-I-It was b-because h-he was s-st-staring at me while I was sleeping!"

She half-shouted, her hands wildly flailing around, indignant at the boy's trespass

Immediately jumping to diffuse the situation, Bell chimed in to clear the misunderstanding

"N-No! I w-wasn't doing it on purpose Lefiya-san! I w-was just glad that you were okay, especially after what happened last night..."

Bell trailed off after remembering such an unpleasant memory of her getting hurt because of him, his fist clenching underneath the sheets unnoticed by all except for himself

Hearing the boy's reasoning, Lefiya also went silent, for she was also reminded of what had transpired just a few hours earlier

"While I appreciate that you care for my student's wellbeing..."

Riveria started with a light tease, which plunged the elf into embarrassment once more, shouting denials at the high elf, which was promptly ignored by her

"We would like to know what exactly caused you to run off by yourself into the woods in the middle of the night, Bell Cranel"

She inquired, which made both Lefiya and Bell tense up slightly, which did not go unnoticed by the three

"Aye lad, why'd ya' recklessly run off into the woods instead of staying here or calling for help?"

Gareth added, to which the boy sighed as he relented and opened his mouth to answer

"I'll start from the beginning..."

He told them, to which they all nodded in response

"Last night, I felt the urge to answer the call of nature so I asked one of the patrols, his name was Max if I remember correctly if I could go do my business in the forest, he agreed and I did. After doing my business, I went to head back to the camp when something on the edge of my vision caught my attention, there was a hooded figure squatting down as if it were inspecting something."

The three executives tensed at my words, Lefiya remained uneasy as she continued to listen to my explanation

"Suspicious, with as much stealth as I could, I made my way toward her and asked her what she was doing, then without any warning whatsoever, she threw a punch at me, which caught me off guard and knocked me flat onto the floor"

Lefiya sighed at this, shaking her head

"I'd say you deserved it for letting her know you were there, you should have just stayed hidden and observed her"

I nervously chuckled as I apologized to her

"Sorry, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed..."

Riveria, Gareth, and Finn just had a deadpan expression on their faces, completely agreeing with Lefiya, they weren't exactly disappointed, it was just... they expected him to be more cautious than that

"Anyway, to answer why I rushed into the woods, once she noticed that I was still conscious after the blow, she tried to run away but I chased after her due to having lost reason from the rush"

He admitted, finally answering their question

"Hold on, you referred to the person as a 'she'?"

Finn clarified, to which Bell nodded

"She had scarlet-colored hair and piercing green eyes, wielding a weapon"

Bell gave a simple and concise description of the woman, and even if based on such scant evidence, it appears that at least three of them knew of her.

"We've faced her before, she's part of Evilus"

Riveria confessed, which surprised the boy

The radical faction known as Evilus was still a mystery to Bell Cranel, the closest he had to an encounter with them was with the monster tamer Jura during the failed Hestia Familia expedition when he tracked down Ryuu to clear up things after she was framed for a murder in Rivira. It was common knowledge to all of Orario who Evilus was and what the radical group represented, they sought to take control of the labyrinth city, usurping its leadership and establishing their own rule of the city and start from there, spreading their morally compromised ideals and values to the rest of the lower world using any means necessary, from force to exhortation, like an unstoppable plague that rapidly takes over the host.

A lump in his throat formed, he swallowed as he looked at the high elf, unsure

"The first time we encountered her was around more than half a year ago if I remember correctly, we were down here in Rivira at the time when Bors came to us and led us to a crime scene, a level four adventurer from the Ganesha Familia had been murdered by a woman he allegedly slept with the night before."

Finn added as he bit his thumb, leaving out most of the details for the prum deemed he need not know about it for now, it was a story for another time.

"Anyway, we're getting off track here..."

Finn redirected their focus back to the recollection of the events of the previous night

"This is probably where I'll come in..."

Lefiya chimed in before he could respond, she decided it was time to give her own narrative of what went down.

"So I'll take over from where Bell Cranel left off..."

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Flashback

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Lefiya Viridis' POV:

"Hah... hah... where... did they... go...?"

I breathlessly observed my surroundings, failing to find any trace of the albino boy or the person he was chasing after, I had been running at top speed for a good ten minutes deeper and deeper into the forest in the direction I believed they had taken

I tried to calm my physically exerted body with a few deep breaths but failed when the reality of the situation dawned on me, I was left in a very vulnerable position, all alone in the middle of the dark and creepy forest barely illuminated by the "moonlight"

Holding my staff close to my body as if it were some sort of protective device, I carefully and apprehensively walked around the area, constantly scanning my surroundings for any sign of danger or the white-haired boy.

Fearing the worst if I tried to call out to him, I decided to stay silent, making as little noise as I could, which proved to be a challenge as dried leaves and twigs were strewn all about on the ground I was walking on, so every other step would emit a noise that would frighten me.

'Once I find that idiot, I'll give him a piece of my...!!!'

My sensitive elven hearing picked up the very faint and distant sounds of an ongoing battle east of my location, it had to be him

Steeling my resolve, I braved the forest once more and sped toward the vicinity of where the sound was originating from, letting my ears guide me in the right direction.

'I need to hurry!'

As I closed the distance more and more, the sounds of clashing became louder and fiercer with each step I took

Then, my eyes witnessed the one-sided carnage before me

Bell Cranel, woefully at a disadvantage against the woman, barely holding his own as he was overwhelmed by his foe's superior experience and fighting prowess.

Recognizing the enemy, my eyes widened

'That's the woman we fought with before!'

I dove into a spot behind a fallen tree log far enough from the two to be safe from the possibility of being detected

'It's no good, she seems to be significantly stronger than when we last fought her, it's a miracle he's lasted this long against her'

My eyebrows furrowed at the troubling thought

'I need to find an opening or he won't make it!'

Lifting her head just enough to be able to peer at the ongoing battle, she could do little as she saw the heavily injured white-haired boy getting slammed into the ground by the also injured red-haired woman, the impact powerful enough to produce a modest tremor

Flinching in a visceral response as I witnessed the boy being violently handled, I forced myself to calm down and focus

'I need to help!'

My mind was urging me to do something to help him right now before the woman decided to finish him off, but I couldn't do anything since an opening was yet to present itself

Uttering the initial words to my magical attack's chant, magical energy began to surround and encircle me, concentrating on the tip of my staff as I pointed it at the woman, who grabbed a hold of a barely conscious Bell Cranel struggling to free himself off of her grasp

I was concentrating all of my attention on chanting, shutting out most of the outside world and its extraneous sensations. As a result, I could barely make sense of what the red-haired woman was saying to the half-dead albino boy

My eyes widened as my mind screamed at me

'There's my chance!!!'

Addressing my attack by its name, I called it forth, shooting from the tip of my staff with the precision of a sniper rifle but with the damage capacity of a powerful bomb, I focused my attack into a small, concentrated, and precise point to avoid hitting the injured albino boy

Not a second later, the agonized scream of the woman was heard throughout the quiet forest as Lefiya's Arcs Ray disintegrated her entire left arm into nothingness and shot off, exploding in the distance as it incinerated all in its path

Letting go of the injured boy, she dropped onto her knees as she grasped the steaming, semi-cauterized stump of what had once been her left arm, screaming as the pain overwhelmed her senses momentarily

And the boy was keen on not wasting that moment

After recovering the air he had been deprived of earlier, and from the shock from the unexpected assist, he ignored the pain in his body as he mustered as much strength as he could and delivered a powerful kick to the woman with sufficient force to send her crashing toward a few trees

"Bell Cranel!!!"

Seeing as the coast was now clear, I hastily made my way toward the heavily injured boy barely holding onto consciousness

"L-Lefiya-san...AUGH!"

He recoiled sharply as he clutched his chest, or more specifically the area of his ribs

I immediately moved to help him sit up

"P-Please don't try to talk! I think you broke a few ribs!"

All the uptightness of my elven heritage got dropped like a bad habit as I grabbed ahold of the boy to support him

'Shoot! I forgot to bring potions with me!'

Momentarily scolding herself for such a careless mistake, I sighed and resigned to use my healing spell instead.

"I'll start chanting now!"

I gave him a heads-up as I assisted him into a comfortable sitting position and knelt beside him, readying myself to chant

But, before I could utter a single syllable, the most profound chill I've ever felt went down my spine. Shaking uncontrollably, it was as if the devil itself was glaring at me, promising a thousand, painful deaths each more unbearable than the last.

'W-W-What is this...?!'

My breathing quickly became erratic and labored as my instincts were screaming at me to immediately vacate the premises, I was starting to sweat uncontrollably like a leaky faucet when I heard the coldest, most hateful, venom-laced voice

"You worm...!!!"

Every syllable was uttered with such restrained, seething rage that I felt them pierce through my very being

'Move...MOVE!!!'

The killing intent felt in the air was rapidly rising to the point where it became unbearable, I mentally screamed at myself to move

But alas, it was all for naught as my body refused to listen to my entreatments to make it move, not a single muscle so much as twitched in response, I was completely paralyzed, like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, hopeless and unable to do anything as it stared at death's beckonings

"You've done it now, you little wench!"

Even though I desperately wanted to get away if I could, I couldn't, since I needed to protect the heavily injured boy behind me. In a vain effort to do so, I aligned my petite body in front of his own, acting as a shield for the vulnerable albino despite my own disadvantage and fear

Tightly clutching my staff with both hands, I finally regain control of my fear-ridden being. There was no way I could win against her in an up-close and personal fight, but I needed to do something to keep him safe, there was no other way, so I steeled myself to fight the woman much stronger than I am, once again

Mentally preparing myself to fight a losing battle, I got up to face her

But any resolve I held was quickly extinguished and converted into fear and hopelessness when she disappeared in the literal blink of an eye, then in an infinitesimal span of time, reappeared right in front of me, well within striking range

Unprepared and rendered utterly vulnerable by the showcase of speed, I was unable to react or even cry out in shock when my senses suddenly registered pain, a lot of it

She delivered a nasty right hook to my unprotected face, inundating my senses with pain and disorientation, and sending me crashing into a few trees in the distance, the crash forcing the air out of my chest out

Being a mage, I would normally be protected by the stronger combat adventurers as I deal the finishing blow with my spell, but this time, it was different unfortunately, it seemed like there would be nobody to protect me this time against the inexorable onslaught of this red-haired monster

Pain still overwhelming my senses, I groaned as I tried to ignore the extreme vertigo causing my vision to spin in a discombobulating fashion, I needed to regain my bearings quickly or I'd be easy pickings

Tasting iron as a slight pool of blood welled up in my mouth, my hearing picked up the slow but surely approach of footsteps, purposefully taking her time

"That was a lucky shot, brat, but remember that no matter how many of you useless vermin pile up to face me, I'll crush you all with absolute power!"

Forcing my aching body to move, I tried to push off of the tree bark I was embedded in from the impact when she suddenly appeared right in front of me once more and delivered another powerful hook toward my abdomen, preventing me from escaping her wrath as I whimpered from the pain, coughing out some blood as it landed on the sadistic woman's face, which brought a grin to her face

"This would all have gone easier had you sat down and watched as I gut the boy! But it seems you intend on making things harder for yourself!"

Grabbing me by the neck and slamming my head further into the indention within the tree, I felt another wave of pain originate from the impact spot at the back of my head and rush throughout my debilitated body

A trail of blood trickling from my left nostril, I found it difficult to breathe properly as the woman continued to administer her wanton one-sided beating toward me

Not giving me the chance to get away or even resist, she shot her intact right hand toward my exposed, vulnerable neck, gripping it with considerable force, preventing me from taking in any air and inflicting much suffering and terror on my part

"Ngh...!!"

My terrified glassy-blue irises were forced to stare into livid emerald-green irises promising me a painful, thousand deaths as I weakly tried to resist by grabbing onto her vigorous right arm with both of my hands, unable to do anything due to my inferior strength

"Not to fret, elf, once I'm through withyou and the boy, I'll shortly be sending your pathetic Familia straight to hell too so that you two'll have some company!"

The woman brought our faces closer, she was practically muttering her words right into my face as I struggled to free myself of her grip, which proved to be futile as I twitched in pain and alarm when she further increased the pressure she exerted on my throat, totally denying me of any air at this point

My survival instincts flailing up in alarm, I tried pounding on her arms to force her to loosen her grip, but it was all for naught as she didn't so much as even flinch despite my level four status

Tears were welling up in the corners of my eyes as I found any chance of escape, well, escape me

My jaw clenched hard due to the intense emotions I was feeling from the hopeless situation, I felt my life flash before my eyes as I inched closer to the edge, about to slip into unconsciousness...

'I'm sorry everyone... it seems this is it for me...!'

My face was probably starting to turn blue from the prolonged asphyxiation as I slipped closer and closer into the lull of unconsciousness, something which the woman noticed as she loosened her grip just enough to allow me the slightest ability to take in air once more, but no more than a slight amount to keep me awake through it all

"Oh, don't go so soon, we're just getting started he-"

Barely holding on to my cognizance, I could hear how she abruptly stopped speaking as she shifted a bit to look in another direction, then not a second later, I felt her seethe in anger once more

"Y-You...!!!"

I could feel the anger she emanated right now. Despite myself about to fall into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness, I forced my eyes to open and immediately saw a sight that left me in utter disbelief, Bell Cranel, the boy who'd been beaten half-to-death by the woman earlier, suffering multiple serious injuries ranging from bruises, broken bones and cuts of varying sizes and severity, stand up with no effort at all and grab her extended right-arm grabbing me by the throat with his own grip, surprising her with the unexpected strength the boy showcased, where it came from, none of the three of us knew, but what was for sure was that the woman knew that she had to take him out right here and right now as he was now a threat that couldn't be ignored

Unable to yank her arm free off of the albino's unbreakable grip, she then resorted to the next best thing, sending a knee straight toward his abdomen

But to the surprise of both of us, the heavily injured adventurer moved at speeds imperceptible to even first-class adventurers, intercepting her right knee with his free arm, knocking it away

Seething with rage, she tried to go for another hit, but then found her remaining arm's wrist experiencing greater and greater pressure until eventually...

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*CRUNCH*

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It all happened too quickly for me to comprehend

One second, I was suspended a few feet in the air by the red-haired woman, with her remaining arm firmly gripping my throat, very much intent on strangling the life out of me, then the next second, a painful and audible crunch was heard as she let go of me, letting me collapse on the ground

Then, the pained cries of the red-haired woman followed not too long after the sickening crunch, my elven ears inundated by her pained moans

I knew it... I'm about to lose consciousness...

Mustering up all of the remaining strength in my body, I forced myself to look up at the boy beside me and the woman, who was moaning from the pain of having her wrist crushed

'H-He... saved me...'

Those were the last thoughts I had when I then felt the sweet repose of unconsciousness embrace me

"Bell... Cra... nel..."

The last thing I saw was the albino's unruly and dirtied white hair, then the next moment, everything turned to black...

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End of Flashback

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Third Person POV:

"And that's what happened on my part..."

Lefiya concluded her recount of the events last night, an uneasy look on her face

The three executives weren't much different, there were still some questions they wanted answered

"What happened next?"

Finn took the liberty and asked, the question directed at the albino boy still sitting on his makeshift bed

"I... I honestly don't remember much during that, there are fragments here and there, like how I remember almost beating her until she hit me and managed to get away..."

Bell bit the bottom of his lip lightly as he told them, the three executives lightly nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer, it didn't seem like he was hiding anything

But a certain high elf still wanted to confirm something, so she stepped forward and opened her mouth to ask the boy

"Bell Cranel, do you have any idea what may have caused you to suddenly act like that?"

She had an idea, but she needed to hear it from the boy himself

Bell, upon being asked the question that was on everybody's mind, furrowed his eyebrows and went into thought, trying to find the right words

"I... don't know... I remember the moment I saw her hurt Lefiya, something inside me just snapped, I felt a surge of power course through my body, filling me with newfound strength, and the pain from all of the various wounds and injuries I received just... disappeared, as if they were never there to begin with..."

Bell responded candidly, his eyes looking down at his own two hands resting on his thighs

Finn and Gareth raised an eyebrow at his response and Riveria just looked down with what might look like a glad smile if one were to carefully observe it

"I see... thank you for the response"

Her usual stoic expression returning, she took a step back and returned to her earlier spot, deep in thought

While the three executives were muttering to themselves, Bell shyly gave a furtive glance toward Lefiya

The elven maiden's beautiful features were adorned with a, possibly unhealthy, shade of pink. She was much too focused on what the boy just said

'H-he... got that angry...? Because I got hurt...?'

Her blush deepened, and then she lifted her gaze and met the boy's shy glance

Both pairs of eyes slightly widened, and quickly looked anywhere but at each other

"If I may, I'd like to commend you Bell Cranel for having been able to fend off such a formidable foe, from what we've heard from you, it's the very same woman we fought before, and I have to tell you... she's no pushover"

Finn commended the boy, praising him for such a great feat

"If I'm being honest, to think that you were actually on the defensive at first... I'm not too confident about my chances if I were to fare against her now... even with my recent level seven status"

The prum admitted, looking troubled. He admits that the boy may surpass him in raw strength and talent, so to find him not faring well against a foe they had fought with before unnerved him

"Also, I'm guessing she had something to do with the unknown monster that attacked us last night?"

Redirecting the conversation, the prum asked the boy

"Oh! Right, I think so"

Bell responded quite eagerly, remembering something

"By the way Mr. Finn, what happened after I unleashed my attack?"

The boy asked as he had no recollection of what had transpired after his decisive attack

The prum smiling, happily filled him in

"Well..."

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FLASHBACK

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"Argo Vesta!"

His signature weapon was lit ablaze by a wanton and inexorable flame, dancing around the length of the piece of metal with much vigor, heating up its surroundings to near-unbearable temperatures as the flame continued to cackle violently, aching and roaring to be unleashed and ready to immolate all

The powerfully concentrated magic released a brilliant, blue flash, it fascinated all who were currently there to witness it

"Riveria and the mages! Start your chanting!"

Finn's resolute voice commanded, snapping them out of their amazed stupor

"Right, fellow mages!"

Riveria gave her go-ahead as the other mages, as well as herself, started chanting. The numerous words uttered for each chant compounded into cacophonous murmurs, but not a single one was distracted by all of them chanting at once, for they were so deeply focused on their own, individual chants that they began to momentarily disengage from the real world

"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"

Amidst the sea of voices broke through a high-pitched screech, originating from the enraged monster, ready to make its last stand against the meddlesome insects that dare bare their fangs at it

The ensuing fight did not even last a full minute

Rushing toward the vulnerable group of mages, it was determined to take them out of the equation first for they were now the most dangerous threat to its existence, the albino boy being a close second

The ground tearing apart from the force it launched itself toward the accumulation of magic-predisposed adventurers, it got ready to violently crash into them

""NO YOU DON'T!!!""

It was so close, but at the last second, its rapid advance was halted dead in its tracks by two certain dwarves, one belonging to the Loki Familia and the other, the Hephaistos Familia

With all their might, Gareth and Tsubaki held back the beast, preventing it from advancing any further

Its screams intensifying, it sent out its numerous minions to dispatch the pests

Unequipped to fight the minions as they currently were, Gareth and Tsubaki entrusted their safety to the others, which they delivered without fail

"HAAAAA!!!"

"TAKE THIS!!!"

The two amazoness sisters went to their rescue, jumping into the fray and slaughtering any and all that came within striking range

"YAAAAAHHH!!!"

"ORAAAAAA!!!"

No matter how many they cut down, more kept coming, seemingly without end, they would soon be overrun should things continue like this

The number of minions that spawned was now in the thousands, a good amount of them kept the pressure on the four veteran adventurers, which already put them at a disadvantage despite the fact, but to make matters worse, the rest of the minions, which was quite a lot, rushed toward the chanting mages

Their claws ready to tear into flesh and draw blood and gore, they went in for the kill

Or rather, they were the ones who were killed, in large droves in fact

A green blur moving at speeds just barely perceptible to even the amazingly astute perceptions of a first-class adventurer tore through the incoming wave of minions, slicing all into bloody bits and ribbons of flesh and gore

Rocketing around unpredictably, the freak phenomenon successfully disturbed the imminent threat of minions as they scurried to either try and get out of the blur's way or tried to intercept or stop it only to fail and get killed

"Hear me, Tempest..."

It was Ais, rejoining the battle after getting taken out for the count earlier

Her eyes were closed as she entrusted and surrendered herself to her intuition and instincts, falling into the deepest concentration

And her instincts served her well, for she was without harm despite her relentless battle with the minions, who continued to fall to her

But despite her razor-sharp instincts and battle intuition honed by numerous near-death experiences during her still short and yet dangerous life, it was inevitable that they would eventually break through her defense, no matter how skilled she is

A few cuts here and there became numerous, and the severity of the cuts also became alarming

'Nh!'

Her concentration was disrupted by the stinging pain and warmth she felt all over her body, she fought back as best as she could

"I'm joining in on the fun too!"

Finn announced, appearing beside the almost overwhelmed Ais and decimating the horde harassing the Loki Familia's Sword Princess

"Come on!"

Spinning his body around with his spear outstretched, he bisected any minions that dared venture too close to him

The monster screeched as it broke free of the two dwarves, unceremoniously smacking them aside with its numerous wings and went rushing toward the mages once more

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!!!!"

A powerful flame of pillar appeared and collided with the monster, knocking them both aside and away from the group as they crashed onto the ground some distance away

"Nice going, Bete!"

Tiona and Tione appeared beside the scowling werewolf of the Loki Familia as he delivered another devastating blow to the monster, who let out a high-pitched hum akin to a whimper of pain

"Don't forget about us!"

Tiona exclaimed with a battle-hungry smirk on her face as she and her twin sister jumped into the action

"YAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

Putting all of her strength in the swing of her Urga, it successfully found its target, disorienting the monster as it was sent some meters into the air

Attempting to reorient itself, it was caught off guard by a sudden figure in the air beside it

"YOU DAMN THING!!!"

With all the strength in her, Tione unleashed a powerful and devastating double axe handle attack, with enough force behind it to dent the monster's outer disc and send it rocketing and violently crashing down into the ground

"Nice one, Tione!"

Her twin sister commended her while she just winced in pain

Taking a look at her hands, she could see that she had pretty much fractured her hands from the attack

"Oof, you might want to get that chec-"

Tiona abruptly stopped her sentence as her ears picked up an all-too-familiar buzzing sound

She tried to move out of the way, but the projectile was just too fast that she narrowly avoided getting bisected, but was still badly injured by the disc

"AUGH!!!"

Her abdomen sustaining a slightly deep cut, she clutched at it to prevent the bleeding as she tried to avoid the other projectiles that followed

"TIONA!!!"

Tione rushed to save her but was caught off guard by a minion delivering a slash at her back

Groaning in pain and surprise, she turned around to kill the monster that dared attack her, which resulted in her being vulnerable to a fireball thrown at her, which collided with her, burning her

"YOU BASTARDS!!!"

Bete, seeing his comrades at a disadvantage, jumped in to help them. Unfortunately, his rage blinded him to the monster rocketing toward him at great speed, receiving the collision without bracing himself in any way, his body went limp as he shot off into the distance, crashing into a few trees further away

"Damn...!"

Tiona was struggling to defend herself against the projectiles as she was struck again and again, with varying degrees of severity

But she adapted, able to recompose herself for a better defense

Now she was able to effectively dodge or deflect any incoming projectiles

But, it seemed the monster got impatient as it, like the werewolf, rammed her and sent her flying away once the projectiles started to fail to get past her defense

The monster screeched as its opponents had been taken care of for the moment, now nobody stood in its way toward the mages

Rethinking its strategy, instead of charging directly, it opted to charge a beam of destruction

Pure devastation magic coalesced in front of it, forming a sphere that reeked of destruction and ruin

"HELL FINEGAS!!!"

An enraged shout was heard, and then the next second, a spear went flying toward the monster, or more accurately, the sphere of concentrated magic, detonating it as the monster was engulfed by the flames of its own attack, disrupting its opportunistic action

Rushing into the towering billow of smoke and dust, a now red-eyed Finn Diemne retrieved his spear and initiated a follow-up attack, not giving the monster any time to recover

Or so he would have had the monster not slammed into his miniature figure first and catapulted him far away

"What the hell was that, Finn?!"

Gareth mocked as he rushed toward the monster, axe in hand, ready to swing

"Looks like he's getting a bit full of himself"

Tsubaki smirked as she ran parallel to the dwarf and rapidly approached the monster in the other direction, subjecting the monster to a pincer attack from them both

"COME ONNNN!"

"EAT THISSS!"

With a battle cry, both jumped into action

Gareth unleashed a powerful swing of his battle axe while Tsubaki let down the greatsword she was currently wielding, both attacks successfully connected with the monster, making it whimper in pain as its disc was further dented, barely intact after all the damage it had accumulated

"I'm not done ye-AUGH!!!"

Gareth groaned in pain as one of the projectiles directly struck him in the back, managing to deal a quite hefty amount of damage despite the dwarf's stupendous defense

"Old man!"

Tsubaki deflected the three other projectiles before rushing over to Gareth, only to get smacked right toward him by one of the wings of the monster, sending them crashing far away

Now, having dealt with the two pests that dared to get in its way like all the others that came before, it turned its focus toward the group of mages chanting once more, seeing the prime opportunity for it to slaughter them all, it sped toward them

"LIL RAFAGA!!!"

Once again, the monster was interrupted. Ais Wallenstein, surrounded by a ferocious green aura akin to a violent cyclone, managed to intercept it before it could reach the vulnerable mages

The sword princess collided with the monster with such force that the collision threw them onto the ground, the resulting impact sufficient to unearth significant amounts of the ground and throw dust into the air

"Ais!"

Gareth and Tsubaki groaned as they got back up, the monster's attacks now felt more powerful than previous. Its attacks actually managed to hurt them, notwithstanding their extraordinarily high defense

"Ngh, go on gramps, I'll check on the two sisters...!"

Tsubaki nodded her head in the direction of Ais and the monster, Gareth need not hear another word before he rushed back into the fight

The female blacksmith sighed and went toward the beaten figures of both Tiona and Tione Hirsute, barely conscious as both had sustained heavy injuries

Seeing the figure looking down on them, the two sisters squinted their eyes as their vision became clear and they lit up in recognition

"T-Tsubaki..."

Tione weakly grinned at her, much of her anterior suffered from second and even third-degree burns, as a consequent of receiving a direct fireball one too many times, but she could care less about that at the moment as she was currently tending to her sister, who arguably sustained worse injuries

Tiona gave her a weak smile, feeling weak from the blood loss she's suffering, she had no potions left so the only thing she could do was apply pressure on the wound to minimize the blood loss

"Well, you two look like crap..."

Tsubaki commented with a tired sigh and fetched for two health potions from the satchel securely attached to her leg

Fortunately, they were undamaged despite the less-than-gentle landing she had earlier

She uncorked the first one and doused Tiona with it, which took effect immediately, working diligently to close up her wounds and return a bit of healthy glow back to her skin instead of a sickly pale shade

"Thanks a bunch, Tsubaki!"

Tiona smiled as she sat up, still feeling a bit woozy due to the generous amount of blood loss she suffered, she'll have to sit this one out

Then, Tsubaki took the last remaining potion that she currently had, opened it and doused the other sister

The potion worked wonders, able to undo all of the nasty burns the girl suffered despite their severity, any permanent damage was thankfully prevented

"Ahh, that's the good stuff. Thanks, Tsubaki!"

She also gave her thanks to the blacksmith, who simply shook her head at them

"Don't worry about it, you two should probably sit this one out, we're almost there anyway"

Her grip tightened as she heard an incoming group of minions

"Leave the rest to us!"

.

"HAAAHHH!!!"

The painful clang of metal slamming against metal was heard, Ais put all of her strength into the swing, which barely did any damage other than further enraging the monster

Gracefully dodging the numerous wings intending to slap her away thanks to her agility, she was pursued once again by the four projectiles, seeking to embed themselves in her body

Doing her best to deflect them away, she found herself very much at the mercy of a few minions that suddenly appeared

'!!!!'

There was no way she could defend herself due to her awkward body positioning, as the monsters' outstretched arms were reaching toward her to tear her to shreds, she could do nothing but watch

"NOT A CHANCE!"

With bullseye precision, Gareth threw his battle axe toward the horde of minions, effectively shredding them into bloody little bits

"Ais! Are you alright?"

The stout dwarf asked, running over to the girl and checking her to see if she was fine

Nodding, she thanked him for his help as they turned their attention toward the monster, who was nowhere near them, in fact, it made use of its minions as a distraction so it can pursue the group of mages who were nearly complete with their chanting

"No!!!"

There was no way either of them could make it in time, and the others were all down for the count at the moment, it was over, the battle was decided

The monster screeched like a banshee, accelerating to murderous speed as it prepared to ram the vulnerable sorcerers to kingdom come

Everybody watched with bated breath as the world seemed to come to a standstill...

"List Iorum!"

Only a few dozen meters away from Riveria and the others, the monster was ensnared by a magic chain, stopping its advance dead in its tracks, then two, then three, then four, effectively binding it down to the ground as it screeched in outrage at its inability to move

Its lone eye at the center turned toward the source of the magic, which was the Tione

The pupil dilating, it tried to concentrate magical energy into a sphere to shoot off toward the offending adventurer, but quickly found that it could not do so, the chains were not only inhibiting its physical body but its ability to use magic as well

"Hah... it... worked...!"

Tione couldn't believe it, her ability actually worked this time, and at such a critical moment at that

This specific ability of hers had a troublesome setback, there was a good chance that it would fail to contain its target since it was dependent upon chance, as well as how powerful her magic was, and even if it didn't work, it would still drain mana from her, making her unable to consecutively attempt the move in order to increase the chances of it working, but in the few times that it did work, it was a game changer

"Hell, you managed to make it work!"

Tiona couldn't stop the stupid grin forming on her face, she knew just how rare it was for her sister's ability to actually work, and to see it work at such a dire situation...

"Heh, nice save lass"

Gareth and Tsubaki appeared beside the sisters, giving Tione a pat on the back

"Great thinking, Tione"

Ais and Bete went to them, the sword princess praising her as the werewolf just huffed

"Ngh... thanks, but I can't hold it down for much longer... how are the mages doing?"

Such a useful move, if it worked, couldn't be sustained as it voraciously expended her mind

But thankfully, they needn't wait much longer...

The temperature in the vicinity suddenly became stuffy, which then quickly graduated to sweltering and then to scorching, the mages were finally finished with their chanting

A gigantic sphere of flame and destruction now floated above them, as large as the monster itself. It was the culmination of the mages focusing their magic into one, single attack, chanting their own fire-related spells and then putting them together to create a single, devastating attack ready to be unleashed

"Riveria!"

Finn sighed in relief as he picked himself up from the ditch his earlier impact had formed, Riveria gave the prum a confident smirk as she nodded

The time was ripe and victory was in their hands

"Fall back! Everybody except Bell Cranel!"

With his command given, the rest of the deterrent force needed no more words as they fell back to the mages' side

And Bell Cranel, seeing that it was time for him to make his move, stepped forward

The monster, seeing that it was trapped between a rock and a hard place, began squirming and struggling like never before, all of its minions disappearing as well as its four, deadly projectiles from earlier disabled due to its magic rendered null

Its screeching becoming painfully unbearable, Bell took a deep breath and sighed

"Let's end this"

He cocked back his arm gripping the flaming Hestia Knife

"Release!"

Riveria gave the command

Quite literally, hell was unleashed and it was quickly speeding toward the monster, incinerating everything in its infernal wake

"HAAAHHH!!!"

With a mighty swing of his arm, Bell unleashed the maelstrom of fire kept suppressed within the knife he wielded

The monster could do nothing as it was caught between the two tidal waves of hell

Not even a screech or a whimper was heard for it all happened too fast

The two attacks met and produced an explosion so powerful it shook the entirety of the eighteenth floor with a powerful tremor, the blast briefly shining as bright as the sun in the daytime sky, temporarily blinding all who were subjected to such a sight

Or at least, that's what Bell Cranel saw immediately before everything turned dark, mind down had afflicted him

Well, I'll go ahead and apologize for such a drawn out fight scene with very little tension that you, as the reader, can actually feel. I don't excel with these, but I'm trying to get better, I intended for the chapter to focus more on the bigger picture as of the moment, but I promise that the next chapter will have more meaningful interaction and will actually advance the story, it's the best I can do despite taking such a long break so I'll apologize again. Anyway, thank you for your patience and I'll see you guys in the next one!