Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.3] Quest 260- Knossos, Part 4- Sadistic

As the more veteran people of the group stood still in sheer shock.

“N-no…” Ryuu’s face turns to horror.

“Neze!!” shouted Asfi.

“Hahahaha!! What beautiful faces of disbelief!!” Valletta shouted with enthusiasm.

“I should clarify that the Neze you know is dead,” Neze said calmly, ignoring Valletta. “I merely took the name, as that was what this body is called when it was alive. I am merely a Spirit King of the Earth that ‘Her’ will found ‘Neze’ strong enough to be endowed with me.”

Asfi and Bell could see the sheer twisting of emotions on Ryuu’s face as she was breaking.

“So you took her body!!” shouted Asfi with tears in her eyes. “You damn monster!! Do you not even care for the dead!! I can see her dagger on you! It was buried by my close friend here!!” Asfi placed her hand on Ryuu's shoulder.

“So they did belong to this body." Neze looked at the weapons with a disgruntled face but shook it off. She couldn't take back what she did. "I am sorry for taking them, but sadly I must use them for ‘Her’ dream.”

“What are you talking about!!” shouted Ai.

“That’s none of your concern. You may leave so—"

“Give…” Ryuu said under her breath.

“Hm?”

Ryuu muttered.

“Give… giver her back.”

“I’m sorry but—"

“I SAID GIVE HER BACK!!!!!!!!!”

Ryuu drew her weapon and charged at Neze with rivers of tears coming down her grief-stricken face.

“Dammit!!” Valletta shouted. “(The spider sets her trap)!!—"

Valletta begins her chant.

“Ryuu!!!” shouted Bell.

Asfi and Ai quickly followed her as she jumped up, and Neze blocked it with her dagger.

Clang!!!!

“I did not want this,” Neze said, exerting no effort. “It was—"

“SHUT UP!!! STOP USING HER VOICE!!!!!!! HOW DARE YOU DESECRATE THE GRAVE OF MY SISTERS!!!!!!!! (In the sky of a now distant forest. Infinite stars scattered in the endless night sky. Respond to my foolish voice, give me now divine protection of star fire. Give the mercy of light to the one that abandoned you. Come, wandering wind, the wandering traveler. Cross the sky and run through the wilderness, run faster than anything else. Imbue the light of stardust and destroy the enemy)!!! [Luminous Wind]!!!!” she chanted it at such a speed it surprised Ai and Asfi.

As wind and light destroyed the area, Ai went through it and drew her blade, only to be blocked by a wall of earth.

Clang~!

“!!”

“I am the Spirit King of Earth; I am not like Thetis or Revis.” Neze’s eyes narrowed.

“(My foes do not see the itsy bitsy spider.)!!!—”

“Shut the fuck up!!!” Ai shouted, quickly covering the ground between her and Valletta.

“(Come down the water sprout, drown)!!!—”

Valletta swings her new arm, but Ai was not fucking around.

Swish!!! Swish!!! Swish!!!

SPURT!!!

Ai sliced through her arm and sliced off her leg again, along with an ear.

“GAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!! BOOM!!!”

Ignis Fatus. She couldn’t control the magic as Ai cut her down.

Thud!!!

She falls to the ground before she could even help or attack.

“Tch.” Ai swings the blood off her Katana and sheathes it.

Ai looks at Neze who focused on Ryuu, who was attacking her.

“Monster!!!!” Ryuu howled as she came in for a wide swing.

Crack!!

The wall of earth she had made cracked.

“!?”

Neze jumped back but was struck in the face by a blunt object, causing her to get back into Asfi’s explosion from her right side.

Boom!!

“Grr!! Annoying human!!”

“Bell Cranel!!” shouted Asfi. “Take this and keep moving! We will handle her!” she tosses him the key.

“Bell!!!” Ai shouted as she takes out a special magic tool in the shape of a nail, Cirrus made in Yamato for spies. “Keep moving forward!! Cut down any who stand in your way!!!” She then, without hesitation, impaled it between the discs of Valletta’s spine.

“!!!!” Valletta woke up from the pain before being splashed with a High Potion, healing her injuries.

“R-right!! Let’s keep moving!!” Bell said, a bit scared of what Ai did.

Bell moved with the Hermes Familia, and Xeno pass them, but he could feel his heartache as he could see the rage in Ryuu’s eyes.

“Ryuu!!” Bell shouted. “Don’t do anything reckless!! Syr will be sad if anything happens to you!!!”

Ryuu freezes for a second, and she clenches hard on her weapon.

“Thank you Cranel for the needed advise!” her eyes were still angry, but they at least had some clarity.

“Outta the way,” Ai said as she grabbed Valletta by her hair.

“W-why can’t I move!!” Valletta shouted.

“Quiet. Before I cut off your tongue.” Ai didn’t even look at her as she tossed her far into the corridor they came through.

‘A gift to Ganesha and Shakti.’ Ai thought before focusing back on Neze.

Bell and the others ran as quickly as they could. The sounds of battle echoed loudly through the halls.

“Keep moving Bell.” Said Lili. “That is a business they need to settle.”

“… Your right.”

“Don’t worry.” Said Kalion. “They are skilled adventures. Worrying about them is pointless when you are in a situation as dangerous as—!” Kalion quickly rushed forward. “I know this scent!! It’s the poachers!!!”

“!?”

Immediately, all the Xeno picked up the pace, as did Bell.

Running through the corridor, they made it to another open room where several people with angry expressions.

“So… you came to us, you monsters.” Said a man with goggles, and a very disturbing look at him with a sinister-looking spear.

“Poacher.” Said Kalion.

“You… I remember catching you and selling you off.” He walked a bit forward. “You survived? Well, I can always sell you off again.”

“You won’t have the chance, you philistine piece of shit. I’ve waited a long time for this, XENO!!!!!” Kalion shouted.

They all get ready in a stance.

“Bell, we have to keep going.” Said Lili.

“Hm, will you guys be alright?” Bell asked Lyd and Ray.

“We will be fine. Kalion is here, and we all eat enough to reach around level 6. So go on ahead, Bell-cchi!” Lyd said.

“Yes, and this is personal for us as well,” Ray said. “Gros seems we will finally satiate that deep-seated hatred now.”

“Yeah and at the right people, get moving, Rabbit. You don’t want to see this.” Gros took a step ahead of Lyd and Ray, standing next to Kalion.

“Get going Gros is being nice for a change,” Ray said as her eyes get trained on the poachers.

"Sir Cirrus gave us magic tools to protect ourselves." Kalion said. "So do not worry about us."

The Hestia and Hermes Familia continued onwards, and these were the tenses minutes of his life as they ran downstairs after stairs as the Knossos shook from the attacks, but they eventually made it to the center of the Knossos.

A door opened to show a white-haired, sick-looking man over an orb with fleshy vines all around.

“You… It seems they dwindled our numbers considerably.” He glanced at them.

“You must be the master of this dungeon, right?” said Welf.

“I am. My name is Barca Perdix.”

“Perdix? Then your Dix’s brother? No, father?” said Falgar.

“Rude, we are half-siblings, but that’s beside the point. I must commend you for making it this far, using the Artemis and Loki Familia’s strongest as bait. Evilus certainly has been packed tightly.” He walked towards them.

“And… are you not mad it’s crumbling?” Lili asked.

“No, I don’t really care. I simply cared to further grow this curse my ancestor gave his descendants to continuously build this prison.”

“Cursed?”

“Yes, a curse in my and Dix’s veins. I’m sure you saw how erratic he looks. Well, it’s due to him fighting and indulging that curse that he is the way he is. Using the Xeno to satisfy that urge, but with that damn Uncrowned and Sword Princess destroyed a majority of the Knossos and trapped us here, we had to find another way.”

“Another exists.” Said Falgar.

“Yes… and from what I have seen, we will soon be defeated.”

“Then will you come with us without a fight or—“

“I choose death, Were-tiger. If I had to leave the Knossos, I would surely go mad and bash my skull in so.” He takes out a sinister-looking knife and holds it to his throat. “I will finally be free from this cursed masterpiece… actually no, I wished you lot would just die so I can keep working on it.” he then pushed the knife in, and blood spurted.

“No!!! we need him!!” shouted Falgar. “Quick, heal him! We need answers!!”

The Hermes and Hestia Familia quickly rushed to him and treated the wound with a potion but:

“I-it’s not working!!” shouted Lulune.

“Damn, it’s a curse!” said Aisha as she grabs the knife.

They couldn’t help but watch as Barca’s life slowly fades.

‘Ah… this is death… I feel satisfied… my mind is… clear...’

Back to Cirrus and Lefiya.

“Huff! huff!” Lefiya was barely standing as she was narrowly avoiding Fivis and Arbuda’s attacks.

“How good are you on magic?” Cirrus said, covering her.

“I’m… I’m good!” she chugs down a High Magic Potion and tosses it to the ground.

“Good, because it’s been 19 minutes since the 3rd group left, so if we’re lucky, they should—"

Suddenly, every door opened up and closed 3 times.

“Taken over the Knossos.”

Back to the fight with Thetis.

“Seems the 3rd group made it!” said Gareth.

“Now how are you going to escape you shitty puddle!!” shouted Beta.

“Tsk! We should have ignored your words, Thetis.” Said Revis, angry at her.

“Well, I only did it so I can see the face of a certain someone twisted up in a bunch! And since this place isn’t shaking, it seems Cirrus hasn’t met with his former Familia.”

“??”

‘Former? Familia?’ a thought that was shared.

“What do you mean?” Ais said, looking at her.

“Oh, it’s nothing much!” her face twisted in a disgusting, perverted way. “I simply made Neze fight!”

“!?!?”

Neze. That name lingered in the minds of veteran adventurers, but Riveria and Gareth froze still from it.

“What the hell did you do!!” shouted Gareth.

“Nothing at all! It was all ‘Her’ doing!! I merely set Neze on her path to reuniting with some old friend is all!!”

It was hard to really believe when her face was twisted up in a cruel smile.

“Gareth… wasn’t the Gale in the 3rd group as well…” Riveria mentions it and a chill runs through their backs with a thought that came to their minds.

‘We can’t let Cirrus meet her!’

“Ais! Beta, we need to stop Cirrus from meeting Neze!” shouted Riveria. “She’s his former Familia member of the Astraea Familia!!”

“!!” they were shocked to hear that, but they understood the situation at hand.

“Got it! Get going!!”

“She should be on the 16th or maybe the 17th floor?” Thetis said. “Good luck trying to get there!! (Old man of the sea, place your water onto me)!! [Laconia Styx]!!”

“(Awaken, Tempest)!!!!”

The water parted ways much like Nox if rough around the edges.

“Get going!!” Ais shouted.

They nod as most of the group when with them.

“Tch! Whatever! Revis! We have to fall back on our plan—!!”

Before she knew it, Revis had grabbed and thrown Thetis to them.

“You will hold them off!! Since this was your idea!” Revis shouted as she took out a key and jumped down a hole.

“You!!!! Dammit!! Fine!! I’ll take you all on!!!” Thetis’s face scrunched up in a fury and focused on what was in front of her.

“Then get ready to eat shit!!” Beta took out the magic tool. “Ais!! Follow that red-headed bitch!!”

“On it!!” she quickly rushed to the hole Revis took but Thetis appeared.

“As I said I’ll—!!”

Bam!!!!

Crash!!!!

Thetis jumped back as Beta landed in front of her.

“And I fucking said get ready to eat shit!!!” Beta said in his Beastification and the tool fairly tight around his neck.

His hair was standing up and his eyes gained a beast-like quality to them as he emanated even more bloodlust.