Sarutahiko Familia Premise Chapter 6 (Patreon)

Hello friends and fans, Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter! Bell and Lili continue to traverse the Dungeon together, with Lili being instructed by Bell and encouraged to fight as many Monsters as possible to gain Excelia for her future Conversion to the Sarutahiko Familia! Ais, Tione, Tiona, are going down into the Dungeon on a week-long excursion to make enough money to cover their debts, but they may end up in a situation of their own. What will the three young women find when they return to the surface?

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 6 – Making Connections, War Game

-Dungeon ~ Tenth Floor-

Wsh

Wsh

Two bolts from Lili’s bowgun flew through the air and stabbed into an Orc’s eyes, blinding the Monster.

“BUUAARRGGHH!!!” The Orc bellowed in pain and swung its landform weapon around wildly, trying to hit what it could no longer see.

Pomf

A small bag hit the flailing Orc in the face, releasing a thick cloud of purple powder. The Orc inhaled deeply, only to start hacking and coughing immediately. The Large Category Monster staggered backwards, still swing the club landform around, even as its face began to have distended veins appear all over it.

Wsh

Wsh

Wsh

Three more bolts were launched from a safe distance by Lili. Each shot nailing the Orc in the head, until the Monster finally collapsed, blinded, poisoned, and injured. It went still a few seconds later and didn’t move again.

“L-Lili did it…” Lili blinked at seeing the dead Orc. “Lili killed an Orc all by herself.”

“I told you that you could do it, Lili!” Bell praised her with a bright smile, making Lili blush a little. “You don’t have to brute force a fight. Play to your strengths and use tactics and strategy to take down Monsters that’re bigger or stronger than you.”

Lili couldn’t help but smile back at Bell with happiness and a little pride. “You were right, Master Bell! It wasn’t as hard as Lili thought it would be!” This was still the first Large Category Monster that she’d ever fought before, much less taken down on her own. It was a major accomplishment for a Level 1 Supporter like Lili. “I’ll get the Magic Stone, Master Bell.” Lili pulled out her new knife and headed over to the dead Orc with Bell watching her back.

‘That’s Lili’s twentieth Monster today, and I’ve taken out about eighty so far.’ Bell was keeping track as best as he could as he helped Lili learn to fight in her own style. They’d only been down on the Tenth Floor for about an hour, so they still had a couple hours before lunchtime, then they’d continue for a few hours a few hours after that too. ‘I’m glad that she’s so eager to gain Excelia now.’ Bell grinned as he looked over to Lili as she worked.

“Got it!” Lili smiled as she hopped off the Orc as it began to break down into white ash. The decent-sized Magic Stone in her left hand would bring in a good price at the exchange later. “Where to next, Master Bell?” She asked while stashing the stone away in her large pack.

“One second…” Bell closed his eyes and activated his new Skill, Kanchi. Awareness spread out from his position, and in a black void, Bell was able to see blue-white dots and red dots. The blue-white dots were people, while the red were Monsters. His range couldn’t cover the entire Tenth Floor, but it still covered a good amount of the area around Bell and removed the hindrance of the fog of the Tenth Floor. “Hmm, there are two Parties over there…” He pointed to the left. “And there’s a small group of Monsters in that direction with no one around them.” He pointed just to the right of where Lili was standing. “They’re about seventy meters away from us, give or take.”

Lili marveled at Bell’s new Skill with wide eyes. “That’s amazing, Master Bell.”

Bell headed in the direction of the group of Monsters, hoping to slay them before any other Party got to them, or before the group moved somewhere else. “Thanks, Lili. I need to get as much practice with it as possible though, it still requires me to close my eyes to use it right now, and that could be dangerous.”

What was unsaid was the sheer speed that Bell was learning and mastering his Skill at already, his Monstrous Talent once more making itself apparent. Most new Skills took the Adventurer a little time to figure out and make good use of. Bell had only been practicing with Kanchi since they’d gotten into the Dungeon and already, he’d figured out the current maximum range, and was starting to get accurate gauges of distance between himself and others without needing to see at all.

The Monsters that normally hid amongst the fog of the Tenth Floor no longer had the element of surprise on their side against Bell and his Party.

-Late Afternoon ~ Guild Exchange-

“Your Magic Stones were worth 54,325 Valis and your Drop Items, including Orc Hides, Imp Horns, Needle Rabbit Tusks, and Purple Moth Wings, come out to 24,842 Valis. Your total for this exchange is 79,167 Valis.” The Sheep woman behind the glass smiled at Bell and Lili as the drawer was pushed onto their side, filled with Valis coins.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Bell nodded back to the Guild employee as he collected the coins and stowed them into his hip pouch. “Ready to head home, Lili?”

“Yep!” Lili smiled happily, the term ‘home’ had been foreign to her for most of her life, but she already considered the Sarutahiko Familia her true home. ‘It’s where Lili is loved and belongs.’ The Prum thought to herself as she and Bell walked home together.

-Dungeon ~ Eighteenth Floor-

At the same time that Bell and Lili were returning home, the group of Tiona, Tione, Ais, Finn, Riveria, and Lefiya had made it down to Floor Eighteen on their personal trek through the Dungeon to make money and pay off debts.

“Rivira seems a bit empty, don’t you think?” Tiona mentioned the distinct lack of people around.

Riveria looked around, listening with her sharp hearing. “Yes, something is off.”

“Perhaps it’s a good thing that it’s currently ‘Day’ right now.” Finn mentioned of the ceiling that was covered in crystals. The magnificent natural formation grew brighter and dimmer over time, creating a ‘Morning’, ‘Day’, and ‘Night’ on Floor Eighteen, though it differed from the time on the surface by several hours.

“Is it true that someone was killed?” One older Adventurer asked another.

“Yeah. Everyone is gathering up at Villy’s inn!” The other man, equally as old, confirmed as he motioned for the first man to follow him.

“A murder in town? That is unusual.” Riveria narrowed her eyes at the news. For all that Rivira was a town of rogues (Adventurers that rarely ever returned to their Familias) it didn’t have much in the way of crime beyond the occasional theft or a fight breaking out.

“What should we do, Captain?” Tione looked over to Finn for his leadership.

Finn thought about it for a few seconds before speaking. “We were planning on getting a room here. So, we can’t just pretend this isn’t our problem. Let’s go have a look.” He led the way towards Villy’s inn while the others followed behind him.

The crowd in front of the inn was large and crammed together. All of the residents of Rivira wanted to know what had happened. The Loki Familia group stood at the back of the crowd while trying to find a way to get to the front.

“Man, there’s no getting through here!” Tiona couldn’t even find a gap to squeeze into the crowd.

“I don’t…” Lefiya hopped to see over the crowd do to her slightly shorter stature. “Think we can…” She hopped again. “Get to the inn.”

“Hey, move over, please!” Tione tried to get into the crowd. “I’m just trying to see…” She wasn’t making much progress. “I said please! I know all of you can hear me!”

“I’ll go on ahead.” Finn spoke to Riveria. “Keep an eye on everyone, please.”

Riveria nodded to Finn in acceptance. She watched as he prepared to slip between the crowd’s feet, using his natural short stature and light feet that the Prum race was known for.

He didn’t get the chance though.

“GET OUTTA MY WAY!!!” Tione yelled and slammed her foot onto the stone ground, shattering it. “MOVE OR I’LL BUST SOME SKULLS!!!” The crowd rapidly parted in a panic to let Tione through.

“P-Please don’t go overboard…” Finn let out a sigh at Tione’s brute force approach to getting to the inn.

The Party of six managed to get to the inn without trouble from there. Upon entering, they noticed that no one was at the front desk and shared a look among the group. With a careful pace, they began to trek down the hall towards the rooms to try and find someone.

They’d only made it about a quarter of the way down the hall before a scent hit their noses.

Ais perked up, recognizing the smell. ‘This smell…’

“This is…” Tiona covered her nose with a grimace.

“Yes…” Finn agreed without covering his nose or even changing his expression.

It was the smell of blood and death…the smell of something that used to be a person.

The six of them got to the room that the smell was coming from and opened the heavy curtains that acted as the door. What they saw inside was a corpse…one that had its head violently smashed in at that. On the lone bed in the room sat Villy, the innkeeper, with his head in his hands. It was clear the Cat Man was at a loss for how this could’ve happened at his inn.

“Yuck…” Tiona wrinkled her nose at the sight of the corpse.

“Talk about gory…” Tione eyed the corpse with a grimace.

“The hell are you lot doing here?!” A gruff voice called out, getting Lefiya’s attention as she was the closest to the, now opened, heavy curtain. “Are my lookouts sleeping out there?!”

The speaker was a well-built, muscular man with black hair and one teal eye, with an eyepatch covering his missing left eye. He wore a sleeveless open jacket that showed his muscular body, he had on arm covers and gloves, blue pants, dark boots, and a belt that had a red monster face carving and fur. This was Bors Elder, a Level 3 Adventurer, and the current leader of Rivira by virtue of having the highest Level among all of the residents.

“Hey there, Bors.” Finn greeted the man. “We’re planning to stay for a while. So why don’t we help you figure this out as quickly as possible?”

“Tch! You sure talk the talk, Finn.” Bors scoffed at the Prum’s greeting and offer. “Doesn’t matter if it’s you lot or Freya Familia… Always walkin’ in here like you own the place, just because you’re strong.”

“Do we know anything about who the victim is…or the attacker?” Finn questioned Bors about the situation.

“Oi, Villy! This is your place! Get your head outta your hands and speak up!” Bors barked at the Cat Man.

“I don’t know who they were…” Villy raised his head, revealing six red stripe tattoos on his face, three on each cheek, like stripes or whiskers. “The man was covered in full plate armor, I couldn’t see his face because of his helmet.” The Cat Man shook his head, his black cat ears drooping. “He and a lady in a robe showed up last night and asked to rent out the whole place.”

“The entire inn to themselves?” Finn only took a second to understand why. “Ah… That’s what they had in mind.”

Ais tilted her head curiously, only for her cheeks to turn pink a few seconds later as she understood.

Lefiya’s entire face, all the way to the tips of her ears, went dark red and steam seemed to be rising from her head as she understood the implications.

“You got it.” Villy nodded to Finn. “And look at this place. Even the slightest moan echoes forever. But they paid with a large sack of Magic Stones. If I get paid, I ain’t got a reason to say no.” He dropped his head and let out a heavy sigh. “I stepped out to the bar; no way in hell was I listening to that all night… Then I come back this morning to this mess. Was a damn shock, I tell you.”

“So, the guy bites the dust…and his lady disappears. She’s the culprit, no doubt about it.” Bors declared with a nod.

“At the very least, she knows more than we do.” Finn wouldn’t say ‘case closed’ on this just yet. “We still need to know the victim’s identity.”

“Where’s that Status Thief?!” Bors yelled out into the hallway.

The sound of two pairs of footsteps were heard as two of Bors’s men came rushing to the room.

“I’ve got it right here, boss!” The younger-looking Adventurer handed a small bottle over to Bors. It was filled with an odd liquid that vaguely resembled blood.

“Status Thief… Isn’t that?” Lefiya eyed the bottle warily.

Riveria also narrowed her eyes slightly. “It’s solely designed to reveal our Statuses.”

Status Thief was an item designed to pick the ‘lock’ that a Deity hid the Falna of their followers with. It could only be made by someone that had the Mystery Developmental Ability and access to the blood of a Deity, also called ichor by some. It was outright illegal and incredibly expensive.

“This ain’t the time to be worrying about rules.” Bors pulled out the stopper and let a single drop of the Status Thief touch the dead man’s back. The Falna slowly faded into view with an emblem that was rather familiar to most people in Orario. “Shit…” Bors cursed, able to recognize the emblem of Ganesha Familia. “I know that mark, but I can’t read Hieroglyphs.”

“I can read Hieroglyphics.” Riveria stepped forward.

“Me too.” Ais followed a step behind Riveria.

Everyone let the two have some space as they deciphered the ‘God’s Writing’ for a moment.

Riveria grimaced at what she read. “His name was Hashana Dorlia.”

“He was Level 4.” Ais read off the deceased man’s Level for everyone.

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock that a Level 4 had been killed like this, seemingly unable to even put up a fight against his murderer.

“Hold it!” Hold it, hold it, hold it!” Bors shook his head before running his hand through his short brown hair. “Hashana Dorlia, Hard Fist Fighter, was murdered?!”

“That means if the woman really did kill him like this…she must be Level 5…or even stronger.” Ais mentioned as she briefly glanced at the smashed head again.

Bors looked thoughtful as he stood next to the corpse. “The suspect is a woman…”

Villy spoke up, looking at Bors. “And one strong enough to strangle a Level 4 Adventurer to death without him even being able to fight back.”

The two men turned to look at the Party from Loki Familia with blatant suspicion in their eyes.

“Eh?” Lefiya’s eyes widened as she picked up on the unspoken accusation.

“Well…? It adds up, doesn’t it?” Bors questioned the group. “You folks acting like you just showed up, sticking your noses into everything… Who’s to say it wasn’t one of you?!”

“Yeah, that’s right!” Villy stood up next to Bors. “Any one of them could’ve seduced him…and then, when his guard was down…”

“Was it you?” Bors looked at Ais. “You?” His gaze nearly stabbed into Lefiya. “You?” He eyed Riveria for a second. “Or you?” Bors’s eyes locked onto Tiona, only for his gaze to drop down to her chest. “Uh…yeah, probably not.” He shook his head.

“Nah, not a chance.” Villy agreed with Bors.

“Nyeeeaaah! Where were you looking when you said that?!” Tiona demanded, making both men take a step back in fear. “Besides, I’ve already got a man.” She huffed out while thinking of Bell.

Bors and Villy looked over at Tione last, their eyes running over her body briefly before locking onto her tits. Her crossed arms had pushed them up slightly, making them appear even bigger than they already were.

“Well now…she seems suspicious.” Bors mentioned, his face developing a sleazy look.

Tione’s eye twitched at both the accusation and being eyed up by the two men.

“Yeah… I’d say we have some strong suspects.” Villy leaned forward, his face turning a bit red as he stared.

Tione’s eye twitch became more prominent and she ground her teeth in anger.

“I mean oh my God! The evidence is really stacked against her!” Villy let his mouth run and promptly put his foot into it.

Crack

Tione’s stomp cracked the stone floor. “YOU FILTHY LITTLE SHITS!!! I’VE GOT A MAN!!! WHAT THE HELL WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?! YOU FUCK WITH ME AND I’LL TEAR THAT PIECE OF FILTH BETWEEN YOUR LEGS RIGHT OFF!!!” The Amazon roared at Villy and Bors for daring to accuse her.

“EEEAAAHHH!!!” Bors and Villy both squealed in fear as they covered their junk with their hands and squeezed their legs closed for good measure.

“Yeah…sorry.” Finn held his hand to his forehead at the stupid line of ‘logic’ that Bors and Villy had just gone down. “But as you can see…none of these women are the Seductress type.”

Tiona pulled Tione into a one-armed hug to help her sister calm down. “Easy, Tione… Just think of Bell.” She whispered into Tione’s ear. The older twin began to relax a little as images of Bell filled her mind. “Those two losers wouldn’t know what to do with a woman anyway.” Tiona glared at Villy and Bors, Tione following suit, making both men slump their heads at the blow to their masculine pride and from their fear of the two Level 5’s.

With the mistaken accusation cleared up, it was quickly deduced that the killer had been looking for something…but hadn’t found it. Meaning that the killer was most likely still in Rivira, looking for what they were after and willing to kill for it. The entire town had been locked down, Ais and Lefiya keeping the north gate secure, Tione and Tiona securing the south gate, leaving Finn and Riveria in the center of town to watch over the growing crowd.

When Bors announced that they’d be doing body checks of all the females, the men had cheered loudly. Naturally, the women were NOT amused in the slightest and it looked like a fight might break out.

Riveria and the girls had stepped in to quell the brewing hostility. Announcing that THEY would be doing the checks and the men would stay right where they were until everything was done.

Many of the women had rushed towards Finn, the Prum being very popular in Orario, for both his looks and his strength. That had led to another mess where Finn had to explain that only the female Loki Familia Adventurers would be checking the women. Riveria pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling like a headache was coming on. Lefiya tried to get the women to line up in front of her to actually begin the inspections, but that was going poorly.

In the confusion, Ais noticed a woman slowly backing out of the center of town. She was a Chienthrope and looked incredibly nervous and uneasy. As soon as she’d made it outside of the crowd, she bolted away, holding her bag to her chest and not looking back.

“That girl…” Ais took off after the fleeing Chienthrope woman.

“M-Miss Ais?!” Lefiya ran after her quickly.

None of them noticed that an Adventurer in damaged and worn black armor had noticed them and began to follow.

-Outskirts of Rivira-

“Hah hah hah…” Lulune panted as she ran as fast as she could. ‘Damn it! Why did I agree to take this stupid, secret Quest?!’ She didn’t expect that her contact to retrieve the weird item from would end up murdered! Now she was being followed by two members of Loki Familia! Looking back, she saw Lefiya chasing her, the Elf girl was clearly out of breath and not used to running for such a long distance at top speed. ‘Wait… Where’s the other one?!’

Ais landed in front of Lulune, cutting off the Chienthrope’s only path of escape on the staircase surrounded by a wall of crystal on either side.

“Eeeeh?!” Lulune looked at Ais, then back at Lefiya, then back at Ais. She realized that she was trapped and slowly sank to her knees in fear.

“Th-The pincer formation…worked perfectly…” Lefiya slowly steadied her breathing. “You’re amazing, Miss Ais.”

“Not really. The plan worked because you pushed yourself, Lefiya.” Ais gave her friend praise for fulfilling her part perfectly. “Who are you? Why did you run?” Ais questioned Lulune.

“Perhaps we should leave interrogation to the Captain?” Lefiya spoke up, knowing that neither of them had any experience with such things.

Ais thought about that for a moment and nodded in agreement. “Alright, let’s go back to the square.”

“No! Please!” Lulune nearly leaped forward to grab onto Ais around the waist. “If I go back there! If I go back…! It’ll be me they find dead next!”

“Huh?” Lefiya blinked at the terrified Chienthrope woman.

“Why would you think that?” Ais raised an eyebrow at Lulune’s words. She saw the woman clutch the bag tighter and made an educated guess. “Is it because you have something from Hashana?”

Lulune looked up at Ais in shock, before her ears drooped and she slumped forward a bit. “I never should’ve taken this request…” She mumbled out, feeling like the walls were closing in. “My name is Lulune…Lulune Louie. I’m from Hermes Familia, Level 2.” She lied about her actual Level, just as Hermes had instructed her to.

“Miss Lulune, please come with us so that we can sort this out.” Lefiya requested politely.

Lulune looked at the Elf like she was crazy, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. “I can’t go back there! I’ll die!”

“You mentioned a Quest. Who gave you the Quest?” Ais asked to get Lulune to focus. Any information about this suspicious secret quest would most likely lead to whoever had murdered Hashana.

“I don’t know…” Lulune shook her head, looking down at the steps. “It’s true! It happened the other night while I was walking through a deserted alley! A person in a black robe appeared, I couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman, and they offered me what seemed like a simple quest to come down to the Eighteenth Floor, give a password to a man wearing full plate armor in one of the bars, and then return the item to the surface.” She clutched her bag tightly again. “Of course I was suspicious… But the reward and the money paid up front were too good to pass up!” She still remembered her joy at seeing the money, her tail had been wagging non-stop. “I should’ve just talked to Bell again…” She moped, her current assignment from Hermes was a lot easier and safer.

“Bell?” Ais perked up at hearing her crush’s name. “Bell Cranel? You know him?”

“Eh?” Lulune didn’t realize that she’d spoken loud enough to be heard. “W-Well, we’re acquainted…at the very least…” She replied, her honey-brown eyes meeting Ais’s golden gaze. “I didn’t know that he knew the Kenki of all people…” That was interesting information to bring back to Hermes, if she managed to make it out of here alive.

“What was the item you were asked to pick up, exactly?” Lefiya questioned, not wanting to lose track of the conversation.

Lulune looked around, still terrified that Hashana’s killer was lurking around. “I-I’ll show you… But not here! Not out in the open!”

Lefiya and Ais looked at each other, debating on where they could take Lulune that they wouldn’t be found for a while. Eventually they practically picked up Lulune and took her to Rivira’s large storage area. A place that was fenced in and had so many crates and barrels stacked up that they could be hidden from prying eyes. With all of Rivira currently locked down, no one would be anywhere near the place either.

None of the three women could’ve known what would happen when Ais saw the item in question. Nor of the disaster that would follow afterwards. More of the Flower Monsters, Hashana’s murderer turning out to be a Tamer, and for Ais…the murderer calling her ‘Aria’…her mother’s name.

The mental spiral that would cause would lead to Ais making a drastic and dangerous decision.

-Floating Bridge Mansion ~ Evening-

“Working as hard as ever, Bell.” Sarutahiko chuckled as he watched Bell’s Excelia for the day. “Your instruction of Liliruca will surely bear fruit once she Converts to our Familia, I’m sure.” The elder God moved the Excelia into the Basic Abilities, and watched the numbers grow beyond the limits that they normally would have.

“I’m just trying to show Lili that she can do far more than she thinks she is capable of.” Bell smiled a little, recalling how well Lili had done today in the Dungeon. “Helping her grow is helping her heal too…at least, I think it is.” He wasn’t an expert, but Lili certainly seemed to be happier and smiled genuinely ever since she came to stay with them.

Sarutahiko nodded as he finished up with the Status Update and locked up Bell’s Falna. “Keep doing what you’re doing Bell. Liliruca needs people that want her and believe in her more than even she realizes.” The God smiled at Bell while handing him the paper with his update.

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength – S 993 > SS 1,071

Endurance – S 905 > SS 1,002

Dexterity – S 904 > SS 1,003

Agility – S 981 > SS 1,051

Magic – SS 1,052 > SS 1,131

-Magic-

Gogyō (Five Elements) – Incantation: “Earthly God’s mastery.” This Magic allows the user to use five different elemental Magics by using the appropriate word modifier: Sui for Water Magic, Do for Earth Magic, Fū for Wind Magic, Rai for Lightning Magic, and Ka for Fire Magic.

Kokushin (Black Needle) – Incantation: “Disrupt.” This Magic allows the user to create a black material in the shape of needles, batons, or rods at the cost of Mind.

-Skills-

Fugō (Sign) – Allows the user to change the form of a spell by making different signs with their hands.

Shihyō (Paragon/Teacher/Model/Leader) – Removes limits of growth. Rate of growth increases in proportion to the user’s efforts to improve. Growth of others increases when instructing them.

Kanchi (Sensing) – Allows the user to sense living things within a certain range of themselves and distinguish between Monster and Non-Monster. The range increases based on the Magic stat. Active Trigger.

-Status-

“It’s still weird to see the ‘SS’ on my Status…” Bell mentioned, looking over his update paper. “But I’m also curious as to how high the numbers could get. Surely, there’d be a point where no matter how much I trained and fought, the Excelia just wouldn’t add up enough to make a single point of difference to my stats.” He mulled over the idea, basing his thoughts on the fact that it took more and more Excelia to grow the stronger an Adventurer was.

“Well, it’s not like you don’t have years to try and figure it out, Bell.” Sarutahiko grinned at the young man. “Who knows, you may very well Level Up before you get to that hypothetical point of plateauing growth.”

“Level Up, huh?” Bell wondered what would it take to get there. Sarutahiko said it would have to be a ‘Grand Feat’, something that even the Deities would be impressed by.

Bell only had a few ideas of what he could do to accomplish said feat. From what he’d heard, it was most often defeating something stronger than yourself. Parties often formed to do this very thing, though it was done over and over again, as the quality Excelia from such a feat was split between all the Party members. But after enough victories over Monsters that were superior in strength to the Party members, they’d have all built up enough quality Excelia to Level Up.

‘It’s still too early to try and drop Lili down another Floor. Without her converting and getting Status Updates, she can’t grow her stats, she can only refine her techniques.’ Bell thought to himself as he burned his newest update paper with the flame of an oil lamp. He would encourage and even help Lili polish up her techniques, of course, but until she could go through Conversion, it simply wasn’t safe to try and go deeper into the Dungeon. ‘I can’t be everywhere, and the Dungeon is unpredictable.’ He wouldn’t risk Lili’s safety like that.

-Dungeon Tenth Floor ~ Next Day-

“Hup!” Lili moved, firing her bowgun at the rushing Needle Rabbits before they could get close to Bell.

“Eyp!”

“Piek!”

“Eke!”

The Needle Rabbits fell one after another with bolts lodged into their heads. Those that didn’t take a fatal headshot tumbled onto the grass and thrashed about in pain from the bolt lodged in their bodies. They were then finished off as Lili threw senbon into their heads with her left hand, each of the large, steel needles coated in refined Purple Moth Poison, making them lethal to Monsters of the Upper Floors, and debilitating to Monsters in the Middle Levels.

Bell was dealing with Orcs, a group of them having come towards them earlier. The Needle Rabbits, being opportunistic, had rushed over when they’d heard the fighting. But with a Supporter to watch his back, Bell was able to leave the Needle Rabbits to Lili, and deal with the Orcs.

“Buaaahhh!” An Orc swung its landform club at Bell.

Bell ducked under the swing and was inside the Orc’s guard before it could respond. His chokuto slashed through the Orc’s large belly, a fountain of blood spewing from the fatal wound, but Bell had already moved on.

As the first Orc collapsed, the second charged at Bell, its club raised high. Bell leapt over the Orc and came down on top of it, the blade of his chokuto stabbing straight through its head, killing it instantly. The third Orc swung from behind the second, forcing Bell to yank his sword out of the dead Orc’s head and leap away.

The sound of the second Orc’s head being smashed by the third Orc was odd, and it even seemed to stun the third Or as it looked down at its dead kin. It didn’t get a chance to recover as Bell formed two hand signs and then blew on his blade. Wind wrapped around the weapon and then went further, extending the range of the blade significantly with a vacuum blade. Bell dashed forward and cleaved the third Orc in two with barely any resistance.

“OOAARRGGHH!!!” The fourth and fifth Orc of the group both bellowed as they charged forward together, looking to crush Bell.

Bell’s vacuum blade cut them both down without slowing in the slightest. The two Orcs were bisected as they collapsed to the grassy ground, gallons of blood falling from their corpses and turning the grass red in a large area around them. Bell closed his eyes for a brief moment to use Kanchi only to sense the last of the Monsters vanishing as Lili finished off a Bad Bat with her bowgun.

“All done over here, Master Bell!” Lili was already making a pile of the Monsters that she’d slain.

“I’m good over here, Lili.” Bell called back while watching over Lili as she worked. He hadn’t sensed any other Adventurers around them, so they didn’t have to worry about their Magic Stones being stolen form the corpses. “This makes three-hundred-twelve so far today, right?”

Lili collected another Magic Stone and appeared to be counting in her head. “Three-hundred-thirteen, Master Bell.” She corrected his count. “Lili has never killed so many Monsters before in all her time as a Supporter.”

“You’re really getting good at using range and poison while fighting, Lili.” Bell smiled at her.

“It’s all thanks to Master Bell believing in Lili.” Lili blushed cutely as she continued to work. She’d been called useless for so long that she’d started to believe it. But Bell never thought that about her, not even once. He was helping Lili develop a skillset that would let her not only be an effective Adventurer, but also better her role as a Supporter.

Bell estimated the time that they’d been in the Dungeon and looked over at Lili. “Another hour-and-a-half or two hours and we should probably start heading back towards the surface.”

Lili nodded in agreement. “That sounds right, Master Bell. Lili will be done soon.” She finished collecting the last Needle Rabbit’s Magic Stone and placed it into her large, green backpack. “Just the Bad Bat and then the Orcs to go.”

“No rush, Lili, I don’t sense anyone around, person or Monster.” Bell was briefly checking with his Skill every minute or so, as it was an effective way to train the Skill and get more familiar with it. He still needed to close his eyes right now, but he was aiming to remove that weakness as soon as possible.

-Floating Bridge Mansion ~ Evening-

“Master Bell…” Lili couldn’t keep the blush off her cheeks as she sat next to Bell, his arm loosely around her waist as they watched fireflies’ flit about the back garden.

“Is this too close, Lili?” Bell asked, not wanting to make Lili uncomfortable.

Lili shook her head. “No, Lili likes this.” She admitted, her entire face turning red as she leaned into him even more.

The pair were both wearing yukata, Bell’s a dark gray color, while Lili’s was beige.

The fact that she was being shown such affection was a completely new experience for Lili, but she found herself adoring it more than she imagined. Being able to sit together, be held, and just enjoy a quiet evening meant a great deal to Lili. She sighed lowly and relaxed against Bell, her eyes following the fireflies in the air as she enjoyed his warmth against her.

Bell gently tightened his hold on Lili’s waist, a gentle smile on his face. It had been a while since he’d just been able to relax and enjoy watching fireflies. It was something that he’d done with his grandpa growing up, when he wasn’t rushing around to catch the said insects, of course. It brought back nostalgic memories that made his desire for a family of his own grow stronger.

But he still briefly thought about his Status Update that he’d gotten before coming out here to sit with Lili.

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength – SS 1,071 > SS 1,154

Endurance – SS 1,002 > SS 1,104

Dexterity – SS 1,003 > SS 1,102

Agility – SS 1,051 > SS 1,136

Magic – SS 1,131 > SSS 1,213

-Magic-

Gogyō (Five Elements) – Incantation: “Earthly God’s mastery.” This Magic allows the user to use five different elemental Magics by using the appropriate word modifier: Sui for Water Magic, Do for Earth Magic, Fū for Wind Magic, Rai for Lightning Magic, and Ka for Fire Magic.

Kokushin (Black Needle) – Incantation: “Disrupt.” This Magic allows the user to create a black material in the shape of needles, batons, or rods at the cost of Mind.

-Skills-

Fugō (Sign) – Allows the user to change the form of a spell by making different signs with their hands.

Shihyō (Paragon/Teacher/Model/Leader) – Removes limits of growth. Rate of growth increases in proportion to the user’s efforts to improve. Growth of others increases when instructing them.

Kanchi (Sensing) – Allows the user to sense living things within a certain range of themselves and distinguish between Monster and Non-Monster. The range increases based on the Magic stat. Active Trigger.

-Status-

‘Who knew that there was an ‘SSS’ even possible?’ Bell thought to himself as he watched the fireflies move about in the fading light of the evening as night began to set in.

Bell didn’t know how far he’d go, but he knew he’d keep giving it his all for his dreams. The fiery ball of determination and desire within him burned like a star, pushing him ever forward in pursuit of his goals.

-Soma Familia Home ~ Next Day-

“Where is Arde?” Zanis Lustra, the Captain of Soma Familia questioned, not seeing the Prum at the monthly quota meeting. She never met her quota, and never drank any of the soma wine anymore. It made her very hard to manipulate, but Zanis had plans for Liliruca Arde…or more specifically, he had plans for that useful Magic of hers.

“About that, Captain.” Kanu came forward along with his group of cohorts. “She ran off again, this time she’s staying with another Familia.”

“Another Familia.” Zanis didn’t let his expression change much. “Which Familia?”

“The Sarutahiko Familia.” One of the cohorts informed Zanis, as was part of Kanu’s plan.

“I don’t think I’ve heard of that Familia before.” Zanis didn’t recall any such Deity within Orario but, to be fair, he didn’t know the names of most of the Deities in the Labyrinth City.

“It’s some small Familia that’s new or something.” A different one of the cohorts said.

Now Zanis didn’t look amused. “Some small, new Familia, and you didn’t bring Arde back in time for the monthly meeting? Why not?”

Another cohort spoke up this time, keeping Zanis from focusing his attention on any one of them alone. “The Captain is Level 2! He beat four of us up when we went to remind Arde to come back to the Familia!”

“How could a Familia have a Level 2 Captain and yet I’ve never heard of them before?” Zanis narrowed his eyes at what he saw as a lie. Level Ups were always announced by the Guild, so the Sarutahiko Familia name should’ve come up rather recently if they were new to Orario.

“I…I don’t know, Captain.” The final cohort shook his head and raised his arms in front of him. “But he took Arde with him and we were able to tail them and find out the Familia owns a pretty large compound.”

‘A large compound?’ Zanis thought to himself, estimating how much money such a large plot of land and all the structures within would sell for. His greed was great, and he had plans for his life that involved disgusting amounts of wealth, so this could be a good opportunity. “So, Arde has basically been kidnapped by this Sarutahiko Familia?”

Kanu barely kept himself from grinning knowing that Zanis was hooked now. “I guess that would be the long and short of it, Captain.” The Raccoon Man nodded to Zanis. “What should we do?”

“You five will be compensated for bringing this information to me.” Zanis promised them with a fake smile. “You’ll be given a double portion of the perfect soma this evening.”

Zanis ignored the cheers from the five fools as he made his way towards Soma’s office. A bit of lying and suggestions should get his apathetic God to act as he wanted. He opened the one of the double doors and stepped inside, seeing Soma where he always was, behind his desk making wine or mixing ingredients, Zanis closed the door behind him.

-Floating Bridge Mansion ~ Late Afternoon the Next Day-

“Sarutahiko-sama, forgive the interruption, but a message has been delivered for you.” One of the retainers of the Familia bowed to the elder God.

“One moment.” Sarutahiko finished up Bell’s Status Update and copied the numbers over to a blank paper with a movement of his index finger. “Hmm, growing as always, Bell. But I don’t think you can work much harder. There simply won’t be enough hours in the day.” He chuckled and handed the paper over to Bell to look at while motioning the retainer to bring the message over.

Bell looked at his Status, happy that he was still growing so well.

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength – SSS 1,236 > SSS 1,317

Endurance – SS 1,188 > SSS 1,265

Dexterity – SS 1,185 > SSS 1,262

Agility – SSS 1,214 > SSS 1,296

Magic – SSS 1,291 > SSS 1,371

-Magic-

Gogyō (Five Elements) – Incantation: “Earthly God’s mastery.” This Magic allows the user to use five different elemental Magics by using the appropriate word modifier: Sui for Water Magic, Do for Earth Magic, Fū for Wind Magic, Rai for Lightning Magic, and Ka for Fire Magic.

Kokushin (Black Needle) – Incantation: “Disrupt.” This Magic allows the user to create a black material in the shape of needles, batons, or rods at the cost of Mind.

-Skills-

Fugō (Sign) – Allows the user to change the form of a spell by making different signs with their hands.

Shihyō (Paragon/Teacher/Model/Leader) – Removes limits of growth. Rate of growth increases in proportion to the user’s efforts to improve. Growth of others increases when instructing them.

Kanchi (Sensing) – Allows the user to sense living things within a certain range of themselves and distinguish between Monster and Non-Monster. The range increases based on the Magic stat. Active Trigger.

-Status-

‘Still growing for now, but Lord Sarutahiko has a point. I can’t work much harder in the day during our normal dungeon crawling time. The only way to keep growing is going to be dropping down a Floor or to dungeon crawl for longer periods of time.’ Bell thought as he looked over his update. Taking Lili deeper could put her in real danger while she couldn’t update her Status. But the same problem arose if he pushed Lili too long in the Dungeon and she became exhausted.

“WHAT?!” Sarutahiko’s loud voice shook Bell from his thoughts. “That Wine God dares to accuse me of kidnapping Liliruca?!” Bell had never seen Sarutahiko angry until now. The anger on the elder God’s face was so great that Bell swore he could feel a physical pressure from it. “If he wishes to sully my honor, then we’ll grant him his War Game!”

“War Game?” Bell blinked, not having heard the term before. “What’s that, Lord Sarutahiko?”

Sarutahiko took a long breath, held it, and then slowly exhaled. Once he was calmer, he held out the message for Bell to read. “Take a look, Bell.”

Bell took the message and started reading it. “Kidnapping? Return Lili or face a War Game? Reparations to the Soma Familia?!” Bell was angry by the time he got finished reading the message. “They treated Lili so badly for years, and yet now that we have offered her a place here with us, they demand her back?!” He couldn’t believe the level of shamelessness the Soma Familia was showing.

“Lord Sarutahiko… Master Bell…” Lili was standing in the doorway, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “L-Lili knew th-this would happen… Lili has cause you tr-trouble… Lili will re-return to Soma Familia.”

Bell had crossed the room and wrapped Lili in a hug before she could move. “Never!” He told her powerfully, holding her close and letting Lili bury her face into his chest. “You’re never going back there, Lili! We won’t let them take you!”

“M-Master Bell…!” Lili burst into tears as she clung to him. She should’ve known that Bell would keep his promise to her. The Prum was a mess of emotions: joy, affection, hope, concern, anxiety, fear… But they all paled in comparison to one emotion that filled her heart at this exact moment.

Love.

“I won’t let them take you away, Lili.” Bell promised her, holding her close as she cried and held onto him for dear life.

Almost an hour later, Bell gently tucked Lili into her futon. The girl having cried herself out, leaving her both emotionally and physically exhausted. Bell kissed her forehead and then left her room, closing the door behind him. He made his way back to Sarutahiko’s room to discuss the War Game.

“Bell.” Sarutahiko nodded, currently writing his response to Soma. His thick beard was a bit frazzled from his anger, and his somewhat large nose looked a bit redder than normal, a clear sign that his blood was still hot and angry from the message he’d received. “You wanted to know what a War Game was, correct?”

“Yes, Lord Sarutahiko.” Bell sat down on a cushion in front of the low table that Sarutahiko was writing at.

“A War Game is a way to settle disputes between Familias without Orario getting dragged into it.” Sarutahiko began his explanation. “It’s always a form of combat, but there will be a meeting between the Deities involved to establish rules and just how the War Game will play out and what the objective for victory is, along with what the victor receives from the defeated.”

“I see.” Bell mulled over the simple explanation, knowing that Sarutahiko was keeping it easy to understand for him. “I’m our Familia’s only combatant. So, they have a numbers advantage.”

“That is true.” Sarutahiko gave Bell a nod. “I can request a one-on-one duel between you as my Captain and their Captain who is a Level 2.”

Bell thought it over for a long moment, trying to recall everything that Lili had told him about Soma Familia since she’d become honest with him and moved into the Floating Bridge Mansion. Lili had told him that most of the members were Level 1’s with low to middling stats. That they only had a pair of Level 2’s in the Captain, Zanis, and the Vice Captain, Chandra. Lili had once mentioned that Zanis hadn’t been into the Dungeon in a very long time, years even…which could mean that he wasn’t in-shape or he could be out of practice with his combat skills.

‘With my stats all in the SSS Rank…could I take on two Level 2’s and an entire Familia?’ Bell questioned himself. Thinking about his current progress in the Dungeon, how fast his Shihyō Skill allowed him to grow, and both of his other Skills, plus his two spells, Bell felt like he only needed to know one more thing to make his decision. “How long before the War Game would start?”

“That would be discussed at the meeting, but most often there is a week or less between the declaration of a War Game and the Game itself taking place.” Sarutahiko said calmly, his rage slowly subsiding.

“If I had a few days…maybe four or five, three to go into the Dungeon, and one or two to rest and prepare, then I think I could take on the entire Soma Familia.” Bell looked Sarutahiko firmly in the eye, his rubellite gaze unwavering.

“Hmm…” Sarutahiko looked thoughtful, even running his hand through his thick beard for a long moment. “If I tell them they can use their entire Familia, while only my Captain will fight on my side, then I think they’ll easily agree to a five day waiting period. The location, condition for victory, and what the victor receives will be the only things left to discuss after that.”

“Any place is fine, but the condition for victory should be the defeat of the Captain of the opposing Familia.” Bell stated with steel in his voice. “I don’t plan to stop until I bring the entirety of Soma Familia low.”

“Very well, Bell.” Sarutahiko smiled at his Captain. “Your conditions give them all the advantage. I’m sure that I’ll be able to easily convince them to agree to any other terms that I set forth.”

“I have no doubt of your skills in persuasion, Lord Sarutahiko.” Bell bowed to his God in thanks. He stood up and headed for his room afterwards, allowing Sarutahiko to finish writing his reply to Soma. ‘I’ll have Lili stay at home for now. I won’t be concerned about money for the next three days. It’ll only be about getting stronger.’ Bell made plans to drop down to the Eleventh Floor tomorrow.

-Next Morning-

“Are you sure that Lili should stay home, Master Bell?” Lili questioned as she stood near the front door, watching Bell put on his boots.

Bell smiled up at her. “Yes, Lili, take some time to rest. We’ve been going to the Dungeon every day for the last five days…you deserve a day off.”

“Please be careful, Master Bell.” Lili hugged him when he stood up. “Soma Familia may try something underhanded before the War Game for all we know.”

“I’ll be careful, Lili.” Bell hugged her back for a long moment before separating from her.

Lili gave him a smile, though it was a little strained since she still blamed herself for the predicament that the Sarutahiko Familia found itself in. “Lili will be waiting for you to return, Master Bell.”

Bell nodded to Lili and headed for the Dungeon.

-Babel Tower ~ Denatus Conference Hall-

“War Game! War Game! War Game!” Several Deities chanted loudly, a ton of energy and excitement in the air.

“Make it interesting!”

“Do something fun!”

“Don’t be boring like the last one!”

Sarutahiko paid little attention to the voices of the other Deities as he sat at a white marble table across from Soma. The other God looked like he was only half paying attention to anything though.

“As a neutral party, I, Hermes of the Olympian Pantheon, have been tasked to arbiter this War Game meeting.” Hermes smiled to the gathered Deities, receiving a few loud boos along with a smattering of applause that may, or may not, have been sarcastic. “Harsh…” He hung his head dramatically, nearly letting his feathered hat fall from his blonde hair.

To be fair, no Deity of either Soma or Sarutahiko’s Pantheons could hold the position of arbiter on the grounds that favoritism for their own Pantheon may come into play. The only time that wasn’t the case, was when a War Game was held between two Deities of the same Pantheon.

“Soma, as the challenger, will begin the meeting.” Hermes motioned to the barely paying attention Wine God.

“Return the child to me and pay my Familia reparations for your kidnapping, and we’ll avoid the War Game.” Soma spoke, almost as if he’s rehearsed the exact line.

“Your response, Sarutahiko?” Hermes looked towards the Shinto God. The eyes of the watching Deities fell upon the elder God in turn.

“We will not be sending Liliruca back to suffer any further under the hands of your Familia, Soma.” Sarutahiko replied evenly, his face passive, but strong. “The vast majority of your Familia is nothing but a band of alcoholic thugs. They commit crimes around Orario and I’m sure several Gods and Goddesses here have had Familia members harmed by your out of control ‘children’.”

There were several murmurs among the crowd of watching Deities.

“Soma, your response?” Hermes looked back towards the Wine God.

“Hah…” Soma sighed, clearly not interested in the meeting at all. “Fine. We’ll have the War Game then.”

Hermes motioned for Sarutahiko’s response.

“The War Game shall be combat.” Sarutahiko spoke firmly. “All of your Familia may participate, only my Captain will participate on our side. The condition for victory is the defeat of the opposing Familia’s Captain.”

“Oooohhhh~”

“Is he nuts?”

“That’s like…one versus one-hundred, isn’t it?”

“Sarutahiko is new to Orario too…his Captain can’t be a Level 2 yet, right?”

“Soma, do you accept Sarutahiko’s conditions?” Hermes asked the other God.

“Yeah.” Soma barely nodded. “If we win, we claim all of your possessions and your Familia is banished from Orario.” That was what Zanis had suggested, and Soma just didn’t care enough to come up with anything of his own.

“Very well, and when we win, your Familia will disband, we’ll take all of your liquid assets and goods, barring your Familia Home, and you may only remake your Familia under the condition that Ganesha Familia oversees your actions so as to prevent any further crimes caused by any of your future ‘children’.” Sarutahiko laid out what he had come up with. Soma clearly had given up on his own Familia for some reason; but Sarutahiko was a God of Guidance, and if there was a chance the Wine God could be shaken out of his current apathy, then perhaps the Soma Familia could be reborn into something better.

“Ganesha accepts this responsibility to correct his fellow Pantheon member’s behavior!” Ganesha declared loudly from within the crowd, one hand on his chest while the other was extended off to his side.

“Shut up, ya idiot!” Loki shouted at Ganesha from a bit further down the seating area. “They haven’t agreed to anything yet!”

“Soma, do you agree to Sarutahiko’s terms of spoils?” Hermes asked.

“I agree.” Soma didn’t like the idea of losing the financial resources his Familia provided, but it wasn’t like they could really lose when it was the entire Familia against only a single Level 1 Adventurer.

Had Soma not been so apathetic, he may have wondered why Sarutahiko was so confident as to even suggest such a horrible disadvantage.

“And when will the War Game take place?” Hermes looked back and forth between Sarutahiko and Soma.

“Five days from now is fine with me.” Sarutahiko stated without issue. His confidence got quite a bit of murmuring from the various Deities in the crowd.

“That’s fine.” Soma agreed without any concern.

“Alright, we have an agreement!” Hermes declared and several of the Gods and Goddesses cheered loudly. “Five days from now, the War Game will commence!” The Messenger God grinned widely. “Now, where will the battlefield be?”

“Any place is fine.” Sarutahiko spoke up, keeping to what Bell had said to him.

Soma shrugged, not caring in the least.

“Let’s do a drawing!” One God suggested with a large smile.

“That’s a great idea!”

“We haven’t gotten to make suggestions in years!”

“Drawing! Drawing! Drawing!” The chant started and only settled once paper and quills were passed out to the Deities in the crowd.

All of the suggestions were gathered up and put into a box. The box was shaken up by five different Deities within the crowd before being handed to Hermes.

Hermes set the box on the white marble table and bowed to the audience. “And now…the drawing!” He placed his hand in the box with his eyes closed and his face pointed towards the high ceiling. A single slip of paper was pulled out and Hermes looked at the folded stationary with a grin. The Deities waited with buzzing excitement as the paper was opened. “The War Game will be held at…the Sogen Grasslands?” He blinked at the location with some surprise.

“Eh? The grasslands?”

“That’s kind of boring, isn’t it?”

“Those’re near the Seolo Forest, right?”

“Well, not the most exciting battleground, but at least it’s easy enough to get to.” Hermes shrugged without much of a care. “You’ll have to postpone the start of the War Game by an extra day for travel time, is that okay with both of you?”

“Of course.” Sarutahiko had no issues with the venue. A flat grassland meant that there was no place to hide or set up any ambushes.

“That’s fine.” Soma’s apathy was the same as it had been for the entire meeting.

“The War Game is set!” Hermes exclaimed and the majority of the Deities in the audience cheered. “Seven days from now, the War Game will take place in the Sogen Grasslands outside of Orario!”

With the meeting done, Sarutahiko stood up and began to leave. He was joined by Takemikazuchi on his way out of the conference hall.

“To what do I owe the visit, Takemikazuchi?” Sarutahiko asked with a small grin.

Takemikazuchi gave a polite bow to the ­Ōkami before speaking. “Sarutahiko-sama, it is good to see you again.”

“You as well, Také.” Sarutahiko shortened the War God’s name with a chuckle.

“I would’ve come to greet you earlier, but we’ve been busy as of late in my Familia, and it didn’t seem proper to come visit without having a proper gift.” Takemikazuchi apologized for not visiting one of the seven ‘Great God’s’ of his own Pantheon.

Sarutahiko waved off the apology. “It is no issue, Také. As you can see, I’ve been rather busy myself in recent days.”

“Yes, I was wondering about the conditions you placed on the War Game…you seem to be at every disadvantage, Sarutahiko-sama.” Takemikazuchi looked concerned for his fellow Pantheon member.

“I have my reasons for setting up this War Game as it has been.” Sarutahiko had a confident smile on his face, partially hidden by his beard. “Make sure you watch it with your Familia, Také, it’ll be a sight to see!” The elder God promised with a laugh as he entered an elevator and headed down to the ground floor.

-Orario-

In almost no time at all, the entire city was abuzz with the news of the War Game.

Sarutahiko Familia’s massive disadvantage and the conditions they’d requested were the talk of the city. Many believed that something had to be going on for such a mismatch, but no one could figure it out. The only information available was from the Guild, and they could only confirm that Bell Cranel, the Captain of the Sarutahiko Familia, was Level 1.

Many still remembered that Bell was the Level 1 that had killed a Minotaur on his own. But no one seemed to like his chances in a one vs one-hundred scenario.

-Dungeon ~ Eleventh Floor-

Bell dropped an axe kick onto an Imp’s head, crushing it into the grassy ground. His chokuto cut through two more Imps as they flew at him through the air with their small wings. They fell dead, their blood staining the grass under their bisected bodies.

“Graaooaahh!!!” A Hard Armored, an armadillo-like Monster, roared at Bell before rolling into a ball, the sharp, scale-like plates on its back ready to shred Bell to pieces as its tail slapped the ground and shot it forward into a powerful and high-speed roll attack.

Bell was already moving though, not planning to stay in the path of the rolling charge. “Earthly God’s mastery, Gogy­ō…Ka!” He went through four rapid hand signs before inhaling deeply and then exhaling a wave of intense fire. The flames rushed across the ground, burning everything in their path. The rolling Hard Armored was no exception as it was knocked onto its side and scorched black.

“GREEAAUUHH!!!” The Hard Armored screeched for a moment before going silent.

But the flames didn’t stop there. They moved forward and caught four Imps, three Orcs, and a second Hard Armored in their path. The Monsters various screeches and shrieks of pain didn’t last long as they died to the flames. What was left behind was a large blackened area and nine dead Monsters.

Bell used his Kanchi Skill to sense around him, his range having grown in proportion to his Magic stat. His eyes snapped open as he found another group of Monsters and headed towards them quickly. “Disrupt.” He created a Kokushin in the shape of a long javelin. As soon as he saw the first Monster, an Orc, he tossed the Kokushin with his considerable strength. The Orc was impaled through the head before it even realized that Bell was there. It collapsed to the ground with a thud, alerting the other Monsters.

“Gii!”

“Gehe!”

“Gigee!”

The Imps flew towards Bell with their small wings, claws at the ready to slash him.

“Oooaaaggghhh!” A Silverback, a large ape-like Monster, howled as it leapt down from one of the dead trees and charged at Bell behind the Imps.

“Yah!” Bell’s chokuto flashed and the first Imp was decapitated. The second was stabbed through the chest by the sword. The third took a front kick that collapsed its small torso and sent it flying straight into the Silverback, staggered the ape Monster. The Silverback never got a chance to recover as Bell’s blade sliced open its throat. Blood poured from the fatal injury, staining the silvery white fur of the Monster as it fell to the ground, dead.

A good distance away, a Party of five Adventurers were watching Bell as best as they could through the fog of the Eleventh Floor. They had no idea that Bell had sensed them with his Skill a while back, but it wouldn’t have mattered much to them if they had known either.

“The hell is that guy doing?” The Dwarf of the Party questioned, seeing Bell slaying Monster after Monster, but not stopping to harvest the Magic Stones.

“Hmm, I’d say he’s trying to get a large boost in his stats.” The Half-Prum of the Party guessed after observing Bell for a bit. “He clearly doesn’t care about the Magic Stones or the Drop Items.”

The Bull Man with them, marked by the distinctive horns that his race was known for along with their cow-like ears, chuckled a bit. “Hey, if he doesn’t want them, we’ll be happy to collect them.”

“Scavenging time.” The human woman with the Party laughed as they moved over to the area that had been scorched black by Bell’s fire spell.

“Nya! If we follow his trail, we’ll make some good money today!” The Cat Girl member of the Party was in high spirits from finding such a lucrative scavenging target. It was easier to harvest Monsters on this Floor than it was to hunt them. Their Party could do either, of course, since their Bull leader was Level 2 and the rest of them were upper Level 1’s that were building up to their own Level Ups over time.

Bell didn’t care about Magic Stones, Drop Items, or Valis right now. The time he spent in the Dungeon for today and the next two days after would be all about getting stronger and refining his Skills and Magic.

-Two Days Later-

Bell sat with his back exposed to Sarutahiko, his yukata around his waist. He’d just returned from the Dungeon from his last day of training and had a bath, so now was the time to get his final Status Update before he took the next two days to rest and prepare. After that, he’d be taken to the Sogen Grasslands which was a day-long trip by wagon.

Sarutahiko let a drop of his blood fall onto Bell’s back. The familiar blue-white light began to glow, emanating from Bell’s skin as his Falna appeared. “Hmm…” Sarutahiko hummed thoughtfully while he watched Bell’s Excelia. “I think this is a new personal best for you, Bell.” He mentioned the number of Monsters that Bell had slain today with a slight chuckle.

“I wanted to make sure that I was prepared as much as possible, Lord Sarutahiko.” Bell replied easily, his mind focused on the task ahead.

“I’d say that you’ve more than done that.” Sarutahiko stated proudly as he moved the Excelia into Bell’s Basic Abilities and watched them grow. Once they’d stopped, he placed a blank paper on Bell’s back and copied the new Status onto it. A quick ‘lock up’ of his Falna, and Sarutahiko watched the lines disappear, as if they were sinking into Bell’s skin. “This is the Status that you’ll be entering the War Game with, Bell.” The elder God handed the paper over to Bell.

-Status-

Bell Cranel

Level 1

Strength – SSS 1,477 > SSS 1,558

Endurance – SSS 1,428 > SSS 1,506

Dexterity – SSS 1,424 > SSS 1,503

Agility – SSS 1,473 > SSS 1,554

Magic – SSS 1,530 > SSS 1,605

-Magic-

Gogyō (Five Elements) – Incantation: “Earthly God’s mastery.” This Magic allows the user to use five different elemental Magics by using the appropriate word modifier: Sui for Water Magic, Do for Earth Magic, Fū for Wind Magic, Rai for Lightning Magic, and Ka for Fire Magic.

Kokushin (Black Needle) – Incantation: “Disrupt.” This Magic allows the user to create a black material in the shape of needles, batons, or rods at the cost of Mind.

-Skills-

Fugō (Sign) – Allows the user to change the form of a spell by making different signs with their hands.

Shihyō (Paragon/Teacher/Model/Leader) – Removes limits of growth. Rate of growth increases in proportion to the user’s efforts to improve. Growth of others increases when instructing them.

Kanchi (Sensing) – Allows the user to sense living things within a certain range of themselves and distinguish between Monster and Non-Monster. The range increases based on the Magic stat. Active Trigger.

-Status-

Bell looked over his stats for a long moment before giving a slight nod. “It’ll be enough.”

Sarutahiko smiled proudly at his ‘child’ and placed his hand on Bell’s shoulder. “You’re doing a truly monumental thing, Bell. Whatever the outcome, know that I am proud of you.”

“Thank you, Lord Sarutahiko.” Bell smiled to his God as he pulled the top of his yukata back into place.

“Go on, Liliruca is waiting for you.” Sarutahiko motioned towards the door with a chuckle.

Bell left Sarutahiko’s room and headed down the hallway. He turned the corner and headed out to the back garden. As soon as he slid the shoji door open, he spotted Lili sitting on a cushion in a beige yukata, looking out over the garden.

“Master Bell.” Lili looked over to him with a worried smile before patting the cushion next to her.

“Lili.” Bell sat on the empty cushion and quickly had Lili pulled into his side as she leaned into him for comfort. “I’m going to win, Lili.”

“Lili believes in you, Master Bell…” Lili’s voice was slightly muffled because of burying her face into his chest. “But Lili can’t help but worry.”

Bell gently rubbed her back as he held her, running his fingers through her chestnut hair to soothe her fears and worries. “I’m going to destroy them.” He promised Lili quietly. “This darkness that’s plagued you for so long…I’m going to wipe it from the earth. They will never harm you again, Lili.”

“Bell…” Lili’s eyes filled with tears at his promise as she hugged him tighter and crawled into his lap. Bell held her close and kissed the top of her head, giving her all of the affection and comfort that he possibly could.

-Dian Cecht Familia ~ Next Day-

“Good morning, Miss Airmid.” Bell greeted the silver-haired young woman with a smile.

Airmid brightened up at seeing Bell for the first time in days, light coming to her eyes, but she quickly subdued herself. “Mr. Cranel.”

“Yeah… I guess I deserve that.” Bell let out a flat chuckle.

“You absolutely do.” Airmid wasn’t pouting, but it was close. “A War Game? You versus an entire Familia… Have you lost your mind in the time that I haven’t seen you, Bell?” As much as she might try to hide it, Airmid’s lovely purple eyes gave away her worry and concern for him.

“I have to do this, Miss Airmid.” Bell’s words were firm, filled with a determination that was stronger than any metal or mineral the Dungeon could hope to produce.

Airmid was almost taken aback by Bell’s sheer presence in that moment, but she wasn’t known as Dea Saint for nothing as she held her ground. “What reason do you have to fight an entire Familia, if I may ask?”

“They’ve made a person that I’ve come to deeply care for suffer for years.” Bell answered and Airmid saw his body tense in anger as he spoke. “I won’t let them keep doing it any longer, I’m going to destroy them.”

“I see.” Airmid let out a slow breath and a small, beautiful smile crossed her lips. “Am I correct to assume this person you’ve come to care so deeply about is a young woman, Bell?”

“Her name is Lili.” Bell confirmed with a small nod. “Her only memories with Soma Familia are of being alone and being miserable. I won’t let that continue anymore.”

Airmid couldn’t help how her heart thumped in her chest at Bell’s words. ‘He’s like a Hero from a fairytale.’ The Healer thought to herself with an almost childlike appreciation for the young man in front of her. His actions and his words reminded her of stories where a brave Hero saved a princess in peril and the two fell in love.

“Miss Airmid? Are you alright? Your face is a little red.” Bell asked, seeing the red on Airmid’s cheeks.

“I-I…I’m fine, Bell.” Airmid shook her head to clear her thoughts. “What did you come here for today?” She defaulted to being professional to keep her mind from wandering.

“Well, other than seeing you again, I need a set of Low Potions, a Mid Potion, and two Mind Potions.” Bell requested of the beautiful Healer.

Airmid’s heart soared at Bell admitting that he’d come to see her specifically. She couldn’t keep the smile from her face as she turned around to start retrieving Bell’s requested items. Airmid knew her cheeks were rosy red, but she felt like she was a young girl with her first crush all over again. ‘What are you doing to me, Bell?’ She barely held down a giggle as she collected the potions that Bell wanted. “One set of Low Potions, one Mid Potion, and two Mind Potions.” Airmid set the items in front of Bell. A ‘set’ of Potions meant six, as that was all that most frontline fighters could carry on their person when it came to their armor. “For all nine, it will be 23,000 Valis.”

Bell paid Airmid and collected the nine potions with a smile. “Now I know that I’m in good hands if I need these during the War Game.” He grinned at Airmid, making the Healer smile back at him.

“Please be careful, Bell.” Airmid’s smile became one of concern for him. “I’ll be waiting to see you again after the War Game.”

“M-Miss Airmid…” Bell’s eyes widened and he felt his heart beat strongly in his chest.

Airmid’s eyes widened as she realized what she’d said and her face quickly turned a dark red as she blushed. “Have a good day, Bell!” She bowed and then quickly disappeared into the back with her hands covering her cheeks.

“Y-You too, Miss Airmid…” Bell walked out of the Dian Cecht Familia shop with lightly pink cheeks and a little smile on his face.

-Hostess of Fertility-

Bell had only meant to stop by and greet the ladies of the Hostess after not seeing them for several days.

That plan had gone out the window when, as soon as Anya had spotted him, he was practically dragged off to the side of the bar and interrogated by the girls.

“Are you crazy, whitehead?! Nya!” Anya demanded, getting very close to Bell’s face.

“Nya, you’ve got to be crazy to fight an entire Familia by yourself.” Chloe nodded at Bell.

“What you’re doing is practically suicide, you know?” Lunoire shook her head at Bell. “You’re Level 1, going up against something like one-hundred other Level 1 Adventurers, plus a pair of Level 2’s. That’s insane!”

“We’re all very concerned about you, Bell.” Syr mentioned, looking at him with a cute look that showed her concern. “What will you say to Ryu if you end up losing?”

“What?” Bell blinked at Syr’s question.

Ryu quickly arrived, almost as if she’d been summoned, and pushed Syr and the other girls away. Bell briefly noticed that her cheeks were red, but when she came back a second later, her face was as beautiful and clear as ever. “I apologize for my coworker’s actions, Mr. Cranel.” She bowed slightly to him.

“I-It’s no problem, Miss Ryu.” Bell waved off the actions of the other waitresses. They were only concerned for him after all, and he appreciated that.

“You’ve gotten yourself in quite some trouble, Mr. Cranel.” Ryu mentioned the War Game without saying it outright.

“Perhaps, but it’s something that I need to do, Miss Ryu.” Bell told her with the same determination that he’d told Airmid. “I’m going to lay the Soma Familia low for what they’ve done to someone that I care for.”

Ryu felt her heart beat with empathy from Bell’s words. She of all people knew what it was like to feel the burning need to wipe out an entire Familia for the crimes they’d committed against those she cared for. “Mr. Cranel, I feel that I should caution you not to give into the desire for revenge. It’s a path that only leads to a dead end. Even if you succeed, you’ll be left with nothing but a hollow feeling once it is done.” Ryu’s blue eyes were filled with a sadness that Bell had never seen in them before.

“This isn’t about revenge, Miss Ryu.” Bell took her hand in both of his with a soft smile. “I’m doing this for the sake of another. Someone that’s suffered for years because of Soma Familia. That is why I’ve accepted this War Game and all of the disadvantages that come with it.” He looked into her blue eyes, seeing the painful sadness fading away. “I will win.” Bell stated powerfully. “And when I do, we’ll come to the Hostess of Fertility to celebrate.” He smiled at Ryu warmly.

“Mr. Cranel…um…” Ryu finally managed to break away from his intense rubellite gaze, her cheeks going pink as she looked off to the side. “This is a little…awkward.”

“Hm?” Bell looked confused before he realized that he’d taken Ryu’s hand into his own. ‘Elves are a proud race that are very particular about who they allow to touch them!’ Bell reminded himself as he realized that he’d just committed a faux pas by Elven customs. “I’m so sorry, Miss Ryu…” Bell slowly let go of her hand, and Ryu just as slowly removed her hand from his hands.

“It…It’s alright, Mr. Cranel.” Ryu’s heart was thumping in her chest and she fidgeted slightly. “All of us at the Hostess will pray for your victory.”

“Thank you very much, Miss Ryu.” Bell smiled at her and Ryu gave him a small smile in return before heading into the back of the pub.

‘I need to calm down.’ Ryu thought to herself as she tried to get her heart under control.

Syr watched the entire interaction with a little grin. ‘Oh, this is precious.’ She giggled at her thoughts. “Those two are such fun for my matchmaking.” The waitress smiled, thoroughly entertained as she watched Bell and Ryu slowly get closer and closer to each other. ‘I knew this roleplay would be entertaining.’

-Orario Streets-

On his way back to the Floating Bridge Mansion, Bell felt something approaching him. He didn’t even have time to move before two pairs of arms grabbed onto him and took him away quickly. Bell saw the world blur past him from the speed of he was being moved at and when it stopped, he nearly got a sense of vertigo from the deceleration.

“Wha?” Bell looked behind him to see who had moved him. “Mmph!”

Only to be glomped by Tiona as she wrapped her arms around his head and his face was buried in her handfuls. “Bell! What’s this about a War Game against Soma Familia?!”

“He can’t answer you if you smother him.” Tione deadpanned at Tiona, even though she wanted to know as well.

“Pah…” Bell was pushed back from Tiona’s chest, letting him breathe again. “Good afternoon, Tiona, Tione…” He greeted them both.

Tione stepped forward and leaned forward, getting into Bell’s personal space. “Don’t change the subject. What’s this about a War Game?”

Bell’s eyes briefly dropped down to Tione’s bouncing tits before his gaze moved back up to match hers. “It’s something that I need to do.”

“Why?” Tione didn’t demand an answer, she merely looked curious.

“You remember Lili, right?” Bell asked rhetorically. He got nods from both sisters regardless. “She’s in Soma Familia…but she’s had nothing but a life of loneliness and suffering because of it.” Bell told them both, his fists clenching at his sides. “I’m going to bring them down for it.”

Tiona perked up, reminded of the Heroic Tales that she was a fan of since she’d learned to read as a little girl. “That’s like something out of a Heroic fairytale! I’ve loved those since I was a little kid!” She beamed at Bell.

“So, you’re going to fight an entire Familia by yourself, for the sake of that Prum girl?” Tione raised an eyebrow at Bell.

“Yes.” Bell stated firmly, his tone like steel.

“Do you have a chance of winning though?” Tiona asked, leaning forward just like her sister. “Any plans? Strategies? Special weapons?”

“I will win.” Bell’s words almost seemed to make the air heavier. Such was the finality and power of his response.

Tione and Tiona both felt their hearts beat powerfully beneath their breast, liquid fire starting to fill their veins as their Amazonian instincts were set alight. They both shivered slightly, their skin breaking out into goosebumps as they reacted to the strength and force that Bell spoke with.

“You’d better.” Tione grinned at him challengingly. “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t after that.”

“Yeah…” Tiona giggled, wrapping her arms around Bell’s left arm. “Take them all down, Bell! You’re like a Hero!”

Bell couldn’t help but smile at their words. The miniature sun within him blazed even hotter at being compared to a Hero. Both Amazons smiled back at him as Tione took his right arm for herself.

“Can I ask where Miss Ais is?” Bell questioned a long moment later as the three had sat down together in an alleyway, his left arm around Tiona’s waist and his right arm around Tione’s waist.

“Some things happened during our trip in the Dungeon.” Tiona mentioned after a second to think about it. Finn had said that they shouldn’t talk about it too much, and the Guild was keeping things ‘hush-hush’ about the weird Monsters.

Tione grimaced a little. “There was an attack by someone on the Eighteenth Floor. The others didn’t get her name, just a description of a redheaded woman that was also a Tamer.”

“A Tamer…?” Bell mulled over that information for a moment. “Did they attack the Safe Zone?!”

“Yeah…” Tiona sighed, recalling the incident and the weird giant thing they’d helped take down. “There were so many of these weird Flower Monsters.”

“That Tamer woman said something to Ais while they were fighting; we don’t know what, but Ais became really withdrawn for the rest of the trip.” Tione told Bell, looking down at her hands as she clenched them into fists. She’d not even met the Tamer woman, yet she already wanted to tear her apart for upsetting Ais so much.

“She stayed behind on the Thirty-Seventh Floor with Riveria to fight the Floor Boss, Udaeus.” Tiona wasn’t stupid, she knew why Ais had requested to stay behind. “I think fighting that Tamer woman made her feel weak. Like she’d failed because she couldn’t stop her.”

“She decided to fight a Monster Rex with only one support?” Bell looked at both sisters in turn. “That’s…”

“Crazy?” Tione looked at Bell flatly, her eyes clearly reminding him of his own situation.

Bell closed his mouth and looked a bit sheepish for what he’d been about to say. “Point taken.”

“You’re both doing crazy things.” Tiona mentioned as she lay her head on Bell’s shoulder. “Making us worry about both of you like this isn’t nice.”

Tione mimicked her sister, resting her head on Bell’s opposite shoulder. “You both should try and talk to us more; but…given the circumstances, I don’t know if we can say much about your choices or Ais’s choices either.”

“The War Game is in a couple of days...will Miss Ais be back on the surface by then?” Bell asked as he gently squeezed both of the Amazons a little tighter to him for a moment.

“She should be.” Tione said without moving from her position.

Tiona agreed with a smile. “She has Riveria with her, so Ais will be fine. I’m sure they’ll be back tomorrow night, or maybe the early hours of the morning the day after.”

“That’s good.” Bell let out a relieved breath. “I’ll see her when I get back.”

“That confidence is a real turn-on.” Tione murmured, running her hand up and down Bell’s chest.

“Uh huh.” Tiona giggled as she copied her sister, trailing her hand along Bell’s torso.

Bell chuckled even as he fought off a blush. He held the two close and just let their hands wander as they pleased.

-Day Before the War Game-

“I’m off, Lord Sarutahiko.” Bell bowed to his God, a wagon waiting to take him to the Sogen Grasslands.

Sarutahiko nodded to Bell. “We’ll await your victory, Bell.” He said with complete faith in his Captain.

“I’ll be back soon, Lili.” Bell hugged her close.

“Lili will be waiting for you, Bell.” Lili squeezed him tightly while looking up at him with her chestnut brown eyes full of hope and affection.

Bell smiled warmly at her, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “I won’t keep you waiting, Lili.”

Lili blushed as she reluctantly let Bell go. She watched him get into the wagon and waved to him until he was out of sight.

“A good man goes off to war.” Sarutahiko said with an air of wisdom.

“Lili will wait for him.” Lili spoke softly, her hands clenching her yukata tightly.

Sarutahiko gently guided her back into the Floating Bridge Mansion. Once he had permission from Ouranos, he’d use the tiny fragment of Arcanum that would be allowed and produce a Viewing Mirror so that the entire Familia could watch Bell in the War Game.

-Sogen Grasslands ~ Night-

“It really did take all day to get here.” Bell mentioned as he hopped off the wagon and looked about the flat expanse of grassland in the last rays of sunlight.

“Yo, Bell!” Lulune greeted him as she walked over.

“Miss Lulune? What’re you doing here?” Bell asked curiously.

“My Familia’s God was made arbiter of this War Game, so we had to come out here and clear the grasslands of Monsters so that the War Game wouldn’t be interrupted.” Lulune said with a grin.

“It’s nice to see you again.” Bell smiled. “Sorry that you had to come out here and work.”

Lulune waved it off. “My Familia works outside of Orario fairly often, so it’s no big deal.”

“Really? What do you do, Miss Lulune?” Bell was curious to know what kind of work the Chienthrope woman did outside of the Dungeon City.

“I’m a Mapper!” Lulune pointed at herself with a grin. “I have a really good innate sense of direction and I can memorize and copy down pathways and the like while on the move.”

“That’s amazing.” Bell praised her, making Lulune’s tail start to wag. “I’d like to think I have an okay sense of direction, but I don’t think I’d be all that good at making any kind of legible map while moving at any real speed.”

Lulune laughed and even shot a wink at Bell. “It just takes practice and a steady hand.” She leaned forward a bit, a smirk on her lips. “But feel free to praise me more~” Her dog ears wiggled and her fluffy tail was wagging back and forth happily.

“Cute…” Bell smiled reflexively at the sight of Lulune’s happiness.

Lulune grinned at him, enjoying the compliments and how much Bell seemed to enjoy talking with her…and looking at her body. It was a bit of a thrill and she could admit to not having much time to even try to meet a man. Hermes Familia was almost always doing one thing or another, either at the behest of the Guild, or because of one of Hermes’s many contacts outside of Orario.

“Lulune…stop chatting with one of the participants in the War Game. You’re going to make others think we’ve taken sides.” A beautiful blue-haired woman wearing glasses and a cloak spoke up.

“Sorry, Asfi!” Lulune shot one last wink at Bell and jogged over to the other woman.

“It’s ‘Captain’ in official roles like this.” Asfi reminded Lulune pointedly, making the Chienthrope flinch at the tone.

“Sorry, Captain.” Lulune rubbed the back of her head as the pair walked away to their own campsite.

Bell looked around and found an area far from where the massive Soma Familia camp was, and was decently close, without looking suspicious, to the Hermes Familia camp. ‘Best not to give the Soma Familia a chance to try anything.’ Bell made his way over to the spot and made four hand signs before stomping his foot on the ground. With a rumble, the earth moved upwards, surrounding Bell until a square shelter had been made with a roof and four walls. Only a few small openings allowed air in since Bell was planning to sleep here tonight.

With his shelter and protection taken care of, Bell set down the backpack that he’d brought with him and pulled his chokuto from his hip, setting it against the wall. He opened up his pack and pulled out one of the two bento that had been made for him. Bell clapped his hands and gave his thanks for the food before opening up the bento and beginning to eat. The other bento would be for breakfast tomorrow before the War Game started at noon.

-Twilight Manor ~ Next Morning-

Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock

A loud and persistent knocking almost startled Ais awake. The blonde sat up in her bed, her long hair a bit disheveled as she blinked. Ais and Riveria had gotten back to the Familia Home in the early hours of the morning, long after everyone else had gone to sleep. Still a little tired, Ais got out of bed and went to her door.

“Ais!” Tiona nearly crushed Ais into a hug. “Bell’s War Game will be starting in a couple of hours!”

“Huh?” Ais blinked in confusion, her brain taking a moment to process what Tiona had said. “War Game?”

Tiona explained what she knew about the War Game. That it was between Soma Familia and Sarutahiko Familia, and that Bell alone was going to take on the entirety of Soma Familia.

“Why?!” Ais’s voice actually raised a bit as concern and worry filled her heart.

Needless to say, Ais quickly ate her breakfast at a speed no one in Loki Familia had ever seen before. She, Tione, and Tiona were sitting in the Executive’s meeting room before even Loki arrived, not wanting to miss a second of the War Game.

-Sogen Grasslands-

Bell stood on one side of the expansive grasslands as the sun hung in the sky. It was almost noon and only a breeze moved through the area between him and the Soma Familia. Large white clouds passed by overhead from the wind, occasionally casting spots of the grassland into shadow for a short time.

“Just about time.” Bell muttered to himself, just standing before a small army of one-hundred Adventurers, seemingly without any concern.

-Orario-

In various bars, pubs, and taverns across the city, bets were being placed on the outcome of the War Game.

At the Hostess of Fertility, Mia put up 100,000 Valis on Bell’s victory, getting dozens of people betting on Soma Familia in return, hoping for a cut of the Dwarf woman’s cash. Mia only smirked at the people that bet against Bell. That man was something different…and Mia knew what she was talking about given that she was a Level 6 herself.

At Babel Tower, in the large conference hall, a plethora of Deities came to see the show. By the rules, both Soma and Sarutahiko had to be present here. That way, no one got cold feet and tried to renege on their wagers! That wouldn’t be as entertaining for the other Deities, after all!

Right before noon, Hermes stepped up to the center of the room. “Ouranos! Permission to use our power?” He snapped at the end of his request.

“Granted.” Ouranos’s voice seemed to come from every direction within the room. At the exact moment that he’d given his permission, Ouranos just barely released a fraction of his control over the Arcanum of the other Deities within Orario through his Domain of Divine Authority. It wasn’t enough to do anything but use the Viewing Mirror ability that let them observe other parts of the world though, he made sure of that.

In a glow, hundreds of rings of divine light formed all over Orario, within businesses, homes, the various plazas and squares, and even within Familia homes as the Deity of said Familia felt the tiny release of their Arcanum and activated the Viewing Mirror ability with but a thought. Through these rings the Sogen Grasslands came into perfect view for everyone so that they could all watch the War Game.

-Sogen Grasslands-

“That’s noon.” Asfi clicked her pocket watch shut and gave a nod to Lulune.

Lulune aimed a firework directly upwards and pulled the string on the bottom. With a whistle, the little rocket shot into the air and went off with a bang loud enough to be heard by everyone.

No one moved.

Bell saw the Soma Familia hadn’t charged at him, and he wondered what their strategy could possibly be. A large cloud in the sky briefly blocked out the sun, the shadow moving from behind Bell and covering him in shade. The shadow of the large cloud moved across the grasslands and reached the Soma Familia without them making any moves. That was when Bell decided he’d go to them as he took his first step.

Soma Familia finally started to react, the various members readying their weapons.

Bell took another step, and then another, before breaking into a charge straight for the Soma Familia.

“Here he comes!”

“He’s only a single guy! Take him down!”

“YAAAAAHHHHH!!!” The Soma Familia began to charge as one towards the incoming Bell.

The clash when the group met Bell did not go how the Soma Familia thought it would.

Bodies flew through the air as Bell laid into the thugs that made up the majority of the Soma Familia. A punch sent one man flying until he crashed down hard onto the grass. A snap kick knocked a Raccoon man into three other people, sending them all to the ground. Bell dodged the sword of a Cat Man and caught his arm. With a sharp twist a loud snap was heard.

“AARRGGHH!!!” The Cat Man cried out in agony as his arm was broken, before Bell’s fist smashed into his face and knocked him out.

A kick took out one man’s leg, sending him sprawling. A punch lifted another man off his feet only for Bell to grab the airborne man by the ankle and use him as a bludgeon on another person. The footwork on display was insane as Bell practically danced around the swarming Soma Familia members. A chop to the throat made a man spin in the air for a rotation before he hit the ground. A kick sent another person backwards at speed. Bell drew his chokuto and sliced through a staff that was coming at him from behind. He cut down the stunned man before he could recover and pivoted to dodge an axe that was swung at him. He smashed the attacker in the face with the pommel of his sword, and then snatched the axe out of his hands. Bell threw the axe like a buzzsaw into the crowd.

“Gah!” One Soma Familia went down with the axe buried into his chest, but a dozen more had scattered and thrown themselves out of the way of the flying weapon.

Bell never slowed down, cutting down three more people with his chokuto before striking another man across the face with a backfist and then using his collapsing body as a launch point. He leapt over the crowd and landed further into the Soma Familia’s wave of fighters.

“What the?!”

“Oh shit!”

The Soma Familia member s tried to back up with Bell suddenly in their midst but they weren’t fast enough.

Bell cut two men down, turned and kicked a woman with a dagger away, grabbed the wrist of a man that had tried to stab him from behind and then swung the man around bodily before throwing him into two others.

Ching

Bell’s chokuto snapped as it hit a solid, heavy shield that one of the Soma Familia members had raised in barely the nick of time.

For just an instant there was hope on the faces of the many Soma Familia Adventurers that were coming at Bell. Without his weapon, they had the advantage of reach at the very least.

Bell grabbed the top of the heavy shield and flipped himself over it, driving his knee down into the head of the man behind it. There was a crack as the man collapsed like a sack of rocks, and Bell caught his broken blade out of the air before throwing it straight into the chest of a man wielding a cleaver-like sword.

“Auuugh…” The newly impaled man hacked out before he collapsed sideways to the ground.

Bell rushed towards the downed man and snatched his cleaver sword. He spun and hacked down the man closest to the fallen Soma Familia member. Blood went flying through the air from the vicious laceration across the man’s torso. One man came at him with a sword, but Bell pivoted around his strike and slashed his back open. Another attacked with a war hammer, only to find both of his arms cut down to the bone. Before he could even scream in pain Bell’s knee strike knocked him out. A woman rushed him with a spear, but Bell dodged around the multiple thrusts. He cut off the spearhead with the cleaver sord, grabbed the now free blade out of the air and threw it into the shoulder of the woman the force alone taking her off of her feet and to the ground.

“Surround him!”

“Come on!”

The Soma Familia’s lack of tactics was apparent as they couldn’t even use their far superior numbers to encircle Bell properly.

Bell disarmed one man, kicked him in the face, then dual wielded the two blades as he tore his way through four more Adventurers. The cleaver blade cracked against the armor of one of the Soma Familia members, the pricey-looking armor had probably been stolen. The armored man attacked with the heavy gauntlets that were part of the armor, only for the second blade in Bell’s opposite hand to stab him in the underarm where there was no metal.

“Argh!” The armored man cried out in agony as his shoulder was pierced through. He was kicked across the face and was unconscious before he hit the ground.

The disarmed man from before tried to leap on Bell from behind. A quick movement of his feet and bell caught the man’s attempted grab, snapped his left arm, and then used him as a meat shield as half a dozen throwing knives flew at him. Bell tossed the man aside and rushed the knife thrower. The woman staggered backwards while trying to pull out more knives, but a punch from Bell knocked her out cold.

“Hyah!” A Hume Bunny girl charged at Bell from behind with a katana. From the way that she was dressed, a short kimono with a leaf design on it that she only wore one sleeve of, leaving her sarashi-wrapped chest visible, Bell easily deduced that she was from the Far East.

Bell dodged one swing of the girl’s katana, then another, and finally a third one. Seeing an opening, Bell stepped forward and grabbed her by the throat, taking the katana from the young girl’s hand as she grabbed at the hand around her neck. She couldn’t be more than fourteen or so by Bell’s estimate. “Do you want to dance too?” He asked her seriously, not wanting to severely injure the young girl, but he tightened his grip on her throat to emphasize the threat.

“Let go of Kaede!” A black-haired Renard yelled out as she wielded an ­ōnusa that was glowing with Magic. Bell blurred to the young girl’s eyes and the katana that Bell stole cut the ­ōnusa in half before the Renard girl could activate her Magic.

‘Another from the Far East?’ Bell thought as he saw that the Renard girl was dressed like a miko, or at least how Sarutahiko had described a miko. The outfit was modified to be much shorter though. He threw the Hume Bunny girl into the Renard, knocking both of the teens to the ground.

“Momiji! Kaede!” A Prum girl charged at Bell with a hammer.

“Coco, stay back!” Momiji, the Renard, cried out from beneath Kaede.

Bell yanked the hammer out of Coco’s hands and then hit her with a side kick that sent her crashing into her already injured friends. He threw the hammer at an approaching Chienthrope man, knocking the man out as the hammer smashed his face and sent blood and teeth flying.

WOOSH

Bell felt the wind hit him from the side and was carried a distance from his previous position. He landed easily and looked at who had hit him. A Dwarf man held a Magic Weapon in the shape of a large hammer. The wind that swirled around it slowly died out and then it lost its color before shattering into small pieces.

‘Skillful Grade…but the bottom of the barrel when it comes to quality.’ Bell knew that a Skillful Grade Magic Weapon could produce a decent spell-like attack. But the cheap ones that were only good for one swing were still priced at 1,000,000 Valis. So, that weapon had probably been stolen too.

The Soma Familia didn’t seem eager to rush in to attack Bell, after he’d already taken out so many of them with nothing but weapons and martial arts.

With a little time, Bell stabbed the katana he’d stolen into the ground and quickly made seven hand signs to the confusion of the Soma Familia. “Earthly God’s mastery, Gogy­ō…Ka!” Bell inhaled deeply before throwing his head forward and exhaling a massive fireball at the gathered Adventurers.

“Run!”

“Get outta my way!”

“Shit!”

The fireball tore through the Soma Familia members at speed.

“AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!”

“IT BURNS!!!”

“FUCK!!!”

“HELP ME!!!”

“GAAAAUUUGGHH!!!”

The screams of the burned and burning rang out through the grasslands. A trail of scorched grass showed the path the immense fireball had taken.

“Earthly God’s mastery, Gogy­ō…Do!” Bell made a single hand sign and then slammed his palm onto the ground.

RMMMBBBLLLE

The ground shook and then from directly in front of Bell the flat grasslands rose up in a wave of soil and rock. It was like an ocean wave, but made of earth, and it rose four meters high as it rushed towards the remaining Soma Familia members.

“Watch out!”

“Run!”

The earth wave crashed through the staggered and scattered Soma Familia, many of the Adventurers that had still been standing were buried or had been bludgeoned by the fast moving earth. The vast majority of the Soma Famili had already been defeated, and it had only been about five minutes since the War Game began.

Kanchi alerted Bell to two people rapidly approaching him from behind. He grabbed the katana as he dropped into a crouch, letting a sword and an axe pass through the empty air above him. Bell lashed out with his stolen katana, managing to land glancing blows on the two men.

One of the men had gray hair, wore glasses, and had a long blue tunic on. He held his sword at the ready with a steady look on his face. But Bell noticed the man was clearly shaken just by looking into his eyes.

The other was a Dwarf with dark brown hair and beard and tanned skin. He wore an orange shirt over which was a breastplate. His dark pants had hip and thigh armor over them as well as a pair of greaves. His grip on his axe was steady, but he didn’t look like he really wanted to be here.

“Hmm, you must be Zanis,” Bell pointed the katana at the bespectacled man. “And that would make you, Chandra.” He moved the tip of the katana to point at the Dwarf man. “Looks like we can finish this up quickly.”

“Now!” Zanis barked as both he and Chandra leapt away from Bell while throwing things at his feet.

“Hm?” Bell glanced down and saw orange-ish stone scattered around the grass.

Zanis pulled out a short knife, red and white in color, and swung it. Flames leapt from the blade and flew straight at the grass in front of Bell. The flames hit one of the orange stones and it exploded, the first explosion triggered a chain of explosions that continued for a few seconds.

“Was that Kaenseki?!” Lulune cried out from where she was watching the War Game from the Hermes Familia’s campsite.

“It would appear so.” Asfi nodded after seeing how explosions had been set off. “I doubt Mr. Cranel got out of that unscathed.”

Back on the battlefield, Zanis laughed mockingly. “I see you don’t have much Dungeon knowledge, fool!” He jeered at the rising cloud of thick, black smoke.

“Shouldn’t we make sure he’s down?” Chandra questioned Zanis, eyeing the thick smoke warily.

“Go do that, Chandra.” Zanis ordered, much like he often did to the Vice Captain whenever he didn’t want to do something himself.

“That hurt a bit.” Bell mentioned as he came out of the smoke. His armor was cracked and small pieces were missing. He was burned a bit, and his hair was covered in soot, but he hadn’t taken nearly as much damage from the exploding Kaenseki as he should’ve. “This armor was a gift from Lord Sarutahiko, and you damaged it.” Bell glared at the two men as he reached into his armor and pulled out the Mid Potion. He poured it over his body and before Zanis and Chandra’s eyes, his worst wounds quickly healed and vanished. “Wow… Airmid really makes good stuff.” He marveled at how fast and thoroughly the Mid Potion had worked.

“You…you…” Zanis seemed a mix of enraged and terrified, which made for an odd expression on his face. His sword started shaking in his hands as he held it.

Bell rushed forward and the stolen katana was stabbed through Chandra’s right leg. The Dwarf man bit out a curse, but Bell didn’t hear it as he slammed a powerful roundhouse kick into the Level 2’s head and sent him bouncing across the grass.

“Damn you!” Zanis roared as he swung his sword at the unarmed Bell.

Crack

“AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!” Zanis howled in pain as Bell had stepped into his guard and disarmed him before breaking his right arm. The powerful grip that he squeezed the compound fracture with only made Zanis thrash in agony.

Bell stared into Zanis’s panicked eyes with cold rubellite. “You’re the real root of the problem. Lili told me all about you.” Zanis threw a punch at Bell, but he was tossed aside before it could connect.

“Auughh…damn it…” Zanis was nearly foaming at the mouth from pain as he tried to get back on his feet with his horribly fractured right arm slowing him down.

“I’m not one for torture… So, I’ll finish this up.” Bell told Zanis as the man staggered to his feet. In a blur, Bell struck Zanis and knocked the injured Level 2 backwards, his body bouncing off the ground three times like a skipping stone before coming to a stop.

Unseen by most was the fact that Bell’s strike hadn’t been a simple punch. He’d stabbed Zanis with something and then transferred the force of the stab into a blow similar to a palm strike.

The object that he’d stabbed Zanis with?

One of Lili’s senbon, coated in her self-made, refined Purple Moth Poison. Zanis was barely conscious from the blow, but he felt the creeping pain in his veins as the poison did its work. The sensation of needles in his veins was the last thing Zanis Lustra felt as the darkness took him forever.

-Orario-

“AND THE WAR GAME IS OVER!!!” Was heard throughout the city by many announcers. “In a massive upset, and against staggering odds, Bell Cranel of the Sarutahiko Familia has decimated the entire Soma Familia all on his own!”

-Hostess of Fertility-

“Thank you all for your cash!” Mia laughed heartily as everyone that had bet against her cried out at losing their money.

The waitresses of the Hostess were all either smiling or still staring at the Viewing Mirror in shock at what they’d just witnessed.

“I’m glad.” Ryu quietly spoke, a small smile on her lips as she saw Bell’s victory.

-Twilight Manor-

“BELL WON!!!” Tiona leapt up from the couch with a loud cheer.

“Amazing as always.” Tione smiled brightly at Bell as the Viewing Mirror focused on him.

Ais smiled at Bell’s image, he was a bit scuffed up, but he’d won. “Bell…good job.”

“How the HELL is he supposed to be a Level 1?!” Bete pointed at Bell in confusion. “That was like watching a Level 3 tear into a bunch of Level 1 newbies!”

“The boy has got some serious talent.” Gareth ran his hand through his beard.

Riveria nodded in agreement. “Yes, an impressive talent combined with excellent martial skills.”

“Hmm, talent of that level is incredibly rare.” Finn mentioned as his eyes looked Bell over through the Viewing Mirror.

“Sarutahiko’s kid is something else.” Loki mentioned, hiding a little smirk behind her hands. ‘Talent like that…a terrifying and almost monstrous talent…’ The Trickster Goddess put that thought on the backburner for now, since she had enough on her plate already. “Do you think old Sarutahiko will be selling some of the perfect soma wine after he takes all of Soma’s assets?!” She beamed at Finn, Gareth, and Riveria.

The top three of Loki Familia all deadpanned at their Goddess, knowing they’d have to keep a strict eye on her so that she didn’t spend some absurd amount of money on soma wine if it did come up for sale.

“Snu-snu, Snu-snu, Snu-snu…” Tiona and Tione were smiling and repeating quietly between themselves with fire behind their eyes.

Ais, having been taught a bit of Amazonian by Tione and Tiona, took a second to recall what ‘snu-snu’ meant, but her entire face turned red when it came to her. Tiona and Tione turned to look at their ‘third sister’ with a teasing little smile on their faces. “…snu-snu.” She said just loud enough for the twins to hear.

“Ais!” Tiona hugged the blonde swordswoman with a warm laugh that was like sunshine turned into sound.

“When you’re ready, no rush.” Tione whispered into Ais’s ear as she joined the hug.

Ais just blushed cutely as she accepted the warm hug from both of them.

-Floating Bridge Mansion-

“MASTER BELL!!!” Lili bawled in pure joy at seeing Bell win the War Game. When he’d been blown up by Zanis, Lili had felt her heart stop. But then he’d walked out of the smoke and with a potion had been mostly fine. Her heart soared at seeing the Soma Familia decimated, knowing that she would soon be free and able to convert to the Sarutahiko Familia. ‘Thank you, Bell… Thank you, so much!’ Lili repeated in her head over and over again as she cried too many happy tears to be able to say it. The love that filled her heart for Bell bloomed into a beautiful thing right then and there for Liliruca Arde. She’d finally found her place in the world, and she couldn’t be any happier that it was at Bell’s side.

-Sogen Grasslands-

“Damn…” Bell felt his head get foggy as he reached for one of the Mind Potions. He pulled one of the citrus-colored vials form his armor and popped it open before draining it all in one go. ‘Moving that much earth all at once took way more Mind than I thought it would. Even now, I still have a long, long way to go.’ Bell thought to himself as he felt the Mind Potion taking effect as the fog was pushed back.

-Dian Cecht Familia-

“Bell…” Airmid smiled beautifully, happy that her crush was okay. It was still a bit too much to admit that out loud, but she could admit it to herself. “I’m glad the potions I made helped you.” The gorgeous Healer saw Bell take the Mid Potion and just now one of the two Mind Potions was taken as well. “You fought so hard, but you kept your promises, didn’t you, Bell?”

-Babel Tower ~ Conference Hall-

“I believe that concludes our business, Soma.” Sarutahiko spoke up loud enough to make even the cheering Deities quiet down. Several Deities were notably quiet even before then, looking between the Viewing Mirror at what Bell had done singlehandedly and then at Sarutahiko. If one was good at reading body language or interpreting feelings through the eyes, they would notice the fear among the Deities that were quiet.

“Yes…” Soma, for the first time, seemed to be fully in the here and now. His dark eyes were wide as he sat looking at the Viewing Mirror.

“You’ll keep your home, but everything else now belongs to my Familia.” Sarutahiko stated with a powerful tone that reminded several of why he was one of only seven ‘Great Gods’ among the thousands of Kami in the Shinto Pantheon. “If you wish to rebuild your Familia, you’ll be under Ganesha’s supervision as well.”

“Yes, Soma, let Ganesha teach you how to build a large and respectable Familia!” Ganesha was already at Soma’s side with a bright smile for his fellow Pantheon member.

The introverted Soma looked like he wanted to run away from the loud and boisterous Ganesha.

Thus the War Game between the Soma Familia and the Sarutahiko Familia ended.

And Bell Cranel’s name spread throughout Orario and beyond like wildfire.

-End Chapter-

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Yeah.

That’s what happens when you hurt someone Bell cares for…so don’t do it!

Bell decimates the Soma Familia in front of all of Orario!

His stats are absolutely ridiculous too!

But I bet destroying a Familia in a one vs one-hundred match would count as a Grand Feat!

Tione and Tiona are now VERY wound up and may, in fact, hunt their man down! Kek!

Will Ais be in on it too?!

Lili is in love! Yay! She will be loved and cuddled and snuggled and fuggled by Bell from now on! Adorable~

If he did just indeed shatter the Record for fastest Level Up in less than forty days, then what’s next for Monstrous Talent Bell?

Keep reading to find out!

Let me know what you thought!

Until next time, later!