Chapter 30: The Alf's Royal Forest.
Chapter Thirty: Saikai to Shite no Tairitsu
"So Fels, what news of Bell Cranel; has he contacted you after his meeting with them?" Ouranos' voice resonated through the Hall of Prayers.
"Yes, Lord Ouranos. They are naturally unsure; however, they are open to the idea. I believe you can intuit what they wish for in return"
"Yes, likely it will take more than simply food and comfort to earn their services"
"We could leverage what has been done for them by us up to now to get their help"
"No, if not for Bell Cranel, we would have failed them, and would still be failing them to those under the descendant of Daedalus. They wish for the surface in exchange for helping us; we may well need to figure out a manner to grant their wish before the return of our friend"
"Unless we can manage to convince the people that they are all tamed monsters, I cannot think of a way to keep the people calm with that"
"We will continue to work to that end; perhaps Haroeris can help us figure something out later if need be"
"Of course, though I fear he would simply force the issue and tell the civilians to believe his words alone..."
On his way back down to the 50th floor, Bell had an unexpected encounter on the 48th.
"!"
"Hn? Ah, Bell Cranel! Have you come for our final fight?"
Standing before him was Asterius, healed and whole, looking eager for his answer. Steadying himself, and feeling the falna on his back burn in anticipation, he replied, "No, not today. We are all hard at work getting ready for another quest right now"
"I know, the others already told me" the Minotaur pulled a face at that, and it took Bell a moment to realize that the Xenos had been joking at his expense!
"Then, what are you doing right now?"
"I've fought with the Ram Master before; today, I intend to slay him, and consume his stone"
"You're going to kill Balor? Then do you mind if I help you by keeping the mobs at bay? There is something I want to ask you about after"
"Fight… together? Yes, I would like that"
Bell had never seen a battle against Balor, with their previous trip to the 50th having been after Finn, Rivera, Gareth, and Ottar killed the floor boss on their way down to make their passing by easier. As such, Bell was occupied with keeping the large number of Fomoires at bay, but still strained to keep the battle between Asterius and Balor in his sight.
'He's gotten stronger…'
The Xenos fought with tenacity, displaying that he had grown since their previous fight, and his healed arm was not lacking for power. As Bell brought down one goat-like monster after another, Balor drew out a wicked looking battle-ax, and their battle continued. Eventually, a roar split the air as Asterius charged Balor, catching his gut in a head-butt, and crushing the monster into the Dungeon wall; picking up the very ax Balor had used, Asterius swung it through the monster's neck, embedding it in the wall as the body of his foe limply dropped, followed by the head which slid off of the ax a moment later.
Asterius pulled the ax free, admiring it for a moment, before stooping to claim the magic stone he'd earned, then turned to join Bell in slaughtering the remaining monsters.
"Congratulations"
"Hm… thanks. This is a good weapon, I'll use it well; you're stronger than before"
"You are, too; killing Balor alone isn't something many adventurers can do" he kept to himself the fact that only two or three people could probably do that, in fact.
"What did you want to talk about?"
"Well, you see…"
After relaying the same message he gave to the other Xenos, Bell waited in anticipation as Asterius seemed to be thinking.
"I would like to come with you to fight the Dragon, actually; I don't mind staying here to keep fighting in the Dungeon, though"
"R-really!? Just like that?"
"Yes, I would be doing that anyway. I don't stop in my training for our final battle, and I see that you feel the same, taking on the Dragon you speak of must be quite a challenge; that makes me glad"
Keeping a little more to himself about the whole situation, Bell simply smiled and accepted the help where it could be found, "I guess you're right; I'll make sure Fels and the others know, Asterius. Well, I guess I'll head on down; we still have a lot of work to do"
"Good luck, my rival"
As Aedan would be arriving in Altena after he swam back across the ocean, Musashi would be the first of the group from the Far East to Orario, having made an expedited journey, himself. He was able to make his way through Orario with surprising ease, and quickly came to his destination.
"Welcome, if I may, who are you?"
"I am Miyamoto Musashi, and am here to help Hestia Familia in their quest; are you the lady Alfia?" the shabby man asked in a smooth, cultured voice, admiring the beauty that greeted him.
"Yes, please follow me; is your god or goddess not with you?"
"My god Susanoo will not leave the Far East, but has a grudge against the Dragon, and let me come. I will temporarily transfer to Hestia Familia, if need be" his surprising statement merely made her nod as she took him to her own goddess; neither were the type to waste time.
"This is a surprise, but given you status, I will advise you to go down into the dungeon and join our strongest group who are the furthest down"
"Understood"
Musashi was given a brief detail of what he needed to know, and made his way with haste. He didn't pass the mentioned "mapping group", but came across the next resting on the 50th floor.
"Huh? Ah, we have another one here" Mia muttered, gaining the others' attention. Tiona hopped over as the man walked to them.
"Woo-hoo! We got some more help; nice to meet'cha, I'm Tiona Hyrute; what's your name?"
"I'm Miyamoto Musashi, but I'm actually supposed to join the group down below" his words caused some momentary confusion before the meaning sunk in, and even the members of Freya Familia joined the conversation.
"Hold on a moment, what level are you, and what Familia are you affiliated with?" Hedin asked him.
"I hail from the Far East, and my God Susanoo remains there. I have temporarily transferred to the Hestia Familia, and I am a level 7" Allen clicked his tongue in response before grunting.
"Well that's why you're going down to join the others, then. We can go together to them then; it's nearly time to deliver more supplies anyway, and we need to go soon to kill more Valgang Dragons" the others were shocked to hear that someone of such strength truly existed outside of Orario, but that was the purpose of Haroeris' journey. As soon as they were ready, the group repeated a now routine process, quickly raiding down to the 58th floor to eradicate the dragons there, while Bell, Allen, and Musashi continued on, making their way for the 65th floor.
In Altena, Aedan worked quickly, hoping to gather all the allies he could in time for them to travel together with the party from the Far East when they arrived. Yet once more, he would run into issues which would delay him. Not in finding them this time, but purely in problems getting them to leave their homeland.
The strength of Altena was mostly in its Governing Council: a group of leaders which was headed by the Minister, an aged wizard that was almost a storybook caricature. The reason he wasn't completely so was because Aedan could sense that he wasn't human, and confronted him in a meeting alone to get to the bottom of things.
"You are more than Ouranos let on, to discern such about me, despite my precautions. Well done, but be at peace, as I mean no harm. After all, I have led this land ably and peaceably for some time, now"
"What are you, truly?"
"Only one of the Governors know this, but I am the Harbinger of Peace, Methuselah, of Libra, the Scales" the announcement nearly made the man stumble in shock, but he recovered rapidly, reappraising the entity before him.
"Then, all of the divines in Altena are aware of you as well?"
"Yes, they know; we have had an amicable relationship for a long time, now"
"If that's true, then perhaps by your wisdom I might have the aid I seek along with the locations of your brethren among the Harbingers" Haroeris stated.
"Giving you aid would be… difficult at the moment, even for something as worthy as what you ask. The locations of the others I can easily do"
"That helps me, but if I can ask, what would it take to get the full aid I ask for?"
"We cannot send out any power with the threat of the Empire looming so close. If you can first get your aid from them, such that the greatest of their number are removed from our concern, we could then free up some of our own power to aid you with"
"I see… that is a fair boon to ask; I can tell why you are regarded as you are"
"Well, I assume you will try to do as I have asked, so in the meantime, I will arrange the information you seek, and will plan for what assistance may be provided you; until we meet again, then"
So he was unceremoniously left to head to perhaps the greatest challenge of his journey: the lands of the Empire.
As Aedan spent his time getting a handle on the situation in the realms of the Empire, the rest of the Far East party arrived in Orario after their journey, taking a short rest at Hearthfire Manor; in a repeat of the process Musashi had done, they converted to Hestia Familia, and were similarly sent on their way: Oda to join Musashi with Finn, Riveria, Gareth, and Ottar, and Valmathra, June, Ippo, and Miyuki to join the group on the 50th floor.
Meanwhile, the progress of the mapping group had been great, but had started to stall on the 34th floor. As everyone had begun to find, spending so long in the Dungeon was piling on stress, and going without status updates meant that all of the excellia they were accumulating was going without being put to use improving their statuses. Still, despite these hardships, they pushed on; the members of Hestia Familia in particular reminding themselves that their absent member had done this for years on end, despite his high status, and had gone on a perilous journey alone with Alfia to the 100th floor as a level 9. As they took this inspiration to heart, the falna of the man in question tingled minutely beyond his notice as he faced down a large group; somehow, he had managed to unite disparate forces in the Empire... against himself.
'How did it come to this, and so quickly, too?'
"You know, you're one of the few who actually remembered me; so I find it strange that we are in this position right now" the man tried to placate to the large number of people that had their weapons turned against him. Truly he was speaking directly to him, though, the leader of the Empire's forces: Belisarius Cranel.
"You were someone worth remembering, though I didn't think you were still alive"
"Yet here I am, and once again I am asking for your aid, not to fight you" curling his lip in distaste, Belisarius moved his horse forward with his closest allies and most powerful enemies and rivals, stopping hallway between their forces and the lone man.
"Then speak: what would you have us do to aid you?"
"I mean to finish what Zeus and Hera couldn't, and your son has agreed to help me" the man flinched back in his saddle, face painted with shock as his allies shot him surprised looks, and even the rebels sent a few glances askance at him.
"You weren't with us, so I don't expect you to know better, but that's a fool's errand. I would appreciate you not leading my son to his death pointlessly, now that I know he is truly alive"
"I spoke with Alfia, and we have come to decide upon a plan to slay that beast before it can subjugate the world, hence why I came to ask for aid; tell me, what must I do to earn it?"
"How much aid are you even asking for? We cannot simply send out all our strength for a fool's errand on a whim" Belisarius stalled, waiting for some camouflaged mages and archers to get into position; he knew the man was powerful, and likely the recent level 7 announced by Orario, but nobody was deathless, regardless of a high status falna; he knew that far better than most.
"Every person in your land of first class strength and above, as well as any level 4's that can be spared" his words- and their audacity- made his and his parties eyes bulge.
"You ask too much! What would we do if our forces were weakened to such an extent!?"
"What have you to be concerned with? I would take your own strength, and those of the rebels and others who stand against you, as well as all I can get from Altena; if we don't commit fully to killing the One-Eyed Black Dragon, it will establish an uncontestable dominion over the world anyway, and send all of the gods back to Heaven to solidify its control" the coalition froze at his words of prophecy, knowing that even the possibility of them being true was too much to dismiss; that, combined with the fact that they knew the dragon was alive and would return sooner or later, made their hearts still.
Even with that pressure, Belisarius had the fortitude to give the signal, and a hail of magic and projectiles rained toward the old teacher. When the dust cloud kicked up dispersed, his fears were confirmed at the man standing unharmed.
"You should have known that would be pointless. Would it be the case that you simply require a demonstration of my own strength to see if I am worthy of your aid?" the words, laced with power, made even the bravest among them tremble.
"Then so be it…
Immortal fire as unextinguished" nearly panicking, Belisarius urged his horse forward, directing the others to assault the man at once,
"That which appears in the ninth hour" closing in first on his horse, he angled his spear at the man, but it was caught and used to unseat him from his saddle, launching him over a hundred meders away,
"Coming through the Book of Gates, the Great Asp- the Grand Incendiary One- as I command you spit the fires of Hell upon my enemies" he continued to evade and counter the others with ease, not even stumbling in his chant as magic power coalesced in a massive magic circle around him; mana blazed like gleaming starlight in his eyes, making him resemble an enraged Great Spirit of the last age, the energy welling up around him in swirling light and contorting shadow, making the man seem a giant,
"My name is Horus!"
The field became still, hundreds of the finest troops that could be assembled by the lands of the empire holding their breath as their strongest members were held at bay, and the magic completed, "Solar Flare!!!"
The air became lighter in a moment, though it was harder to breathe; then they began to notice it: wind dragging upward all around them, being pulled from a circle around the field and up into the air, drawing their gaze; there in the sky was a sight to seal any hope they had of victory away. An image of the Apocalypse, a sea of hellfire raining down toward them. It crashed upon the earth like a tsunami of divine fury, swamping the land with noise, blistering heat, and destruction. After some several minutes though, the dust and smoke faded away into the wind, and those gathered quickly learned that they had been missed entirely by the spell; this was notable, since as far as they could see, the lands around them had been reduced to cinders.
"Now what say you? Am I sufficient to be worthy of your aid?"
"… A-after a display like that, I almost hesitate to ask why you need aid" Belisarius tremulously asked.
"As you said, it's a fool's errand, even with my power, I need further help still; one of the greatest mistakes Zeus and Hera made was thinking that a handful of powerful figures could lead the way to the Dragon's defeat. I am travelling the world to find and collect all the power we can bring to bear; it is what will be required to even stand a chance at killing it" the man swallowed his spit with a gulp, accepting the reality of the situation with dread. Haroeris was- in truth- not asking at all. He came for aid, and he meant to leave with aid in some form or another.
"We… we will need some time to work out how we can lend you the strength you ask for"
"That is fine, but don't think you can lie to me; I can sense that you are level 8, and that the man there is 7; if we are to be allies, we shall treat each other as such"
"I understand"
It took some time for the final agreement to be made. Haroeris may have disrupted the conflicts in and around the Empire with his arrival, but they would certainly continue in their absence, so some strength was required to remain; however, he still walked away with a substantial alliance making arrangements to head to Orario, giving him an official document that he could present to Altena to curry aid from them.
He left without any delay, and soon after his departure, the group containing Belisarius himself, one of his aids Achelous Mirnos Alf- a level 6 high elf, and the second of his own direct subordinate John of Tarsus: Clovis Grande, a high level 5. He left his troops under the command of Solomon- a level 6- and John himself, a level 7.
They left along with a lone pirate- Ranulf, a level 6 cat person- and two level 5's: Vercingetorix- the leader of one of the rebel factions of the Empire- and Augustus Afranius Syagrius Aegidius Bactrianus, a level 5 member of the imperial family, and who chose to go voluntarily while his father, the Imperator Alfred Optimus Princeps- a level 4- remained behind to lead the empire with John and Solomon.
Their company was joined by a few level 4's as well: Penda ap Griffith, the son of the level 5 lord of Mercia, Griffith ap Rhodri, Maximinus Thrax, a towering boaz who is Belisarius' protégé, Beowulf, one of Vercingetorix's seconds, and numerous others from the various rebel factions. Odoacer, Ragnar Cnutsson, Flann Mac Mael Sechnaill, and Domnall the "Madman" finished off the rebel contributions; unknown to the large party, an additional high level 4 accompanied them from a distance: Flemmeth, a wild witch who had her interest drawn in a chance to go to the center of the world: Orario. This left the total contribution of the Empire to the Grand Quest at a lofty fourteen people.
While they were making their arrangements, Aedan had returned to the halls of Lemuria, the capital city of Altena, to have his meeting.
"You were much faster than I anticipated you would be, young adventurer; what tidings have you?"
"Minister, I have arranged an alliance, and a good deal of the Empire's strength is en route to Orario as we speak" he handed over the documentation that had been provided by Belisarius. The Harbinger's eyes widened as he took in the words of the scroll, the eyes of the governors on him as he read.
"Such news! I can scarcely believe you have been able to marshal such a host from them; given this, we can certainly give you the aid you ask for; please let us discuss in private, then we will present our offer to you" accepting this result, he left the chamber to wander the capital, seeking to see if there was anything interest he could find, and find some sources of interest he did.
The first was impressive, not because he had another ally to send to Orario, but because of the inventive mind he could communicate with. Orophen Glaive was perhaps the craftiest person he had ever met; the pallum woman was level 3, but what was interesting was obviously her skills in making things. She would- he hoped- come up with very useful contraptions for them to use in their quest. The second things that drew him, though, was far more important even than that.
If Kyrian Mythros was the only aid he had gotten from Altena, it would be worth all of the trouble on his own. Kyrian was an odd case: a level 4 high elf, banished from his homeland and stripped of his Alf name due to his appearance. In contrast to the usual appearance of high elves, Kyrian had crimson hair about his shoulders, and rather than the pale skin known to them, he had pasty, alabaster white skin that would wither and burn in the light of the Sun, even with his high status. Kyrian was the sole member of Hecate Familia, and was beyond gifted, showing her sight in him was strong. Their aid was easily gained, as they simply wished for access to Orario, and through him, had it; it was a boon beyond all this goof fortune that she and Hestia were on good terms with each other in Heaven before they descended.
Having spent well enough time away, Aedan returned to waiting outside the hall before being called in shortly after, timing himself rightly.
"After discussing, we can send a small, but powerful party to aid you" was how the Minister greeted him, "Charles Magnus and Minerva Circe are the strongest of the group, and will serve you well" he gestured to the pair as they stood, "Merric Galantius and Serena Mossheath with join you, too" the other pair stood also, and Aedan nodded his head, pleased.
"Two level 7's, a level 6, and a level 5, I could not ask for more" the others seemed to draw back a bit in shock at his perception, but he continued on, "Have you had enough time to arrange the other matter we discussed?"
"Of course, here you are" the Minister hand over a thick, vellum scroll, "The information you need is recorded here; treat it carefully"
"Of course" he took the scroll and stowed it away, "Then I will be on my way; I still have a few places to attend before I may return to Orario myself; if you will head on, simply mention that you mean to aid Hestia Familia in their quest, and make for Hearthfire Manor. Arrangements will be explained there further by a woman named Alfia"
"We understand" Methuselah intoned, "The party will be converted to a single familia which will travel to Orario with the patron deity; we wish you well"
"The same to you"
This had set in motion for two groups to be on the road for Orario, and a contribution of many more people to aid in the mission. As they made their way, Aedan travelled to his next destination: the Alf's Royal Forest.
Weekly Power Status
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