Capítulo 70: Two Down...
(Babel)
The gods could sit and do nothing, nothing but sit and watch as they bore witness to monsters of their own world being pulled out of the ground, as if they were siphoned from the Dungeon itself, and the hellish hordes were being set upon the challenging Familia. The Freya Familia were able to handle the swarms quite well all on their own since these particular monsters were fodder and easy kill. Just as Steve intended though, it served to slow them down.
But the other two Familia were not as brave. To begin with, half of them were already frightened to death (literally by the way) due to the titan monster who now seemed to be moving inland at last. Other reasons were literally experiencing what was supposed to be their deaths but instead they were dropped out of the sky in the very next instant and made to wait torturously as they plummeted to what should have been a second death.
Adventurers were able to jump great distances and survive great falls, but even from the height that they fell, the should not have survived. And yet again, their reality was shattered by not only colliding with the ground but not even feeling any pain, let alone being mangled. Such madness began to turn these adventurers hysteric, and even with the zeal of the lesser members of the Freya Familia and their mind of duty to their goddess, their resolve was now breaking.
And now hordes of hundreds, perhaps thousands of monsters were descending upon them and even though these were upper floor monsters, even high level adventurers could still die just because of the sheer numbers there. And the crowd that Steve was strategically pushing further inland against the other end of the barrier was composed of adventurers, not a single one of these level 5 or above with the exception of Phryne who was more mad with fury at what had happened to her 'beautiful' looks instead of being slapped around by Alex.
But whether or not the gods could glean all this detail from the screens they were watching, it didn't take away from the fact that Otherworlders were somehow gripping the realities of their own world and twisting it all in their image, to bring forth the fruits thereof. That these adventurers were somehow summoning, or perhaps stealing, monsters from the Dungeon went against everything they had set up in this game of theirs.
That these people, who were born of a completely different set of laws, under somebody else's jurisdiction, were able to so casually, so callously siphon off the Authority of this realm and mould it for their benefit, all for the sake of just flexing in a War Game, which they knew was to precede the climax of the battle. That was the most infuriating part of all. They knew that this was not them being serious at all. They were doing it just for fun. The serious stuff would begin most definitely when they deployed that gargantuan monster instead of holding it back to use long range attacks.
It was most insulting to Ishtar and Apollo, the former had most certainly felt the death of her entire Familia (almost) at once, and yet the connection was suddenly re-established when they appeared from those clouds. DEATH had been DENIED to these adventurers just by the will of Ptah's children, most certainly and exclusively the will of his captain. That kind of power...it was...it was...
...
"Cheating." A goddess said, white in the face with terror, frustration, desperation and envy. "That's just cheating! This not a fair game at all!"
"Yeah!" Another god said. "Getting a Familia composed entirely of overpowered otherworlders who probably already had powers before they got a Falna? Not fair dude! It's bad enough if you were to get a high level adventurer from somebody else's Familia! But to get otherworlders who don't conform to our ways? This is just slaughter!"
"Should have thought twice before they challenged me then." Ptah said calmly before he looked back at Freya. "Well, you ready to call things off? Because I know you're just agonizing over there."
The goddess looked down at him and returned the stare...but he was right. It was pretty clear to her now what was happening. The Ptah Familia had been using the blasts of the giant monster to keep her children from moving out. That way, only a couple of numbers from those nine were needed to take out the other two weakling Familia, and it was being conducted in a way in which she was most certain was supposed to torture the adventurers as well as their gods psychologically. It would have been more merciful just to kill them all outright than to put them through this horror.
But no, they were being toyed with like food, and she was being given the most anxiety. She knew by now it was a lost game...but these fools she was sitting with did not know that this whole spectacle was actually a battle of minds between her and the boy, even though they had met only once. He was just so damn cruel and clever!
He knew that saving her children for last would be giving her the most psychological and emotional terror because he somehow knew of her attachment to her children. And it seemed that he also aimed to steal them away too! Just to give her that one last kick while she was down. It was so clear! Her surrendering and throwing in the towel as Ptah was suggesting would make her lose this war of minds, and it would be the greatest victory for Stephen Hewer.
No, she didn't give in that easily! She'd fought and endured much worse than this for hundreds of years beneath the feet of Zeus and Hera...she could outlast this. Even if her children were to be defeated, they were warriors! As was she. They would go down fighting, not rolling over the cliff for these overlords.
"You must think quite low of me Ptah." Freya said. "You really want me to throw it in before there is even a head-to-head clash between your children and mine?"
"I'm just wondering if you are going to spare your kids the hurt and humiliation that's headed their way." Ptah replied. "Are you? Because you can see for yourself...those others are getting chewed alive."
"They are weaklings." Freya said, irking both Ishtar and Apollo. "But my children are different. They are seasoned warriors and they will fight like men of war. Neither they nor I will just show our bellies to live to see another day. There is no doubt your children are strong, but I must say that it is quite low of them to toy around with those weaker than them if they know of this power difference. Have they no honour, no chivalry?"
"Honour?" Ptah scoffed. "You mean Steve? Yeah right." Ptah sat down laughing, much to the confusion of the gods.
"I'm not so sure if you're complimenting or belittling your own child." Hermes said nervously.
"Let's be honest here." Ptah said as he settle down. "How many of our adventurer population are really in it for honour and glory? No, they just see it as a gig where they can throw around brute strength, maybe get a little stronger, but mostly they will just want to use that money to go whoring and drinking. Very few are in it to feel greatness."
"Are your children not in for that greatness you speak of?" Dionysus asked.
"On the contrary..." Ptah said as he side-eyed the blond haired god. "...they are in it just for the Game, like many amongst even us gods Dio."
"This is just a game to them?" Ishtar asked in horror.
"Well what did you expect? And blame lies entirely with you on this Ishtar." Ptah said. "You're the one that stood up for this when it was just between me and Freya. So don't you dare pipe up now."
Ishtar appeared hesitant to stay quiet, but realizing that what Ptah was saying was actually true, she closed her mouth and sat down aga in, unable to do nothing but broil in anger as her children were being trampled on. And now that the base was gone, there was no hope of employing her secret plan. The only thing she could count on now was for that empty-headed Renard to do the one thing she was useful for alive...Perhaps Phryne could pull her children through and survive while the other two Familia are engaging with the Ptah Familia. If anything was clear at right now, they wouldn't get her the revenge she desired against Steve.
Whatever part of her Familia was left after this would have to be used to recruit and replenish her numbers and then she could finally go along with her plan against the Freya Familia.
"And anyway, even if you had offered a surrender Freya, I wouldn't have accepted it." Ptah folded his arms.
"You mean you were just playing a fib?" Freya raised a brow as her fingers trembled. "You're uncharacteristically cruel these days. I suspect that child of yours has been rubbing off on you."
"Well it was 'that' child that told me not to accept it from you." Ptah said. "He wants to make sure his plan is executed to perfection and his message is driven deep home. And also...he's taken an interest with one of your children Freya." He looked back at the goddess again. "Steve wants to know what he's capable...and what more he can achieve."
Freya's eyes widened as did the eyes of several other gods. It didn't take a genius to figure out who Ptah was talking about.
"What about the adventurers falling out of the clouds?" Dian Cecht asked. "They should be dead, if not from the attack then definitely from the fall."
"That's a secret." Ptah put a finger to his lips. "No more questions now. I want to enjoy watching my kids trample over all of yours." Ptah was also looking down on a piece of paper and writing something on it. Hermes leaned over to try and see what it was.
"What are you writing there?" Hermes asked.
"Aliases I want to give my kids when the War Game is over." Ptah answered.
"...But the aliases aren't decided by you. They're voted on by majority vote in the regular Denatus." Hermes half-protested, a sentiment shared by several gods around him. Naming an adventurer with an alias was a fun activity and getting to suggest a name which gets stuck onto a powerful adventurer earned a god more rep points than you'd think.
And of course, you'd then be most excited about getting to name the most powerful adventurers in the world currently, especially now that their special status had been revealed. Many wanted in on naming Steve and his compatriots.
Ptah however turned to all those protesting and his eyes turned from gold to red...which instantly shut them up and made them sit back in their seats and twiddle their fingers, waiting for his gaze to leave them. Satisfied at making his point finally, Ptah leaned back in his seat and brainstormed ideas for aliases. He'd already firmed two names for Steve and Alex, and he was now trying to deal with Noor's name.
As much as he wanted this privilege to himself, he had to admit...it was hard.
---
(Apollo Familia's Flag Base)
"HELP ME!" An wounded adventurer cried out as he tried to crawl away from a minotaur.
The bipedal bovine monster seemed to snort and sneer at the same time in glee as drool flew from its mouth and it stabbed its stone sword in the adventurers back. Blood flew from the adventurer's own mouth and splattered across Hyakinthos's face as his eyes wobbled in terror at what was happening as he held off an ogre.
The adventurer then disappeared in a burst of confetti and the Apollo Familia captain heard another thunderclap in the inland areas where the Ishtar Familia had been herded into. By now he knew what was happening but it did not make the prospect of dying any more appealing. And as cowardly as he was, he was a representative of Apollo and fleeing now would bring dirt upon his god's name...and that was even more intolerable than dying in battle to him.
As the minotaur turned his attention to him, Hyakinthos slid the ogre's weapon down along the length of his own sword before bringing that weapon up and slashing it in the throat. He ducked under the swing of the Minotaur and dragged the sharp point of his flamberge along a nerve point in the monster's arm which made the monster drop his stone sword and howl in pain. The minotaur then tried to slam its other hand down on the captain's head, but Hyakinthos span out of the way as the fist cracked the ground beneath it on impact.
Hyakinthos then angled his sword and stabbed it right through its eye, piercing its brain and putting a swift end to its life as it exploded into a puff of smoke. Strangely though, no core was left behind. Hyakinthos didn't spare his attention for that though as he leaned back and inspected himself.
His uniform was completely ruined and blood splattered, and his hair was dishevelled. He grit his teeth until he could hear them creek, his blood heating up greatly at this situation. His uniform and his cape had been given to him by Apollo himself...and he had dressed up in a way which pleased the god greatly. For any of it to be sullied was the greatest offense there could be committed in his eyes...but how could this all be?
This was supposed to be just a quick mission. Dispose of an impostor and then return home with the spoils, which should have been great wealth considering the manor that that Familia had built. Hyakinthos had been inside the Memphis Manor himself and he'd suffered great envy and jealousy that such a lower level desert god enjoyed luxury which his own god was surely more worthy of. Apollo wore great flowing robes while Ptah simply wore rags on his head...the difference in glory was so obvious.
And yet these nine people had come out of somewhere with great wealth and were carelessly throwing it around. It was an outrageous insult. And none of them were actually here to face them. Instead they were hiding behind monsters and using magic from afar instead of face-to-face combat. The cowards! He would most certainly avenge his honour and that of his Familia for this dishonourable and grievous taint.
He looked around and noticed himself having been forced into a corner. His whole Familia was swamped by monsters and were being killed off slowly. Each one that died was being respawned in the grasslands, but it did not take away from the pains of the experience of death. He could see a couple were even being eaten alive. One level 1 adventurer was being chewed up in the mouth of a kobold while the helpless fool was still waving his sword at another monster, the desperation and acceptance of his end being near shining clear in his eyes.
Hyakinthos heard another rumble from the giant monster out by the lake and he looked through a part of the wall that had collapsed from the monster attack to see Godzilla firing another blast of blue fire from his mouth towards what he knew was the direction of the fort. He supposed he was grateful that it was monsters from the Dungeon that he and his people were dealing with. Because there was absolutely no way in hell that they would even survive an attack from THAT monster out there.
It was a puzzle to the young man. How had the Ptah Familia gotten their hands on this creature, and where did it come from? How were they hiding it this long? And what did they intend to do with it besides using its head as a safety point from which they could let off spells and fire breath? It did not make sense either. How would you even be able to come to agreement with such a monster? What would one have to sacrifice or what great scheme would one have to employ in order to enslave this monster?
Hyakinthos heard gasping behind him and he turned to see two girls standing behind him, One blue haired and the other a red-head. His mouth twisted upon seeing them, even as scuffed and clearly injured as they are.
"You two!" He snarled. "The hell you dawdling for?! Are you trying to fail and sabotage us?!"
"OH SHUT UP YOU FOOL!" Daphne screamed at him. "Can't you see what's happening? There's too many of them! We need to leave this base and we need to retreat. We're being boxed in like rats."
"The hell did you say to me?" Hyakinthos levelled his sword at her face and made her put her guard up as she began walking backwards, making Cassandra do the same as the girl was directly behind her. A trail of blood ran down Cassandra's face. "Who is the captain here? Who?"
"A retarded kiss ass like you!" Daphne grit her teeth having had enough. "I'm not ready to die in a situation where I could leave. We can just take the flag and leave! That's what they really want!"
"I give the orders here." He said coldly as he pressed the point of her sword in her cheek. She tried lifting her own sword arm, but it was injured while her other arm was in front of Cassandra, protecting her. "We are not running! This ground was made holy when we sanctified it as a stronghold in our glorious Familia's name and the name of our golden god. To leave it to the teeth of the monsters and the hands of the barbarians who set them upon us would be the greatest dishonour."
"I don't give a crap!" Daphne said as she took her hand off Cassandra and slapped it aside. "Me and Cassandra are not giving our lives for this foolish cause. You can go and die if you want you self-obsessed prick! But we're not going along with this anymore."
"Why you-" Hyakinthos was about to begin on her before he grabbed a goblin by its ears and threw it against the wall, splitting it's head on the stone bricks before turning back to them. "You run from this, you'll be expelled from the Familia and you will be remembered for being such a cowardly rubbish, no Familia will ever take you in!"
"So be it." Daphne spat at him before looking behind her at Cassandra. "Some things are more important."
Cassandra looked at her friend, noticing the way Daphne said that and her voice wobbled.
"You believe me now?" She asked timidly.
"I'd be a fool not to." Daphne said as she looked out to the titan and the glowing figures on it head. "With that thing, and with adventurers dying like flies all over the place, it's not hard not to believe that guy is going to destroy all of us."
"You won't get away with this." Hyakinthos hissed. "Just you wait. I'm going to pull through this War Game, and when we're done, I'll hunt the both of you down. And when I find you, you'd better pray I'm in a more merciful mood because I'm going to-"
He was cut off again as the wall next to them exploded open, showering them with rubble, dust and brick. As the explosion happened, a small bundle of black came flying through. The dust cloud flowed out more before settling as a set of footsteps approached them from within the smoke screen. Then they heard a voice.
"Ah, there you two are."
---
(A Few Minutes Earlier)
Sunny gripped an adventurer by the skull in his prosthetic hand as they weakly grabbed at it. They tried biting the bottom of his palm, even with the apparency of it being metal, but the farmer considered his boss's assignment of greater import than giving mercy to someone who's purpose was to be an obstacle to him. So with one last squeeze, he heard a crunch from that person's head and they slumped to the ground unconscious. A few seconds later, the person disappeared in a puff of confetti and Sunny could hear the shattering of a totem in that.
"So that's how you did it. You assimilated the power of a totem into the barrier and applied it to everyone inside." Sunny stroked his chin as he marvelled at Steve's genius. "Absolutely brilliant."
Sunny was a person who spoke few words. Of all the Minecrafters he was the most silent, even quieter than Zuri the bookworm who still had to open his mouth now and again. Rather than the dull stale air of the indoors, Sunny preferred to be out in a garden or a field in the fresh air, and putting his limbs to the work they were meant for. Now not to say his Familia weren't hard workers either.
Even Kai who was categorically the laziest of them was actually quite engaged in monster hunts and liked to bring resources back in the forms of the drops she got or any treasure she'd managed to steal, plunder or find in treasure maps. She'd brought back a lot of bones for him in the past from skeletons she'd killed, which gave him an abundance of bonemeal.
But he was easily the most fanatic and workaholic on the role Steve had assigned him, and he dedicated much time to learning all there was about agricultural practices and sciences, in both the physical and studious aspects.
Thanks to how long he'd been doing it, he was easily the most well-versed person in this field...no pun intended.
That is, with the exception of a rather 'gifted' goddess he'd met on his first day in the city and whose fields he volunteered to work in just to get rid of that uncomfortable boredom. And man did he enjoy her company. Her knowledge was vast and there was as much to learn from her as there was for her to learn from him. And she was quite pleasing company in both interaction and to the physical eye.
And Sunny did have plenty of experience regarding milking cows but BOY did he wonder about milking those-
.
.
.
Anyway, there was only one thing Sunny was more fanatic about than any flowerbed or cornfield. And that was Stephen Hewer.
It was Steve who had rescued him amongst many others and had taken him into his family. It was Steve who had saved them all and had blessed them with so many gifts and abilities that they did not deserve. The trouble was that there was nothing they could give back to him which he did not already have. So Sunny figured that the best way to repay Steve's generosity was by following his orders to the best of his ability and becoming the best at the specific roles Steve had given to them. And that was why Sunny was so good at what he did, because it served Steve's interest and he also genuinely enjoyed what he did.
But for the first time, Sunny was becoming frustrated with an assignment from the big man. He'd had to go around this whole base looking for the two girls Steve had marked out but all he'd come across were idiot adventurers who would thoughtlessly attack him because he was carrying a garden tool, or because one of Noor's monsters would stumble into his way.
"Why doesn't she just make them bring those lasses to me or back to the big G?" He bemoaned. "Classic Noor, only ever lending hand to the captain or on his orders."
As nice and innocent as the girl seemed, she had a few negative traits to her.
As Sunny walked through hallways trying to find these girls, a small person ran into him from around a corner with the flag of the Apollo Familia conveniently in his arms. Both stopped as the tiny person, whom the farmer recognised now as a Pallum, looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. The Pallum had large green eyes and brown hair which was styled in some weird way.
Sunny had obviously met a Pallum before, which was Finn, but something about this particular one instantly irked him. Finn had an aura about him, that of someone chivalrous and friendly, and someone who it would be a pleasure fighting alongside or befriending. But this Pallum right in front of him didn't pass that vibe check. Instead everything about him was the complete opposite. And not only that, there was also one other difference...
"Why the hell are your ears so big?" Sunny asked him. "You look like someone very kickable at this moment in time."
The Pallum was taken aback by that, and noticing the powerful aura leaking out of Sunny, he immediately tried to turn tail and run. But before he could even put a foot forward on the ground, he heard something swoop and then a tear as he was suddenly being lifted up by the back of his collar of his black uniform. As he looked behind him, he saw that Sunny had caught him in what the Pallum had first thought to be a scythe but he now properly identified as a garden hoe.
Sunny however felt there was something important to remember about this Pallum than just the flag he was carrying and he was scratching his head in puzzlement as he tried to remember what it was.
"Let me down this instant!" The Pallum demanded as he struggled. There was more tearing from behind his head his collar started to rip off more and more from the struggle. "Big stupid insufferable human! Put me down! This is a disgrace!"
"Didn't know it was characteristic of a Pallum to point out the race of other people." Sunny commented as he scratched his chin deep in thought. "I attributed that little character trait more to elves than your people, little Hobbit."
"Why are you acting like a geezer? Using that old word?" The Pallum lifted an eyebrow before taking a closer look at Sunny's apparel. "And what the hell are you anyway? What are you doing in an adventurers' base with a garden tool? You stink of water and dirt and cabbage! You some kind of farmer?"
"You would be right." Sunny said. "I'm the Ptah Familia's farmer and rations keeper. I'm also the part time treasurer and a domesticator of wild animals so we can use their wool or their milk. So yes, I am a farmer. But I hunt monsters in my free time too, so I guess that makes me an adventurer?"
"You think this is some child's playground?" The Pallum asked in disbelief. "This is a WAR GAME. And in a War Game, you bring actual weapons to fight, not these useless pieces of junk!"
"Hey!" Sunny's eyes grew cold as his metal prosthetic clenched it's fingers dangerously. "You be careful of what you say about old Margaret here. She's got a million times more worth here than your puny life."
"Margaret?"
Sunny gestured to the hoe he was using to hook the Pallum. "Meet Margaret, my long time best friend. She's accompanied me since the beginning of my journey as a farmer. I've replaced pick-axes, axes and swords and shields and spears and all the rest of it. But Margaret here has been the one and the same the whole way through and I would appreciate it if you didn't insult something which holds so much sentimental value to me."
"You actually named a garden hoe?" The Pallum folded his arms unimpressed. "You humans get dumber and dumber the more I meet of you."
Sunny furrowed his eyebrows in displeasure before it finally clicked him. Steve had given him a name which he had to look out for and had mentioned that Finn requested that if any one of them crossed this person, then to step on them.
"Hey..." Sunny said. "...are you Luan Espel?"
"So you've heard of me?" The Pallum said arrogantly. "Well, we the Apollo Familia are quite a prestigious group and we are well accomplished. It's only natural you would know our names of course. But I will ask anyway, how do you know about little old me?"
"I was given specific orders regarding you." Sunny said, his tone very dark which immediately put Luan on edge. "A friend of ours made a request of us. You know him right? Finn Deimne?"
"Ugh, that guy." Luan said with a measure of disgust. "Always strutting around the tavern like he owns the place, like he's the king of Pallums everywhere. Honestly, he's such a little-"
STOMP!
In an instant, Sunny had tilted Margaret so Luan would slip off and at the same time, the Minecrafter raised a foot and stomped down on the back of the Pallum's head, stepping on him just as Finn had asked. The flag somehow stayed in Luan's grip, Sunny took the flagpole out of his hand and then kicked the Pallum's body into the wall.
But the wall broke instantly upon contact with the Pallum's body and Sunny winced as he realised he'd kicked the Pallum a little bit too hard. But perhaps kicking an asshole Pallum had some kind of luck attached to it like that superstition Steve told him about once, the one about dwarves and their...
...point was, he'd killed two birds with one stone. He got the Apollo Familia flag and he'd managed to find his two targets.
"Ah, there you two are." He said to Daphne and Cassandra as he stepped outside the hole in the wall. "I've been looking for the two of you specifically for some time now."
"Us?" Daphne pointed to herself and Cassandra.
"Yes you." Sunny said as he stuck the flagpole on his back. "My captain seems to have an interest in recruiting you both. For whatever reason I'm not sure, but if you could please just follow me so we can get this all over and done with."
Hyakinthos who was standing to the side of this suddenly seemed to widen his eyes in some sort of realization as he snarled before turning from Sunny to the two girls.
"THAT'S WHY YOU'RE RUNNING!" He thundered. "YOU'VE BOTH BEEN COLLUDING BEHIND OUR BACKS AND YOU GAVE ACCESS TO AN ENEMY. YOU'VE BEEN STBBING US IN THE BACK THE WHOLE TIME." Hyakinthos raised his sword and lunged towards them. "I'M GONNA KILL-"
Sunny put an end to that however by butting the man square in the nose with Margaret's shaft. And this is with the strength of a broken level 7...so when Hyakinthos's body smashed into a monster, it went on to smash into eight more monsters before smashing into the storehouse wall, the monsters splattering in a burst of blood before the adventurer himself disappeared in a burst of confetti and there was another thunderclap above the grasslands.
"Now, you two coming or not?" Sunny asked the two of them.
"You kidding?" Daphne asked incredulously, her sharp eyes glinting at him. "You lot are the whole reason we're trying to get away! And you just coming out of nowhere saying your captain wants us is DEFINITELY not creepy in the slightest."
"Look guys, I don't have much time now." Sunny pointed at Cassandra. "You lot know that Apollo is subjected to the rules of the War Game and he was made to make the same wagers. We get to have the Familia members we want from the Familia we defeat. Look the truth is that she's the one the captain wants."
"Why? Because he's a womanizer?" Daphne asked. "I've heard the rumours too you know."
"Rumours are just that, rumours." Sunny said before he leaned to the side to look at Daphne and address Cassandra. "I don't know the details, but my captain seems to think that you have a special power which would be essential to the team. But we also know you won't be separated from your red-headed friend here, so he wants to take the both of you together."
"My power?" Cassandra peeked out from behind Daphne more. Remember that this discussion was taking place in a battlefield filled with monsters and adventurers and the way Sunny was standing there so calm and casual about what he was saying had a big impact on them. "...Do you mean...my-"
"Just coincidental nightmares for goodness sake!" Daphne yelled as she pushed them both further backwards. The girls could sense this guy's power and they had a physical demonstration of how strong he was just by how easily he'd dispatched their captain. Cassandra however looked hurt.
"You said you believed me though?" She said forlornly to Daphne who looked back at her.
"I'm trying to help you." Daphne hissed to her. "We can't trust these guys nor can we trust anyone here. All we have is each other Cassandra...I'm trying to protect you."
...
They were all interrupted by a phenomenon happening out by the lake. On top of Godzilla's head was a storm of purple lighting beginning to brew as some kind of magical power seemed to brew and build up. Sunny cursed and quickly turned back to the girls.
"Look you two!" He said firmly. "We mean you no harm. Come with us and you'll be treated kindly and fairly and none will get hurt like you probably were in this Familia. We don't want to hurt the two of you, which is why you need to come with me now."
"You're sounding just like a bunch of creeps!" Daphne said.
"Creeps? 66% of the adventurers in our Familia are women, three of whom are a level above me and can split my skull open easily as crushing a melon. Look, they're about to launch an attack which is going to completely wipe out this whole area and every adventurer and monster in it." Sunny held out his hand. "I'm going to be staying here until you come with me, even if I get caught in the blast too. We can talk more about this later but I suggest we save ourselves the pain we might experience now."
Daphne looked at him warily, not budging for a moment. But Cassandra moved out from behind her and stood tall.
"Cassandra, what are you doing?" The red-head asked.
"I think we should take his offer Daphne."
"But these guys are the ones we should be afraid of! You said it yourself! You had that dream of them destroying everything and that is exactly what they are doing!"
"Which is why I'm going with them." Cassandra said ever timid. "I've seen what they can do. And we've all seen the monster they control. It's strange that they know about us but we are about to be engulfed in power that we can't even fathom. And you can clearly see from that barrier that we aren't going anywhere. I'd rather be on the side of the guys in control and in power here than on the losing side."
"But they're the reason behind all of this!"
"Sometimes the best way to remain safe is to seek refuge with that which you fear." Cassandra reasoned, feeling a sudden burst of strength and confidence she was unsure of where it was coming from. "If they are offering safety from their terror, then I am accepting it. Please Daphne, don't leave me now. Even if this man were to go, we'd just get chased down by the monsters."
"Monsters THEY created!"
"Monsters they are offering to save us from!"
"Hurry it up guys." Sunny said as he looked back at Godzilla and sensed Steve beginning to charge up his attack. "We don't have much time."
"Please Daphne." Cassandra said as she grasped her friend's hand. "We were always outsiders in the Apollo Familia and we're even bigger ones now because Hyakinthos is on our case. I feel that this is the right decision...trust me Daphne, as I have always trusted you."
...
"Classic guilt trip." Daphne grumbled before she put away her sword and took Cassandra's hand. She then pointed a long finger at Sunny's face. "You lot are going to explain everything later, I demand it!"
"Naturally." Sunny said as he grabbed them both and the whole group phased out of existence.
---
"I've got them!" Sunny shouted as he reappeared with the two girls on Godzilla's back. Their faces turned white as they immediately recognised what they were on top of and they became even more sceptical as they saw a paralysed Amazon and an unconscious Renard besides them.
"About time." Steve said as he held his hand forwards in a flicking motion, winds blowing about him as an aura of cursed energy enveloped his body. "I had a feeling that doing this would hurry things along. It was supposed to be a quick job!"
"Well I did it." Sunny waved the flag and gestured to the girls. "I got the packages!"
"A job well done then soldier." Steve said before he flicked his middle fingers. "Kyoshiki Murasaki."
A Hollow Purple attack, bigger than any Steve had ever used before blasted forth from the head of the titan towards the Apollo Familia storehouse. At the same time, Noor cut off her connection to the monster summons.
So the adventurers and the monsters were forced to stop as the air and the atmosphere for them became purple coloured. When they looked up, they saw a giant purple ball of destructive energy, as large as a meteor descend upon them, the size completely overshadowing the storage house. And what could they do but just drop their weapons in numb acceptance of their fate as the attack finally met its target.
Stone, bone, brick, flesh, metal and blood instantly eviscerated into nothingness, with no remains of the storehouse to be seen nor the adventurers in it. However, people recognised the earthquakes it produced; it was the same ones that rocked Orario some time ago when this Stephen Hewer was meant to be in the Dungeon.
The Hollow Purple did not stop at the storehouse though as it continued to plough a canyon right through the terrain, bulldozing through hills and trees as the earth shattered for miles around while the adventurers could not keep on their feet as the atmosphere within the barrier was filled with the heavy presence of this unholy spell. The ball of imaginary mass however finally collided with Steve's barrier and thereupon dispersed into nothingness.
Silence descended upon the population for the dozenth time as yet another absurd feet of strength was shown. A single adventurer wiped away a Familia, their base and even the monsters he had created in one fell swoop just to get rid of his enemies. People were beginning to run out of words to describe this kind of person because even terrifying was now overused.
Thunderclaps ensued again as new people began falling from the clouds again into the grasslands. And of course it was the Apollo Familia. Nodding satisfaction, he motioned Ari to begin advancing to their next target.
The grounds of the fort began to be rocked by the footsteps of the titan as it finally began to move away from the water. This stumped, excited and petrified people watching at home because no time was being wasted. Though this was the point they'd all been waiting for, it felt like the Ptah Familia was proceeding too quickly onto their next opponents.
But Steve did not care nor would he ever care as now his time to shine had come. And as Godzilla began to draw closer to the fort, and his eyes locked with those of the executives of the Freya Familia, he smiled a gleeful and near demonic smile. The fodder and the pissants had been dealt with and the remaining monster hordes would continue to entertain them since the spawners were still spawning monsters.
Now, it was time for the real battle to begin!
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