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Hi there, here is the next chapter. I'd like to thank AldoRojasParra because... well, I don't know. He's one of the most consistent readers I've ever had, almost always showing up on time regardless of my disappearances. Thanks, bro.
I hope to see you all again tomorrow with a new chapter.
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Bell and his group sped through the streets of Orario, dodging burning debris and fresh craters.
The roar of explosions echoed in every corner, making the buildings that still stood tremble under that sickly emerald sky.
Mikoto ran in front, carrying Hestia securely on her back to move faster, while Lena followed closely behind, carrying Haruhime so as not to lose pace.
The goal was to reach one of the underground shelters for the gods where they could leave Hestia, so that the group's fighters could join the city's desperate defense lines.
However…
"Absolutely not, Bell! You're not going to fight out there!" Hestia shouted from Mikoto's back, shaking violently. "You can leave this job to someone else!"
"Hestia-sama, please, now is not the time for this!" Bell replied, still running, his eyes wide. "The whole city is falling apart! I can't hide underground while everyone else risks their lives!"
"I refuse! I absolutely forbid you from ever setting foot on the battlefield again! It's an orde—!"
Bell's patience reached its limit and in a swift movement, he took a handkerchief from one of his pockets and stuffed it into the goddess's mouth to stifle her complaints.
"I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you later, I swear!" Bell blurted out hastily, clasping his hands together in a quick, distressed gesture of apology without breaking stride.
Hestia's eyes widened, her face flushed with indignation. From behind Mikoto, she began to thrash about even more violently, emitting furious gasping and whining sounds muffled by the rag. "Mgggh! Mmmmmmph!" she cried, glaring at Bell.
Bell and the others continued their frantic race through the wrecked streets, until a blonde figure appeared at one of the intersections, moving at full speed in the same direction. Perched on her shoulders, with a smile of utter and shameless satisfaction, was the goddess Loki, thoroughly enjoying being carried by her beloved sword princess.
Without stopping for a second, Ais kept up with the group, although of all those present, the only one who could naturally keep up with her was Bell.
A little further back, Mikoto was already starting to pant heavily. The difference in levels was cruelly apparent, and the effort of carrying Hestia's weight while trying to keep up with two first-class adventurers was quickly taking its toll.
From atop the Sword Princess's shoulders, Loki looked down, his scarlet eyes meeting a scene he considered pure gold. Hestia was bouncing on Mikoto's back, her face red with anger, a handkerchief stuffed over her mouth to stifle her complaints.
"Pwahahahaha! Just look at that little runt!" Loki burst into raucous laughter, pointing at her mercilessly. "That's the best muzzle I've ever seen! It looks great on you, tadpole!"
Hestia narrowed her eyes in murderous fury. "Mgggggh! Mmmmmmmph!" she protested violently, writhing on Mikoto's back in a futile attempt to spit the rag out in return for the insults.
Loki continued laughing loudly, thoroughly enjoying the humiliation of others, but the fun was short-lived.
A green flash illuminated the street in front of them, immediately followed by a deafening roar that shook the ground.
A new meteorite had just crashed a few blocks away, raising a dense cloud of dust and debris that reached them in a matter of seconds.
The mocking smile vanished from Loki's face instantly. He clicked his tongue, replacing his sneer with a grimace as he stared down at the pillar of green fire that shot into the sky.
"Tch... They're ruining the moment for me," muttered the red-haired goddess, tightening her grip on Ais's shoulders.
The group quickly arrived at the Ganesha Family headquarters. Shakti guarded the main entrance along with a large number of her familia's guards.
Without wasting any time, both Bell and Ais left their respective goddesses in Shakti's care. Before Hestia could spit out her handkerchief to reprimand Bell, the boy had already taken a couple of steps back with an apologetic gesture.
Ais approached Bell. She kept her gaze fixed on him for a moment, observing the marks of dried blood that still adorned his cheeks and the evident weariness on his face.
She seemed to want to say something, but she appeared hesitant, searching for the right words to express her concern without quite knowing how to phrase the question.
"Do you… feel better now?" she finally managed to ask, tilting her head slightly.
Bell looked at her and offered a small, sincere smile, trying to convey calm.
"A little… thank you, Ais-san."
Ais nodded slowly.
"We… the Loki Familia, are sweeping the areas adjacent to our headquarters" she explained in his usual calm but firm tone. "I recommend you do the same for your territory, but be very careful."
"Understood. Thank you very much, we will keep that in mind," Bell replied, nodding with determination.
After saying goodbye to the Sword Princess, Bell walked towards where Mikoto, Haruhime, and Lena were.
"Okay, we need to get back to our area," Bell told them, looking in the direction of the mansion. "Luckily, we're not far away, so we can move quickly and make sure the perimeter is clear."
Bell and the girls took the route back to the mansion. However, before they had gone two blocks, a deafening whistle cut through the air and a new Infernal crashed to the ground right in front of them, raising a cloud of dust and green incandescent light.
Seeing the stone and fire golem standing in her way, Lena carefully but without wasting any time put Haruhime down.
"Find a safe place and take cover right now," Lena ordered in a firm voice.
Haruhime opened her mouth to protest, but was immediately silenced by the Amazon's gaze. The renard lowered her eyes, shoulders slumped, nodded silently, and retreated toward the nearest intact structure.
Bell and Mikoto instantly took the lead, drawing their weapons. The infernal creature fixed its attention on Mikoto and unleashed a colossal punch that cracked the ground. Mikoto managed to dodge the impact sideways, leaving the monster's limb embedded in the ground.
Bell charged forward to deliver the final blow, but Lena anticipated him with an explosive move. The Amazon leaped, using the Infernal's jammed arm as a platform, and soared up to his head, slashing deep into the rock with her curved sword. She immediately rebounded to regain ground, but winced as she hit the ground, stifling a click of her teeth.
The scorching heat from the golem's green fire had lightly burned the exposed skin of her feet and calves. For the first time in her life as an Amazon, she fervently wished to wear full armor that would cover her entire body.
Bell was no longer distracted. Taking advantage of the creature's divided attention, he closed the distance in the blink of an eye.
He concentrated a massive amount of strength into his legs and arm, and unleashed a single horizontal slash. The power behind the cut was so brutal that the displaced wind echoed like an explosion.
The blade sliced cleanly through the Infernal, cutting through the stone blocks and extinguishing the green fire instantly. The creature collapsed, becoming a mere pile of inert rocks that tumbled down onto the ruined street below.
"Yo–you did it!" Haruhime's voice echoed.
Bell, Mikoto, and Lena looked around without finding her on the street, until they raised their heads and saw her standing on the roof of a nearby house.
"What are you doing up there?!" Lena shouted at her.
"I wanted to help somehow!" Haruhime replied from the roof, holding onto the loose part of her kimono to avoid tripping. "I positioned myself up here to have a view of the entire place and cast my spell if things got complicated..."
Bell and Mikoto let out a small laugh. Despite the chaos and destruction surrounding them, Haruhime's innocence and sincere desire to be helpful were touching.
"Get down from there right now, we need to keep moving," Lena ordered, gesturing with her hand. Haruhime nodded obediently and began looking for a way to get down.
Bell turned to face Mikoto, but just behind her she perceived a bright red flash of blinding intensity.
He tried to shout to warn Mikoto, or reach out to push her out of the way.
However, his own body did not obey him.
Time seemed to freeze as his body moved on its own, forcing him to take a quick, automatic sideways step to avoid danger.
The jet of hyper-pressurized, acidic blood streaked through the air like a crimson lightning bolt at inhuman speed. It passed mere centimeters from Bell's face and struck Mikoto head-on.
The lightning devoured the tissue, the flesh and the bone, completely disintegrating his right arm from the shoulder down.
The cut was so clean and violent that Mikoto's hand, which was positioned right at the outer edge of the beam, was cleanly severed. The severed limb fell to the pavement, her fingers still tightly gripping the hilt of her sword.
Mikoto's face froze in a state of pure shock. Her pupils contracted and her eyes remained wide open, unable to process the magnitude of the trauma or the sudden loss of her limb. Without uttering a sound, her body lost its balance and she collapsed face-first to the ground.
Haruhime and Lena opened their eyes in absolute horror, feeling the air escaping from their lungs.
"MIKOTO!" Haruhime shouted from the rooftop.
Before the echo of Haruhime's scream could dissipate, a black figure descended from the greenish sky at a chilling speed, slicing through the air like a cannonball.
Bell sensed the trajectory and, once again, his body tried to react. However, in a fraction of a second, the silhouette corrected its angle mid-flight to catch Bell despite his maneuver.
The next thing that followed was impact. The beast's massive claws closed around Bell's torso, slamming him with relentless violence against the pavement. The force of the fall cracked the street into a fan of debris, but the momentum didn't stop there.
The creature's flying force propelled them forward, dragging Bell's body through houses and streets as if they were made of paper.
The sound of collapsing structures enveloped the path in a trail of destruction as entire streets were destroyed in their wake, taking the boy away from the group.
Haruhime, on the rooftop, stood petrified, her hands over her mouth, tears streaming freely down her face. Lena froze for a couple of seconds, her eyes wide with shock at seeing Bell disappear so violently.
Lena regained consciousness after a few seconds. Upon seeing Mikoto's lifeless body on the ground, surrounded by the pool of blood and with her severed hand a few meters away, the Amazon reacted immediately.
"HARUHIME, GET DOWN RIGHT NOW!" roared Lena, rushing towards Mikoto to apply pressure to the wound and stop the bleeding before it was too late.
The monster finally halted its rampage and, with a brutal flick of its arm, hurled Bell through the wall of a nearby building. The impact buried him beneath piles of bricks.
Bell coughed hard, feeling like he couldn't breathe as he wiped a trickle of blood from his lip.
Looking up through the settling dust, he saw a group of civilians huddled in a corner of the room. They stared at him, their eyes wide with fear.
"You have to get out of here! Run!" Bell shouted, jumping to his feet.
But there was no time for more. A second later, the enormous silhouette of the dragon slammed with its full weight against the building's facade, completely collapsing the structure.
Bell barely managed to throw himself through one of the windows into the street before the roof collapsed.
He fell to his knees in the street and turned his head, watching as the tide of rubble buried the entire structure. He clicked his tongue in frustration and helpless rage. He hadn't been able to do anything for them.
As he sat up and looked around, the scene in the street chilled him to the bone. Dozens of terrified civilians were running aimlessly, stumbling through the craters and smoke. Bell gritted his teeth. 'Seriously? Just a few minutes ago the street was completely empty... did the entire city of Orario suddenly decide to go for a walk now?' he thought to himself.
"Get away from here!" he shouted at them.
Amid the collective panic, no one listened to his warnings.
The dragon's silhouette emerged from the ruins. Dust from the collapsed building settled around its body as it fixed its red eyes solely on Bell.
Nobody moved. For a couple of seconds, the only sound in the street was the crackling of nearby burning rubble.
Bell spread his feet, lowered his center of gravity, and drew his sword from its scabbard with a metallic hiss. He gripped the hilt with both hands and pointed the blade directly at the creature's chest.
The monster reared up, raising its neck until its shadow swallowed the street completely. It smashed the stone beneath its paws and closed the twenty meters that separated them in a single bound.
A swipe of his claws descended from above. Bell bent his knees, gripped the sword tightly, and twisted his wrists to angle the blade sharply above his head, seeking to create a small ramp.
The goal was for the claw to slip off the edge, diverting the destructive force to one side to protect its own body.
The claws collided with the metal.
The attempt failed successfully. The creature's inertia was too massive, and it didn't deviate an inch. The weight of the impact crushed the block. Bell's knees buckled violently against the ground, and his arms buckled, feeling the shockwave splinter his bones all the way up to his shoulders.
The edge of the claw broke through his guard and came within a millimeter of slicing his neck. Bell understood that the technique was useless against such weight, so he suddenly released the tension in his arms, letting himself fall backward and roll onto his right shoulder.
The dragon's fist sank into the exact spot Bell had just left, blasting the pavement into a shower of stone debris.
Bell regained his balance several meters away, panting.
The dragon didn't advance to pursue him. Instead, it raised its snout. The red glow at the back of its throat didn't concentrate in one spot this time; it began to flicker violently.
The creature's jaws snapped open and closed in rapid sequences, spitting out a veritable rain of crimson projectiles.
Bell kicked his foot and ran in a zigzag pattern, beginning to slide his body through the bursts of gunfire. Projectiles rained down around him like hail, melting the stone ground instantly and raising a vapor that stung his eyes.
The escape route was clear, but he ran headlong into a human wall. The group of civilians remained frozen behind him. They weren't running. They weren't screaming. They were just staring wide-eyed as death approached.
If Bell continued his evasion, the acid would completely wipe them out.
Cursing, he broke his flow of movement. Instead of dodging the next attack, he shoulder-charged the civilians, physically knocking them to the ground to clear them of the path. A projectile whizzed past millimeters from his back, melting the edges of his clothing and searing part of the armor beneath it.
Ignoring the burning sensation, Bell used the momentum of the fall to brace a hand on the ground, rebound like a spring, and close the distance to the monster below the line of fire.
His sword blurred. He unleashed a storm of blows, searching for a blind spot. Slash to the right knee. Rising cut to the abdomen. Sweeping to the arm joint.
The blade bounced once, twice, ten times against the black scales. Sparks flew with each collision. The metal found no grip. The friction and the force of the rebounds made the hilt shake so violently that Bell's hands began to bleed beneath his gloves.
In a final twist, the tip of his sword slipped across the breastplate and became stuck in a tiny crack between two thick plates.
Bell planted his feet firmly on the ground and pushed forward with his full weight. The blade penetrated barely a couple of centimeters. It was a superficial thrust, insufficient even to reach a vital organ.
But at the exact moment the blade cut the internal tissue, the damage occurred.
The flesh around the blade collapsed. The small fissure burst from the inside out with repulsive violence, tearing through the natural armor, tendons, and muscles into a deep, dark crater. The internal shockwave from the massive wound shattered the beast's balance, halting its barrage of fire and forcing it to stumble backward with a heart-rending roar of pure agony.
Before Bell could attack again, the simultaneous sound of multiple landings on nearby rooftops echoed above them.
The silhouettes of the Loki Familia's elite filled the ledges of the shattered buildings. Finn, Bete, and the Amazon sisters circled the perimeter, but it was Ais who stepped forward onto the edge of the rooftop.
The golden eyes of the Sword Princess lost all trace of light. She gripped the hilt of Desperate so tightly that her hands cracked audibly.
"Black dragon," she murmured, letting out a voice filled with absolute coldness.
Beside him, Riveria didn't waste a single fraction of a second. He raised his staff and pointed it directly at the street.
"Wynn Fimbulvetr!"
The temperature plummeted below zero. A wave of white frost erupted from the tip of the walking stick, becoming a beam of ice that shot downwards, freezing the moisture in the air as it went.
The dragon sensed the approaching annihilation. Despite its shattered chest, it reacted swiftly, its left claw whipping around it.
With a brutal and effortless pull, the beast lifted Bell and placed him between its own body and the avalanche falling from the sky.
Bell received Riveria's magic in full.
The cold pierced through layers of clothing and armor in a single microsecond, reaching his skin. The ice penetrated to his bones, freezing the fluids in his joints and sealing him under a thick crust of white frost.
His body shot backward, shuddering uncontrollably inside its icy prison.
On the roof, Riveria's breathing suddenly stopped.
His hands trembled around the staff and his face paled.
The frost smothered his consciousness. In a final spark of lucidity before he was completely petrified, Bell forced his mind and activated his blessing. He fixed his gaze through the ice on the golden silhouette above the rooftop.
In a fraction of a second, the positions reversed. Bell materialized on the roof, but his own inertia and the ice on his body caused him to slip across the tiles, almost plummeting into the void.
Ais didn't waste a single millisecond in confusion. Adjusting her mind to the sudden change, she spun in the air and charged at the dragon with her sword drawn.
Bell gritted his teeth. He braced his hands against the ceiling and forced his torso upward. He planted his right foot on the floor and tried to use his weight to stand up.
Crack.
A dry, crystalline sound echoed in the street. Bell felt no pain, only a sudden loss of balance.
His right leg, from the knee down, buckled under its own weight. It shattered. Pieces of bloody bone, metal, and frost rained down, scattered across the stone.
Riveria jumped down from the roof and ran towards him.
He was just inches away from reaching him.
But from above, amid the violent clash of swords and claws against the Sword Princess, the dragon's jaws opened upwards.
A red beam crossed space at supersonic speed.
It hit Bell directly in the head.
Everything above the neck was instantly erased in a fraction of a second, disintegrating flesh and bone without leaving a trace.
The decapitated body wobbled for a heartbeat before collapsing against the ice.
The elf stopped abruptly, her eyes wide, observing the dark puddle that was beginning to spread in front of her boots.
Bell Cranel was dead.