The Wandering Devil
Chapter: 3
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(The Dungeon Flood)
I was starting to think I may have underestimated the dungeon.
Cutting down yet another Goblin, I couldn't even waste time trying to retrieve its magic stone as another was on me in the next moment. It screeched as it tried to rip my throat out with its teeth.
It had started relatively well, the goblins weren't exactly tricky but since I had never fought monsters before it was a good start. I had noticed the waves of goblins become more frequent which I had assumed was because I travelled deeper into the floor.
The situation had gotten slightly more serious when the groups of Goblins got larger and didn't stop in quantity.
Now. Here I was, looking over the army of goblins screeching and trying to tear me apart. I believe that something may be wrong.
Shit.
I backed away from another goblin that dived at me with reckless abandon. Charging up yet another fireball I shoot it into the crowd of goblins, the explosion of fire and the evisceration of a dozen goblins gave me time to run.
Not for long though as the place quickly filled back up with more goblins rushing at me. Running down the tunnel I had to quickly take a left as goblins suddenly spilled from the other end.
My magic reserves were low, I had done that little fireball trick three times already, with this being my fourth time. I had decided just a moment ago it was time for a tactical retreat.
I really needed to look into a way of using some magic that didn't drain me instantly. Who knew magic that ran from your imagination would be so fucking expensive? I ducked as a pair of claws tried to tear my throat out.
Where the fuck had he come from?!
A goblin stepped out and I immediately bitch-slapped him away while I jumped past him. I didn't have time to finish him off looking back at the army of goblins not far behind me. I was feeling oddly picked on right now.
Was it about the two goblins in a barn joke I made?
As I navigated through the first floor, trying to find any other adventurer who could tell me why the fuck I was suddenly being swarmed. I encountered a large spiralling staircase leading downwards, likely to the next floor.
I was about to pass by it when I noticed several hoards of goblins spotting me from the opposite direction, charging towards me. Looking down at my torn bloodied clothes from all the cuts I had gained, I clicked my tongue and sighed.
As I ran down the stone steps, I hoped the chaos unfolding on the first floor wasn't happening on the second floor. Glancing upward, I saw the shadows of the goblins tumbling down the stone stairs in their frantic pursuit to attack me.
Spotting the entrance to the second floor I made my way through it and paused. Blood was everywhere and I saw bodies of adventurers scattered around, their bodies ruined beyond recognition.
Though that wasn't why I had frozen, the tall grey bipedal humanoids covered in grey fur with a head resembling a wolf did. The muscled bodies of these creatures and the sharp teeth as they all huffed eerily similar to dogs made for quite the sight.
Those claws appeared far sharper than the goblins had been. While I was confident I could handle a few of these creatures at the same time, there were still a few dozen who were currently ripping into the adventurers' prone bodies.
Who was now beginning to turn their attention towards me? That alone wouldn't have deterred me if it wasn't for the distant screeches letting me know of the goblins' continued pursuit.
I had considered myself decent at fighting, and my enhanced genes gave me a significant advantage. However, being swarmed didn't allow much room for strength to matter.
My magic was a game changer and good at taking out hoards if only it wasn't so god damn mana intensive. I inspected the beings in front of me.
So, these were kobolds huh? They matched the description on the leaflet. They all turned to me and looked at each other, sniffing at me curiously they had the same reaction as the goblins.
We stood for a few seconds staring at each other as they looked unsure of what to do. The green light flashed in all their eyes and suddenly they all snarled before lunging at me.
The closest got to me first and I swung my blade down at him only for claws to block it, I retreated it quickly and dodged its claw slash before decapitating it with a slightly clumsy swing of my blade.
Another two kobolds came in and I quickly stabilised one through the eye while avoiding the attacks coming my way. I punched the other one with a quick jab and had to rip my sword out of the dead kobold's eye.
The screeches of goblins got closer and as annoying as it was I needed to retreat again. Despite my confidence, I wasn't foolish. Whatever was happening in the dungeon was making the monsters appear in much higher numbers than they were meant to be.
It just so happened I had picked a bad day to come to the dungeon. I ran back into the staircase and reluctantly ran down going to the third level, I wasn't idle as the kobolds followed closely I picked them off.
I would let one or two get close to me before tossing it down the middle of the staircase, which descended so far that its end was beyond sight. By the time I reached the third floor, I had killed almost all of the kobolds.
That didn't help the fact the goblins' hoard had been getting closer due to my attempts to thin the herd. I felt myself start to grow exhausted, despite my enhanced physique.
This was starting to get ridiculous. However, I felt myself excited despite all of this. My drive to get stronger was simply growing, maybe it was my devil side but I couldn't wait to start gathering power.
Are there any spell books like the one Bell got out there? Something to look into. I still felt that I had some demonic power left in the tank, I felt it regenerating at a slow rate.
I abruptly stopped as I heard screeches coming from the third-floor entrance. Goblins started pouring out of the entrance a moment later and I took this time to ponder how the fuck I was going to get out of this situation.
Ah, fuck it. Running away seemed only to escalate the situation, at least I could exploit the advantage on the stairs and simply push them off the stairs, sending them falling into wherever the bottom of the stairs led to.
I let my demonic instinct burst free for once and let out a battle cry as I quite frankly lost my shit. My anger made me let an uncharacteristic sneer appear on my face. I dove into the group of goblins.
The goblins themselves took a step back and looked almost scared. I wasn't in the right mind to note this odd behaviour so I simply set on tearing them apart.
I guess I was going to be late for dinner. I hope Hestia isn't too worried.
-{Hestia}-
Hestia could be seen running towards the dungeon entrance in a panic. She had just heard the rumours of a dungeon flood happening within the first three floors of the dungeon and instantly remembered the plans Zeph had to start slow on the first floor.
"Zeph!" She shouted desperately, zipping through the hoard of adventurers standing around.
'No, no, no, no, NO!' She couldn't believe the bad timing.
Standing on a crate she looked out over the sea of faces quickly, hoping to find that unique crimson hair in the crowd and make sure her Zephyrion wasn't hurt.
The situation only got more desperate as everytime Hestia spotted a man with anything closely resembling that unique crimson hair. It would be some injured adventurer that had blood coating his hair.
She couldn't help but curse fate for the first time in her life as she experienced a worry she had never felt before.
She was a goddess who had never connected with any other being who couldn't handle themselves without needing her help, unlike zephyrion, the first child to receive her blessing. It made him all the more special than he already was.
This was Zeph's first adventure and it had been instantly interrupted in the eyes of hestia. 'Sometimes life can be so unfair.' Hestia thought.
She shook her head and kept looking around. Some of the adventurers looked at her in pity, as if they understood who she was looking for was probably dead.
This served to make her uncharacteristically scowl at them.
She refused to believe her Zeph had died, after all, he had promised her he would take care of her and she wouldn't let him break that promise.
Not after he had given her such hope and happiness.
-{Zephyrion}-
I limped and flopped onto the ground behind the large stone that made for a good position to hide from the monsters still running around. I looked down at my body which was absolutely soaked with blood.
My head felt dizzy from all the blood loss and I had tried patching up the bigger ones with pieces of my clothes to the best of my ability. I'm pretty sure I would be dead from blood loss if I wasn't a devil.
My devil genes seemed to make me more resilient to such things.
All my demonic energy was spent, even the part of it I had regenerated was all used while fighting that death hoard. I had committed a slaughter against the goblins and kobolds, my demonic instincts had made me use everything at my disposal.
I had managed to significantly reduce their numbers, but in the end, I had still been forced to make a retreat. The number of them was simply too much for me to deal with right now.
Luckily though with the horde now much smaller, slipping away had been much more manageable. I tried to calm down my harsh breathing as I practically wheezed for oxygen, my lungs burning more than they ever had.
I didn't even want to think about how I was going to leave the dungeon right now. I reluctantly inspected my sword, noticing the numerous chips on its surface. It became evident that this weapon wasn't intended for cutting down an army of goblins.
Well…
This wasn't ideal and certainly not how I expected my first dungeon run to go. I had expected to kill some monsters and be back for lunch with Hestia.
This trip had simply meant to be a test of what I could do before I properly started exploring the dungeon, preferably with some better gear. I hadn't seen any other adventurer so far apart from the dead ones.
Which is even more proof that something strange was happening. I'm assuming the dungeon was normally like what it had been when I first arrived, groups of goblins coming in waves, sometimes a larger group together.
That had been manageable, what was not manageable was the big fuck-off-army of screeching goblins coming at me like I had insulted them. Now here I was on the third floor.
I'm pretty sure I remember the way back up to the second floor but I was spent in terms of physical and mental energy. I closed my eyes and sat there regaining my breath.
Screeches from passing goblins or the bestial growls of kobolds occasionally pierced the air as I could hear them run past where I was sitting. I didn't know how long I lay there, regaining my energy.
A sniffing sound brought me out of my daze, as I sat contemplating my life decisions. Blinking in confusion I looked up and was met with a kobold. Sniffing down at me in confusion.
I stared blankly at it. It stared back at me. We stared before it started growling. I guess I would have to resort to my ultimate skill.
"Stop." I held my hand out.
I was unsure if it understood but it's head titled in confusion.
"See this is why no one fucking likes you." I scolded it and somehow its wolf features managed to form a look of pure bafflement.
I grabbed its hand and wrapped my arm around it.
"The boss isn't happy with your performance young man." I poked it on the nose and chided it.
I dragged its head down to eye level. It seemed to have regained its wits. The kobold growled and I slapped it.
"Oi, none of the backchat young whippersnapper. Don't make me go get the belt." I growled and it looked unsure.
I took this opportunity to spin it around and jumped on its back.
"Onwards and upwards!" I screeched and slapped it on the back.
You may be wondering what was happening. Was this some sort of hypnotic power? Perhaps a charming power forcing it to obey my commands. The answer was much more terrifying.
The ultimate art of confusion.
When in trouble, remove all logical thoughts and become a being of pure chaos. To be honest I had no fucking clue how this was working. I had noticed that the monsters in the dungeon seemed to hesitate for whatever reason.
I had a suspicion that my demonic blood was confusing the monsters. Thus I was able to get away with shit like this. I doubt any adventurer would be able to speak without getting torn to shreds in my position.
The kobold seemed confused. It didn't know whether to try to tear me to shreds or obey. I slapped its behind harder and growled into its ear. It suddenly started running.
It stopped again and shook its head. Roaring in defiance it suddenly came back to its senses and tried to shake me off. Alright, time for plan B. I focused my intent and my finger sparkled with a small flicker of fire.
I slammed my finger on its backside and it howled in pain before taking off. Grabbing its ears I used them as a steering wheel. Every time it slowed down I used my demonic energy which had recovered a tiny bit to make tiny sparks of flame.
The sounds of whining and my manic laugh of triumph echoed through the hall.
I'm a genius.
-{Ais Wallenstein}-
Standing in the middle of a group of kobolds and goblins a stunning platinum blonde-haired woman stood with an expression of apathy. Every time a monster came too close, her sword flickered up and cut through it effortlessly.
This woman was known by the title of "The Sword Princess." Ais Wallenstein, member of the Loki familia and the best swordswoman in Orario.
She had been sent to help clear the dungeon flood that had unexpectedly started a few hours ago. The rest of the Loki familia had split up to cover more ground.
Since this was a part of the upper floors there was no need to stick together. Three goblins disappeared as she flickered from her spot and effortlessly carved through the group of monsters.
A few minutes later the entire group of monsters were dead. Ais shook her head as she stared at the group of dead adventurers. She took their adventurer identification there with a look of apathy.
This scene wasn't too uncommon. The life of an adventurer wasn't as glamorous as people like to try to make it out. She went to continue looking for survivors and clearing the dungeon flood.
Ais didn't expect to find anyone, maybe a few lucky ones but most of the surviving adventurers were either higher levelled or had escaped in time. She paused as she heard a distant sound.
Her face twitched cutely in confusion as she tried to strain her hearing. The sounds were getting closer. The first thing she heard was a monster, probably a kobold in her opinion. Whimpering in pain.
Then she heard it. A cackle of laughter. Around the corner came a kobold running with an expression of terror and on the back of it sat a crimson-haired teenager cackling like a madman.
Ais wiped her eyes and wondered if she hadn't gotten enough sleep. Never had she seen something so outrageous happen in the dungeon. A monster being rode upon? No chance.
Monsters would do anything to kill an adventurer, it was part of why the job was so dangerous and needed to be approached with caution. The crimson-haired teen saw her and his eyes widened.
As the kobold got closer to her she raised her sword and he quickly jumped off. The kobold regained its ferocious sneer and charged at her with reckless abandon. Hoping to tear out her delicate-looking throat.
Ais lazily swiped her sword and bisected the poor monster. Making it disappear in a puff of black smoke and leaving a small broken crystal she didn't bother picking up.
The crimson-haired teen got up and dusted himself off and Ais eyes widened as she saw the sheer amount of blood covering his torso. Cuts and scratches are barely patched up by ripped clothing.
The teen grinned.
"Nice weather we are having." He hummed.
-{Zephyrion}-
Staring at the gorgeous blonde. I grinned cheekily. As my eyes roamed her body. With a pair of golden eyes that stared at me with minor curiosity, her pouty lips were thinned in a neutral expression. Skin without blemishes and a curvaceous body.
The woman was stunning. She wore a short skirt that made her amazing legs visible. Probably makes it easier to move around too. She held a sabre in her left hand almost lazily.
"What are you doing down here?" She asked in a deadpan monotone voice.
"Well, see. I was just exploring the second floor when all of a sudden I was swarmed by an army of monsters. Don't suppose you could tell me what's going on? I'm new to this whole adventure gig." I explained with a lazy grin.
She tilted her head.
"You're a new adventurer?" She asked with confusion.
"Yep, first time in the dungeon," I replied casually.
"How are you alive?" She asked.
"I guess as my teammate on call of duty would say, I'm built different." I replied teasingly. Technically I was built differently since I'm a devil which saved my life for sure today.
I thought I had been prepared and it had started well. I hadn't come here thinking I was going to beat the dungeon in a single day. Perhaps I should have made more preparations.
She observed me silently before explaining.
"A dungeon flood is currently in progress." She replied.
I waited for her to explain only to stare flatly at her when she didn't continue.
"And a dungeon flood is?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"A dungeon flood is an odd phenomenon that occurs seemingly randomly. It makes the monsters spawn at a rapid rate and can cause groups of monsters to turn into miniature armies. This normally happens on the lower floors which is extremely dangerous and can take days to clean up. This is the first time it's happened on the higher floors." She explained in the same monotone voice.
I see, so that's why those groups I was easily handling suddenly became so large. I couldn't be blamed for a dungeon flood happening, could I? Here I was beating myself up but it was an unnatural event.
Though that begs the question why did it happen now? Had I caused it? It had never happened before on the lower floors and suddenly it did, when I showed up. The monsters act weirdly towards me and a dungeon flood happens. I guess I could think about it later, for now, I wanted to leave.
"Interesting, I don't suppose you could help me out of here? I wasn't exactly prepared to face multiple armies of monsters when I came down here." I asked while showing my chipped sword.
She nodded and started walking away. I looked at her with an amused smile. So this was Ais Wallenstein huh? Not exactly the social type. I followed after her as she cut down everything in her path.
I observed her speed and had to admit she would destroy me in a fight. I couldn't even see her sword moving. I didn't know the power levels of this world but in terms of my physical ability I was at the lower end of middle class.
Probably due to the previous occupant of this body who hadn't trained at all past his magical training. Meaning my body was untrained, which made low-middle class strength pretty good.
Unfortunately having a pureblood devil bloodline mainly extended to my magic reserves and quality along with my clan trait which was sealed. My magic reserves were still going through its rapid growth though.
Even without any training or improvement from Hestia's blessing which came in the form of the falna, I should reach the lowest of high class reserves when the rapid growth ends and that's without any training..
Which wasn't a small feat. The high class level was officially the level of ascending past fodder. Many devils trained hundreds of years to reach that goal.
As of now my reserves were around the higher end of the middle of the mid-class.
Ais had been a blur and suddenly the Kobolds were cut into pieces. I guess my devil physiology could only take me so far without any training. The adventurers in danmachi seemed a lot stronger than I knew from my previous knowledge of the verse.
I guess I couldn't expect everything to be the same. Still considering she was a level six adventurer it wasn't anything to fret over. I was mostly excited about the power I could receive from Hestia's blessing.
We both spent some time walking through the dungeon as I watched Ais kill monsters.
After a while of searching for other survivors in a somewhat awkward silence, she finally decided to take me out of the dungeon. I grinned as we finally made it to the dungeon entrance.
Ais turned towards me.
"You should get yourself healed." She stated while looking over my bloody form.
I grinned.
"Much obliged M'lady," I replied.
She stared in confusion, as I walked off. Looking up at the dimming sky, I cursed. Hestia was going to be so mad. The entrance had adventures lingering around with adventurers guarding the entrance.
I saw some people stare at me with respect as I limped out. Suddenly a shout of "Zeph" came from beside me and a missle of silky black hair shot at me. I found myself glomped by a worried goddess.
I groaned as I stumbled. Ouch. Despite the pain I felt I wrapped my arms around the worried goddess. She squeezed me half to death before pulling back and taking in my current state. Wincing as I watched her expression go from relieved to confused and finally panicked.
"Zeph! What happened?" She shouted in worry.
"I-" I started only to be interrupted.
"No! Never mind you can tell me later we need to get you healed." She commanded sternly and started dragging me.
My eyes scanned through the crowd watching in amusement as I was dragged away. Until my eyes finally met with a pair of yellow-slitted eyes. Rose Fannett stared at me in shock.
I flashed her a grin and a wink. Only to focus back on Hestia as he dragged me away. Finally, after ten minutes of hestia frantically dragging me, occasionally glancing back at me with panic. We arrived at our destination.
A rundown pharmacy, with an old dirty window showcasing potions. The wooden building itself looked dirty and unkempt—an emblem of a healthy man. The door looked to be on its last legs when Hestia uncaring kicked it open.
We were greeted by a startled woman at the counter, the inside of the pharmacy seemed to be in much better care than the outside.
The woman had long brown hair, purple eyes and dog ears with a tail. She wore a skirt from which her tail sticks out from the back of and a shirt with asymmetric sleeves, with the left being short and the right being long enough to cover her entire arm.
"Lady Hestia?" She asked startled, before her purple eyes flickered over to me and widened.
"I need a healing powder," Hestia demanded.
Healing powder?
"Yes, lady hestia." She stammered quickly bringing out a box.
"How much?" Hestia questioned.
"4000 Vali." She replied.
Hestia winced and took out a pouch. She looked at the vali with depression before giving her the whole pouch. I felt bad. I'm guessing she had just used a massive chunk of her own money for me.
The lady at the counter gave us the pouch containing the healing powder and Hestia didn't waste time again dragging me back with her. Luckily the pharmacy was close to the abandoned church and it didn't take much time until we were back.
I was instantly forced to take off my shirt as soon as we entered. After a quick glance over me Hestia started gently rubbing the golden powder over my wounds.
"What is this stuff?" I questioned.
"It's a weaker version of a healing potion. It will heal these wounds within a few hours. J-just stay still." She said quietly, her eyes shimmering with wetness.
Hestia looked to be finally letting her emotions out as she wiped at her eyes. Uncaring of my wounds I brought her up into a hug. She froze as she ended up on my lap, before she returned the gesture, hugging me tightly.
"I was so worried about you when I heard about the dungeon flood and didn't see you outside, I assumed the worst." She mumbled quietly with a sniffle. Hestia's arms tightening further.
I winced at that. It had only been a little bit since we had met but we had grown closer in that time. Hestia had been more than willing to become my closest confidant after so much loneliness down here in Orario.
She was also incredibly easy to talk to and play around with.
Nearly losing her first familia member so soon must have frightened her, especially after all the rejection she had faced; it must have taken its toll on her confidence, regardless of her being a goddess.
"It's fine, you know I wouldn't let some stupid monsters eat me so quickly. I'm too delicious. If I'm going to be eaten it'll have to be by a higher floor boss and I won't be facing them for a long while." I replied comfortingly and she giggled.
I lay myself down with Hestia on top of me and felt the exhaustion finally catch up. My adrenaline had worn off from fighting for my life all day. The extremely curvy goddess melting into my arms.
Hestia didn't protest as we fell asleep.
-{?}-
Staring down at the city of Orario, a beautiful woman with long silver hair going down to her back sat sipping a glass of wine. Purple eyes looking down at specific locations with interest.
She has skin as white as snow, with no imperfections, her full lips twisted into a flirtatious smile and an hourglass figure. Her clothes are in large part black and red, they expose most of her stomach and breasts.
She also wore two flower-like ornaments in her hair. She was currently watching over Orario looking for anyone or anything of interest. Some adventurers popped up who were slightly better than the rest but mostly all had the same dull soul aura.
This woman was none other than Freya. Goddess of the Freya familia largely considered one of the most if not powerful Familias in Orario. Freya was currently doing what she considered the most tedious part of her hobby.
Scouting. Looking for someone new, an adventurer who was unique. Who had the capabilities to rise to the top and become an adventurer like no other. Unfortunately this process normally took years to even find someone worthy of her attention.
She looked boredly around until something appeared in Orario. Her eyes widened and the wine she had been leisurely drinking fell to the ground. Broken. She stood up and pressed her perfect face to the glass.
Like a toddler looking at a zoo animal in fascination. A soul like no other appeared. She shook her head. Freya couldn't believe a being could possess such an aura. Normally a soul was blue, grey, black or golden in the case of heroic spirits.
This soul, Freya's eyes twisted. A scary expression of obsessive curiosity shone in her eyes. A myriad of colours. A dark crimson storm surrounding a swirling rainbow. She had never seen anything like it.
Instantly her eyes snapped to the owner of such a soul. A crimson haired teen covered in blood being dragged by Hestia. Freya licked her lips in anticipation.
A face that would make any sane person run away in fright appeared.
'What a fascinating soul.' Freya thought in an almost intoxicated manner.
She instantly called for her familia members, she needed to know who this boy was. Whoever he was she would have him, and his potential would be brought to reality.
-END-
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