Blake was rushing through the tunnels, turning left and right, being chased by a horde of huge ants. Deciding to descend lower, Blake went down as far as 8th floor, thinking that this floor was far enough from the entrance. After killing those three guys, Blake had changed into a new pair of clothes, cleaned the blades and his body from the blood, paranoid that he could somehow get recognized.
Perhaps going as far as to 8th floor was too much because Blake felt that this floor was extremely annoying. The huge ants weren't that strong individually, but once they died, they would attract an entire hoard, which was when things would get dangerous. That was exactly what was happening right now.
Blake kept running, panting as the ants got closer and closer each second. Reaching out into his bag, Blake produced a kunai with a paper bomb attached to it with a string. Blake turned around and threw it at the ground, killing at least 5 of the ants and rising some smoke. The explosion would probably invite more of the ants, but it gave Blake a precious second to get some distance away from the creatures.
Eventually, Blake finally saw some steps leading upwards as he sprinted up them, leaving the horde of aggravated ants in the dark. Finally able to take a breather, Blake slid his hand across his forehead, removing some sweat. He hated this fucking place. A dungeon? To hell with dungeons. Infinite monsters lurking around, waiting for you to relax so they can ambush you.
Blake checked his equipment. He had 3 paper bombs remaining, which was not ideal at all. He had two more kunai's and one shuriken, along with a few crystals that he had taken from the monsters. Holding the two stolen daggers and an almost empty bag, Blake felt lost and overwhelmed.
He managed to kill those three adventurers and at that moment he felt only triumph at his success, yet now, once the adrenaline has disappeared, Blake felt strange. He had killed three living being, all because he wanted to grow stronger. It was in human blood to be selfish, but was it the right way? Blake bit his lip, removing those thoughts.
Fear is death.
Blake was not some saint. He valued his life and his close friends life more than hundreds of strangers. It wasn't right to kill these stranger, of course, but Blake had to do it. Depending on what kind of summon he gets, Blake could save both the Akatsuki and his own skin.
Blake sighed. He much preferred simply devising strategies and letting the actual fighting be done by the Akatsuki. He wouldn't even feel bad most of the time and it…was pretty fun, but killing people himself? That was not fun. Was Blake being hypocritical? Yeah, so what?
Cracking his tired wrist, Blake took out some beef jerky from his other little bag. It was still pretty full and, if he rationed properly, Blake should have food for at least 15 days. Trying to be quiet, Blake made his way up the stairs and onto the 7th floor. There were no monsters at the immediate sight.
2 more people.
Blake simply needed to find two people and ambush them. It seemed easy, but it was, in fact, pretty difficult because the dungeon was huge, especially the deeper floors. Blake tried to race his mind, trying to remember where the adventurers in Danmachi would congregate, but he barely remember anything.
His memories of the show were shallow, too shallow. He only remember the faces of the main characters. Sighing, Blake considered what to do. He was wasting energy by simply trying to search for someone. As Blake looked at the stairs leading downwards, Blake had an idea. Why doesn't he just chill in this spot and wait till someone show ups?
After all, some people would need to pass through, wouldn't they. Looking at his paper bombs, Blake decided to plant two of them on the ground a bit further away in the corridor. If someone came and tried to pass to the 8th floor, Blake could just explode them when they were passing.
Whilst Blake had time, he decided to sit down and rest for a bit. He leaned against the cave wall, looking at the gleaming crystals. Minutes passed into hours, as Blake kept waiting. Boringness overwhelmed him and Blake really considered just abandoning this spot, trying to find someone in the dungeon like before.
In the end, Blake shrugged that idea away and decided to spend the free time training. He spread his hand, pushing chakra into his palms, creating ice that began to shift in the air. Blake concentrated and in a matter of a few seconds, he had a Glock in his hands. It looked better than his previous attempt, though Blake doubted it would work. He didn't shoot though, as it would probably attract some monster with which he didn't want to deal right now.
Instead, Blake put the gun away and concentrated on the bullets. Normally, the bullets would have gunpowder in them, but Blake didn't have that, of course, so he used chakra. In order for it to work upon firing, Blake would need to store some chakra within the bullets and then also coat the exterior of the bullet with it, so it doesn't explode into pieces.
That wasn't all. Blake assumed that instead of pushing chakra into the entirety of the gun, he would have to connect the trigger with the chakra inside of the bullet. All in all, it required an extremely delicate chakra control, which Blake currently didn't have. But, well, Blake couldn't really do anything except practise.
He spent at least three hours experimenting with the bullets, but not using up too much chakra in case someone appears. And, indeed, he was right, but not completely. A group of adventurers appeared from 8th floor. As Blake was sitting near the entrance into the 8th floor, he was just barely a meter away from them.
However, that was not the reason which made Blake almost choke on his beef jerky. The adventurers which appeared were those that even Blake, with his shallow memory, recognized. Ais and her team…Loki familia. Bele, a half wolf, half human. Finn, the captain and a small swordsman. The green haired mage and two sisters, whose names Blake couldn't remember. In the middle stood Ais, a golden haired woman with an absent expression on her face.
And, now, all of them were staring at Blake. Blake wanted to bury himself as their eyes scanned him, whilst Blake's mind was racing with thoughts. He hid the ice gun behind his back, standing up as he stared back at the approaching group. They were inspecting him as they passed through and Blake wished they would have just passed, but, of course, they didn't.
"Are you a solo adventurer?" Finn, the shortie, approached Blake, clearly scanning him from head to toe. His eyes were narrowed, his hand on the blade. The other members of the team were also giving Blake hard stares, as Blake realized that they were slowly, but surely surrounding him against the wall.
"Yes, you are right." Blake answered in an instance, narrowing his eyes too. "I would prefer if you kept some distance from me, adventurers. I don't feel comfortable."
Finn clearly didn't listen to the second part of Blake's words. Ais, still having her absent look, took one more step forward. Blake's grip over his faulty gun tightened, as he inspected their equipment. He wouldn't be able to win against them. Hell, he would probably wouldn't be able to run away. Blake's heart tightened.
"What Familia are you from?"
Blake's mind raced. He didn't remember any of the familias except the Loki one. Blake sought for an answer within his brain, trying to produce a good answer. To not be suspicious, he said the first thing that came to his mind. "I am from Dionysus familia."
"Dionysus?" Bete snarled, exchanging glances with all of his team members. The green haired mage was clearly frowning, as Finn took over the conversation. "Do you know anything about the three adventurers killed on the second floor?"
Blake felt like there was a lump in his throat. He hesitated for a second, which was noticed by all of the members. Blake shrugged. "I have no idea what you are talking about, but I am sorry such an awful thing happened. Condolences to their families."
This time no one answered. The tension in the air became even sharper and Blake felt like he was going to suffocate. Blake was ready to sprint down the corridor as soon as any of them moved. Blake saw them reaching out for their weapons, but Finn raised a hand. "Okay, we are not going to disturb you any longer. If you hear anything, then just submit a claim to the Loki Familia."
Blake relaxed slightly. "Yeah, I will do that if I hear anything. Have a good adventure?"
Finn nodded, though his teammates and Ais especially were still frowning. They began to walk away and Blake calmed his trembling hand. He had almost been caught. He was—
Before Blake could react, a kick landed on his face, sending him flying against the other side of the cave wall. The kick was so powerful that Blake stopped feeling half of his face. His nose was broken, his ears was ringing. He felt disoriented, but Blake came to his feet nevertheless, rising his eyes just to see another kick flying towards his face.
Promptly, Blake ducked, but as soon as he did that, a knee connected with his nose, sending him tumbling away again. He the wall hard. Blake clutched at his face, his nose bleeding profusely. His face was numb, thoughts not going straight. Once he raised his eyes, he saw Bete standing in front of him. Behind him, the remaining Loki familia have already sheaved their weapons.
"You will come with us back to the city, where you will be interrogated. In case we were wrong that you were the murderer, you will receive a monetary compensation." Finn stated. Blake's eye were blurry. "But I very much doubt we were."
Before Bete could land another hit on Blake, he nodded reluctantly. Bete clearly enjoyed beating Blake up, but Finn raised a hand, indicating to stop the abuse. However, as soon as he did that, Blake snarled. "Go to hell."
And then the place exploded. The Loki familia were standing some distance away from paper bombs, but the explosion was powerful enough to force all of them on their knees. Blake aimed the Glock in his hands at Bete, who was momentarily distracted, and fired three times in quick succession.
Two bullets flew in random directions, but the third one pierced right through Bete's thigh, forcing him to grasp onto his leg in pain. Blake fired one more time and the weapon in his hand suddenly exploded, no bullets coming out whatsoever.
Without a halt, Blake rose to his feet and rushed down the stairs towards the 8th floor. He controlled his chakra, creating a clone that begun to run alongside him. Then, Blake grabbed his two daggers, hearing quick steps following him from upstairs. Pushing chakra into his feet, Blake began to run along the wall. The sight of numerous ants appeared before him, for they haven't left since Blake skirmished the place before.
Blake's head was fuzzy, his nose bleeding and his chakra depleting. He run like he was on steroids, dodging the ants, jumping on their heads to propel himself further, when, suddenly, he felt coldness surrounding him. He glanced back, seeing the green haired elf pointed her hands at him, a cold blizzard flying towards him. "Wynn Fimbulvetr"
The ants began to slow down, yet Blake felt…okay. He and his clone continued to run, whilst the mage was stupefied. Blake had an ice Kekkei Genkai. Of course the ice wouldn't work on him. As soon as he was at an intersection, Blake and his clone dispersed, going to different directions.
Blake was panting, but he was trying to run at the best of his abilities. His eyesight was getting worse and his face was still numb, but Blake kept running. He couldn't hear people following him because of the ringing in his ears, but Blake was sure that they were, in fact, following him.
He crossed another intersection. As soon as he did that, however, a huge dog jumped on him. Blake was so concentrated on what was happening behind him that he didn't manage to dodge in time. He raised his hand as the dog bit into it, immediately ripping a huge chunk of his meat.
Blake grabbed his dagger, rushed forward and stabbed the monster in the abdomen. He then raised the creature, pressed it against the wall and twisted the blade, effectively killing it. Without even taking the crystal that fell, Blake rushed through the corridor, the sensation in his right hand disappearing.
Blake's vision was getting worse and worse. He glanced back, seeing that he was leaving a trail of blood behind. And then he saw her, rushing towards at incomprehensible speed. Blake took out the last paper bomb from his bag, planting it on the ground as he stopped, taking out his two daggers.
As soon as he stopped, Ais was already upon him. Blake managed to block the first strike from her blade, but then it turned into a carnage of attacks. Her blade began to make little cuts all around his body. Despite Blake's tough skin, Ais weapon was slicing it without any difficulty.
Blake jumped back, threw the stolen dagger at her, which she dodged by ducking. It didn't stop her advance whatsoever and she disappeared, reappearing behind Blake. He didn't see anything, but felt the pain on his chest. There was a deep cut right across his chest, not hindered by the chainmail, which forced Blake to fall on his knees.
His vision was getting extremely blurry and he felt so weak. He wanted to lie down and close his eyes. He wanted to do to that more than anything in the world. He was weak, too weak! He couldn't do anything against Ais. Heck, he could barely see her attacks. It was done. He was done.
No. To hell with giving up.
Blake pushed on whatever power remained in him, pushing chakra into his palm and creating a Glock. Turning around, Blake shot at Ais, missing completely, but forcing her to step away. The bullets were fast and, despite the fact that they were flying at random directions, they could kill Ais.
"Step away!" Blake shouted, his voice creaking. She didn't and Blake ignited the paper bomb that he stationed on the ground. As soon as the explosion resounded, Blake fired at the woman again, missing. He fired again and immediately rushed towards the smoke. He saw Ais running at him, but Blake fired again. This time the bullet came close to her head, but she didn't stop nevertheless.
Blake jumped into the smoke, promptly finding a hole in the dungeon floor. He jumped into it, twisting his body and grabbing onto the 8th floor ground to propel himself against the ceiling of 9th floor. Pushing chakra into his feet, Blake sprinted through the ceiling, leaving the small hole behind.
Blake continued to run, his entire body bleeding, blood dripping from above and onto the dungeon ground. He felt like he was about to pass out at every instance, but he kept going. Kept pushing. He couldn't give up now.
-
Ais stood near the hole in the ground, about to jump in, when a hand grasped her shoulder. Finn stood behind her, alongside with the green haired mage. She narrowed her eyes. "Don't go in alone, Ais. Remember, we are still in a dungeon."
"But he is going to run away."
"He is not that strong and he is bleeding severely. Pursuing him alone is dangerous as he will attract a lot of monsters. Let's meet up with the rest of the group and then we can go down together." Finn said, looking at the hole. "That man has a lot of tricks. Those paper explosives are dangerous and his strange weapon is powerful too. Even Bete got injured. Though, the man will not go down too far in the dungeon if he manages to survive. But we will catch him, Ais, don't worry about that."
Ais nodded, sheathing her blade.
Finn relaxed. "Let's patch up Bete's leg first. Bete remembers his smell so we will find him eventually, especially if he doesn't tend to his injuries."
Ais didn't say anything as she stored down into the hole that was beginning to close up.