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Is It Wrong To Skitter In A Dungeon? Chapter 33: Let the Games Begin!
🕑 Added 2025-03-20 16:05:01 +0000 UTCChapter 33: Let the Games Begin!
“This is a nice castle,” Taylor said, admiring the masonry. “If the Apollo Familia’s fort is anything like this one, I almost feel sorry for what I’m about to do to it.”
She, and the rest of the Hestia Familia, were waiting in the courtyard of the refurbished fortress for the game of capture the flag to begin. They had been escorted to the castle that lay to the southeast of Orario by Guild employees earlier in the morning, and were just waiting, decked out in their fine equipment. Taylor had even decided to wear her mask.
According to their guides, the old citadel was one of many that littered the landscape around Orario, built in the time before the city had been created to contain the Dungeon and the monsters that periodically emerged from it in the ancient days.
Two had been restored for the events of today, and were close enough that Taylor could still feel parts of Orario, including the Coliseum, within her range, at least if she focused on trying to see in that direction. She could just barely sense Hestia and the other ‘gods’ sitting around waiting for the War Game to begin.
“I can’t believe it,” Bell muttered, tapping his foot impatiently. “We’re about to fight against a much larger Familia… and yet I can’t help but be excited!”
“It’s not that unusual,” Ryuu assured him. “The anticipation before a battle can do different things to people. For adventurers who live and die for combat, getting excited is to be expected.”
“Thank you, Miss Ryuu,” Bell said, giving her a small smile. “I’m glad you’re here today with us.”
“Yeah! Surprised you managed to get the paperwork filed so quickly,” Silva commented. “I half expected it to take a few days, or be delayed by underhand tactics by Apollo.”
Taylor smirked to herself underneath the mask. She had managed to get the paperwork for Welf, Mikoto, and Ryuu filed just in time for the War Game. Her swarm had been very useful in sneaking the documents into the Guild last night in order to expedite the process.
“How are you not nervous?” Emma asked, glancing over at Taylor in awe and envy.
The pink-haired girl shivered a bit as Taylor turned towards her, the insectoid mask she was wearing sending a thrill of fear through her as she stared into the empty glass eyes that seemed to stare into her soul.
“Because I have confidence in everyone. We’re not going to lose today,” the parahuman declared.
“You know, if it were anybody else saying that, I’d be hard pressed to believe ‘em,” Welf said. “But from you? It sounds like our victory is a foregone conclusion.”
“Because unlike Apollo, we prepared for battle. We bled and sweat to stand here today, and we won’t let them take anything from us. We have something to lose. And speaking of preparations… here,” Taylor said, handing Ryuu the Tempest Blade Welf had made.
“You want me to have this?” she asked, surprised.
“You can always refuse,” Taylor said. “But you have the highest Mind out of all of us. You’re the best choice for wielding it.”
For a moment Ryuu stared at the weapon whose legacy was reviled by the elves before nodding, accepting the Magic Sword.
“I will use it to bring victory,” she promised.
“Good. Now, head’s up, everyone, it’s almost time to start,” Taylor declared. “Everyone remember the plan?”
“Yes, Miss Taylor!” Lili declared.
“You can rely on us, captain,” Leo said, thumping her chest confidently.
The parahuman nodded at them, before the air began to tingle and reek of ozone to her swarm’s senses, and a powerful presence blanketed the entire castle, pressing down on them like the sky itself had been lowered.
“I, Ganesha, officiator of this War Game, declare the event to begin in three… two… ONE! START!” the voice of the elephant-masked god boomed out across the city and the battlefield, heard by all thanks to various magic tools scattered about.
“It’s time to give them a show,” Taylor announced, glancing up at the clouds as she felt dozens of ‘eyes’ staring down on them from a distance.
The long-range observation magic she could feel was transmitting everything happening on the battlefield onto multiple screens across the city, including several inside the Coliseum, which was filled to the brim with gods, adventurers and citizens, the former sitting in luxurious spectator boxes.
They weren’t the only ones. Just like when Bell, herself, and the others had Leveled Up, she could feel several presences peering down at the entire battlefield, watching intently. Scrying spells? Or something else? It felt like the pressure that accompanied an adventurer accomplishing something that was worthy of a Level Up, but less focused.
A memory of Hestia mentioning something about ‘gods’ judging an adventurer’s deeds to determine if they could Level Up or not surfaced from within the depths of her mind.
Taylor dismissed that thought, and instead turned around to the flagpole where the Hestia Familia’s flag had been hung, and immediately shocked the people watching as she lowered it and removed it. Then, the parahuman draped the flag across her back like a makeshift cape, allowing the emblem of their Familia to be visible as she and the rest of them strode out of their base.
“Um, she does know the event is capture the flag, right?” Loki asked from up in the stands of the Coliseum, just barely audible through the elements of the parahuman's swarm that had been hidden nearby. “Why is she leaving and carrying the flag with her?”
“Because she’s no fool,” Set replied, watching the screens closely. “Her Familia is smaller, and while it possesses individuals of a higher quality compared to what Apollo can field on average, they cannot defend an entire castle all by themselves. So, rather than be trapped with their backs to the walls, they are taking the fight to their opponents. And by carrying the flag herself, Weaver marks herself as a target, allowing the rest of her Familia to rush in and try to take the other flag for themselves.”
“It seems it will be a test to see if Hestia’s children can break through the Apollo Familia’s defenses while fending off assaults,” Hermes said, intrigued.
“Hmph! It doesn’t matter! Hestia’s little Weaver has been illegally bringing monsters out of the Dungeon!” Apollo claimed, gesturing imperiously towards Taylor up on a screen. “As such, the Hestia Familia forfeits the War Game!”
“That is a serious claim,” Freya said, hiding her mouth behind a fan. “Can you prove this? Because the only monsters on the field I see are the ones she’s registered with.”
“They’re in those giant crates, obviously!” Apollo said, pointing a finger at the dozens of massive wooden boxes the Hestia Familia had been hauling around, and even now, were carrying with them towards the castle occupied by the Apollo Familia.
“That’s not exactly proof,” Miach commented.
“My Familia saw them stuffing monsters into those crates down in the Dungeon!” Apollo declared.
“That’s still their word – and yours – against Hestia’s,” Hephestus said, and Apollo glowered at her for that.
“Hestia, you’ve been accused of cheating,” Ouranos’ voice said, booming out from a transmission gem and interjecting before the argument could devolve further. “What do you say in your defense?”
“The only thing I’m going to say is it’s time to open them up, Taylor!” Hestia declared.
The gods chuckled, clearly thinking the tiny goddess had gone mad, as there was no way her voice could reach the battlefield, yet to their shock Taylor nodded as if she’d heard the order and pried the lid off of a crate, revealing it to be full of Magic Stones and not monsters.
She then opened another crate, and this time, insects poured out. This was repeated, and not a single container held any monsters. Just piles of Magic Stones and uncountable insects.
The Hestia Familia had stuffed Killer Ants into some crates, and done so in full view of some Apollo Familia members, but that had been a ruse, a trick to get them to do this very thing.
“Th-that must be millions of valis worth of stones!” Loki gasped in shock.
“Why did she bring so many of them with her? Does she plan to feed them to her monsters and power them up?” Hathor wondered. Several gods looked to Ganesha, but even he seemed bewildered, not even mentioning his name at all!
Back in the middle of the empty field separating the two castles, Taylor’s swarm rose up, filling the sky and blocking out the sun above the Apollo Familia’s fortress.
“I am going to teach you the meaning of the word Entomophobia, and why you should never try to pick a fight with the Hestia Familia!” Taylor declared, her words relayed through her swarm.
Everyone in Orario was able to hear it echoing forth from the magical transmission screens, and some could swear they could hear the buzzing coming from the shadows within the city itself. But that was impossible… right?
With that declaration of intent issued, the hundreds of thousands of bugs began to spill forth, charging towards the castle the Apollo Familia was hunkered down in like a tide of chitin. Screams of primal terror rang out, but the swarm stopped outside the edges of the wall, choosing to encircle it instead.
Curiously, many of the Magic Stones were being hauled around by the swarm, carried on the backs of a veritable carpet of bugs or in their mandibles.
Seeing this, the goddess Isis let out a shocked gasp. “N-no way! That’s… it can’t be possible!” she uttered in disbelief.
“What is it?” Set demanded. “What is happening?!”
“Weaver is about to do something that will kill her!” Isis exclaimed. “Hestia, stop her!”
“I have full faith in her,” Hestia replied.
“She is one person! Record Holder or not, Level 2 or not, one mortal alone cannot hope to control that much magical power!” Isis declared.
“Just watch,” Hestia said. Then, she raised her voice so everyone in the godly stands could hear her. “All of you! Just watch! And see what happens when you anger a girl with absolutely no hesitation to escalate!”
Down on the battlefield, Taylor’s swarm was currently doing odd maneuvers. The magically inclined soon realized what her goal was, and they could not believe their eyes.
“No! I refuse to believe she’d be so reckless!” Riveria shouted up at the screen she and the rest of the Loki Familia were watching in the Coliseum.
“This can’t be… she’s a human…” Leyfia muttered, eyes wide in horror.
“What? What is it?” Finn asked, confused. But the mages were too disturbed to answer.
Elsewhere, Hogni and Hedin of the Freya Familia were just as stunned, unable to believe what they were seeing. They weren’t the only ones, and some were a lot louder about their disbelief, such as Heith, the Freya Familia's Healer, while others, like Lenoa, the old witch who'd sold Taylor the tomes on magic, simply threw their heads back and cackled madly at the sheer audacity of the adventurer.
And soon, the rest of the city were able to see what had shaken the mages, as the seething swarm on both the ground and in the sky began to shape themselves into dozens of gargantuan magic circles!
“My armored boot descends, and shakes the world! Tremble in fear! Submit in terror! The love of the world is a cruel one, and her embrace a terrible thing to witness!” Taylor chanted, and across the field the Magic Stones began to glow as they reacted to her words. “Let thunder roar in the depths below, and mountains rise to welcome my conquest! I shall stomp you flat and watch you fall! EARTHQUAKE!”
The moment her incantation finished, a miniature, localized earthquake struck the Apollo Familia’s fortress. The towers collapsed and the walls crumbled. The gate, unable to withstand the tremors, buckled outwards and exploded into splinters while the adventurers trapped within screamed helplessly as nature itself rebelled against them and rooms and corridors caved in.
Even in Orario they felt the aftershocks, and people yelped and shrieked, even as the vibrations faded as quickly as they arrived.
All things considered, the earthquake that had struck the old castle had only lasted for a few seconds, but it had been enough. The structure had been shattered and reduced to rubble, and cries and moans of pain echoed forth from what was left.
Taylor was panting heavily, blood dripping from her nose, but it was hidden by her mask, and she did not bend or break from the strain of casting such a massive spell on her own, and stayed standing, even as everyone stared at her in horror and disbelief.
From the sky the clouds of insects fell, turned to dust by the strain of channeling the magical essence of thousands of Magic Stones at once, and their remains joined the thick carpet of fallen bugs and spent Magic Stones already littering the ground.
“Go,” Taylor ordered as she didn't bother to wipe away the blood staining her face, keeping the mask firmly in place. “You know what to do, everyone.”
“Right!” Bell said, and Lili nodded weakly.
Bell started to glow as he began to charge his Argonaut Skill, and at the same time he picked the pallum up into a piggy back carry and blitzed forward with speed far beyond an ordinary Level 2, while the Supporter donned the Hades Head helmet a moment later, turning invisible.
Ryuu ran ahead a moment later, carrying one of Welf’s new Magic Swords to cover Bell and Lili and carve a way forward if need be, and the rest of the Hestia Familia mounted Debbie, the giant worm monster carrying them across the battlefield and delivering them to what was left of the gatehouse.
“Ryuu, Silva, stay here and protect the flag with me,” Taylor said when they arrived at the entrance to the fortress. “The rest of you? Go wild. Teach them a lesson they won’t soon forget.”
“Gladly!” Iris cheered, and Leo nodded stoically. Mikoto, Emma and Lucia both had determined looks in their eyes, while Welf had a bloodthirsty grin.
They separated into two teams. Mikoto, Iris and Lucia took the east wing, while Welf, Emma and Leo went towards the west wing. Bell and Lili were already inside by the time the rest of the Familia had arrived, heading to their destination within: the throne room where the Apollo Familia’s flag was.
A few arrows zipped out towards them, but the defenders were shaken and scattered, with nobody able to coordinate properly due to the destruction unleashed on them.
The members of the Hestia Familia, on the other hand, was guided by Taylor’s swarm, who scouted out enemy positions and warned the teams about them. Forewarned, the teams were able to strike without the other adventurers realizing they were there, until it was too late.
Bit by bit, room by room and corridor by corridor, the Hestia Familia tore into the Apollo Familia and destroyed them. Of course, many of Apollo’s children were in no condition to fight.
None had died, as even a collapsing castle wasn’t enough to take down a Level 1 adventurer. It did hurt them though, with crushed limbs, broken bones, and bruised bodies galore. Whenever Taylor’s swarm came across these people, she assessed their wounds, judged how badly they were hurt, and depending on the severity of the injuries, had some of her swarm sprinkle potions and Blue Papilio healing powder onto them before moving on.
That was how Orario witnessed a handful of Level 1s and 2s start to take down a Familia over ten times their size, and it was glorious. Smaller Familias cheered them on, and those who had lost friends to Apollo’s greed chanted for his expulsion from the city. And in the Hostess of Fertility, one adventurer was laughing his ass off as he watched the slaughter.
“Yes! Yes! Show ‘em how it is done, Lucky Rabbit! Teach ‘em what fear is, Weaver!” Mord cheered.
“You sound happy,” one of his friends commented.
“I bet all of my life’s savings on the Hestia Familia winning!” Mord revealed with a mad cackle. “And from the look of things, I’ll be able to cash out and retire in luxury by day’s end!”
“Shit, I should have thought of that!” another adventurer in the restaurant groaned, and he wasn’t the only one.
Everyone kept their eyes glued to the screens, though, unwilling to miss a single second.
“Heads up,” Taylor said a minute into the assault on the citadel. “We have company.”
Ryuu and Silva tensed up as a trio of Apollo Familia adventurers appeared, leaping over the rubble of the front gate and landing in front of the remaining Hestia Familia.
“Lissos, Cassandra, Daphne,” Taylor greeted politely, inclining her head in a faint approximation of a nod. “How can I help you?”
“Hyakinthos told us to take care of you,” Cassandra said
“I don’t care about the human or catfolk,” Lissos claimed with a snarl. “I’m here to punish the traitor!”
“Traitor?” Ryuu asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You wield an accursed Crozzo Magic Blade!” Lissos shouted, pointing at the sword in the other elf’s hands. “You shame your people!”
“It’s elves like you that shame us,” Ryuu retorted with a shake of her head. “I cannot imagine what it is like, to hate an inanimate object with such fervor when there are far better targets to direct anger towards.”
“You-!” Lissos growled, clenching his teeth angrily.
“Ryuu, go ahead and break him,” Taylor said, cutting into their argument. “His shouting is annoying me.”
“Of course, captain,” Ryuu said with a smirk, before darting in, slashing the Magic Sword as Lissos. He leapt back, thinking it would unleash a torrent of magical power, but it didn’t do that, much to his confusion.
That just confirmed the waitress’s suspicions. He had no idea who she was, or how strong.
Ryuu was a Level 4 who could become a Level 5, and Lissos a mere Level 2. She could defeat him with a wooden stick and make it look easy. To that end, she was going to beat Lissos senseless with the Magic Sword without ever unleashing its power. Maybe there was a bit of a desire to punishing him for his words against her, as well as the few times he’d made snide comments about Syr and the others at the Hostess of Fertility.
Regardless of how satisfying it was going to be, Ryuu was professional about it, and blitzed towards Lissos, who could only scramble back and try to fend her off with his bow.
As she played around with her prey like a cat would toy with a mouse, Taylor and Silva – along with Chris, Azure, and Debbie – faced down the other two, who shifted nervously as they stared at Taylor’s masked face.
“We don’t really want to do this,” Daphne said as an apology. “We won’t hurt you too badly.”
“It’s odd you seem to think I’m going to be the one to lose,” Taylor said, shaking her head.
“Fair enough, you do outnumber us,” the red-head shrugged as she flourished a sword known as a takt. “But it’s two Level 2s against a Level 1 and a Level 2, and a couple of monsters. A girl’s gotta do what she’s gotta do.”
“We will do our best to pray for your companions to overcome Hyakinthos,” Cassandra said as she raised her short bow. Azure flew into the air, watching the battle from overhead.
“Silva, take on the adventurer I don’t attack,” Taylor instructed her companion, who nodded wordlessly, bracing herself, her mace raised. The adventurers stared at each other, waiting for somebody to make the first move.
This would be the perfect moment for a tumbleweed to roll by,’ Taylor thought to herself in amusement, before deciding to strike first.
She darted forward, but as Daphne raised her sword to try and counter attack, Taylor completely ignored her, rushing past the red-head towards Cassandra. Both were shocked, but recovered quickly, yet Silva attacked Daphne before the swordswoman could back-up her friend. Daphne blocked the mace strikes easily, but the distraction served its purpose.
Silva’s attack allowed Taylor to get in close, reaching the purple-haired oracle in an instant. Cassandra didn’t have time to raise her bow and shoot the charging parahuman, and Taylor slammed the palm of her artificial hand into Cassandra’s stomach.
The golden arm pulsed and Taylor unleashed an Earthquake spell point blank into her opponent. Cassandra doubled over, vomiting as the vibrations of the spell hit her, jarring her innards. Neither a spell circle nor a chant had been used, and combined with her Level 2 constitution, the attack was not lethal.
Hurt like hell, though, and completely disoriented her. Taylor didn’t let up, however, and wrapped her arms around Cassandra in a parody of a hug. Yet it was not a heartwarming gesture, but rather the first step in Taylor’s plan to perform a Supplex. A Backdrop, to be precise, and she slammed Cassandra’s head into the ground.
A last-minute Hole spell prevented Cassandra from suffering any sort of concussion, but with her head trapped inside a small pit, she wasn’t exactly in any state to keep fighting.
“Wh-what?” Daphne stammered, shocked at how quickly Taylor had taken down her friend.
“There are two types of people you always try to deal with first in a fight,” Taylor said as she brushed some dirt off her outfit. “Ranged attackers, and healers. You shouldn’t have brought her to the front lines. Hyakinthos knows nothing of war if he ordered Cassandra to face me.”
She then tilted her head. “Though his incompetence is to our benefit. He’s about to fight Bell, and without a healer, he has no hope of victory.”
Daphne tensed up, and realized she was trapped. Lissos was no help, as he was still being beaten up by Ryuu. She winced as Chris stepped forward, scything limbs scraping against each other in an ominous way while a silvery glow surrounded the blades.
“He wants to fight,” Taylor informed Daphne. “Try not to lose too quickly.”
Daphne barely had time to react as Chris lunged, one of his scythe-bladed arms came swinging down at her. She blocked it in time with her weapon, but the strike was heavy and drove her to her knees.
‘This is not the strength of a Level 2 monster!’ Daphne grimaced.
Then, to her horror, she saw that the Crystal Mantis’ glowing scythe had chipped the edge of her takt. She rolled away, jumping back to her feet and began to trade attacks with Chris, who was matching her, blow for blow.
Daphne suddenly felt the hairs on her neck stand up, and she immediately threw herself to the side, her Skill Elios Passion allowing her to just barely evade being cut in half by a glowing silver shockwave that had been unleashed by the Rare Variant Crystal Mantis swinging one of its scythes.
“…Dash and defend! Raumure!” Daphne hastily chanted, her Agility and Endurance jumping up several ranks as her Spell activated.
Yet even then, it wasn’t enough to fully out-speed Chris. A deadly game of tag erupted between monster and adventurer, Daphne weaving between shockwaves and dealing only minor damage to the Crystal Mantis’ carapace. And the red-head couldn’t help but feel that the Tamed monster was actually having fun the whole time.
As Daphne fought the most harrowing battle of her entire life, Taylor turned her attention to the swarm that was filling up the castle, and watched over her Familia as they spread out and eliminated their opponents.
If anyone had been able to see her face at that moment, they would have recoiled in fear from the way she was smiling.
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Mikoto was impressed as she watched Iris and Lucia charge through the eastern wing of the Shreme Citadel. They were young and had not been adventurers for long, but they displayed combat skills on par with a multi-year veteran.
‘Taylor-dono is truly a miracle worker,’ the Far Eastern adventurer thought to herself. It wasn’t just fear that drove Mikoto to call her new captain by that honorific.
‘You are always respectful to somebody with great power, and she has that in spades,’ Mikoto mused. Taylor Hebert had gone from a relatively unknown silk craftswoman who was undercutting the Far Eastern merchants to the Record Holder of Orario, all in a few weeks of her arrival.
Furthermore, Weaver had the eyes of a woman who had seen war and devastation. It was a look Mikoto knew all too well, for she had those same eyes at times. The Far East was not a peaceful place. The islands were ruled over by Amaterasu, but there were many other gods who had Familias there. And of course there were skirmishes with the Jade Empire – before it was destroyed by the Black Dragon – and Telskyura and the many other nations that littered that side of the world.
‘I lost my family, but was lucky to be found by Lord Takemikazuchi and the others at the orphanage,’ Mikoto thought to herself. ‘Thanks to their love, I have recovered enough to smile once more. But it’s clear Lady Taylor has only just begun her own road to recovery. Thankfully, the Hestia Familia will be able to help her on that long and arduous path.’
An arrow zipping past her head forced Mikoto to return her focus to the battle, though really it was more of a one-sided beat-down.
The archer who’d tried to shoot her had already been felled by Lucia, and Iris smashed the flat of her sword into another unfortunate adventurer’s head, knocking him out.
“Ugh, this is taking too long!” Iris groaned. “Gonna go full force! Bronze Bull!”
The cow-girl began to glow with bronze flames from her Skill, and she began to bulldoze through the hallway, knocking her opponents over while holding her great sword in front of her like a battering ram.
“Ha! At this rate, we’ll make it all the way to the throne room before Bell even gets there!” Iris cheered.
“No, you won’t!” a tall bear-kin beastman declared, leaping into her path slamming his huge metal club into Iris’ sword and stopping her in her tracks.
Mikoto’s eyes scanned him. He wasn’t a Level 2. Taylor had provided descriptions of all of the Apollo Familia’s executives. But given that he was stopping a Skill-buffed Iris in her tracks, then he had to be a veteran Level 1, possibly very close to Leveling Up.
“Lucia! Get this guy outta my way!” Iris demanded. The seamstress didn’t respond, as she was already rushing forward. Instead of trying to leap over her friend’s shoulder, however, Lucia teleported behind the bear-man and swiped his legs out from underneath him by adding the kinetic burst that accompanied her teleportation Skill to her kick.
The bear-man fell, and Iris made sure he stayed down by repeatedly slamming her sword into his face.
“Phew! What a workout!” Iris laughed. Her laughter choked off when a fireball exploded in her face. It was only thanks to her Skill still being up that she wasn’t immediately knocked out.
At the far end of the corridor, two adventurers were advancing, one armed with a staff, the other carrying a spear.
“Level 2s,” Lucia said nervously, recognizing them both from Taylor’s notes. A single one would be a problem. Two was going to be tricky. And one was a mage!
“I’ll handle it,” Mikoto declared, and she pointed her hands towards them. “Hold them off for as long as possible.”
Iris and Lucia shared a look and nodded, darting forward to try and stall them. Now the shoe was on the other foot, though, because as strong as the two rookies were, the Level 2s were stronger, and began to trounce Iris and Lucia.
The spearman was fast enough to follow and counter Lucia even as she teleported around, while the mage was surprisingly adept at fighting with his staff, deflecting Iris’s heavy blows with ease.
But they managed to buy Mikoto all the time she needed.
Over the many hours of intense training under Ryuu and Taylor, Mikoto had learned to cast her gravity spell without chanting. It was weakened, but it was far faster, and before the enemies could wipe the floor with Iris and Lucia, Mikoto’s spell triggered, crushing the Level 2s into the ground while avoiding the members of the Hestia Familia facing them.
Not having expected that, they had no way to defend and were pinned in place, letting Lucia and Iris curb stomp them while they were stuck. It took a lot of time and effort for the Level 1s to knock out the Level 2s, but they succeeded in the end.
“Well done! Onwards!” Mikoto said as she swallowed a mouthful of Mind potion to recover what she’d used up. There were still more Level 2s ahead that needed a beating, after all.
‘And I dearly wish to whet my sword skills I refined in the Dungeon out on some worthy foes,’ she mused to herself. This War Game would be an excellent way to test her new-found strength.
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Emma ducked as an arrow whizzed past her head and brought her twin swords up, slashing across the torso of an Apollo Familia member. They were a Level 1 and not nearly as tough a fighter as Leo was, and they collapsed as blood pooled beneath their body. She nudged the man’s ribs, and when he twitched a little, she sighed in relief before moving on to keep up the fighting.
Up ahead, Leo smashed apart a shield wall blocking the way forward with her great sword while Welf dealt with the archer who’d just tried to shoot her by shooting a Will-o-Wisp into their face. The burned adventurer recoiled with a shriek as their hair – greasy with various hair care products – went up like a bonfire.
“Where are the Level 2s hiding?” Emma muttered. So far, only Level 1s had barred their path. Not a lot, admittedly. There’d been many who could barely stand after the earthquake had hit. The few who could had been too shaken and were torn apart in a quick manner.
Ask and she would receive, though, as the air crackled with static as an adventurer at the end of the hall began conjuring a spell while a handful of other adventurers blocked off the western assault team from reaching him.
“Wrath of the Heavens fall upon you…!” the mage of the Apollo Familia began chanting, a large magic circle forming in front of him.
“Get the meat shields out of the way!” Welf called out.
“Understood!” Leo replied, and Emma nodded.
As Leo charged the weaker adventurers, Emma put her swords away and drew a bow of her own, targeting an archer who was trying to shoot the azure-haired swordswoman.
‘When I joined the Hestia Familia, I did so because I wanted to be just like my sister,’ Emma thought to herself. ‘That’s why I trained to fight with dual swords, because that’s what Sophia did to become strong. But now I realize that trying to be my sister has been holding me back. I have to be myself!’
She let the arrow loose, and it slammed into the wrist of the other archer, causing them to yelp and drop their bow, now unable to use their weapon properly with a feathered shaft buried in their hand.
‘I want to be useful to my Familia… I want to be my own person!’ Emma thought to herself, and felt like a weight had lifted from her soul, and the scales had fallen from her eyes.
Behind her, Welf stepped forward, a grin on his face. “Nice shot!” he praised, ruffling Emma’s hair as he walked past.
When the last Level 1 collapsed at the edge of Leo’s sword, he stepped up. “Now it’s my turn!”
“Burn! Will-o-Wisp!” Welf chanted, swinging his great sword downwards. The edge of the blade was wreathed in crimson flames that were sent flying in a blazing shockwave, and it struck the magic circle, devouring the magical formation like paper.
The mage screamed in pain as bolts of electricity surged across his body, the Ignus Fatuus of the disrupted spell causing him to explode with a magical backlash.
“Okay! On to the next area!” Welf declared. “There’s still a lot of Apollo adventurers to deal with!”
“Yes!” Emma said, putting away her bow and retrieving her swords. The War Game was not yet over, and she had to keep up the pressure in order to allow Bell to reach his opponent. Onwards!
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Lili was extremely glad that she was currently invisible. That way, nobody could see how red her face currently was.
Being carried on Bell’s back across the battlefield and through the ruined halls of the castle was quite an experience, and she was glad she was invisible, otherwise everyone could see her red face.
‘If only he wasn’t dating Ais,’ Lili thought to herself morosely. Her crush on Bell would remain just that, a crush. It wasn’t like the Sword Princess would share.
“We’re here,” Bell said, looking up at the doors to the Shreme Citadel’s throne room and shaking Lili out of her funk. They were cracked and hanging off their hinges, and the hallway was littered with rubble and injured adventurers. And quite a few of the latter had crossbow bolts in their bodies courtesy of Lili.
She had done her part to keep Bell safe while he charged headlong into the fortress. Now, it was time to execute the final step of the plan.
“Mr. Bell, you can let me down, now,” she said softly, still embarrassed, but a slap to her cheeks brought her head back into the game.
“Oh, right, of course,” Bell said, setting her down. Lili felt a tingle in her stomach at the sight of the red blush gracing the Level 2’s cheeks, before forcing it down.
“Good luck,” she whispered, and stepped back as Bell kicked the door down. Still glowing as Argonaut powered him up, it was like a miniature sun had entered the gloomy chambers.
‘Ironic, considering who our opponent is,’ Lili thought to herself as she watched Bell stride into the throne room and face down Hyakinthos. He was unharmed, but the expression of utter disgust and fury on his face showed just how little he appreciated Miss Taylor’s opening move.
“You-!” Hyakinthos snarled. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”
Bell just ignored him as he walked into the throne room, eyes locked onto the Apollo Familia’s flag that was still hanging on the wall behind the Sun God’s captain.
“You’ve humiliated Lord Apollo and the Familia!” Hyakinthos declared, taking Bell’s silence as an excuse to continue. “Even after we win, our reputation will take years to recover after everything you’ve done to us!”
“You still think you’re going to win,” Bell said with a sigh, shaking his head. “I hadn’t really believed Miss Taylor, but she was right. You’re blind to what’s in front of you. Almost delusional.”
“Delusional?!” Hyakinthos growled as he drew the Sun’s Flamberge, a sword enchanted with minor fire magic. Nowhere near as powerful as a Magic Sword, but still a threat.
“Yes. Delusional. You don’t seem to understand that all of this was planned out from the start,” Bell said. “And even in the off-chance that I am beaten by you? Well, Miss Taylor will be more than happy to finish what she started.”
“Arrogant little-!” Hyakinthos uttered, only for Bell to summon a lightning clone. Thanks to Argonaut, it had strength equal to Bell’s own, and Lili knew just how ridiculous the white-haired adventurer’s stats were.
Clone and original shot forward without another word, blitzing across the room to face down the enemy captain, and the arrogant man sneered as the battle began.
“Attack!” Hyakinthos ordered, and the other adventurers in the room charged forward, but they were all Level 1s, and some were unsteady on their feet after the earthquake even after being healed as best as possible. Apollo’s captain had dispatched the Level 2s guarding him to try and hold back the rest of the Hestia Familia, but that plan backfired as Bell and his clone tore into the reduced defenders in the throne room.
The lightning clone punched and kicked wildly, knocking aside adventurers with every strike. Bell had been forced to learn how to fight in close quarters without his knife by Taylor down in the Great Tree Labyrinth, and this skill transferred over to his clones which he put to good use.
Then, Bell closed in with Hyakinthos, managing to match blades with the older adventurer. The captain was a decent swordsman despite the bow having been his preferred weapon, yet it was clear that in terms of raw stats, Bell surpassed him in every way. Speed, strength, and even combat ability. It was like watching a hero of legend!
“How are you so strong?!” Hyakinthos demanded.
“I trained,” Bell retorted. “And I have a reason to win! I have friends waiting for me!”
“Friends?!” Hyakinthos shouted. “You don’t need friends! All that matters is serving Lord Apollo!”
“If friendship is pointless, why are you losing?” Bell asked, smirking cheekily, causing Hyakinthos to turn an unhealthy shade of red.
Lili watched everything as she crept into the throne room and quietly snuck around towards the flag. Despite wearing heavy armor, the sound of fighting covered up her own approach.
When she was close enough, she stopped and waited. She had orders not to steal the flag until the fight between Bell and Hyakinthos was over.
‘If Bell wins, it’s insult added to injury, proving that the Hestia Familia could have won whenever we wanted,’ Lili thought with a smirk. ‘And in the unlikely event Bell loses? Then we still win the War Game itself, as the goal was simply to take the flag.’
Once more, Lili was in awe of Taylor’s plan. It was clever and had several layers.
As she keeping an eye of the fight, Lili noticed one of the Apollo Familia members crawl away from the lighting clone.
‘Is that Luan?’ Lili wondered. ‘What is he doing?’
As she watched, Luan raised a dagger that was covered in some sort of green liquid and tried to sneak attack Bell from behind. Lili immediately reacted, firing her crossbow into the cowardly pallum. The bolts struck his arm, causing him to shriek and drop his poisoned weapon.
Bell didn’t even flinch as the bolts flew past him, having complete trust in Lili to watch his back. Hyakinthos however had not expected it and flinched, which allowed Bell to slash the Hestia Knife across Hyakinthos’ chest.
“Y-you-!” the captain gasped, shocked to see his own blood. He tried to swing his sword into Bell’s neck, clearly aiming for a killing blow against the rules, but Bell has expected the underhanded strike, and to everyone’s shock, swung the Hestia Knife into the Sun’s Flamberge, shattering it.
“N-no!” Hyakinthos uttered, terror flickering through his eyes.
“This is for attacking my Familia!” Bell shouted, and he punched Hyakinthos in the face, breaking his nose and knocking some teeth out.
The Apollo Familia’s captain collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut, and Lili smirked before walking up to their flag.
In one smooth motion, she yanked it off the wall while also removing her magical helmet, allowing everyone to see her in all of her armored glory, the Hestia Familia emblem proudly displayed on the front of her armor.
At the sight, the handful of Apollo Familia members who weren’t unconscious lost all of their fighting spirit and sagged, throwing down their weapons.
“VICTORY!” Bell shouted, thrusting his fist into the air.
“VICTORY!” Lili cried out along with him, using her Command Call Skill to transmit her words across the entire battlefield.
At the shattered gates, Taylor smirked underneath her mask as she felt the same sensation as the time she’d received her first Level Up coming from both herself and Bell through the swarm.
Elsewhere, Ryuu finished beating Lissos into a pulp, mercifully rendering him unconscious at long last, and Chris stopped his relentless assault on Daphne, scuttling back as Ganesha’s voice rang out from the magic tools announcing the Hestia Familia’s triumph.
Victory, indeed.
111 ^^^ &&& ^^^ 111
“I win, Apollo.”
Hestia’s words echoed through the gods’ viewing box. They were thunderous in the absolute silence that had engulfed the place. Down below, the Coliseum’s audience went wild as they cheered for the complete upset victory, but Hestia ignored it all, staring straight into Apollo’s eyes.
“N-no!” he stammered in disbelief. “You-! This can’t-! Impossible!”
Hestia planted her hands on her hips and glared at her fellow god. “You saw it just like I and everyone else did.”
She then shot an impatient look at Ganesha. “Well? I’m waiting.”
“I-I am Ganesha!” the God of the People said, hastily clearing his throat. “And I declare the Hestia Familia to be the victors of this War Game!”
The sounds of partying rang out even louder at that as all across the city people celebrated the most unexpected underdog upset in Orario’s history.
Hestia smirked at Apollo. “You remember the deal, right?”
“I… no! You must have cheated somehow!” Apollo shouted. “You couldn’t have possibly won!”
“Oh, Apollo,” Hestia sighed, shaking her head in disappointment. “Why must you be so difficult? You don’t want to try and weasel out of this, do you? If you try, Taylor will be mad.”
“Why should I care about Weaver’s opinion?!” Apollo demanded incredulously.
“I hAtE iT wHen PeOpLe tRy tO brEaK tHeiR pRomIseS,” a sinister buzzing uttered, and everyone in the viewing box jerked in shock as a black mass of insects rose up, forming a humanoid shape behind the God of the Sun.
“Wha-?! HOW?!” Apollo shrieked, scrambling back in horror as he stared at the bug clone that had appeared.
“Do nOt mAke mE eScaLaTe, ApOllO!” Taylor warned, and Hestia grinned evilly as she watched a bunch of insects creep forward, roaches, flies and spiders crawling up Apollo’s legs. They did nothing else, simply tickling him with their own tiny little limbs, but it was enough to cause the god to shriek and cry like a baby.
“Okay, okay! I’ll go! You win, Hestia, you win!” Apollo blubbered, and then immediately transformed into a beam of pure sunlight as he unleashed his Arcanum just to escape the bugs crawling on him.
Hestia laughed before high-fiving Taylor’s bug clone, even as other gods stared at her in utter disbelief. Hephestus, Miach, and Take could not help but shake their heads at her antics. She especially savored the expression on Loki’s dumb face.
‘Though I don’t like some of the looks a few others have,’ Hestia thought to herself, casting a discrete glance at a couple gods she’d need to keep an eye on.
Freya had stars in her eyes as she stared at one of the screens, her gaze locked onto Bell, same as Ishtar, who was licking her lips. Hermes was shocked, but a mad giggle escaped his lips as he looked between Bell’s image on the screens and Taylor’s bug clone that lingered in the viewing box.
Hermes wasn’t the only god to be focusing on Taylor. Serket, the scorpion-obsessed goddess, was gazing with sparkles in her eyes at the parahuman, while Soma had an uncharacteristically somber and calculating look in his own gaze.
Last but not least, the god Hestia was most worried about was Aeshma. His gaze was intense but excited, as if he’d finally found the answer to a question he’d been looking for.
Hestia resisted the urge to sigh. Her Familia had won and Bell was safe. And they even had a new house thanks to the conditions Apollo had agreed to!
‘Let’s focus on the good things for now!’ Hestia decided. ‘Besides, what are the odds there’s gonna be another problem that’ll rear it’s ugly head anytime soon?’
