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In Flames II
🕑 Added 2021-12-19 18:26:20 +0000 UTC'After the knight left, the assassins slowly got up from the ground.'
"I lost them." said one of the assassins
"Tsk! Just what sort of Magic/Magic item is this?! It's much stronger than a simple Smoke Ball!" Said another one of the assassins
(N0)
"They can't be far! Separate into groups and search! We can't let the two live! Else the ones who will die will be us!" Said an Assassin with a dark metal feather on his chest.
"Yes!..."
/Fwush!/
/Splurge!/
'They were suddenly cut by the sound of blood splattering on the ground, what happened?'
'They looked around and found the body of their companion… With a large hole in its chest.'
"SHIT! IT'S AN AMBUSH!" Screamed their leader
'They got into a defensive circle and waited.'
'The dense mist might stop their vision, but all of their other senses are still fully working.'
/Step step…/
'From the mist, a girl with dark hair and a small mask that only covered the lower half of her face appeared.'
'She was clearly an Elf, and her red eyes were menacing…'
"Who are you?" Asked their leader
Shit, was there actually a high-Level adventurer lying around? We made sure that no Level 5's and above were around when we started the operation… Who is she?
'But she didn't say anything as she readied her thin sword and disappeared.'
"GET READY!"
/SPLURGE!/
'Once again, the sound of blood splattering resounded behind the Level 4 assassins.'
"SHIT! She isn't just Level 5! She is at least Level 6! Change of plans! The Moon remains in the sky!"
'With that strange phrase, all of the assassins ran in different directions.'
'But the Elf wasn't going to let them off that easily…
It was all for her lord…'
…
/At the same time inside the Loki Familia castle, The Twilight Manor…/
/FLASH!/
"... What?"
'Artemis opened her eyes and saw herself inside a small 5x5 room, there were some supplies and even some weapons inside.'
'She was confused, in one moment she was on the streets and now she is in a luxurious room?!'
/Fwush!/
/CLANG!/
'She heard the wind crying, the usual sound of a blade cutting the air. Instinctively, she picked her knife by her waist and parried the blow to her head.'
"What?" Said the third person
/Cling…/
'A small, red knife dropped on the ground.'
"So easily?... I guess I am not that much of a combatant… What a bummer."
"But don't think I will…! Artemis? Just how did you get here?!… Wait wait wait… That's not the question here…"
'In a second, dozens of possibilities passed and she reached a conclusion.'
'She pointed towards the silent tall Knight and asked:'
"Who are you?" She said with a smirk
"..."
…
/A few seconds ago/
'Loki was sitting on her couch while she bit her nails lightly.'
"Shit! I've been had! And I can't do anything at all while all of my children die slowly outside!"
Calm down and think, what is going on?...
They choose to attack today… It just so happened that today was the last predicted day for the expedition.
Finn and the others will soon be back, at least an hour… No half an hour until the scheduled time.
"But do I have this long?... Do they have this long?"
'Loki might sound carefree and a trickster, but she at least loves her children.'
(Familia members=Children)
/FLASH!/
'In front of her eyes, a tall knight and a blue-haired girl appeared.'
"!"
'Loki immediately acted, she might be weak but she has her Wits!'
'She grabbed an emergency knife, it wasn't just any knife, it was one of her most prized weapons. It's just light enough for her to carry, yet it can easily pierce the hide of a Lower floor monster.'
…
'And the result was her knife being easily parried and she lost her grip…'
'But she quickly reacted and prepared to run towards her plan B, when… She noticed who it was…'
/Back to the present/
"Who are you?" She said with a smirk
"..."
"I also would like to know that." Said Artemis
'Artemis was really curious about this mysterious platinum white knight.'
Such as his hobbies and his favorite food… Wait! It's not like that!
'She shook her head in denial. She is the Goddess of purity!'
'Artemis lost herself in her own thoughts…'
"We can leave that for later, for now, let's get you to safety…"
"I refuse, I won't leave those kids behind."
"Who told you I was going to leave them behind?" Said the knight
'The knight's right hand extended forward…'
"..."
It's the same motion as last time…
'Artemis had seen this movement, it might not be anything, but she had a hunch…'
'As she thought, a gray plate appeared in the air, it was perfectly circular and… That was all.'
"You can give your commands to all of your Familia via this gray portal, think of it as a… Amplifier to your voice." Said the knight
"Really?" Said Loki in a curious tone
'She circled around the plate but didn't find anything.'
"I imagine you already know what to say considering you are going to disappear from this place right?" Asked the knight
"Hihi… Of course, I do." Replied Loki
"Then from now on… You may talk when you wish."
'She nodded. Artemis remained in silence as she watched in wonder.'
'Loki approached the plate and said:'
"Cough! Hello? Can you all hear me? It's your favorite goddess, Loki-Sama…"
"Things got hard huh? But don't fret as everything is under control! I am protected inside the safe house and I just received news that the others are back! So make sure to retreat back into safety and regroup with the reinforcements!"
"I am counting you all! Stay alive and in one piece! See you all for a drink later!"
/Poof…/
'The gray portal disappeared as if it was never there, to begin with.'
"Heh? Why so soon?! I wanted to speak more!" Said Loki as she kicked the ground in frustration
"... Maintaining that isn't easy, it was hard to set it up in the first place. So let me maintain some of my Mind in case of emergencies."
"Fi~ne…"
'Loki didn't pout nor did she make a scene, she only gazed at the knight with her half-closed eyes.'
"I know my armor is quite cool, but I wonder, can you see me when your eyes are so closed?"
"Ah…" Said Loki in a stunned tone, rare for the tricker goddess.
Did he just make a joke? Perhaps he isn't the serious type as I imagined…
Really, who is this guy? And why am I believing in him so easily?
… Did he… Control the direction of the conversation from the beginning?
No no… I am thinking too much.
/Katching/
'The Knight took a strange metal box from nowhere and it flashed in front of the stunned Loki.'
"Sorry about that, I need to do that if I want to use my abilities." Said the Knight.
"Tha-That was sudden, but it's fine." She replied in an annoyed tone
"..."
'But the knight remained in place, with one of his hands on his chin.'
"... When… Are we going?" Asked Loki
"Just a minute, I am thinking."
"Don't you have a place to leave us in?" Asked Loki
"Of course not, I came here to help you two, if I had a place to drop two Goddesses at the same time that would be strange."
"..."
"I think the Guild should be fine right?" Said Artemis
"No can do" x2
'The knight and Loki replied at the same time.'
"My first option was the Dungeon, but considering the time, it's very possible that the excursion has already arrived, so they must be on their way." Said the knight
"So stopping by the Dungeon will be a waste of time, in fact, it might put us in danger. There might be enemies waiting for us in there." Complimented Loki
"Hah…"
'Artemis seemed confused, even more since the two were in sync.'
'It irritated her a bit for some reason…'
"I guess that place will do… Sigh."
'The knight seemed downcast.'
"Why are you like that? Are we too cumbersome?" Asked Loki in a playful tone.
"On the contrary, you two seem quite light, the problem is due to something else."
'The knight spread his arms.'
"Alright, hop in."
"..." x2
"Come on, we don't have all day."
"Wait wait! What do you mean hop in?" Said Loki in a slightly embarrassed tone.
'Artemis' face was red.'
"Normally, I can't use my ability on others, but I can make exceptions. One of them is when the other people are really close to me. But this limits the numbers to around 1-3 people."
(N0.1)
"Arg… Alright!" Said Loki
'She went to the knight's side and hugged his waist, the knight did the same to her.'
'However, instead of the brutal hug she was expecting, the knight was quite gentle… Very in fact.'
'It had been a very long time since she felt that, even in heaven… In fact, had she ever received such treatment?'
"Hm?"
'It was at that moment she noticed the white scarf around this knight's neck.'
"!"
'Lighting seemed to explode in her head as she started to connect the "dots".'
'But she kept her expression to herself.'
"Ex-ex-excuse me…"
'Artemis mind was in too much of a mess for me to bother explaining.'
"I will cover your eyes so that you two don't get flashed like last time, and also, it may be a bit nauseating…"
/Crack…/
'A large door appeared in front of the three of them, although Loki and Artemis couldn't see what was going on due to the hands blocking their vision.'
'The knight slowly guided the two of them to the door and opened it with his telekinesis.'
"Urg…"
"Are you alright mister knight?!" Asked Artemis
"I am fine, just the side effect of using my magic."
And when did they start to call me a knight?
'The three crossed the door, Loki and Artemis immediately felt the difference.'
'The sounds, smells and overall feel of the area suddenly changed… What happened?'
/Creack.../
'As they walked into the room, the sound of wood being steeped on sounded in their ears.'
"You can see now, this place is safe, at least I hope so. After an hour I will carry you two back into the Castle…"
'The knight removed his armored hands from their eyes, allowing them to see what was in front of them.'
'It was a dark place, however, the faint light coming from the outside through the window revealed what this place was…'
"This place is…" Said Artemis
"The Hostess of Fertility, although there isn't anyone present here, I imagined they either already left due to the events or because of something else... Ah! Wasn't today a special holiday?" Replied the knight as he sat on a chair
"Wow… That's quite the distance we crossed." Said Loki, interested in the ability the knight used
'The knight stopped by a counter and picked a fruit similar to a banana but blue.'
"... Do you want one?" Asked the knight
"..." x2
'Aren't you too relaxed for what just happened? And isn't that theft?! Was what the two thought.'
"Don't worry too much, I will leave a bag of coins later for the costs. Also, we did everything we could, that's why I am relaxed, now, we let others deal with the rest, they are very capable after all."
"... Yeah… They are." Said Artemis as she grasped the edges of her dress in frustration
'The knight looked at her, dirty and sad.'
'He can't help her with her sadness but he can help her with the other thing…'
/Fwush…/
"Kya!" Exclaimed Artemis
"Haha! Stop! It tickles!" Laughed Loki
'And so he did, and a smooth wind soon passed through all parts of Artemis and Loki, cleaning their bodies.'
'The dirt was sent somewhere out of their eyes…'
"Wh-What was that?" Asked Artemis as she tried to remain composed
"Magic." Replied the knight
"..." x2
Is he doing that on purpose? x2
…
'For the next few minutes, the knight sat on the chair, "meditating" as he called it. He picked a fruit to eat from time to time, and he would place it below his helmet and eat.'
'He also picked a few Mind potions and drank them, doing that must've been really taxing for him…'
'Artemis tried to initiate a conversation multiple times but she didn't know what to say, Loki on the other hand, was too occupied with the things on her head…'
'The atmosphere was rather awkward as Loki soon snapped…'
"AH! I am fed with this!" She said as she got up from her chair
'She went to the knight and placed her hands on his shoulder, her fingers were dancing on her palm.'
(Lika Kazuma when he uses Steal)
"I am going to take this helmet one way or another!"
"Go on, good luck trying, but I am not someone to take such challenges..."
'He lifted three fingers.'
"So I will give you three chances. I won't move from this chair, on the fourth try you will stop and leave me alone... While also admitting I am the best." Said the knight in a smug tone
"WHAT?! You want me to admit you are the best?!"
He might be more fun than I expected!
"A worthy price for something you desire…"
'Artemis looked at Loki with interest, there was no way this prideful Goddess would…'
"Alright, I'm in!! But! I want to add another condition."
"Sure."
"Hehe… You will give me that nice scarf on your neck."
"... No can do, this is very personal to me."
"Tsk, then you will buy me 10 Soma wines!"
Gonna make you regret betting with me punk!
"Sure."
/Pluf../
'Silver calmly put his book to the side and opened his arms.'
"First try, good luck."
"Hehe…"
'Loki slowly walked to the knight before…'
"?!"
'She sat on his lap!'
"Seduction? Not a bad start, most men would lose their attention for a single second or more, but I am not most men." Said the knight
'Loki stopped in her tracks, her hands already halfway to his helmet. So she made a run for it!'
/Flash/
'Loki was startled as she looked around, she was once again on her chair, sitting on it as if nothing happened.'
"What just…"
'Artemis was just as confused as Loki, although the latter didn't show it on her face.'
'She smiled in a mischievous way as she got up again.'
"First try, you have two more tries." Said the knight
…
/Two days ago on the 28Th floor…/
/Gulp!/
'On the middle of a bonfire, several members of the Loki Familia sat and rested.'
'A few were eating, some were talking, others were just resting, while some were having some private conversations…'
'In the Dungeon where danger and despair are gathered, somehow, love can still find its way here.'
'You go to the Dungeon, you find a girl, you save her, you two get to know each other and so said the Old wise man…'
"We are already here… I didn't expect the expedition to go so smoothly this time." Said Tiona
"Isn't that good? At least we can get home faster and get a proper bath, showering in the river can give me that flowery smell that Finn likes, I hate being like this…" Replied Tione
"But it's okay for us to do this? Most are tired yet Captain wants to return home ASAP." Asked Lefiya
"He has his own reasons, you know how sensible Finn can get." Said a green-haired Elf woman coming from the side
'It was Riveria, the Elf beauty.'
"What happened this time for him to get all fussy?" Asked Bete
"He has been feeling strange ever since the expedition started, but he held it in… Yet, the feeling didn't disappear."
"Ohhh… So that was why he was so strange during these two weeks." Replied Tiona
"WHAT?! How could I let the captain feel down?! I will get him up in no time!" Said Tiona as she got up from the ground
"... There is no need for that." Said a voice from a tent nearby
"Captain!" Said Tiona
"Finn?" x The others
"I am fine, it's just that I have been feeling that something is wrong, hence I want to accelerate our return at any cost. Of course, I will be responsible for everything…"
"You can stop there, if you are being so urgent then something must really be happening, you never failed in that regard." Said Gareth as he woke up from his slumber
"You were up old man?" Asked Bete
"For a while now, you guys are way too loud."
"As you can see Finn, everyone still has the energy to proceed." Said Riveria
"Yeah, captain! You should trust us a bit more" Said Raul, one of the top Level 4's in the Familia
(Not yet of Orario)
'Others soon started to voice their agreement, it seemed the Loki Familia was ready to depart!'
"Everyone… Alright then, our next stop is the 18Th floor! We won't stop until we are there!"
…
/Two days later… And 17 minutes after the raid on the Loki Familia house started/
(Note, I know what you are thinking)
'The Loki Familia made its way to the top of the Dungeon, setting foot into Orario.'
'However, the reception wasn't grand this time…'
"Something is wrong, where is everybody?" Asked Gareth
"AH! YOU ARRIVED!" Screamed someone from the side.
'It was a man wearing the Guild's standard clothing.'
"What happened? Where is everyone…" Asked Finn, but he was cut by the man
"The Loki Familia Castle is under the attack of terrorists! Everyone is currently there!" Said the man
"?!" x Everyone who heard him
/FWUSH!/
'Ais rushed forward with all of her speed without even listening to the rest.'
"AIS! Don't run on your own again!" Screamed Tiona
"Gareth, Riveria. I need the two of you to lead a strike team there NOW! Everyone else, make your best to catch up with Ais" Said Finn as he gazed at Bete and company
"Don't even need to say it!"
/Crack! Fwush!/
'Bete stepped on the ground with so much strength that the ground cracked, he bent his back and soon sped up to the horizon, the others right behind him.'
'A wolf-Human speed at its finest.'
'Finn looked at his running friends and said towards the others:'
"... I AM ALLOWING THE USE OF ALL REMAINING POTIONS! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY SITUATION! GET READY FOR ANYTHING!" He screamed towards the arriving members
"YES SIR!" X Everyone
…
'Ais ran under the effect of her wind magic, it even seemed as if she was flying in the sky, but in truth, she was gliding. She had to kick something and propel herself into the air.'
'Under her immense speed, she would definitely reach the place in under a minute or two. Although the consumption of stamina and Mind was high, she wouldn't let Loki be in danger…'
"..."
Loki… Stay safe.
If she were to die…
'Ais shook her head as she increased her speed.'
"I won't allow it."
"?!"
/Clang!/
'From the empty streets, a small, lone man with a spear suddenly shot a dark beam at Ais, she barely avoided it but she crashed in a store due to her momentum.'
'He had dark clothes made from an unknown leather, he also had a pestilence protective style mask, his spear had a twisted end, like those tri-edge daggers.'
"To think you avoided that… I guess you're not the Sword Princess for nothing."
'He started to fondle his spear.'
"I need to keep you here for a little while longer, you see."
/Thud!/
'Ais removed a large piece of wood that had fallen on top of her'
'You could see blood on her shoulder, she was definitely hit by the dark beam.'
'Her eyes showed immense anger as if she would rip the man in front of her to pieces.'
"Phew~... How scary… In any case…"
/Clang!/
'In the blink of an eye, Ais disappeared from her place and the two swords clashed!'
'Ais had enough, she didn't want to talk with someone who was clearly an enemy, Loki and the others were in danger!'
'However, her enemy proved to be more troublesome than she expected…'
"That was fast, I almost couldn't see it."
'Because he had perfectly blocked her move.'
"Looks like completing my job will be an ass…"
/Clang!/
/Clang cling clen!/
'The sonorous sound of sword slashing and clashing reverberated on the street.'
'No matter what she did, she didn't seem capable of breaching his defenses… There was nothing she could do as she was rather bad against human opponents.'
'So she put her sword down'
"Did you realize? I am Level 6, there is nothing a Level 5 like you can do, just accept your Goddess death obediently…"
'However, his attempt at intimidation was completely ignored.'
"Lil Rafaga"
/FWUSH!/
'Chaotic wind started to flow around Ais.'
'She didn't like using her abilities against people, but she doesn't have any room to spare.'
"Tempest-Avenger"
/Boom!/
'The already turbulent wind got even more chaotic as it ravaged the ground and tore the wood from the houses nearby, it got fully black as if a storm was about to form.'
"Get out of the way." She said as the black wind danced around her
'However, she wasn't that keen on fighting…'
It would be best if I don't break my sword this early…
"URG!"
'Her enemy, on the other hand, couldn't even stand properly.'
'He might be a Level 6, but he was a recent one, and his stats every Level up couldn't even compare to Ais.'
'Ais was a super-elite Level 5 while he was a newbie Level 6, and someone who had just above average stats every Level up…'
(N2)
"ARGG!"
'He tried his best to stand, but he failed. Being thrown away into the sky.'
/FWUSH/
'Ais took this chance to advance forward, she didn't have time to deal with this guy right now.'
'Because her companions would definitely teach him a lesson…'
…
"Arg! That was intense, Sword Princess huh. Her title isn't a joke. I almost died." Said the man as he got up from the rubble.
"At least I got the thing." He said as he gazed at a flask filled with some red liquid.
"Sir Leech?" Said a voice from the side
"I got it, send it to the Boss, but tell the others I failed in the other objective."
"Yes Sir!" Said the cloaked agent as he ran into the alleys
"... My mission is done now… It's time to pay my debt… If I survive this, I will retire..."
'He turned around and gazed at the group of people approaching. He might've let Ais pass, but he needs to stall these people… Even if it costs his life.'
'No… when this operation started, he already knew he most likely wouldn't come back alive.'
"Heh… What a shitty life…"
'The spearman made his way towards doom.'
.
.
.
Notes
N0
By the time I wrote this passage, I actually forgot there was a magic item called smoke Ball, that does the same thing the Mc does...
N0.1
Between you and me, that was a load of Bull...
N1
As for how the Guild managed to have the new go from the top North of Orario to its center in 3 minutes, there are many ways to do so.
Even if we were to assume that the distance is that of several KM, it's quite simple to get info from one end to another.
I could develop such parts of the world better in, side chapters, I can't show everything else, just in this sequence of the Loki Familia attack, I would have at least two more chapters purely about world background…
And well, even if I say Orario has a radius of 10 Km, a high-Level adventurer running could pass the information from one side of Orario to the center in 10 Minutes as long as he ran around 60Km/h
No miles, it's time to evolve.
Just kidding, that's 37 Miles per hour
That would mean Ais is moving at around 5, 10 times that speed, and from my perspective that's still rather low for what I imagine a Level 5 Ais with her skills to be.
N2
When I say average, I don't say in terms of skills, I am referring to his stats.
Average is when someone has C rank on their skills, just one tier above D, the minimum necessary to Level up.
So an average person is someone who would have one or two C's and the rest would be D, perhaps even a B, but that's very impressive for an ordinary adventurer, even for a trained assassin
Comments
Abadom
Oh, sorry, I meant to the center! from one side to the center
Snippy
If the radius of Orario is 10km then from one end to another it's 20km. :P
