"Why?" The question rang out in the space with all the weight you would expect from a religious fanatic who just got their whole worldview upended and then slapped straight back into their face. It was pretty satisfying to see to be honest. Plus it drew Judith's anger nicely, delaying that particular explosion.
Athena just glanced up at her child and shook her head dismissively. "The instruments of my will announced themselves -however briefly- you should have surrendered."
I am ninety-nine percent certain she does this intentionally.
"But… we did it for you!" The woman tried.
"You did it for yourselves." The Goddess clicked her tongue. "Who told you that I would approve of this?"
"I… but- but the diseases! If we succeed then surely there would be wisdom in saving all those lives! You…" The woman trailed off as she stared into Athena's dispassionate, disapproving gaze.
"You have killed child, stained your soul with the blood of innocents, there is no wisdom in this." The woman collapsed at her Goddess' words, her manic energy abandoning her, yet Athena wasn't done. "However it is clear someone lied to you, filled your head with these thoughts. It will not atone for what you have done, but I ask you; who was it?"
The woman tried to talk back, to say something, but a single glance from her Goddess' sharp eyes was enough to destroy what little fight remained in her. "…The Vice-Captain, my lady."
Glancing at Skadi, she met my gaze and nodded seriously, sealing the deal. A Vice-Captain of a Nation-type Familia should be around level three at the bare minimum if my research into the matter is correct, and that's not an existence any sane entity would sacrifice.
Meaning Athena has most likely been telling the truth.
Meaning I need to stop being quite so annoying to her.
A shame really.
Athena paused as the name registered with her, then nodded in a distinctly detached fashion. She didn't even dismiss the girl before turning back to the document she was reading. Just left her sitting there, staring at her Goddess with empty eyes.
The girl didn't fight as my fellow Captain quietly directed her Familia members to restrain her and the other victims of our short rampage, all of them giving the Goddess of Wisdom an unusual amount of space.
"It's a shame really, a part of me had hoped that my initial suspicions were wrong." The Goddess spoke up as I stepped closer, both of us watching as her Adventurers were carried away, the only one conscious among them still just staring.
"About your Vice-Captain?"
"Indeed." She sighed, glancing up at me. Her eyes were as dry as ever, but they lacked some of that otherwise ever-present sharpness. "Did you have fun beating up my children?"
"I did, they deserved it." I admitted bluntly. Surprisingly though it wasn't Athena that started at that, but Judith at my side. She was still wound up tighter than a spring.
"I find myself unable to deny that. These experiments… I did not think my own were capable of such a thing. They are needlessly cruel." She frowned, finally setting down the document. "My Vice-Captain… I am aware that you do not trust me and now that you have the head of the snake you may wish to leave me behind, but… I desire to confront him. I understand the risk is unnecessary bu-"
"Okay." I cut in.
"Pardon?"
"I said okay. We'll go together, I trust you." She looked… almost stunned at that, as if it were too good to be true and she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. So I dropped it. "To an extent."
"O-Of course." She scoffed. "I'll finish up looking around here, see if there isn't anything worth salvaging from this mess."
"Are you sure we have the time? The Ganesha Familia won't even let you keep it, it's evidence."
"Given my understanding of my Vice Captain, we have the time." She rolled her eyes. "And I'm aware. However, some of this material will be of use to the guild. Hard data on the effects of the Falna is difficult to come by due to said effects disappearing upon death, and the ethical implications that come alongside that."
I hummed. "The crime has already been done so it would be worse to not try and do something good with it?"
"You understand." She nodded. "…Are you sure you do not wish to join my Familia?" Despite directing her words at me, her gaze was off between the doors of the warehouse, where her Familia members had long since been dragged away.
I shook my head. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm happy where I am."
"Then I shall have to try again later… with incentives." She tacked on absently, before turning and walking away unceremoniously, clearly lost in thought.
Given her confidence in her assessment of her subordinate, I relaxed and took a while to observe the Goddess as she puttered about, swiftly assessing the value of different documents with honestly incredible reading speed.
I was partly just waiting for her to be done and partly waiting for my friend to finish stewing next to me. Judith clearly had something on her mind and well, it was kind of my job to listen, as a friend and a future Captain.
"I don't get it." She eventually spoke up, sounding lost. "There's bodies everywhere, that shithead said something about there being wisdom of all things in this… butchery. And then…" She groped at the air in the direction Athena had left, as if reaching for the right words. "I don't get it."
"…People can delude themselves into believing anything, the ones I killed were exactly the same." I answered simply. And it was true enough, you can convince humans into doing just about anything as long as you have the right vector of attack and enough time, effort and wits to exploit it.
Any amount of research into the suicide cults of my previous world would tell you that. Though Judith obviously didn't have the luxury of another world's google.
"I just… I thought it would be different y'know?" She tried. "I thought…"
"That we would roll over them, save their victims, and they would all act so appropriately evil that we could hate them properly?" I japed, even as I guided us out of the door and away from the bodies that were clearly still affecting her.
"When you put it like that it sounds childish." She grumbled, trailing behind me. "But what about all the rest of it- I… Why is everyone so godsdamned casual about this whole thing?"
I hummed. "Well, to answer both of your questions; what does it matter?"
"Huh?" She uttered incredulously.
"The motivations of Athena's fuckups? They don't matter, their actions do, and they deserve to be punished for them alone." I explained. "As for how everyone's acting, well I'm in that camp too y'know?"
"And that's supposed to be normal?" She retorted.
I shook my head, this topic was hard enough to explain at the best of times. "How many times do you think I've stood over an Adventurer's corpse in this last month?"
"I… wait- what?"
"The answer is I've lost count." I stated bluntly. "Whenever I'm in the dungeon, I try to respond to any screams I hear and while sometimes you get lucky doing that, a lot of the time you'll find yourself arriving too late. No matter how fast you become."
"If you let yourself be dragged down and smothered under the weight of every tragedy you come across, you're going to break."
"So what, I should just become indifferent to this whole thing?" She asked, her tone lacking its usual aggression. "Be like that Goddess?"
"You should do whatever you need to to stay sane and willing to step in again." I corrected absently as I searched the street outside of the warehouse. We'd left behind several uninvolved members of the Athena Familia at the last location, given that, there was a decent chance that this operation had already gotten back to the Vice-Captain.
At which point -were he sane- he'd either strike us here or try to run.
My gaze subconsciously found its way to where Ais was staring at me, her expression blank as ever as she hid in the shadows by the Goddesses. An assault on our position wouldn't mean much with her around, but if I were in his shoes, I'd probably dip into guerilla tactics and hit my pursuers with some kind of disposable asset to delay them while I ran. Probably something like explosives.
Though that could only work if he had more men at his disposal, and if said men either weren't aware that we had Athena with us, or were outside of her Familia.
"Well… aside from crimes, that would kind of defeat the point." I finished, coming back to the present and glancing at the red head beside me.
"I-I wouldn't do that in the first place!" She snapped. "But… I guess I get what you mean. As long as people are doing good things their intentions don't really matter huh?" She snuck a glance at me as her expression recovered a bit of its usual life. "That sounds like the kind of thought a real sketchy person would have; you tryin' to tell me something?"
In response to that, I just smiled mysteriously, leading us over to where a familiar group of catgirls was trying and failing to not look interested in our approach. It'd probably do Judith some good to see some people that had actually been saved from this group, plus I needed to speak to them myself.
"You three alright?" The three had been staying out of the operations of the rest of their Familia, just watching on from afar as their fellows kept an eye on them. At my question, they all tried to put on brave faces with varying degrees of success.
Maylene, perhaps because she'd actually been poisoned by this group and felt that sense of helplessness, seemed to be having the worst time of it. There was a certain mix of horrified realisation and terrible relief in her eyes whenever she glanced into the warehouse.
Arianne I didn't really know much about, nor could I really read her that well; she'd bailed out early on the night I spent with the three and she mostly just came across as withdrawn. A feeling that still radiated from her as she stood in the back with her fingers tightly gripping her bow.
Lye on the other hand seemed to be handling it the best, but considering how she'd acted during the night we'd spent together, that wasn't really a surprise. The outgoing girl even managed to smile as I approached.
"Of course nya, did you get them all?" The blonde deflected, breaking ranks to wander into my space. She was trying to project an air of mischief, but her golden eyes reflected her true feelings.
"Not yet, but we know who their leader is." I responded truthfully. "We'll end this tonight."
She rocked back and forth consideringly as her friends froze at my words, before she finally spoke up. "Then kick him in the nuts for me! You did it last time, so I know you can do it again Steel Man!"
Blinking at the strange nickname, I laughed. "I'll do that." I did recall kicking Glasses in the ol' twig and berries.
He deserved it.
"Nyaha~ I'll hold you to that." She smiled just a little brighter. "Oh and Steel Man? Come back and I'll give you another reward okay?"
That seemed to be her way of telling me to come back safe, so I just smiled and raised a hand to muss up her hair.
"Of course." I agreed as she protested without heat, and if anyone noticed that I started scratching the base of her ears in the process, nobody said anything.
That seemed to be the tipping point though, as Maylene -her face red- darted forward to give me a quick, embarrassed hug. Not seeming to care that she was pressing herself into the hard metal of my breastplate.
"Just come back safe alright?" She demanded softly.
And well, I was given two hands for a reason; double catgirl head pats.
Judith may have been looking at me like I was nuts, but she'd probably understand given a little time.
"Red, this is…" I introduced them, smiling as realisation dawned in my friend's red eyes.
-
"So this is the place?" I asked, only slightly teasingly.
"Yes, now put me down!" Athena demanded from within my arms, definitely not pouting at me. Carrying around squishy Gods was definitely a liability to operations like this, but damn was it amusing to watch them struggle to not complain like children.
Fortunately we were down to just one Goddess, Skadi and her Familia having remained behind to sort things out with the Ganesha Familia and guard the prisoners.
Not exactly ideal given that an Athena force could theoretically overpower them given the relative scales of their Familias, but there's always going to be vulnerabilities somewhere. You just have to give yourself the best chance possible and move with awareness of those flaws.
"So you want me to leave you up here?" I poked, smirking as she gave me the sourest look possible. "Alright, alright." I leapt down, landing before the small mansion, Ais mirroring my steps silently as Judith landed roughly, still panting from the run over.
"Shouldn't we… approach this more carefully or something?" The redhead asked between rough breaths.
"We would, if the owner didn't already know we're here." I state calmly, setting my passenger down. She stepped away quickly, smoothing out her cloak yet declined to pull up its hood, leaving herself a floating head once more.
"What?" Judith startled, her head whipping around. "D-Did I miss something?"
"…No. We can just feel his presence." Ais answered quietly, though her word choice was pretty interesting. I called the sixth sense I'd developed 'intent' both because it felt applicable, and because I derived it from the 'killing intent'.
Given that it was something that both I and Bell just naturally developed, I did assume most Adventurers over level one would have it too, but I also didn't really have the ability to look into it given how niche of a topic it would be. Familia's normally hold things related to their Adventurers pretty close to their chests.
Maybe I should ask about it later? There was always a chance that I was missing something.
"Presence?"
"I'll tell you about it later, Red. The point is that he's alone, he knows we're here, and he's coming towards us." I cut in, resting a hand on the blades sheathed atop my hip. My gaze naturally being drawn towards the hostile, inquisitive feeling pouring from the dimly lit building.
In a way it felt almost like Athena, though very off. Like if Athena's interest in secrets was left to soak in blood for a few years, with maybe a hint of child murder mixed in for good measure.
Honestly, if I had to sum it up, he just felt like a complete dickhead.
"He never was one to retreat, but his boldness with Miss Wallenstein present suggests a trap." Athena stated bluntly, glancing at me.
I nodded, and strode across the cobblestone courtyard that dominated the front of her Vice-Captain's house. A welcome tension cranking up inside of me as the presence within swelled with proximity. Well… since it worked so well last time.
"If he's a level three…" A grin slipped onto my face as I slid into a draw stance. "He'll be able to block the greeting I gave you, right?"
Her head snapped towards me at my words. "Wait!-"
By the time her words reached me, my sword was already halfway from its sheath. Muscles that could rip apart stone barehanded dragging the already heavy blade to speeds that really shouldn't be possible for humans.
The presence approaching from within the house faltered as he felt what I was doing.
Burden.
The spell fired at half strength as my sword's speed peaked, my other hand having drawn a sliver of my dagger, forcing the speed intrinsic to my dual wielding skill into my veins like lightning as I put almost everything into this draw slash.
Almost, because I wouldn't be able to hold onto my sword if I actually gave it everything.
And well, as far as greetings go, this was less about actually doing damage and more about sending a giant middle finger to the person who'd actually managed to piss me off.
That said, there was a lot more damage than I expected.
For a single, beautiful moment, a perfect line was drawn across the mansion. A pure, artful cut that sliced almost gracefully across the building. Or at least it did, until reality caught up and the pressure wave hit like a fucking truck; annihilating the front of the house and demolishing its insides.
And as the building collapsed and the pressure wave rebounded into us, I calmly resheathed my sword, a single thought reverberating in my head: 'What-?'
"-the fuck?" Judith kindly gave voice to my thoughts, staring at me incredulously as if I had the answers. Which, fair, but in this case I honestly wasn't expecting that.
I was still getting used to my limits after just leveling up, and I don't make a habit of testing just how destructive I can be when I try… That would have to change so I don't wind up knocking down an entire district by accident in the future or something.
"…It was just a greeting." I eventually joked, doing my best to play it off and ignore the twin stares of Ais and Athena boring into the back of my head. I also tried to ignore the panic I could feel spiking across the affluent neighbourhood we were in.
…Well, at least the residents would probably get the message and evacuate before the fight starts. Right?
"A greeting? There's no way he's not-" Her words died as the rubble of the entrance hall parted, split by a rapier, giving me my first look at the man behind all this shit. "No fucking way…"
He looked annoyingly unfazed, his clothing unsuited for combat and yet unstained in spite of the building I'd dropped on him. Expression indifferent, posture unbothered, again as if I hadn't just dropped a building -his own home- right on top of him.
This guy… he seemed determined to piss me off.
Looking deeper was a bit hard, what with his stiff clothes and rigid posture, but there was a definite lightness to his movements. A certain strength behind them that lined up with what Athena said about his stats, low level three. But that wasn't what I was concerned with; an Adventurer's stats can't grow without the support of their God, but their martial skill?
That was the unknown here.
This guy has had years to grow outside of her sight, and more than that, there was a certain confidence in him. One that stemmed from insanity, arrogance or skill.
Unconsciously, my desire to fight was starting to boil over.
I wanted to fight him, I really wanted to fight him, but the bastard wasn't even looking at me. His eyes stubbornly tracking past me to stare straight at Athena, obsession dancing behind those glasses of his.
"My Lady." He bowed theatrically before the floating head of his burrito Goddess, all while totally ignoring my existence.
This fucking bastard, he was doing it on purpose.
"You've become a lot more brazen than when we last spoke." Athena spoke evenly, shooting me a warning glance.
He was doing this on purpose and I'd given my word that she could talk to him… I don't think I can recall being this annoyed before.
"I've resolved myself ever since word reached back to me of your actions…" He retorted, his smile turning bitter. "Or perhaps I just have nothing more to lose."
"You have your life."
"I've lived for your approval my Lady, and if I cannot have that…" He trailed off grimly. "Was it truly so wrong what I've done?"
I almost drew steel then and there, but Athena's answering, indifferent silence was brutal. And satisfyingly enough, I could see the first signs of his composure beginning to crack under it.
"…If we don't finish now, all of these deaths will have been in vain-"
"-They already died in vain." Athena cut in. "Your orders killed them."
"Then what about all those who'll die because of these diseases!?" He demanded. "Surely-"
"-Then they will die." The Goddess answered unwaveringly and I relished in his expression twisting. "All mortals face death eventually, they die and pass into our hands before being cleansed of all ill once more. And for as long as the world does not end, they'll descend, die and come back to us time and again."
"Then…" He tried, and then faltered under his Divine's gaze.
"It matters not when they die, only what they do with that finite amount of time."
"And what have you done with your time?" She asked scathingly. "You chose to take the lives of countless innocents. You stained your very soul with their blood and dragged down yet more of my children with your false promises."
I have to admit, at the start there I was struggling to hold myself back. I apparently don't take people ignoring me well, especially people like this. But, watching as his presence churned with impotent rage, I couldn't help but admit that this was better than just taking his head off.
Athena would annihilate this dickhead's ego, and then I would kill him.
"Make no mistake, removing that taint will be a long and painful process for all of those you've dragged down, but you most of all."
"I… I just wanted to do what's right! Is that so wrong!?" He roared. But Athena didn't react as expected, instead her eyes widened, a trace of shock in them.
"That… was a lie." She stated simply, and the man's expression cracked. Shock, fear and then rage racing across his features.
His mouth opened like he wanted to argue, but no words came out. He looked like he'd been lying to himself up until now, not quite realising it until he was faced with the absolute lie detection of his Goddess. And that truth was breaking him.
But she wasn't done.
"I see it now… you were always after accomplishments, after my acknowledgement. You let that lust consume you, didn't you? Blind you from the countless evils you were committing." She spoke calculatingly, as if she wasn't breaking down an entire person, but solving a puzzle. "You told yourself that they were justified, but at the centre of it all, there's nothing but greed."
His fists clenched tightly enough to draw blood at her words, his rapier trembling in his hands as his presence shifted too fast for me to get a read on. Whatever was going on in that dickhead's head was chaotic to say the least.
"Nothing to say?" Athena asked. "I see, then I-"
-A rapier was blurring towards her throat and a wordless scream tore out of its crazed wielder.
Finally.
I grinned, she'd actually driven the man insane.
Time slowed for me as I drew my sword with one hand and withdrew a potion and my parrying knife with the other. Content to take my time with fight prep.
As expected, the rapier was knocked aside by my now favourite trap card; Ais practically appearing before the genuinely stunned Goddess, sword in hand.
I drained the fortify light armour potion, made from my experiments with Hard Armours from the eleventh floor, and adjusted myself accordingly as the rush settled over me.
Five minutes, more than enough time for a fight at this level.
Ais' eyes met mine as Athena and her child both stumbled backwards, the level five's intent clear as she glanced between me and the snarling man in front of us, a hint of challenge in her slightly raised brow.
She wanted to watch me fight properly huh?
I winked back, feeling my earlier annoyance evaporate into pure satisfaction.
"You…" The man growled as I stepped in front of his Goddess, finally looking at me. "You're the one who started all of this… you turned her against me!"
"I was worried for a bit there, but that's exactly the look I wanted to see on your face."
He looked like he wanted to tear me to pieces.
I savoured it fully.
-
Poor Elric, he almost got blue balls for a second there. Fortunately things bounced back to where his life is once again on the line.
Thanks for reading! Like if you liked it, don't if you didn't; the next three chapters are up on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/c/OneFallLeaf. Hope you had a great day x)
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Flying Slashes
They're not really named in Danmachi canon outside of Afterglow (which is somewhat different), but there are a lot of examples of projectile cuts happening even from the very first level. Examples like Bell's tiny knife cutting monsters wider than he is long clean in half, or Tiona splitting things from a distance with her big sword.
In this case what Elric pulled off here was a result of his Burden magic, his skill with the sword and his improved physique combining in the most destructive way possible.
Skill Fortify Potions
Potions from Skyrim that temporarily buff a specific skill by a specific percentage determined by the crafter's skill.