[DxD World]
The group of people that were present after the otherworldly summon targeted Shinjuku Pillager Academy: Sirzechs Lucifer, Azazel, Michael, Odin, Zeus, Mephisto Pheles, Lavinia Reni, and Calca and Max Daedalus, were in a secured room, the air thick with tension and suspense. Lavinia made one more check on the detection wards, before turning to the others,
"We're safe to proceed, Chairman Pheles," Lavinia said with a serious tone.
Mephisto nodded, then looked towards Calca, "Calca, have you decrypted the coded magic circle?"
Calca nodded, "Yes I have. When everyone is ready, I'll show the contents," she said as she held the circle within her hands.
Everyone nodded at her, indicating they were prepared. Then, she imbued some mana into the circle which caused it to spin and activate. A moment later, a projection was seen.
"What is this," Michael questioned.
"It looks like the last couple of minutes Sargon was here before whatever happened at SP Academy from Sar-kun's perspective," Lavinia answered.
Everyone watched with complete focus all the way until the part where a huge magic circle was formed underneath them. The video then suddenly jerked and blurred before clearing up to show them in a 3rd person point of view. After they were enveloped by the light, so too did the video cut off.
When the feed cut off, everyone was shocked, some more visibly than others, "Such an advanced magic circle formation. Yet, I've never seen anything like it before," said Mephisto, a little intrigued.
"You said that you felt it had a similar feel to a teleportation spell right," said Azazel.
"Yes, that much is the only thing I can say for certain," Mephisto confirmed and nodded.
Odin then spoke up, "So whatever happened to those children caught up in that teleportation circle, they're likely not dead," he said with eyes narrowed.
Lavinia chimed in immediately afterward, "Then there's still a chance at finding them. We've just got to search this entire world," she said with determination.
Mephisto however frowned, "I would gladly put efforts into the search, however there's one problem," he said solemnly.
Everyone except Odin looked towards him with full attention. Odin instead looked at him as if he also knew what he was thinking.
"What's the problem, Chairman," Lavinia asked cautiously.
Mephisto continued, "While it is possible that they're still alive somewhere, it's also possible that they're no longer here."
Calca immediately glared at Mephisto, "What do you mean, 'No longer here?!' What's that supposed to mean," he said pointedly.
Max held her back in her arms, but he too was looking pointedly at Mephisto, demanding an explanation, but it was Odin who finished his thought process,
"He means they might be in another world entirely."
Everyone except Mephisto's eyes widened at the revelation, "Seriously?! That magic circle was so advanced it was able to reach across different worlds entirely," Azazel said in bewilderment.
Calca gritted her teeth in anger, "When I find out who dared to take my son away from me," she growled as her aura pulsed along with her emotions.
Mephisto looked at her sternly, "Calca, you have every right to be angry with what has happened, but please do not let that anger lead you into doing something stupid. Sargon has been taken away, not killed. So there's a chance that he'll come back to us. It wouldn't do for him to find out you're in deep trouble because of something reckless you did in the heat of emotions."
Calca still gritted her teeth, but her aura had decreased significantly. Michael gave her a sad look, "So your son had attended this school and was one of the students who got taken away."
Max nodded, "Yes. We're confident that he'll be able to survive, we've taught him all we knew, and he's an exceptional genius, even at a young age. But as parents, we still can't help but worry for our children," he said as he tried to comfort his wife.
Lavinia then realized something, "What are we going to do about the parents of the other children? It's not like we can keep this hidden forever. We'll need to inform them of what happened."
Mephisto frowned, thinking of the pros and cons. Lavinia stepped up in front of him, "I know it's an unspoken rule to not let the mundane world know about the supernatural, but these parents don't know where their kids are. They don't even know if they're alive. We should at least tell them the necessary information to alleviate their worries somewhat," she said while staring into his eyes.
"I agree with Lavinia," Calca suddenly spoke up. "Although I'm upset at the thought of not being able to see my son, at least I know that he can handle himself well and that he's likely alive. The other parents may not have that same type of confidence in their children to survive unknown dangers and they especially don't know if they're even alive. We can't just go brainwashing them into believing they never had a child," she said resolutely.
Michael nodded, "I agree as well."
"So do I," said Sirzechs.
"Count me in," replied Azazel.
"It can't be helped," sighed Odin.
Zeus simply nodded in agreement.
Seeing everyone agree to tell the parents of the situation, Mephisto took in a deep breath and sighed, "Alright, since everyone doesn't have any objections, we'll tell the parents of the missing kids the situation, but only what is necessary. Anything else can't be permitted," he said sternly.
Everyone nodded in understanding. Something big had just taken place before their eyes and it's going to shake a lot of people when they find out about it.
[Transition - Tortus]
"Argh!"
This was the sound Hajime made when he tried to block an attack a skeleton had made on him. Even though the skeletons are considered weak monsters in this world, they can be quite dangerous for someone who doesn't have that much in terms of combat or physical attributes.
Just as the skeleton was about to land another attack, "
A barrier of holy energy was formed in front of Hajime, which successfully repelled the attack from the skeleton. Not to mention, the residue holy energy from the barrier made contact with the skeleton, which ended up evaporating into dust.
Hajime rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Are you ok, Hajime," asked Kaori in concern.
Hajime nodded, got up, and dusted himself off, "Yeah, thanks to you Kaori," he said with a smile.
Kaori closed her eyes and smiled happily, "That's good."
Hajime smiled nervously, especially when he felt the murderous gazes directed at him by practically everyone.
"Remind me why we had to take this useless, incompetent, sorry excuse for a party member here? He's just dragging us down," bemoaned Rintaro, looking rather annoyed.
Kaori's face scrunched up in a frown at the insults and was about to say something in defense, yet someone beat her to it, "Because Sakagami, he's part of the Hero's party and one of the people summoned to this world. Like it or not, he's expected to come with us in our effort to conquer this dungeon."
It was Sargon who walked up close to both Hajime and Kaori.
Rintaro, who heard that, turned and faced him, looking quite irritated, "We don't need someone like him tagging along with us! Like I said, he's just slowing us down with how weak he is."
Sargon countered back unfazed, "And facing extreme ridicule from everyone, including you, for staying back like a coward despite being one of the foreign heroes summoned is a better alternative," he said, less so as a question but more as a statement.
Rintaro gritted his teeth again and was about to say something but he was stopped by a commanding voice.
"That's enough!"
Everyone turned to look at the source and found that their current adult Captain was the one who said it, as he was looking back with a stern and disappointed look on his face, "Sargon is right Rintaro. Like it or not, he is still part of this team. What's more, I find it quite admirable that despite his average stats, he still saw fit to come here, and not once has he turned tail despite being scared," Meld said with a small smile.
Hajime's eyes widened at the compliment, then smiled at Meld, "Thanks, Captain Meld."
He waved his hand dismissively, "Don't mention it. Now let's keep moving."
Everyone followed Meld's orders and continued their trek into the cave. A few minutes later, they arrived at a section of the cave that was lit with a very shiny, red pearl sticking out from the cave walls.
Kaori, entranced by the shine, couldn't help but say, "it's so pretty."
Daisuke, ever one to try to get Kaori's favor, instantly jumped at the supposed opportunity, "Don't worry Shirasaki, I'll get it for you," he said with a wicked smile.
He then bolted underneath the pearl and climbed the rocks in order to reach it.
Sargon looked on with gritted teeth, 'Does this fool truly not think? Why would one think anything in this cave would be simple picking,' he thought annoyed.
As Daisuke was close to the pearl, Meld shouted, "Wait, don't!"
But it was too late, Daisuke's hand already fell onto the pear, which shined brightly afterward, blinding everyone.
When the light faded, the scenery changed drastically. They were no longer surrounded by rocks, but close to a bridge behind them.
Meld, very much pissed off, stomped over to Hiyama and grabbed him by the shoulder, which caused the latter to flinch, "You idiot! You can't just grab anything in this dungeon and expect it to be easy! What were you thinking," he grilled into him.
Hiyama looked away, trembling before Meld's voice.
Sargon looked on at the scene and sighed, equally annoyed.
"Where are we now," Kaori asked as she looked around.
Meld, after drilling into Hiyama, huffed and replied, "Who knows? Our priority now should be getting out of this dungeon, since we don't know where we are currently, it's too dangerous to continue on–"
At that moment, the ground shook with tremendous force, which caught everyone off guard and nearly took them off balance as well.
"What was that," someone shouted, alarmed.
Meld looked around cautiously, fully serious and focused, "Nothing good."
The ground shook once more, but this time, more than once, "The pattern of these tremors, could they perhaps be footsteps," Sargon asked seriously.
Rintaro looked towards him with a baffled expression, "Footsteps? What type of thing could cause tremors with their feet," he asked.
Then a deep growl was heard that rumbled throughout the cave. Everyone felt chills crawling down their spine and sweat started to form. 2 glowing red eyes then appeared in the darkness in front of them, followed by a huge maw, horns, and finally, a gigantic size.
"Sh**! It's a Behemoth," Meld shouted "Everyone run! Run all the way to the end of the end of the bridge! I'll hold it off to buy you all some time!"
Kouki immediately shot back, "We can't just leave you here, Captain Meld."
"That's an order Kouki! Go now," Meld fired as he stood in the way of the gargantuan beast. Most of the other students were already running towards the other end of the bridge, but then their run was interrupted by a group of skeletons. Normally, these skeletons would be a walk in the park to get past, but another obstacle presented itself to the heroes
"Rrrrrroooooooaaaaaaarrrrrrrr!"
The Behemoth yelled out a blood curdling roar, which shook everyone down to their core. Due to that fear, they weren't focused enough to effectively fight off the skeleton army that approached. Some people fell into despair while others were too frightened to move. Even Kouki and Meld were struggling to move,
"No. Is this the end? Are we all done for," Kouki asked with eyes widened in fear.
Meld looked at Kouki, who was scared to the bone and tried to rattle him out of it, but before, he could
"*Slap*"
Someone already beat them to it. It was Sargon, who had his hand close to his face while Kouki's head was turned, indicating he just got slapped.
"Get it together Kouki! We've got to get out of this place now," he shouted.
"But," Kouki began. But Sargon shook his head. He wasn't having it.
"I know you're scared, we're all scared. But are you really going to allow that fear to control you?! Is your resolve to uphold justice and become a hero really that shallow?! The true measure of a hero fights when no one else believes there's a chance! If you're truly serious about being this knight in shining armor, you'd best pull yourself together and prove yourself right here, right now," he continued, voice filled with passion.
Kouki looked at Sargon with wide eyes, Meld looked at him with a proud smirk. Kouki closed his eyes and then reopened them.
"Do you have a plan," Kouki asked.
Sargon nodded, "I do. Well, it was Hajime's idea. He's going to use 'Transmute' in order to make the ground uneven for the beast and I'll amplify the spell. That'll give you and the others time to make it to the bridge. Then when you're ready, bombard the beast with magic attacks to give us covering fire as we make a break for it. We don't have a lot of time, so move it," he said quickly. Both Meld and Kouki got to sprinting.
"Hajime! You're up," Sargon shouted.
Hajime turned to face Sargon, who was running his way and then casted his spell, "Transmute!"
The ground beneath the large beast became uneven and wobbly. Sargon put a hand on Hajime's shoulder and channeled some magic into him, boosting the effect even more. But then the Behemoth roared again
"Rrrrrrrroooooooooaaaaaaarrrrrrrr!"
The sound once again shook everyone to their core, but most were far away from the beast, so they weren't as effective. Hajime and Sargon on the other hand, weren't and were hit with the pressure at full force. The fear started getting to Hajime as his magic wanned and faltered, but then he heard his friend's voice.
"Steel yourself Hajime! Don't let fear rule over you," he said with gritted teeth, biting back his own fear through willpower.
Hajime, hearing that, regained his determination and once again shouted, "Transmute!"
The ground became heavily uneven once more, this time managing to actually trip the giant beast. "Hajime! Sargon! Start running! We're ready to fire," yelled Meld.
Sargon and Hajime then did just that and made their way to the end of the bridge as the people on the other side bombarded the beast with their spells. As Hajime and Sargon were halfway their, some magic shots strayed from the path of the Behemoth and made their way towards them.
Hajime looked on in horror, 'Are those shots heading towards us,' he thought.
Sargon's eyes were also wide, but his thought was different. 'So this is how far they'll go.'
Sargon rushed over to cover Hajime from the blast, which landed right in front of them, exploding in front of them. The bridge then gave way to the stray shots. Hajime screamed as he fell down, while Sargon grunted as he took the brunt of the debris.
"Hajime! Sargon," screamed a desperate Kaori.
As both Hajime and Sargon fell into the abyss, Sargon looked at the woman trying desperately to extend her hand in a futile attempt to save them from their fate.
"Kaori," he said solemnly, before closing his eyes. He knew he'd survive the fall, but he felt immense pain knowing that at the moment, he couldn't do anything to protect her from that particular man anymore.