Danmachi: the Great Devourer

C38: Elsos Ruins, Antares & Artemis

Word count = 1140 on 2/16/2024

Not having much motivation at the moment. Struggling to just get 1k per chapter right now. School is killing me. But it's my last set of classes which should open up everything after that unless I get super hired but I doubt it.

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"Anav is out and about. Here, this whistle will let you call them but it might take a while for him to reach you and also be prepared for a monster horde to come after you. It's recommended for you to run a certain direction while blowing the whistle, it would let Anav hear which way he should go to meet up with you. Stop blowing after a while to stop attracting more scorpions to you." the leading woman explains how the whistle should be used before she says.

"And above all else don't let Anav get hurt. He is the eldest and best of the 7 Uchchaihshravas. He is almost the most loved by Ganesha. Speed surpassing a level 4 adventurer who is focused on agility with a thick hide to boot. Anav means to be humble or modest but Anav is the pinnacle of pride. It's a guess whether he will let you even ride him."

"Sounds cool though how many level 4 adventurers are there in the Ganesha familia to showcase such a speed?" Axel lightly asks which earns him the hostility of all members here, not that he really minds. He will have to see for himself.

Axel pays them no mind and rests up for his allotted time. He knows that with how many monsters there are about, it would not be long before they are found. While he and Kyrene are resting, the rest are packing up the essentials. During this moment, Kyrene looks over at Axel, gets up and bows to him.

"I apologize for my rudeness, I was still in a belligerent state at the potential situation where my goddess was still alive. I am unsure of how this could be the case but I wanted to thank you for saving me." She clarifies the reason for her outburst before when they had 'unofficially' met.

Axel waves his hand side to side casually, "It's alright, i'd be in a similar state even though my experience is far lesser than yours so my reaction could have been worse if I had seen what you had but substituted with my own friends and family." He states rationally which causes Kyrene to nod solemnly.

The final bit of time passes by as Axel gets up as his rest time is over, Kyrene also gets up. She draws her personal sword, a gladius but she still has her bow, the spear and another sword on her back which are wrapped up in cloth. Axel double checks his gear once more as they both go to meet up with the rest of the Ganesha people.

The plan is for them to open the door, Axel gets out and sweeps the surroundings for the rest to exit and begin making their way from the forest. Once they are gone, they would close the hatch again and cover it with the debris before making their way to the core of the forest which holds the ruins.

As such they start, Axel takes out 6 scorpions which release their deathly howls while the Ganesha people make a run for it. Axel tells Kyrene to keep a distance and support with her bow, granted she only has a limited number of arrows that she got from the safe house just now.

Her arrows strike true but her sword trembles when held as she confronts the sizable scorpions. The extra black tendrils don't help either when she is dealing the stinger and pincer. After a half hour of fighting, no more scorpions show up and thus the duo head deeper into the forest. Finally reaching the ruins after a long walk there and stalled by another 3 groups of monsters.

Axel is enjoying the fight as he is growing rapidly in strength. He has already reached the upper requirements for higher quality adventurers and anything from now is just icing on the cake.

Upon entering the ruins themselves, they find it barren except for a tunnel which leads deep underground. The duo head inside when they suddenly hear it. A magnificent roar is heard from within the depths of the cave and Kyrene shakes in fear as Axel sets his hand on her shoulder.

"Let's go" Axel says and Kyrene nods in trepidation as she follows along.

They fight a few smaller groups of enemies before they arrive at a semi empty clearing. A group of scorpions are striking at part of a cracked wall for an unknown reason. There is also the various splashes of blood scattered around likely from all the huntresses that had fallen here

Kyrene is slightly shaking as she looks around. "Where is it? Where are Antares and Lady Artemis?"

"Antares? Is that what the creature is called? Interesting, I hope it's strong"

"Your crazy"

"Correct" Axel nonchalantly agrees as he tells her to go up to the nearby cliffside and rain down arrows as support while he clears up the scorpions here. Once that is done, he finds that the crack in the wall is somewhat slender but enough for a human to get inside.

Axel would struggle to get inside as he has bulked up during the journey here, even though he rested not too long ago. As such, he knocks on the wall whilst saying "hellooooo".

A spark is lit from within, revealing a small campfire and a badly wounded female figure. Her body is dirty all over with broken weapons surrounding her.

Axel makes minor eye contact with her and asks, "Are you by any chance Artemis?"

"Who… are…. you?" she barely udders before collapsing. Axel turns around and waves Kyrene over. "Jump"

"What?"

"Ill catch you. Hurry up and jump"

"AGH" She cant deny his logic and is suspicious of the hurriedness in his voice especially after he just mentioned Artemis' name. As such, she jumps down and he quickly catches her before pretty much tossing her into the crack of the wall. She fluidly lands inside but not before letting out a surprise yelp before she lands before the collapsed figure inside.

BOOM

Just a bit ways off, from much higher up, a Giant Rex sized beast of a scorpion descends. There is a single central eye on its head. It has 6 tendrils sticking out of it's back along with 2 giant pincers bigger than Axels entire body.

Axel takes off his backpack and tosses it through the hole as well, landing on the huntress. "Ugh"

"Pretty cute, You must be Antares" Axel sarcastically says.