DANMACHI: The Silence's Heir (OC x Freya)

Chapter 7

BELL CRANEL

Bell Cranel was an adventurer, one who wished to be a hero. That was his dream, a dream instilled into him by his grandfather, who had beguiled him with tales of heroes and their awesome victories ever since his childhood.

A hero always stands for what is right, cares for his friends and family, and does the right thing. Most of all, a hero never backed away from a challenge. And yet here he was doing just that as he ran through the streets of Orario with his Goddess in his arms, and a monster chased after them.

BOOOM!

As a hero, he could not let a girl in his arms die, for that was what it meant to be a hero. Yet he was powerless as the silverback raced after him, crashing into buildings and destroying them as Bell rushed and jumped.

"Look out!" the Goddess screamed as Bell saw that the monster had thrown a massive rock at them, and he jumped forward.

"Hestia-sama," and yet the force from the explosion was enough to send him tumbling forward. He was weak, and hated being weak.

"ARGH!" he grunted in pain as his goddess's body slipped from his arms, and they both rolled on the ground. If only he was stronger, he thought, as he tried to think of a way out of this situation.

His mind raced back to the time he had been cornered by that minotaur, and he thought of his own helplessness and the blonde goddess who had saved him and his fits balled up at his lack of strength, at his uselessness.

'No' he could not wait for someone to save him. What kind of a hero does that?

"Bell! Bell!" the Goddess approached him as she shook him. And he fought through the pain as he struggled to his feet, knowing that even if he could not defeat the beast, the least he could do was save his goddess.

And so, he scanned the surroundings and found what he was looking for as a plan formed in his mind.

"ROARRRR!" the silverback raged behind him as it raised his arms, trying to crush them both as Bell pushed his legs.

"Goddess Hestia!" he screamed as he pushed them both forward, tumbling onto the ground as the monster crushed the street behind him.

BOOM!

"Here with me," he rose back to his feet and rushed towards the small alleyway as the Goddess followed behind him. The Silverback raged, his vision obscured by the dust cloud, allowing them enough time to enter the alleyway.

Slowly, he let go of her hand, and she ran forward his feet stopping at the gate as he saw her vanishing back as a sense of ease enveloped his heart. At least he would not lose her. At least he would be a hero to her.

"Just straight down that path. It will help lead you to the city center," and he closed the small door, only for Hestia-sama to notice afterward as she turned back towards him wide-eyed and pale-faced.

"Bell-kun," she gasped as she rushed back as his fists balled.

"What are you doing, Bell-kun?" she raged as the metal frame of the door clacked as she pulled on it.

"I cannot defeat the monster yet. I am not strong enough," he admitted to his weakness, and it cut him hard to realize his weakness twice over in such a short time.

"I cannot let you die. So, please, I will lead the monster away and occupy its attention for as long as possible. In that time, you need to get away," he said as he smiled at her. The Goddess's lips parted in a gasp as he turned away from her, not able to stand the expression of betrayal on her face.

He had to do this. He had to. For this was a hero's calling. This was his calling.

"Bell-kun! Come back here, Bell-kun!" she screamed as he took out the dagger from his back pocket and saw the monster's attention turn towards him.

"Come," he screamed as he rushed towards the massive beast, as it raged and tried to punch at him, he replied on his dexterity slipping under its legs as he tried to cut at its legs.

CLANK!

Yet, he was not powerful enough to do anything. His dagger simply slid off of its thick skin, leaving behind but a shallow gnash that did little to slow down the beast. Yet with that, its attention turned towards him from Hestia-sama, and that was all he wanted. The monster swung its arm towards him as he twisted his body to the right.

BANG!

It went past his face as he began to run. The giant white fur monkey made to follow him, leaving craters in its way as he tried to keep its attention turned towards itself.

"AHHHH!" he screamed as one of the monster's attacks connected, sending him tumbling to the ground and pain seared through his whole body as blood began to drip down his face and felt his vision turn scarlet.

Blood, he noticed as he saw his hand and tried to struggle back to his feet, knowing that he had nowhere else to run as the beast trapped him in this dead end.

So, with the fear and determination dulling his pain Bell Cranel pushed himself beyond his limits as he gripped his dagger tight and looked the minster in the eye, as he screamed once more.

"Come at me, you beast!" he snarled as he rushed forward, not ready to give up just yet, for he knew that every second he bought for his Goddess mattered.

And as he slid past the monster's punch, he tried to aim, a swing at its knee once more, yet before he could do anything, a metallic chain around his gauntlet rushed towards him, giving him no time to react as he could only raise his hands to block the blow.

"ARGH!" he screamed in pain as he was sent tumbling back, every bone in his body screaming in agony. His head spun, and as he lay there as the monster walked towards him, he heard an all too familiar voice.

"BELL-KUN!" in that moment, he thought of all those stories about the hero hearing their loved one's voice at the end were true then, and yet the voice felt real—so real that as he turned his head to the side he saw her.

Even with his blurred vision he was able to recognise her, as she raced towards her and his heart gave out at the sight.

Sitting there behind a wall, her clothes ripped at places and those two bells tied around her ponytails, and his heart sunk.

"Goddess!" he gasped, weakly realizing that all his efforts were for naught.

"You weren't supposed to come back," he screamed, and even as the monster's attention turned towards her as she ran towards him and smiled warmly at him.

"How could I ever leave a child of mine behind," she added with a warm smile as she rushed towards him, uncaring about the attack rushing toward her and in that moment, he fought through the pain as he pushed himself up and jumped.

"AGHHH!" he pushed them both out of the attack bath as they rolled down the staircase leading down the alley. The path leading upto it was too small for the beast to follow, with the barricade covering for them.

And as he looked into her eyes, she chuckled lightly.

"Heehee, I told you, didn't I, Bell-kun? I will never leave you," she added softly as she wrapped his arms around her. And his heart melted at those words. And yet, what could he do? He was not powerful enough to protect her.

"Why did you return, Goddess Hestia? Why!" he screamed as she smiled.

"The monster is clearly after you! Why did you return and put yourself in danger like this," he reasoned, recalling the beast's fixation on her. Right now, he was too tired and exhausted to think about the reason for such a thing.

"Because I promised someone that I would never abandon a child of my own. So, Bell-kun, you are going to have to defeat this monster on your own," she spoke cheerily even as his heart gave out. He looked to the ground in embarrassment, and the ground shook, telling him of the monster's approach.

"But I can't...I am not powerful enough," he admitted quietly as the Goddess hit him on his head.

"My attacks aren't enough to strongly scratch its armor," he screamed as he showed her his broken dagger, his eyes rooted to the ground in embarrassment at his failure.

"Ouch! Why are you acting so down, Bell-kun? Aren't you the same adventure who looks up to that Wallenstein girl?" A part of him wanted to laugh at that, at his own lackluster abilities.

"But..."

"I brought you something," with that. He saw her untie the satchel on her back as she took something out of it. A dagger he recognized as she presented it to her, and even without touching it, he could tell that it was the finest blade he had ever laid eyes on.

"This..."

"This is yours...No, our blade," she began as he smiled at him.

"I call it Hestia Knife, and this will help us win the battle against this beast," she added confidently. Seeing her belief in him, he perked up as he looked into her eyes. There was no doubt in her eye as she added.

"But how?"

"With that knife, you are going to defeat the monster. And to help you, I will update your status right here."

0000

GODDESS LOKI

Her little tirade with Loki had been more fruitful than she had thought, confirming her suspicion that the Goddess of beauty was upto something sinister. This meeting had been more of a courtesy call, one to warn and inform her that the matter did not concern her or her familia and that she should stay away.

Like hell she would!

She was the Goddess of trickery and adventure! How would she miss out on something so fun?

"Now I can finally enjoy my little date with Aiz-tan!" she screamed happily as she followed the blonde to the festival, mesmerized by all the stalls that had propped up, though, for some reason, her precious Aiz-tan seemed rather distracted.

"Are you fine, Aiz-tan?" she asked, bumping closer to her.

"Do you need a little cheering up?" she asked. She gave her a lecherous smile, and the blonde looked around.

"No, I am fine," so she wrapped her arm around her waist.

"Then let's go and eat some jagamaru," and she pushed her to the stall, knowing that the girl had been rather troubled in recent times, so they began to dive into the stalls as she thought about the competition.

"Ais-tan, don't you find this whole festival rather strange?" she suddenly asked the girl as they moved through the crowd, sampling stall after stall.

"The guild just thrust it upon us one day, and now we have a day celebrating monsters. It is rather intriguing if one thinks about it," and she could smell a plot brewing in the background, the only thing was that she was rather oblivious to what it was.

"It is," the blonde replied stiffly, her own hatred of monsters was almost visceral, as she remembered a little girl cutting through hordes and hordes of monsters single-handedly, with a vacant expression.

The Ais of today was much better than that of you, girl, yet the darkness still remained buried deep in her, rearing its ugly head time after time.

"It is as if the guild....."

BOOM!

But her conjecture was cut short as she saw several explosions rock the ground, and immediately the blond was beside her as people began to panic and rush away as the ground shook.

"What is going on?" she asked, seeing smoke rising from several buildings. Aiz narrowed her eyes. Unlike Loki, who had the abilities of a normal human being, Aiz was an adventurer, a first-class one, and had superhuman abilities.

"It's monsters," she replied, perking up at that.

"Aiz," she ordered, and thankfully, the blonde had come armed, as she saw a monster rushing towards them, as Aiz took out her sword and got into her stance.

"Tempest," and with that, she blurred as she cut through the beast in a single swing.

"We need to find the rest of our familia. They must be here, but they are all unarmed," Ais said as Loki nodded, quietly taking out a messaging item, as she sent a message to her kid Raul who was back at the familia headquarters.

And then she saw several more monsters appear, as Aiz perked up.

"Watch out, Loki-sama," she blurred as the monsters were cut with a few swings of her blade before suddenly her eyes narrowed.

"There!" she said as she pointed straight ahead. There, she saw a few other of her children fighting what seemed to be plant-based creatures.

The children facing it were Tione, Tiona, and Leyfia. Though not the strongest, they were still first-class adventurers, and yet they struggled heavily against the monster.

"I need to help them," Ais said, and she nodded.

"Go," she said as she slid into a corridor, mind racing to imagine just who was behind this and what their intention was.

Was this Freya's doing? But she had told her that her familia would not be involved.

Had she lied? Or was there something else at work? She watched as the two plant-like monsters swung away at Tione and Tione, sending them flying as Aiz rushed towards them.

"Aeriel!" Aiz cast as the winds carried her towards them as she swung her blade, and yet, to her surprise, the blade cracked as the monster swung at Ais.

BOOOM!

Ais was sent tumbling into the wall as the monster raged.

"Ais-san!" Leyfia, the little elf, screamed in worry. The idiot girl watched as her chant broke, and the two of its branches erupted from the ground, ready to skewer the little blonde elf.

"Nooo!" and for all her trickery and fooling, Loki loved her children. All of them, and as she saw Leyfia about to be attacked, she screamed out, and yet just as the tentacles were about to pierce her skin, she heard it. A whisper.

"Astaraxis!" and she watched as a slightly greyish silvery hue overcame Leyfia who was caught by surprise as Loki stilled.

"That magic..." she gasped out as a cloaked figure appeared on the rooftop behind Leyfia before another whisper reached her ears.

"O Mother, Grant me strength! Limit off!" She recognized that chant, now confirming her suspicion from earlier. A silver hue enveloped the newcomer as it blurred and appeared right above the two monsters, who had now turned their attention towards them.

"Gospel!" they whispered, and a massive explosion rocked the area, sending debris flying everywhere as she saw Raul approach her.

"Loki-sama! You asked for this," he said, handing her Ais's main weapon. She nodded, and as the debris cleared, all that remained of the monsters was their magic stones, with no trace of the cloaked figure.

She jumped out and watched as a wide-eyed Leyfia looked around in awe as Ais walked forward, her own eyes searching all around.

"That magic," she gasped as she looked at her, and Loki nodded.

"Indeed, it was him," she agreed as Tione and Tione joined in.

"This was him," they joined in.

"Ais," she threw the sword towards her, and the blonde caught it.

"I am going after him," she said, jumping away. Loki followed, surprised to see where this was going, as Leyfia screamed.

"Just who was that?"Leyfia asked in awe. She would learn soon enough all of Orario would.

As Loki made to follow after Ais, she saw her jump into Daedalus Street, rounding off on a corner where a white-haired kid was facing a silverback. A different white-haired kid.

"Go, Bell-kun!" she heard a cheer and looked around. She saw Hestia sitting behind a few boxes, cheering on her child as he tried to fight the Silverback.

"ROARRR!" and as the boy made to end the battle with a decisive strike, the beast swung away its arm, crashing buildings all around, sending them crashing onto Hestia.

"Ais," she commanded, but the blonde did not move, for she did not have to as the white-haired child rushed towards Hestia.

"Goddess!" he screamed but he was too slow, and yet then she saw it. Saw him again. Jumping down from the roof as he muttered the chant.

"Gospel!" and all the debris falling down towards Hestia was blown away as the cloaked figure stepped forward, putting himself between Hestia's white-haired child and the Silverback, and as the beast jumped towards him, he did not shift, opening his mouth once again.

"Gospel!"

BOOOM!

And the beast was decimated infront of her eye, and though Silverback was not a strong monster, it was not a monster to be underestimated. And yet this stranger had defeated it with a single short chant magic.

Though he was no stranger. No, he was Orario's greatest pride and its greatest shame.

A relic from old times. A cursed child in ways more than one.

And as the monster vanished into thin air, Ais stepped forward, hand on her blade as a gust of wind made the hood of the stranger fall back to reveal those ominous grey hair of his, one he had inherited from his mother—Orario's greatest traitor, Alfia the Silence.

"It really is you," Ais spoke up as she walked forward, and the boy smiled at the blonde, who was rather stiff. For once upon a time, the boy infront of her had been her anchor to the world, her light in a world a young Ais thought to be full of darkness.

"It has been quite some time, Ais," he spoke softly. He gave the blonde a smile, and she decided it was time to jump in.

"Hello there Inumaki-kun. Long time no see," she greeted him as she waved at him, and a scream rocked the entire area.

"Hestiaaa-sama!"

0000

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