Bell's abyssal black eyes came to rest on Goddess Astraea's face. His hand coming up to hold her chin between his two fingers.
"B-Bell?" Goddess Astraea asked with a spell bound voice, lost in those eyes. His hand tilted her face left, then right. As if inspecting her divine beauty.
As his hand climbed to her cheek with casual movement. Goddess Astraea lost her words. Bell was manhandling her quite easily.
"Hmmm...Barley acceptable." He spoke with an indifferent tone. Without any emotional flux or change.
His musings were interrupted by a cough from Ryuu. Life slipping away from her, as blood was coughed out of her mouth. Her consciousness blurry.
"An elf took a sword for me eh? How romantic." Bell spoke without a change in his expression. His uncaring gaze landing on Ryuu. His hand coming from Goddess Astraea's cheek to rest on Ryuu's sternum.
Whirrrrr.
[Ittou Shura] burned like never before. Devouring his very life without a regard for consequences. His cells died in uncountable numbers. Faster than [Super Regeneration] could recover.
He didn't even flinch as life was wrung out from every inch of his being. A staggering amount of vitality bubbling inside his core.
Yet... Bell did not use this vitality to strengthen himself. Instead he poured this pure vitality into his hand on Ryuu's sternum and forwarded it directly into her from there.
"Ahhhnnnn~" An unconscious moan of relief was released by Ryuu... She wasn't dead physically, but socially, she just undoubtedly died.
.
The pallor on her face was wiped away as pure vitality... Bell's vitality, started healing all of her wounds. He continued, without a stop—to literally pour 'life' into her.
The broken ribs were reconnected. The punctured lung was regenerated. The piercing sword wound on her back was closed up.
She was pulled back from the brink of death.
During this whole process, Bell's face remained calm. Too calm in fact. Like he didn't care about anything.
Only Goddess Astraea... Who was keeping her eyes glued into his eyes caught the slight embers of red deep inside his abyssal eyes.
'He is still our Bell... Even though he seems like another person altogether.'
Ryuu was stable by the time Bell pulled his hand away from her. His vitality being recovered by [Super Regeneration].
ROOOOOAR!
"Hm? A fly seems to be buzzing in my ears... Do you hear it too, Little Sparkle?" Bell spoke with the same apathetic tone. His gaze traveling towards the Irregular Goliath. Now at the borders of Rivira.
Goddess Astraea was bewildered.
"Are you talking to me, child?" Goddess Astraea pointed at herself. Her cheeks heating up at being called 'Little Sparkle'.
"Alright...Little Sparkle. Take care of Little Lion. I'll be back in a moment." He ignored her question and spoke offhandedly as he slid out of her hug and started to walk towards the monster. His shoulders relaxed. His steps unconcerned.
Goddess Astraea bought her hand to her warm cheeks. A starstruck expression on her face.
'Why do I feel a little hot?'
...
..
.
Bell walked towards the Irregular Goliath with casual steps. His right hand coming to rest on his own left shoulder.
A sound of bones creaking resounded from him.
Crack.Crack.
He did not so much as wince as he dislocated his own shoulder joint, and then popped it right back in a single motion.
Crack. Crack.
His right shoulder got the same treatment.
It was not even a decent warm up.
Bell's steps did not pause.
Golden pathways bloomed across his vision. 10. 100. 1000.
Yet...Bell ignored them.
'Do I need a path to victory when the very ground I walk on leads me to victory?'
The dharma wheel materialised above his head. It's spokes spun once.
*Clunk*
[Ittou Rasestu] boomed like a freight train. Colour became an afterthought. Sound became unneeded. Taste became irrelevant. Touch became redundant. Scent became superfluous.
The pressure he released escalated upwards without a regard for anything.
His heart burst apart once again. His expression not even twitching in response.
Though this time, it took a little longer for his heart to burst.
[Super Regeneration] regenerated his heart a moment later in response.
His steps landed. Synchronised with the continuous bursting of his heart. Along with the spin of his wheel.
*Clunk* *Burst*
[Ittou Rasestu] lasted for two breaths.
*Clunk* *Burst*
[Ittou Rasestu] lasted for eight breaths.
*Clunk* *Burst*
[Ittou Rasestu] lasted for thirty two breaths.
*Clunk* *Burst*
[Ittou Rasestu] lasted for one minute.
By the time Bell closed in on the Goliath. He could keep [Ittou Rasestu] active for a whole minute. His heart had adapted countless times to become stronger than before to support it.
Liberator was unsheathed with his right hand. [Grega] following behind. Fire balls starting to revolve behind his back.
...The fireballs behind him slowly broke down to cover the edge of liberator. His strength plunging downwards as all the vitality from [Ittou Rasestu] flooded liberator along with his leftover mana.
Cracks started to appear over liberator due to energy overload. It's radiant light illuminating his surroundings.
He spoke.
His voice tinged with ultimate freedom.
Unbounded by expectations. Beyond duality. Transcending change.
"The bird of Hermes..." His eyes radiated indifference. His left leg dissolving into darkness.
"Is my name." His words continued. The left side of his torso following into darkness too.
"Eating my wings..." The left side of his body was darkness by now. Only his face was left.
"Tomake me tame." His whole left side along with the left half of his face dissolved into darkness. His voice becoming staticky by the end.
All the darkness surged towards the radiant liberator in his right hand. It's radiance was soon drowned under abyssal darkness from beyond this world.
His surroundings were plunged into darkness as liberator now swallowed the surrounding light like a black hole instead of radiating light.
A veil of night fell over the artificial sky of the 18th floor.
"Astra...Vesta...Calibur—Inverse."
Liberator swung. Colour was washed away from existence. An inky black line divided the world in two.
Reality glitched and lagged behind. Only responding after a profound silence.
The dungeon ground split apart like fragile paper.
A chasm had opened, reaching all the way towards the very edge of the floor. Mountains, cliffs and everything in between already vapourised.
As for the Irregular Goliath?
That monster was D-eleted from reality. Exactly like someone had used an eraser to wipe it out of reality. Not even it's magic stone was spared.
[Ittou Rasestu] deactivated forcefully.
Silence spread across Rivira in response. Every person froze. Whether they were running away. Pillaging during the chaos. Or fighting. It felt as if Bell had hit a pause button on everyone.
Unfortunately, no matter how much these adventurers tried. They couldn't get a clear look at Bell's face. For them, his face was glitching like a bugged game.
Bell ignored these ants, his left side coalescing back into being from abyssal darkness. His left hand was unexpectedly caging a miniature black goliath jumping around with hate.
It was the soul of the Irregular Goliath from earlier. He had grabbed it before the dungeon could absorb it back for recycling.
He dismissed the thrashing monster casually and bought it close to his mouth. Gulping the struggling monster down his throat.
[Soul Reap] was activated.
His strength surged back up like a tide.
'3 seconds. Enough.'
1 second.
He aimed his left hand towards the west without even looking. His other hand pulled back to the limit. An arrow of flames loomed in being between his hands. Abyssal darkness blending in between the flames.
2 seconds.
He adjusted his aim. Pointing the arrow 60 degrees towards the sky to his west. The arrow was loosened a moment later.
"Fuga—Inverse."
BOOM! BOOOM! BOOOOM!
Concentric circles rumbled in air as the arrow tore through the speed of sound. Reaching a staggering speed of Mach 7.
7 times the speed of sound. 5,350 mph.
It was a blur to most eyes. Even to high ranking adventurers. By the time people blinked, it was already gone.
3 seconds.
The temporary boost from [Soul Reap] was gone after three seconds.
Meanwhile, every adventurer slowly forgot who killed the Irregular Goliath. Everything about Bell was starting to glitch in their minds. From his face, body, hair and even height—except for those...eyes.
Bell's expression was impassive as he walked back towards Goddess Astraea and Ryuu with a slight limp.
Only his indifferent question was left behind.
"Piggy...Did you think I forgot about you?"
...
..
.
A forest some distance away from Rivira.
Ottar rested on a rock deep inside an unknown forest. [Vana Arganture] deactivating as his boar features receded back.
'Damn...Loki Familia!' He cursed while inspecting his wounds. His back was mangled with sword slashes and claw marks. Ais, Tiona, Tione and Bete were responsible for those.
His right hand had perforations from spear thrusts made by Braver. His left leg charred by magic from Nine Hells.
But it was fine. He too had seriously injured every executive of Loki Familia. And he had even gotten hold of a weakness of one of their executives. Bete.
Who knew attacking that werewolf in his crotch would fold him like a pretzel. He had to tell this to his Familia members later in case they went against the Loki Familia again.
Ottar sniffed the air and looked at a mushroom shaped plant nearby. His expression brightening up considerably.
It was a plant that could be crushed into a salve to heal wounds.
Who knew his luck would finally turn around after having to face defeat again and again.
He quickly crouched near the plant. His buttocks now towards the sky. As he quickly tried to pluck the plant.
But this was the moment...
The temperature in his surroundings skyrocketed.
'Hm? Is it getting too hot around here?' Ottar questioned inwardly with a hint of curiosity.
The boaz curiously turned his head to look back over his shoulder. His buttocks still facing the sky.
His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He had no idea. Oh...He had no idea what was coming.
An arrow made up of flames intertwined with abyssal darkness was coming down from the sky...heading straight for his buttocks.
This was the moment he understood. He was fucked.
'Oh Shi—'
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH—"
Rip Ottar.