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Leave it to your next Life
🕑 Added 2022-08-25 01:00:10 +0000 UTC.
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/Somewhere on the 19th floor…/
'Inside a lit cave, several people could be seen working.'
'Some were sharpening their weapons and checking their armor, some resting, and a few others were keeping an eye on a bunch of metal cages.'
'Inside those metal cages were monsters of all shapes and sizes... Albeit those, different from the other monsters found in the Dungeon, remained silent, observing their captors with eyes filled with wisdom.'
'It was clear what they were, who they were...'
'In the middle of the cavern was a large table with a map on top, it was the layout for the 19th floor, not all of it though instead, only a smaller section of it was drawn.'
'But thanks to it being smaller, the map was filled with details to a scary degree.'
"Hum..."
'In front of the table was a man wearing a pair of aviator goggles, reading the map time and time again, thinking…'
'Everything looked rather peaceful, but that was only an illusion as the atmosphere was like a pressure pot, ready to burst at any moment.'
"Dix, I don't want to question your decision, but are you sure this is the right call?" Asked a woman as she approached the man next to the table
"Shouldn't we... Ditch out while we still can?"
"This again? How many times will you babble your mouth about my decisions?"
'The woman didn't seem convinced.'
"Look, I won't repeat myself after this time." He said, annoyed
'He pointed at the map and started saying:'
"We've been tailing them for close to half a day now, not only that, we realized their intentions from the very start."
"This gave us enough time to prepare all of this, all for the sake of striking gold."
"We gathered materials and equipment, building an excellent trap."
"As long as ya sorry asses do your job properly, we'll finish this in the blink of an eye and retreat safely, together with a fat room worth of gold."
"If things go well, we'll immediately depart once again and capture the remainder of these monsters."
"So go back to your position, and wait for the signal, last thing we want is you being slow."
'The woman was slightly frustrated, but she ended up doing what he said.'
'This wasn't the first time she had clashed with Dix over his choices, for years their relationship had been like that…'
'And 95% of the time, Dix's plans would succeed, would it be any different this time?'
/Thud…/
"Hm?"
This noise…
'Suddenly, Dix turned his head to the entrance of the room.'
'From his angle, he couldn't see the outside since the cavern curved, but he could hear everything very well, so much so he could hear the rustling of the leaves of the forest outside.'
'But this noise was unnatural, he knew there were 4 people stationed outside, 2 to protect the entrance, and 2 to observe the surroundings and alert them in case they saw any intruders…'
'Including adventurers, all eye witnesses had to be cleared out.'
Tsk, those sons of bitches, I told them not to make any sound, are they fucking with me…?
/Sniff!/
'Then it came to him, the strong smell of iron…'
'Blood, fresh blood.'
"ALERT! INTRUDER!" He said out loud as he jumped behind
/CRACK!/
'Out of nowhere, a pair of gray claws swiped in the position he had once been, cutting the table and the chair into pieces, ripping the map into thin stripes.'
/Grrr…/
'Gros growled as he missed, jumping after his enemy, not giving him the chance to grab a weapon…'
"FUCK OFF!" Dix exclaimed as he kicked Gros aside, their difference in Status made it really simple for him to do such a thing
/FWOOSH!/
'But from the side, a sword was swung, cutting the air with the intent to end Dix life!'
'It was Lyd, striking from the shadows with precision.'
/CLANG!/
"URG!"
'From behind Dix, the woman who had just discussed with him appeared, blocking Lyd's strike and saving his life, or at least, saving him from a serious injury.'
'But it wasn't for free, she was sent flying, smashing her back against the cavern walls, not getting up after as blood trickled down from her forehead.'
'Yet, this was enough time, with his Level 5 status, Dix had enough time to rush to the backlines and grab his spear.'
(Image?)
/ROAR!/
"What?!" Dix exclaimed suddenly
'It was then that he had time to process the situation, thinking quickly.'
'All around him were several monsters, at least 10, clashing and slashing against his Familia members.'
'As he thought, more and more fell to their surprise attack.'
'Armored monsters, equipped with the highest quality equipment and extremely coordinated…'
'They came out of nowhere, like smoke…'
'In the blink of an eye, around half of his forces were neutralized, this wasn't good!'
Where did they come from?!
The Scouts didn't report a thing… Meaning… They were taken out before they could so.
So that was what happened… The entrance team was eliminated in the blink of an eye…
But how did they do so in complete silence?! We had the territorial advantage!
'Dix didn't have anymore time to think as Lyd and Gros rushed to his position.'
"PLAN B! Everyone! Re-group!" Dix exclaimed as his vision sharpened
'He jumped back, grabbing a small box, pulling a small string and throwing it forward…'
/FLASH!/
'As the box opened, several small vials filled with yellow powder were released into the open...'
'In the middle of those bottles was a small bomb, exploding quickly and igniting all of the bottles' contents at once!'
'It was a flashbang tool! Blinding the 'monsters' and giving everyone else the chance to group up.'
"Prepare the Items! Proceed with the plan!" He exclaimed to the people around him
Tsk, we lost the lead, if this keeps up, much less capturing them, I'll end up dead.
But it isn't too late, the plan stands.
They came here for their friends, but even if they save them, they won't be able to join the fight since I cut all of their tendons, they're as good as sitting ducks.
No, this may even weaken them as they'll have to focus on protecting them.
I need time…
'Dix looked around, immediately recognizing Gros and Lyd to be the strongest out of the 11 monsters attacking them.'
I have to do this…
'He raised his right hand, pointing it towards the Xenos…'
"~Become lost in an endless nightmare~"
"~Phobetor Daedalus!~" He chanted loudly
/SHUN!/
'A red wave with him in the center burst out into the surroundings.'
'It passed through all of the Xenos, making their eyes turn red and…'
/CLANG!/
'They started to fight each other, incapable of determining friend from foe!'
'This was Dix's unique Magic… Or better put, Curse.'
'A curse that bewitches and confuses the opponent.'
'Upon casting, a red wave of light travels across the area, affecting everything it touches. And when used on a limited number of people, Dix could modify the effects like how each individual would react to his confusion…'
(Credits to the Wiki)
'But like any curse, it comes with a severe drawback.'
'While the Curse is active, it drains his Stats to the point he goes back into being Level 4, the more people he affects, the greater the drawback.'
'Right now, Dix had lost an entire Level without a doubt...'
"We're ready!" Said a man from behind Dix
'It was a bald man with a skull on his left hand, and a massive sword on his right one.'
'Dix smiled eerily, saying:'
"Good, now…" Dix said as he turned around
/FWOOSH!/
"?!"
'From behind Dix, a black afterimage cut his arm off!'
'Time seamed to stop, his arm that held his spear was now flying in the air, blood moving beautifully like a wave...'
'Not everyone reacted to this, it was too fast... But it didn't take long for some of the stronger ones to see they had an intruder among them...'
"I missed." Silver said in a low tone as he grabbed Dix's spear
No matter, the plan continues as per normal.
"TAKE HIM OUT!" Gran exclaimed as he crushed the black skull, activating the curse within it
'Silver suddenly felt his body grow heavier, extremely so, as if he was on mud... This wasn't good, he had been cursed!'
'Before his companions could react, and before he was bombarded with a dozen curses, Silver lifted his two arms and opened them in opposite directions.'
"I'm not your opponent." He said quickly
'This created an extreme force, sending everyone into the air as they couldn't remain in the ground anymore.'
'Several curse items were flung into the skies, but Silver caught each of them.'
'The strongest after Dix, the bald man with the giant sword tried to attack him, but he easily deflected the blow away.'
"WHAT?!" The bald man exclaimed as he flew away
The Curse didn't work?
No matter, I need to stick with the plan... Eliminate this nuisance and re-group while activating as many Curses as I can.
"Commencing part 2." Silver mumbled to himself as he took a step back
'While everyone flew around, he raised his right hand, pushing Dix and making him fall right between Lyd and Gros…'
'There was no need to comment further on what happened…'
'With his Status decreased to that of a Level 4, and being in the middle of two berserking Level 5 monsters, Dix's fate seemed to be sealed in place...'
"DAMMIT!" He exclaimed while in the air
My arm... My Goddamn arm!
'His eyes fell onto Silver, who was now turning his head to face Gran... And he immediately understood the predicament he was in, and why his plan had failed so miserably.'
'The moment he fell on the ground, he rolled skillfully and evaded the sword swipe from Lyd, being grazed on the shoulder as his blood splattered around.'
/ROAR!/
'From the side, Gros came in, swiping his claws at him…'
Now!
'But he took this chance to evade once more, taking the fact they were berserk to make them fight each other again.'
'Once he rolled away, he immediately realized that there was only one way to survive this, and that was by deactivating his magic.'
'Doing so would make him recover his status, and maybe give him enough time to regroup, but it would also make the monsters recover their bearings.'
'Right now, most of his teammates were still alive, being either incapacitated or occupied, he just needed to give them an opportunity to re-group again...'
'By deactivating his Magic, this would cause a sudden wave of mental pain on the monsters, and that would be enough... It had to be.'
'As long as he could make use of those items in that short window of time, he would be able to decrease their fighting power severely and give himself and his companions enough time to counter-attack…'
"Get ready!" He screamed
/Snap!/
'Dix deactivated his magic, making all of the Berserk Xenos stop, making them clench their heads in pain.'
'His companions used this opportunity to kick their foes away and rush together once more...'
'Some were greedier, trying to actually deal a fatal wound onto their opponent, without caring if that would kill them or not.'
'Right now, they were more focused on surviving rather than on profiting out of this situation.'
'And just like them, using this opportunity, Dix rushed to the backlines, hoping on turning the situation around…'
"?!"
'Dix suddenly became slower, he didn't feel weaker, but why was he so much slower than before?'
My speed?...
NO!
'It was then that he realized he'd been had.'
'In front of him was Silver, holding a magic catalyst in the form of a Staff, pointing it to him.'
'It was a curse item, one with the ability to decrease someone else's fighting power drastically.'
'Now, even though Dix had successfully recovered his strength to Level 5, it was once again sent back to Level 4…'
'Although not as severe as before, it was still a massive decrease, Dix felt as if his strength had returned to the day he became Level 5…'
/CLANG!/
'With his mission completed, Silver smiled as he blocked the charge of the bald guy.'
"Son of a bitch!" Gran screamed as he swung his Greatsword down
"Spare me the talk, you won't be getting anywhere with it." Silver said in a low tone
'He pushed the massive sword aside, but he found it to be extremely heavy, the Curse was taking its toll on him...'
"Hehe... Looks like it did work, I got all worked up for nothing." Gran said with a thin, dumb smile
'Gran wasn't the brightest of people, he was strong and that's it, and also, he was very good at following orders.'
"Man... Did your mother drop you when you were small or something? You talk dumb." Silver replied with a frown
"ARGG! AHHH!" Gran exclaimed as he kicked forward
/THUD!/
'But Silver easily pushed his leg aside while he threw his weapon into the sky.'
'He grabbed his foot with his right hand and pushed down his knee with his left one.'
/CRACK!/
"AHHHHHH!" Gran screamed painfully as his leg bent
'He fell on the ground, clutching onto his waist.'
'But he quickly opened his eyes, slashing with his sword in a last ditch attempt…'
/CLANG!/
'Yet Silver once again blocked it, this time, without even touching it.'
'His hand glowed slightly purple as his finger bent in the air, grasping onto something…'
'But this caused his sword to come to a complete halt as if it had hit solid iron…'
/Pull!/
'Silver pulled the sword out of his hand and let it rest in the air above his own head.'
"Don't… Don't come any closer your fucking monster!" Gran screamed yet again with eyes full of fear
What is this guy?!
"You'll be coming with me alive…" Silver said unemotionally
/SMACK!/
'He kicked his face, sending him to sleep… With a few teeth less.'
"Are they done?" He asked himself as he turned to the side
'He saw a battlefield full of blood, several bodies on the ground, none of which were from the Xenos...'
'Dix was currently in a pinch, he had tried to rush to Silver, but was intercepted by Gros, while the other members of the Ikelos Familia quickly found out that all of the curse items had been moved somewhere else.'
'Obviously, this was done by Silver.'
'Realization quickly fell and they realized things were extremely dire...'
"Hm?"
'He saw an Amazon sitting on the ground, holding her knees in fear, she was trying to hide behind some boxes, trying to keep quiet, hoping everything would end…'
'The moment she saw Silver, her eyes trembled in fear as she started moving backward.'
'This revealed a small trail of blood, she was hurt, but it wasn't enough to kill her.'
'Seeing that things were slowly being settled, he approached her.'
"No… No… Don't… Stay away…" She said weakly
'But Silver said nothing, he approached her step by step…'
'His Halberd, Gran's Greatsword, and Dix's Curse spear followed him in the air… A dire remainder of her fate.'
'Inside her head, she thought for a moment, which one of those would be the weapon to end her life?...'
'She clutched onto her stomach, pain filling her body each time her heart beat…'
"... Close your eyes, that is the least I can do for you." Silver said as he stopped in front of her
"P-P-Pitying me now?... F-F-Fucking hypocrite." She blurted out as blood seeped from her teeth
"Pity huh... Perhaps so."
"I hope that the Gods have mercy on you, so in your next life, you may grow onto the thing you desired the most." Silver replied coldly
"You... COUGH... Son of a bitch working with monsters…"
"How do you feel? Killing your own kind to help some B-Beasts?! TRAITOR!" She exclaimed in a high pitch
"..."
'Silver did not reply, he raised his finger and pointed it at her…'
'It slowly glowed purple, and a black nail started to form in front of it.'.
I cannot judge her simply based on where she stands, I don't know her reasons, much less her condition, saying she is deserving of this fate would be, just like she said, Hypocrisy.
Even so, what would be her end if left alive? Tortore? Perhaps if she's lucky, a life of imprisonment?
I don't know how lenient Ouranos is, perhaps, once he investigates her and finds her to be relatively clean, she'll be left aside after a few years in jail for the crimes of being part of an Illegal Familia.
Giving her a quick death is probably the most merciful thing I can do...
But… Should I give her this chance?
Despite everything I've said so far, there is a big risk with this operation…
The Guild finding out about Knossos way earlier than they should, especially when they aren't prepared to face it... When I'm not ready to do so.
As I said before, I'm not bothered by the changes in the timeline, my actions here are already shaking it up completely…
Xenos that should be dead will remain alive, these people... The people that are currently helping Evilus by raising funds will die or be apprehended…
Their plans will change regardless of what I do now, it was already too late the moment I got in contact with the Xenos, perhaps even earlier.
But Evilus isn't some weak faction, they never were.
Everyone thinks they're dead, or at most, fragmented, a shard of what they once were.
But if they're thrown into the light again, who knows what they'll push forward?
Originally, they almost wiped out the Loki Familia on more than one occasion…
I'm not ready to face them, and right now, I've got a lot of people to look after…
Should I just… Have them die here and bury this matter? Leaving it to the future?
Or should I just let things roll? I can't predict their movements, so should I leave it to the Guild?
'When he thought of this, his finger that was previously pointed towards her chest turned to her head.'
'She trembled, recoiling in fear...'
"Ah… I see it now… Y-Y-You were never Human, to begin with… Monstrous bastard." The Amazon said as a small tear came out from the corner of her eye
/FWOOSH!/
/Splurge!/
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Notes
