1st floor of the dungeon.
Bell walked out of the first floor of the dungeon. Goddess Astraea and Ryuu over his shoulders. The abyssal black in his eyes lessening.
Before he took his last steps out of the dungeon. The shadow beneath his feet turned abyssal dark and expanded to cover the ceiling, ground and walls of the floor. All souls of the monsters behind were submerged inside. Caged within to be used for [Soul Reap] later.
18 seconds.
[Ittou Rasestu] blazed beneath his skin. Cracks across his skin refusing to heal despite [Super Regeneration] working tirelessly.
Golden pathways unfurled across his awareness. Cutting through different directions and actions to point towards the most optimal path.
...He took a single step in response. Every golden path went wild. Flickering like broken street lights. All collapsing inwards a moment later.
[Instinct (A)] was for humans. And right now, he was an...
Asura.
17 seconds.
Orario.
A black blur of pure speed cut across the streets. Bypassing super sonic spectrum to reach into the domain of hyper sonic speed.
His surroundings became an afterthought as he transversed across half of Orario in a moment. Reaching his home a second later.
Bell did not wait as he gently put down both Goddess Astraea and Ryuu on adjacent sofas at his home. All the while hearing snoring sounds of Goddess Hestia from upstairs.
.
He was gone from there a moment later... To hunt.
...
..
.
15 seconds.
[Grega] scorched to life. Two fire balls materialising behind him as he continued on his way towards Fólkvangr at hyper sonic speeds. The abyssal black in his eyes getting paler by the second.
The two fireballs behind him floated down to his hands by the time he reached the base of Freya Familia.
Flames ignited ablaze across his palms a moment later. Yet... Bell's expression remained impassive. His eyes holding the same indifferent sheen even as his pain receptors went haywire.
He walked through the main gates of Fólkvangr. The guards at the entrance felt their minds glitch the moment he passed by. His features bugging in their minds. His existence forgotten a moment later.
His steps took him deeper inside. Walking straight through Familia members, guards and staff of the Freya Familia.
Glitching. Unrecognised. Forgotten.
13 seconds.
...Bell took a indifferent glance at his trembling wheel mid walk.
*Clunk*
He was not disappointed.
His burned fist muscles adapted and were rewoven into a more complex structure. The mixture of elements in his muscle fibers aligning in a miraculous ratio to become resistant to burns.
Bell's fists still burned. But the intensity of burns and cell damage was decreasing at a monstrous rate.
...This was adaptation.
At the very peak of this path... No new attack would ever work on him more than once.
The wheel was polishing him towards becoming a perfect being.
One step at a time.
...
..
.
10 seconds.
Bell walked towards the biggest room in Fólkvangr. A blonde haired elf was standing guard at it's doors.
Hedin Selland.
A Level 6 adventurer.
His steps refused to stop. His dark shadow expanding to isolate the whole area.
In the meantime, he pulled his burning fist all the way back. His mana recklessly flooding into [Grega] burning his hands. The temperature in his surroundings roaring to a boil. His newly adapted muscles melting under the terrifying temperature.
Bell ignored the crying of his body. His blazing, half melted fist heading straight for Hedin's temple.
Yet... Hedin was a genuine Level 6 adventurer. Even though Bell glitched inside his memory and was forgotten by him in moments. The elf could still feel the temperature in his surroundings rising. Along with his acute sense of danger ringing warning blares inside his mind.
Bell's fist was halfway to Hedin's temple when the elf moved. His head sliding back to avoid the danger while simultaneously thrusting the rhomphaia in his hand towards the general direction of the threat.
5 seconds.
Time slowed down. His abyssal black eyes didn't flinch as Hedin's rhomphaia headed for his left lung. While his own punch was about to miss the elf's temple.
A fire ball of [Grega] boomed to life behind the shoulder of his arm mid punch. Exploding against his skin a moment later, giving his punch extra momentum and reach.
The price being burned muscles and broken bones.
BOOOM!Puchi!
His puch connected. But so did Hedin's rhomphaia. The elf was flung away like a ragdoll, head blank and eyes seeing stars.
4 seconds.
Bell ignored the rhomphaia buried in his chest. His steps unhalting as he headed for the doors to Freya's room.
3 Seconds.
His hand came to rest on the doors as he started to push them open.
2 Seconds.
Just before he could push open the door fully...
1 Second.
A desperate voice resounded in his ears.
"You...Will...Not...Harm...My...Goddess!"
The elf Hedin was leaning against a wall to stand. Blood dripping from his head. Burn scars across his face. Madness in his eyes. His hand pointed in Bell's general direction.
"CAELUS HILDR!!!"
The elf roared. Ready to die. As countless blue arrows of lightening materialised. Heading towards Bell without mercy.
...Time slowed down once again.
[Ittou Rasestu] was about to run out in a moment.
His chest was already pierced.
His mana was running on fumes.
[Super Regeneration] was already lagging behind in healing wounds from earlier.
If those blue arrows landed... He would die.
No doubt.
[Instinct (A)] was quiet. Even it couldn't find a path to survive.
He didn't even have enough time to use [Soul Reap] or [Abyss Submersion].
[Asura] was already active.
At the end of every path was... Death.
...
Yet... He refused.
He refused to bend the knee to death.
He refused to bend the knee to fate.
He fucking refused to bend the knee to Gods.
He refused... Death.
And so did the wheel.
*Clunk*
... The only thing between him and death was 1 second.
And this 1 second was all he needed.
To reach beyond himself.
To adapt to... Death.
1 Second. *Clunk*
Countless thunder arrows headed for him.
1 Second. *Clunk*
The arrows were relentless as they bombarded him a second later.
1 Second. *Clunk*
He darted between those arrows, dodging as they blasted in his general direction.
1 Second. *Clunk*
... 1 second had passed long ago.
Yet... [Ittou Rasetsu] was stuck on that last second. The wheel spun to adapt his internal structure to keep [Ittou Rasestu] stuck on the last second by increasing its time limit.
...Bell flashed behind Hedin after dodging all his arrows and fisted him into unconsciousness.
.
Death never came.
For between him and death...still stood that 1 second.
.
He took a deep breath to gather himself. Starting to drag his broken and bloodied body towards Freya's room.
... His gaze swept over the room after entering it. Freya was lounging there. A loose nightgown over her body.
Her gaze landed on him a moment later. Her expression flashing with surprise, followed by intrigue, then obsessive greed...and finally dread at last when she took a closer look at his eyes.
Bell dragged his torn body towards her. His dark shadow expanding eerily once again to cover the ground, ceiling, walls and everything else. Inclosing them in abyssal darkness.
He...then released the monster souls trapped inside his shadow.
!
Red coloured eyes, in the thousands...slowly writhed open from within the abyssal darkness. All looking towards Freya with maddening hunger.
!!!
Tears of terror started to drip from the corner of her eyes in response.
She was once again reminded of their earlier meeting in the abyss.
His voice resounded a moment later in her ears.
Cold. Staticky. Emotionless.
Similar to the one she had heard... In her nightmares.
"Freya... Do you know?
... Demons do not cry."