Well finaly was able to finish this chapter after all this time.
First of all, I want to say that I am sorry that I took so long to upload any new chapter. But during my internship and even after finishing it, I didn't had the heart to write anything back then. Not to mention how many times I was distrected while writting kept me prolong the chapter.
Now with that out of place. I want to say thank you to everyone who keeps me writing this, it is you guys who inspire me to keep going.
P.S: I added today a minor thing irrelevant to the story after reading a review of someone, and despise being irrelevant to the story, I saw that he/she was right, so I decided to put something on it.
Chapter 5: Troubling end
"Raargh!" Mirune shouts, as she swings her greatsword at two Goblins - separating the upper part of their body from the rest with only a single swing.
Four more Goblins appeared from the shadows and tried to attack her from behind, but she quickly stomped her foot and let the weight of her sword guide the next swing – making a full arc horizontal swing backwards. Their body collided against one against another as they're thrown together by her sword, killing them in the process. There was still a single Goblin remaining right behind her, but instead of attacking her, it decided to try running away. But she didn't let the creature go.
The Chosen Undead reached to her belt, grabs one of the many of her spare throwing knives and throws it, hitting the back of its neck. The creature fell, but it prove to be stronger than it looked. The Goblin tries instead crawling through the hard stone floor of the Dungeon, however, it didn't manage to go that far before Mirune approaching the crawling creature and crushing its head with her black iron harden foot, dirtying it with blood.
"And that was the hundredth." Mirune commented while retrieving her knife back. She then turned back and sees the path filled glinting stones, one for each Goblin that she had killed "I think is better picking them up."
So she started gathering all the stones that the Goblins had dropped after dying before resuming exploring the higher floors of the Dungeon.
The reason behind why she was in the Dungeon alone, was because she went training to avoid her skills getting rusty - though she doubts that her skills could ever become dull. After all, she had spent eons keeping the First Flame lit without losing her touch. And most of all, she didn't have many things to do. Correction. She didn't had anything better to do instead staying under the ruined church.
And the other reason why she was alone exploring the Dungeon, was because Bell had to go to a meeting of sorts with that female advisor she met yesterday. Eina Tulle, she thinks that was her name. Now that she thinks about it, what kind of meeting that they are having? A question that kept her curious for a moment, before deciding to forget all about it and focusing on her task at hand.
After gathering all stones, and putting them inside of the bag that Bell uses, she continues exploring for a moment before stopping her tracks. She glances towards the bag in her hand and shakes it; it made a heavy sound of stones colliding with each other. It seems she had gathered enough of these stones for one day and decided to go back instead continuing exploring.
Especially after raising such large amount of stones after fighting hordes after hordes of Goblins that she had bumped into – even despise of their large numbers, they were easy to dispose.
A Monster Party. A term used by Adventurers when encountering a large amount of monsters being given 'birth' in a single area, a very useful information that she overheard from two Adventurers before entering the Dungeon. Now that she had thought about, how long she had been in here?
As far as she could remember, she entered the Dungeon at the sunrise, and when she left both Bell and Hestia were both still sleeping. So she could only assume that the sun was already way up to the sky.
Like the first night she had spent as member to Hestia Familia, this night she had spent watching them sleeping while making sure keeping a watchful look out. In a metaphorical sense, of course. After all, as an Undead, she is incapable to sleep. So without anything else to do, she kept herself busy pondering about her meeting with Alvina she had on that night.
*earlier that day – in ancient city's ruins*
"Doth thee realize what thee has't done? What thee didst during the Monster Ferie couldst has't putteth thee in danger!" the ancient feline scold, in her naked humanoid form, to the undead clad in black armor standing in front of her stone table.
The reason behind why Mirune was being scolded by the ancient cat was because what she did two days ago, during the day of Monster Feriae had occurred. Apparently, from what she heard from Alvina, she had sent some of her agents to look after her in case of an emergency. It was then when Alvina learned that she had used a Miracle to heal the knees of the Chienthrope child she met on that day and when she used Pyromancy to fight the four armed dark skinned monster.
"Mirune, thee has't to und'rstand that our ways has't been longeth f'rgotte. They are nothing m're than a hath lost tale which only few know few pinpoints." she spoke with serenity, trying to make the undead understand how her actions could have cost her "I know this is hard to und'rstand, but this is an age whither we belong not. Please und'rstand it."
Instead of hearing anything from the undead, she just stood there accepting everything she throws at her. She couldn't stop herself from sighing. This was like the time when she met a normal human who was able to use the ancient arts of Sorcery and Pyromancy a long time ago. He had raw potential, but he lacked discipline and grew bold towards his skills. It didn't take long before the new Gods learn the truth behind of his potential, and after that day, she never heard of him ever again.
In Mirune's case, she doesn't let her boldness control her, but she is well capable of daring others attacking her. Back then, when she was still a pledge member of her Covenant, Mirune would provoke her enemies and drag them deeper into the forest and use its inhabitants to her advantage. But now…
"I am sorry Lady Alvina, but I can't accept that." out of a sunned Mirune spoke, "I have vowed myself to help others in need as their shield. And as their shield, I will never falter for as long I stand! If my abilities allow me to do it so, then I don't really care what happens to me."
But now, she really had changed after all this time. She wasn't the same undead who came to her only seek a place where she could go Hollow and die.
She still remembers the day when she joined her Covenant; a lonely undead wearing armor, which has been resize to her size by a skillful blacksmith, that once belonged to a knight who died long ago, a somewhat scorched two handed Claymore, that looks more like regular one handed sword in her hands, a two-handed bastard sword sheathed on her back as a spare and a shield that once belonged to a knight from the kingdom of Balder. Back then she wouldn't give a thing to others and of all members of the Covenant, except that shadow man who was always following Shiva; she never interacted or spoke with anyone other than her and Shiva. She simply was there only to hunt and kill or to be killed, for in the end, it only matter the result to her. She lacked a purpose, a reason not to become Hollow and live instead.
And looking at her now, it shows how much she had changed.
A smile perks up on her lips, "Fufufufu~. Thee truly hath changed, Mirune." Alvina spoke happily, "It seems that jolly lad Solaire really didst smite his 'Praise the Sun' on thee, didn't he? Fufufufu~." she commented rather boldly.
"What?" the undead look at the cat confusedly.
"Oh, nothing. Fufufufu~." the cat chuckles at the undead's cluelessness, "But even so," her tone quickly change to all seriousness "prithee ponder to look after yourself better. After all," Alvina gets up and turns away before being engulfed by a bright light back to her original form,"a shield is bootless if its wielder falls." she then disappears back deep into the forest.
*back to the present*
Was she right about that though? That was the question she asks to herself sometimes. She could understand why Alvina is worried for her safety, and what her actions might cause in the future, but even so. If she is can help others, why she shouldn't use the best of her abilities to help them? Was the Lords' hate towards the ancient arts and towards her truly that great? Such thoughts make her head hurt.
She truly couldn't understand them. If they hate her just because she had to kill the Ancient Lords of the past to re-kindle the First Flame, then maybe she should not have done it in the first place. It wasn't her fault that she needed their souls to feed the Lordvessel to save everyone from the Curse and give the future generation a better chance. Maybe that damnable big-nosed toothy snake with a mustache was wrong all about prolonging the Age of Fire.
Doubt, anger and sadness, those were the feelings that she could recognize at this very moment. Or rather, it wasn't her who was recognizing these feelings, but rather her body not her. She wished that she could understand why, but only her body remembers her past life at its fullest and it was the only one who could truly understand her memories and feelings that had been dulled to her a long time ago.
She still remembers during her time in Lordran that when Lautrec killed Anastacia, she felt hatred towards the man and betrayed because the man played with her trust to get what he wanted. This later led her to track him down to Anor Londo's Cathedral and kill him without any sense of mercy. Or when Rhea, Siegmeyer, Griggs, Laurentius and the Crestfallen Warrior (a man whose name she never learn) lost their lives one by one, where four of them had to be done by her own hands. She felt sadness tightening her chest as she sees her friends dying and she couldn't save them.
And when came the time where Solaire almost died, she felt afraid and fell into a despair like state while doing her best to save one of the two friends she had left.
*flashback*
The sound of metal furiously clashing together rang in the deeps of the abandoned halls of Izalith as two figures fighting each other. These two were no other than Mirune and her good friend and brother in arms in this cursed land, Solaire. Reason why that these two friends were fighting each other, was because Solaire was being controlled by some sort of red eyed parasite creature that was twisting his mind and his actions directly from his head.
"I have found it…" the Knight said with a low voice filled with madness as he clashes his sword against' Mirune's "My very own Sun… I am the SUN!"
"Solaire, regain your senses!" the Chosen Undead as blocks her friend's sword with her shield and push him away from her, "There is no sun here, please wake up!"
"YOU LIE! I have FOUND IT! I am the SUN!" Solaire shouted as he removes his talisman from his belt and soon started to emit a bright yellowish glow "AND I WILL NOT ALLOW ANYONE TO TAKE IT FROM ME!"
On his hand, stood a yellow spear surrounded by deadly sparking lighting, lighting spear, a miracle specially used by the Warriors of Sunlight like him and Mirune. He raised his arm high, pointed towards the Chosen Undead and throws it at her. In response, Mirune tries to dodge to the right, but the lighting spear hits on her left shoulder. The sharp stinging pain quickly spreads across her entire left side, and with a sharp, painful groan, she drops down her shield, leaving her without a way to protect herself. With her arm now not responding to her will, Mirune was forced to drop her sword to remove the talisman on her belt.
She had unfortunately run out of Estus and so she was forced to use a miracle to heal her arm, at least to wake it up. But Solaire didn't give her the chance to recover and charge towards her while holding his sword with both his hands for a charge attack. This forced her to block his attack with her good arm, despise her gauntlet absorbing the most of the impact she could still feel the most of it. Taking the opportunity of his approach, Mirune quickly casts Force to push him away from her and studding him in the process, and then without any delay, she quickly mutters a prayer and casts Emit Force towards him.
Her miracle hits true, and his body is thrown away towards the hard, cold dark stoned wall. He winces as feels his body creaking painfully as he moves, but he quickly ignores the pain and get back up to his feet. But before he could do anything, Mirune uses her superior strength and height to knock him back to the floor and put herself on top of him.
And without any hesitation she grabbed the parasitic creature on top of his head and starts pulling it. The damnable parasite quickly notices her intentions of her actions and starts clinging tightly on to Solaire's head even more.
Seeing no other choice, Mirune grabbed the parasite by its maw and with all her strength, she ripped out the creature out of Solaire's head. Her friend screamed in pure agony as the bug is being forcibly pulled out of his head, leaving behind serious gaping wounds across his head. If he was human, her action would probably kill him, but as an Undead, they were far more durable than a human.
True be told, this was one of the rare actuations that she could see his face underneath his helmet, his rather youthful and strong face filled with pain of a man in his mid-twenties, his blonde hair tied into a ponytail and his blue eyes. But that wasn't important right now. Her hand quickly reached to her talisman and place it over the Knight of Sunlight's head, and with a low and gentle chant, a warming light appears glowing around his head, slowly healing his wounds.
"I…We already lose too many friends… so please, not you too." despise her voice being dulled of any sign of emotions, the way how the words came out of her mouth showed that she was afraid, afraid for her friend, afraid to be alone.
"Mirune…" Solaire replied weakly "…my Sun…where is my Sun, Mirune? Why I can't see it?"
"Please rest at ease, Solaire. You will find your true Sun… eventually... please do not leave me."
*end of flashback*
Looking back then, the Chosen Undead was able to feel one of the most powerful emotions that caused many to fall prey to the Curse. Despise not knowing the reason behind of her sudden breakdown that day, maybe was because her body knew the feeling back then when she was 'alive' and simulated those emotions at the thought of losing her friend. That was the only explanation that she could think of.
'Maybe Lady Alvina knows the answer.' she ponders the thought 'I need to ask her later, but for now,' her eyes quickly scan the two separated paths that divide her own. One to the left and another to the right 'I need to find my way out.'
"Come on! This way, quickly!" she heard a voice screaming from the left path.
"Strange," the Chosen Undead commented "it seems there were still some Lords looking after my low luck." She then turns and follows the path where the voice came from.
"This is bad. This is really bad."
Kashima Ouka, a strong and well respected Level 2 Adventurer and as well Captain to the Takemikazuchi Familia. He is a tall young human boy, his body lightly tanned and though build and as black hair and eyes. He wears his lavender, red, gold and black Kamishimo top along with brown pants tucked underneath long white bandages in black boots. For protection, his armor consists simply matching colored lower arm guards alongside with his double ended spear as his weapon.
Today, alongside with the other Level 2 Adventurers and fellows Familia's members, Yamato Mikoto, a serious and honorable young human girl with long black haired tied in a ponytail and black eyes, Hitachi Chigusa, a timid and shy young human girl with black medium length hair that usually covers her face, and when is parted, it reveals her dark green eyes, and two supporters of their Familia who came here with them to the Dungeon for a training session before going deeper floors beyond.
At their level they knew that the top floors wouldn't be too troublesome, they also decided that would not go very far in the first place, so they came light for today. However, they wished that they haven't. In the tree first floors, they cut through several kinds of monsters with the greatest of ease, but when they reached to the fourth floor the things quickly turned against them. At first it was only small groups of Goblins attacking them, but it quickly turned into several acts of ambushes organize by the Goblins. An act that shows at least some level of intelligence in their actions, especially when the monsters in this Dungeon are seen as mindless creatures.
These ambushes quickly pushed them deeper into the Dungeon, but that wasn't the problem. As they were being pushed deeper, more Goblins monsters started to be given birth by the dungeon and quickly turned their attention to them. Seeing no other choice, he and his companions were force trying to flee the monsters – at least try to get away from their birthplaces.
He had heard the word that the Dungeon had been strangely more active than usual in these last few days, but he didn't know was this bad.
"Ouka, we need to get off here before we get surrounded!" Mikoto shouts as she cuts down a Goblin that had intended to attack her from behind her with a single swing of her katana, Zansetsu.
"I know that." he mumbles lowly "Dammit, if I had known that this would happen, I would have us prepare better beforehand." The young man curses as he spins his spear to deal with two Goblins and a precise thrust that pierced a Goblin's throat that tried to attack from above.
"What do we do now, Ouka? Mikoto?" Chigusa asks to her companions, holding tightly her kodachi in hand to protect the supporters who stood defenseless against the Goblins who approaching them.
Before either of her companions could either respond or even come to assist her, they saw a new wave of Goblins was quickly running towards their direction. However, unlike the others who came before them looked eagerly and ready to fight, but these ones however, looked tired, scared for some reason and covered with blood. It was as if they were doing their best running away from something that it was chasing them.
"Raargh!" they heard a menacing shout as a great number of Goblins torn into pieces flew from the other side before disappearing when reaching the floor.
This made the Goblins screaming in panic and starting running even faster, stumbling on those to death who were unfortunate enough to fall to the ground. Both Adventurers and Monsters, who decided to slowly backing away and leaving the Adventurers facing first whatever was over there, came to a halt as they hear the sound of heavy footsteps coming towards their way. And due to the poor light it was impossible to recognize the owner.
Then they heard the low moaning of a Goblin in agony as the creature tries crawling out the way where they came from, and when it reached to their full view, it was missing its lower half.
Soon, when it tried to go any further, a foot clad in black steel crushed the poor creature – ending its pain. It was then that both sides saw the one behind the shout from before, a massive, menacing figure clad in black armor from head to toe soiled in dry Goblin's blood, which was armed with a stained massive shield and a massive sword which blade was steaming the blood on it.
The Adventurers of Takemikazuchi Familia could only stand there shaking while staring at the menacing figure soiled with dried blood. If that wasn't enough, they didn't know if the figure was a foe or not. They have heard cases, while in the Dungeon, Adventurers plan ambushes in order to eliminate any competition because is easier to hide the bodies of their victims inside of the Dungeon than in Orario. So they didn't know if this was that case or not, they hope was the latter.
Before any of them could say or do something, the massive Adventurer's hand tights around the handle of his sword and charges directly towards them. Despise not being the fastest Adventurer that they have seen, but the height and the menacing aura emitting of the said subject charging towards them was more than enough to freeze them in fear. But it all changed when they see the said Adventurer running past them and swinging that massive sword, cleaving through the first row of Goblins like a hot knife through butter.
"Are you alright?" suddenly the Adventurer turned his head towards and spoke, clearly speaking to them.
It took a moment for them to understand what just happened just now before one of them managed to reply back "Yes."
Receiving just nod back, the Adventurer then turns his attention towards the Goblins. Who were looking at each other trying to know what they should do right now, and without any delay, the unknown Adventurer clad in black armor charges towards the monsters and starts slaying them. Ouka, Mikoto and Chigusa look at each other with confidence, for it seems that luck was finally on their side and quickly joined the unknown Adventurer.
Seeing this new individual alongside with the Adventurers that they fought before killing many of their kind, the Goblins didn't have another choice other than fight back. Even the Goblins who seemly were running away from the Adventurer in black armor had a change of heart and joined their kind to annihilate the enemies in front of them. But even with their help it was impossible to defeat them.
The newly arrived Adventurer quickly took the front of their counter attack and thanks to his heavy equipment and weapon; he was able to deal with the majority of the monsters that came to them without any difficulty while the other three deal with the rest. Even some of them climbed up the top of the massive Adventurer and tried to bite through his armor, only to break their teeth in process before been dealt with it.
After an hour or two, the floor glimmers with the magic stones dropped by the defeated Goblins and the occasional rare drop as the four Adventurers finishes the last Goblin standing. The members of Takemikazuchi Familia could finally breathe a sigh of relief and fell to the ground, exhausted from all the fighting and the running that they were forced to do only to escape with life. The group's leader looks at the Adventurer who came to their rescue and sees that he was still standing with his shield resting right beside him and with his massive sword resting on his shoulder, as he looks their surroundings very attentively for any signs of movement.
He could only wonder who this person was. There was no doubt that this person was an Adventurer like them, otherwise he would have no reason to be here at the Dungeon. And if he would judge, he would say that he must be a high ranking Adventurer if his armor or skill says otherwise. Maybe he was a member of Loki Familia, or Freya's or even perhaps one of the Hermes's.
The young man gets up from the floor and approaches the Adventurer to thank him "Thank you very much for your help, stranger." Ouka bows slightly to the massive Adventurer "If you haven't come sooner, we_" before he could say anything else, the unknown Adventurer quickly interrupts him by raising his hand to him. Looking confused at the sudden interruption, but it all change when he saw the Adventurer removes his sword from his shoulder and lifts his shield as he quickly turns towards the direction where he came from "What's wrong?"
"Is not over yet." the Adventurer said as he stages himself, preparing himself for anything to come.
At the moment the Adventurer said that, the floor started to shake violently, and from the beneath it. Two meters and seventy in height green humanoid monster emerged from the hard stone floor. This new monster looks rather similar to the Goblins that can be found in the Dungeon, however, unlike the regular Goblin, this one had a muscular build; a red long hair tied up with crimson stone, sharper teeth, and two curved horns coming out of its skulls and was armed with a spiked metal club.
"You must be kidding me!" yelled one of the supporters.
After being emerged from the floor, the Giant Goblin looks its surroundings before its eyes laying on top the Adventurers. Sensing the smell of his kin on top of the Adventurer clad in black armor, rage quickly spreads across its face and releases a loud furious roar. Responding to the sound of its roar, the walls of the Dungeon behind them starts cracking open as newly born Goblins started coming out of the walls.
"Did that thing just called more of them?!" Mikoto yells as she gets up and draws her sword, preparing herself to face any of them.
Mirune could hear their voices carrying fear, as they whisper towards this sudden change of events and she could understand why. They were already tired of all the fighting that they were forced against the Goblins before, and now being forced to fight again without any warning was more than the enough to break one's tired spirit. Looking at the Adventurers who she assisted to defeat the Goblins had already with their weapons in the hands at the ready, but it was clearly their moral was not.
Turning her gaze back to the giant Goblin, she sees the creature pounding its club repeatedly while releasing intimating growls. The creature looks at her with its soulless eyes, and points its club at her and beats its chest twice. She quickly understands the meaning behind this, the monster was challenging her. It wanted to face her one on one. The reason behind it was maybe because of all the Goblins she killed, not to mention the amount of their blood on her, or maybe it knows who is the strongest among them and wanted to prove its worth.
Deciding to oblige its request the Chosen Undead slams her shield into the floor, she holds her greatsword with both of her hands and she walks towards it.
"Where are you going?" the young-man asks her.
She stops and looks at him for a moment before looking back at the monster "Stay here and deal with them. I will deal with him." and then continues walking towards the monster.
Now standing in front of the monster just few feet away, Mirune quickly stages herself in a defensive position with her sword. Taking the hint, the monster is the first one to act and advances towards the Chosen Undead. The giant Goblin swings its club horizontally to the right in hopes to disarm her, but she easily blocked with her blade and counter attacks. She swings her swords vertically and the monster quickly raises his club to block her attack, but before her sword could reach it, Mirune stopped it midway and tackle with her body weight to push the monster.
The monster stumbles backwards a few times before standing up straight again, with anger drawn on its face and tries to attack back. But before it could step forward, she was already top of him. It quickly ducks down as it sees her sword coming down on him in time and then blocked another swing that intended to hit its left side, and soon, a song of steel battling each other is made amongst them as their weapons clash each other.
Every single swing felt like drums vibrating through her arms whenever their arms met. A dance between the two of them as each other tries to learn their opponent's move to exploit for their own ends.
Through this, Mirune could see that this Goblin, unlike the smaller ones, was truly strong in its own way. However, she would it consider the strongest foe she had faced comparing to those of the past. Even the previous monster she fought during the Monster Feriae was far stronger than this one thanks to its speed and strength, instead this one mainly counted on its strength alone. After deciding to put an end to this dance, she decided to take the risk and lure it closer to her.
As far she could understand, the giant Goblin specializes in short range fast but heavy attacks due to the limitations of its club, while she has the benefit of a greater variety ways to attack. She knows that the creature is wary towards every single move she does and was trying to find a hole to exploit against her. So with both of her hands she raises her heavy greatsword, leaving her full open and vulnerable to any attack. And without any delay, the giant Goblin, with a grin across its face, took this opportunity, charges towards her and strikes its clubs right on her left side before of her armpit. It took the bait.
Before it could realize its situation, Mirune had already locked its arm with hers and with her left free hand, she punches right across its lower jaw and dislocate its arm – an act that made it to drop its club. She then stepped back and slashes across its chest twice, who roared in agony as it felt the chaotic flame imbedded in her sword burning through its flesh. And to finish the monster off, she trusts her sword forward in hopes to impale its chest directly where the magic stone should be. However, it all changed when surprisingly out of the sudden, the giant Goblin stopped the blade midway with its bare hand – struggling to keep it away from reaching its chest.
What really surprised her though was the sudden change of color of its skin was - which change from a deep green to a rusty brown. She quickly stepped back just in time to dodge a kick that intended to hit her and sees that the Goblin lowering itself to grab its club with its good arm. So before it could reach for it, Mirune swung her sword horizontally with both of her hands and hit right on its right trapezius. But for some reason her blade didn't cut the monster through, instead it sank around its skin. She was then forced to block with her arm from the incoming club that intended to hit her head, but her armored gauntlet was more than enough to block such regular weapon.
And yet again, the Chosen Undead moves away from the monster to dodge another attempt to hit on her head with its club. She then quickly looks towards where she had hit before to know why her attack didn't worked, and when she saw, she only saw a perfectly thin cut with a scorch mark around it.
'Hmm, that's unexpected.' Mirune commented as she moves towards the monster and attacks several points around its body. And with very single attack, she notices that the result was the same than before. Whenever the blade touches its skin, the sword sank into its skin at the touch before bouncing back to her 'It seems that is capable to turn its skin to something resembling armor when it feels is in danger. What such interesting ability.'
Before she could contemplate more about its ability, the giant Goblin starts swinging its club around to which she dodges and blocks the occasional attack when needed – which soon led the resume of their dance from before. Though through this, she quickly noticed two strange things towards its behavior. The first was whenever she tries to thrust her sword, the monster always dodged, and the second was whenever she tries to attack its head; it would always block whatever attack she throws at it.
'Is it a weakness, perhaps?' to test her theory, she changed her attack patter and started to use only trust attacks to test her theory. And it seems she was right. It seems that every time she tries to trust her sword to it, it would always dodge 'It seems that its 'armor' extremely weak against trust attacks and perhaps the same thing could be said for its head.'
With her current weapon at hand, there weren't a lot of things she could, and she doubts her throwing knives would help either. However, she had indeed something inside of her bottomless box that would be very useful. She quickly reached her hand towards her box, open it and backed away to give herself some room between them. In response the monster looked at her a bit confuse for her actions, but it quickly shook those thoughts away and charged towards her with a ravenous roar.
Taking this opportunity, Mirune quickly drew out from the innermost parts of the bottomless box that caught by everyone by surprise who saw her do this. A heavy crossbow and it was loaded up and ready to fire. The monster didn't have time stop itself as it sees the crossbow pointing to its face. And without any delay, Mirune let the bolt go where it hit directly on its right eye. The massive Goblin screams in pure agony reaches with its good hand over the by the bolt on its eye socket and let the club fall to the ground.
"It seems that I was right." Mirune commented as she quickly reloads her crossbow with another bolt that she had taken from the box. And with a steady aim she fires the crossbow, hitting directly on its throat.
The beast falls into its knees gurgling in its own blood. The Chosen Undead then quickly drops her crossbow, and with her sword in both of her hands, she charges towards the monster and thrusts her sword into its mouth. And with push, she decapitates the upper part of its head from the rest of its body – letting the blood flying from its body before collapsing to the ground and disappearing in a burst of ashes. Leaving only behind a sizeable Magic Stone lying on the hard, cold floor of the Dungeon. With the massive Goblin now dead, panic quickly rose amongst the surviving Goblins at the sight of its death, and without any warning, they started to run away for their own lives.
Now being able to take a deep sigh, the Adventurers could finally take a breather and fall to their knees, exhausted after all this entire ordeal. They were so glad that finally that they could take a rest even if is just for a moment. Meanwhile the Adventurers were receiving their well-earned rest, the two Supporters that came with the Adventurers started gathering the Magic Stones and the drop items left behind from the monsters – though they let the stone near her alone. Which she then grabbed the stone, where she put it inside of her bottomless box alongside with her crossbow, before retrieving her great-shield from the floor where she had left behind.
"Are you alright?" the Chosen Undead asks as she approaches them while sheathing her sword in its sheath.
The one who came to her was the one who she talked before. She could only guess that he was perhaps the leader of their group.
"Yes. We are thankful for your help again." the young man bows slightly before looking at the remains of the Goblins "I didn't know that such monster is capable to summon monsters at its will such exist. Seriously, this Dungeon is truly a mystery to us." then he notices that she was still standing in front of him "Oh, sorry for my rudeness. My name is Kashima Ouka, Captain to the Takemikazuchi Familia." he introduced himself, and then he points towards the only two also armed Adventures "These are my friends Yamato Mikoto and Hitachi Chigusa." each girl nods when Ouka mentions their name "And these are our Supporters, Hiraoka Genzo, Hoga Isao." the Supporters nodded back at her.
Seeing no harm in an introduction Mirune reaches to her helmet and removes it, revealing her face to them by the first time "Mirune Cathiddei… member of Hestia Co-Familia."the Chosen Undead introduces, with a quick minor correction.
For some unknown reason, when she removed her helmet, she saw the young man's eyes growing wide for a moment before his face turning harden. Though despise of that, she noticed that his face grew a little red like when Bell does sometimes. Which is something that leaves her a bit puzzled sometimes, but she never put much thought into it.
The young-man quickly composed himself before talking "Hestia Familia? Hmm, I have heard about her from Takemikazuchi-sama. Was not her Familia supposed to have been formed not long ago and only have one member?"
"I joined recently."
"I see, but I am glad that she managed to recruit someone else to her Familia. From what I have heard from Takemikazuchi-sama, she had not been lucky in recruiting anyone because her Familia is not very well-known and poor. Hell, her Familia is even poorer than ours."
"I don't want sound rude," the swordswoman named Mikoto stepped between them "but I think we should leave this place before more monsters come."
"I agree. I think that we had the enough for one day. Do you want to come with us?"
The Chosen Undead quickly nods eagerly; she too had the enough of this Dungeon for today. So grabbing the rest of their things, the members of Takemikazuchi Familia and Mirune move forward into labyrinthine halls of the Dungeon.
They spent the next hours to find the way back to the surface; meanwhile, on their way up, they were able to make small conversations amongst them. In one of them, Mirune quickly found out that every single member of Takemikazuchi Familia came from the Far East and all started when she asked if by any chance they were from the lands of the East. They looked surprised and said that indeed they were, and when Ouka asked how she knew. She simply pointed to the swordswoman and said that she knew a man that wore a similar style of garment and weapon like her and had an accent like them.
When they reached to the surface, they went directly to the Guild to inform them what they encounter while in the Dungeon and to trade their loot for a well-received reward, where they gave the Chosen Undead the biggest share as thanks for helping them. Even despise of her best efforts against it. After that, with a goodbye, the two groups separated by which one following their own way. Now with nothing else to do and a good sum of valis, she decided to explore around the city – maybe she would something that would help her to pass the time.
"Mirune! Mirune, where are you!? Mirune!"
However, it all quickly changed when she heard a very familiar voice of a certain calling out her name. She could only mimic mental sigh, it seems that she will need to change her plans, if her low luck says the otherwise.
Chapter 5 End
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