[DanMachi/Percy Jackson] Prytaneum

Chapter 38: Smothering Part 2

I was running before I even had time to think about, perhaps because a part of me was around sure about what was happening. I went straight across the lake, willing the water to support my weight, and then took to the forest beyond it. What seemed like little blue crystals lit the forest from within and while a normal person might have had trouble running through a forest with its stones and roots and brush, I was a demigod and only paid passing attention to making sure I didn't trip and fall.

"Percy, wait!" Welf shouted and then swore when I didn't listen, but from the splashes in the water, I knew he'd be following behind me. I wasn't so sure that was a good idea, but then I wasn't sure if they'd be safe anywhere at this point.

Putting it out of my mind for the moment, I sped through the forest until I came to a tall, tall cliff, catching sight of what I assumed to be Rivira at the top. There was a long and winding pathway up to the town, but it meandered around the cliff and I dismissed it almost at once. Instead, I leapt up as far as I could, found a handhold in the side of the cliff, and began putting my training at Camp to use. On the downside, it was an actual cliff and significantly larger than the climbing wall I was used to, but on the other hand, it wasn't spewing lave, dropping boulders, or trying to crush me, so I just grit my teeth and suffered through it.

When I reached the top, I turned around and squinted into the distance. About six hundred feet below me was the forest and lake I'd been in before and the forest, but I tried to look past them to see what lay beyond. There was a figure there, visible even over the tree tops—a giant, in other words, with black skin and white hair. Powerfully built, even for his size, he nonetheless looked a lot like a man, writ large, and there were only a few monsters I knew of that fit that description. And given where we were now...

"What the hell is going on!?" A man with an eyepatch said, hurrying up beside me to stand at the edge of the cliff in armor. Behind him, I noticed that the town was bustling, people seeming to hurry to equip themselves as best they could in preparation of whatever emergency they had to face. It seemed rushed, but in a familiar way—as in, familiar to them and to me. It reminded me painfully of the Camp, of hurrying to ready a defense, and I closed my eyes for a moment.

"It's a monster," I said, opening them again and looking out over the forest once more. "It just spawned from the ceiling."

"This isn't supposed to happen...!" The man growled, though more like he was pissed off than like he was rejecting the truth. "Monsters aren't supposed to spawn here—this is a safe zone!"

I fell silent for a moment at that, all but certain that this was my fault, but having no idea how to begin to explain it. I'd brought Welf, Lili, and Mrs. O'Leary here in the hopes of keeping them safe, thinking that the nature of the safe zone and the presence of so many other adventurers would be enough to deter the Dungeon. Instead, I'd just put even more people in danger and made things worse.

"Is it what I think it is?" I asked the man anyway.

"It looks like Goliath," He confirmed, barely giving me more than a glance. I was betting he didn't recognize me, but in a place like this, frequented by so many adventurers, there were probably a lot of people he didn't recognize a lot of people. "But it looks all wrong—black skin, white hair, and that size...it's an Irregular, damn it."

I nodded, taking that in before I closed my eyes and opened up my senses. It took me a moment to try and sift through what I was feeling and make any sense of it, especially since my power seemed a bit off still, but it was easier to get a feel for people in a crowded place like this, where energy seemed to ripple and flow. Not enough for me to truly say anything for certain, like exactly how many people were here or exactly how strong each of them was, but where there were marked difference between them, I could more or less make them out. Just from how vague they felt to me, most of the people in this town were probably Level 1s and that provided a baseline that made the Level 2s stand out. The man beside me had the greatest presence in the town and I figured he was probably a Level 3.

The presence coming our way, however...it had to be at least a Level 5. At a guess, I'd say it was markedly stronger than the plant monster up above, enough so that I could literally feel it.

"What are you going to do?" I asked after a moment.

"Same thing as always," He said, still sounding more annoyed than anything. "We'll pack up and run, same as we do any other time things go to shit and then rebuild; no point risking our lives for something we can just fix later. I guess it'll be time to build the three hundred thirty-fifth Rivira soon..."

Three hundred and thirty-fifth? Did that mean that this place had been attacked and destroyed three hundred and thirty-three times already?

...Well, I guess it was built in the Dungeon, after all. 'Safe' zone or not, things were bound to go awry sooner or later and if Rivira was old enough, it had probably been attacked countless times. For a place on the eighteenth floor, it could very well have been around for hundreds of years, seeing as adventurers had been exploring the Dungeon for a thousand.

More importantly, however, there was something he seemed to have missed.

"That sounds like a good idea, but...isn't he between us and the way back up?" I asked, noting where the Goliath had spawned.

The man looked at me for a moment, turned back to the Goliath, and then swore. For a place like Rivira, sandwiched between two hostile floors, danger could conceivably come from either above or below...but I was willing to bet that the latter was the one most people were concerned with. After all, even if monsters from the Upper Floors appeared, they were all monsters that everyone had to kill just to get this far, with the exception of the Goliath itself who guarded the entrance. Generally speaking, it was things from below that were the real threat, things that came from the exit of this floor, rather than the entrance.

"Then there's no helping it," He growled, rolling his shoulders and reaching for the broad sword on his back. "We'll just have to fight, then."

I understood what he was thinking. Normally, a Goliath—being a Floor Boss—was about two Levels above the norm for its floor, meaning it should be about Level 4. Not an easy fight by any means, but as the number of Level 1s here proved, you could overcome a Level difference if you had enough numbers. For a place like this with at least a couple hundred adventurers, fighting a Goliath should have been dangerous, but certainly doable.

Fighting this Goliath, though? That was different. A difference of a level was one thing, but a difference of two was another. Even if it was possible, they'd be getting in way over their heads and even in the best case scenario, people would die. A lot of people. Of course, if they stayed her and waited for it to show up...

"—No," I said, exhaling slowly. "I'll handle it."

"You?" The man asked, one-eyed gaze skeptical. I guess I didn't look that impressive with the ruin that had been made of my clothes.

"There's another Irregularity up above," I said, trying not to look embarrassed. "A weird plant monster on the sixth that's at least Level 4—it might have something to do with the festival, but I'm not sure. It attacked me and I retreated back her to resupply and tell people about it."

"Fuck," The man replied.

"Yeah," I said with a nod. "You're a Level 3, right?"

"I'm Bors Elder," He grunted. "That should be enough for you to know."

I looked at him for a moment and blinked slowly, not even bothering to hide the fact that it wasn't.

"Well, anyway, Bors," I said. "Why don't you leave this one to me? If I draw the Goliath away, can you lead the town to safety?"

"O' course," He answered, though he looked disappointed with my lack of awareness. "But can you even do that?"

I had no idea, I thought.

"Yes," I said, sounding sure. "Give my friends time to arrive and take them with you. I don't know if you'll encounter anything on the sixth, but at the very least, it should be better than staying her. You might want to try and hunker down on the eighth or ninth, though."

He grunted again and looked at me for a long moment.

"...Fine," He said. "If you can do it, I guess that's all that matters. I'll handle my part, but...damn, two Irregularities in one day? What the hell is happening?"

Me, I thought to myself. I was happening. I was officially a thing that happened to people.

"Get ready, then," I said. "You'll need to leave as soon as my friends are here."

He worked his jaw, looked me over once, and shrugged.

"If you need some armor, some might get left behind," He said gruffly. "Look for it if you get the chance."

I smiled and nodded, but didn't look at him as he walked away. I waited on the edge of the cliff, watching the monster approach and hearing it's howling cries, but saw what I was really looking for elsewhere.

"Welf, Lili!" I shouted and waved, drawing their attention and moving towards them as they ran up the path, Lili on Mrs. O'Leary's back. Just to be on the safe side, I made sure I was in between Mrs. O'Leary and any adventurers they might try and take a shot out of fear, resting a hand on her head to imply she was with me.

"Percy," Welf said, breathing as hard as I'd ever seen him. "What the hell is going on?"

"Monster attack," I said, trying to sound casual. "I already talked to the leader around here and they're going to evacuate the city. I need you two to take Mrs. O'Leary and go with them, just in case—if anything else happens, Mrs. O'Leary should be able to protect you."

"...What about you, Mr. Percy?" Lili asked, noticing the omission.

I was silent for a moment before smiling in a way I hoped was reassuring.

"I'll stay behind and distract it while everyone else gets away," I told them.

"Percy, what are you saying!?" Welf demanded, eyes widening at my words.

"Someone has to," I said. "That thing is between us and the entrance and it needs to be lured away if anyone's going to get out of here."

"And it needs to be you!?"

"Yeah," I replied. "It does. You know, too, right? This thing must have appeared because of me—because of my 'Despair' skill. Not just it, but that plant monster as well."

"Even if that's true, it doesn't mean you have to be the one to deal with it, Percy," Welf said, looking me in the eye. "This town is full of adventurers, they—"

"They can't handle this thing," I said. "I'm all but certain it's a Level 5."

"That just make this worse," Welf snapped. "Don't you get what that means? You'll die if you stay here!"

"And so will everyone else if they do," I snapped back. "I'm the best equipped to deal with it and I can handle it—"

"Like you handled that plant monster?" He demanded. "Percy, you're strong—unbelievably strong. I know that better than anyone. But this thing is out of your league and you know that as well as I do that you can't win. Even you have limits, Percy, and you nearly died yesterday because of them."

"You say that like it's a fight to the death," I replied. "I'll just hold it back for a while and then I can escape once you've all gotten away."

"Will you?" Welf asked, stepping closer and looking angry.

"What?" I wondered, blinking at him.

"Will you escape, once you have the chance?" He asked.

"Of course," I said. "What, do you think I want to die?"

"I'm starting to," He said quietly. "The Minotaurs, the mobs of monsters, Zanis, and now this—you're kind of making me wonder. You send us away or you push us back or you guard us or you say that you can't let anyone get hurt, but what about you, idiot! You get hurt. Every goddamn time, you get come out of it a wreck! And now you want to fight that thing!? Alone!?"

"I can't let people get hurt because of me," I replied, tensing. "I can't let you guys get hurt. It's better if you go on without me, anyway—I'll just draw more monsters to you, put people in danger. I'll make my own way up when I'm done—"

"Stop!" He shouted. "Just stop! Percy, stop trying to do everything yourself—stop trying to be brave!

At those words, something snapped inside of me.

"I'm not being brave!" I shouted in Welf's face, my control abruptly gone. "Can't you see that!? I'm terrified, just not of this! I don't care about fighting monsters or getting hurt or dying—been there, done that; it makes no difference! I just—"

I stopped and took a breath, looking down.

"I don't want to wind up alone again," I whispered. "That's all I'm scared of. I don't want any more people to die because of me. I don't want to lose anyone else. You wanted to know about my past, Welf? I lost everyone. I fucked everything up and I lost everyone. That's it. That's my story; the only part of it that matters. People trusted me with their lives and they made the wrong choice, because I couldn't save them. I failed. And I won't let that happen again, I won't be the last person left, even if I—"

I stopped again and shook my head.

"Once you get back to the surface, find help," I said. "Find the Guild, find Aiz, find Hestia. They should be able to figure out a way to deal with this, okay? You don't have to worry about me. Not dying when I'm supposed to is what I'm best at. Mrs. O'Leary, make sure they make it up safe, alright? Sorry for pushing you so hard, girl, but I'll make sure everyone knows to follow your lead."

I turned and began to walk away, deeming the matter settled—and then Welf interrupted me.

"No," He said. "Not this time?"

"Huh?" I asked, looking back.

"I'm not leaving," He said. "Lili can send that message just fine without me."

"Huh?" Lili asked, blinking. "What? No! Lili will also—"

"What makes you think I'll let you stay?" I asked, looking at him calmly. "I hope you're not going to say something like 'there's nothing I can do about it' because I can just knock you out."

"No," He said. "Nothing like that. You'll let me stay because you need my help—or, at least, my magic swords."

It took me a moment to figure out what he was talking about.

"...Heh," I chuckled, shaking my head. "Didn't you just say you'd never make them a little bit ago?"

"Yeah," He told me. "I promised myself I'd never make them. I don't want to make them. But this and that are different things. If it's what I have to do to save a friend's life, I'd make a hundred magic swords."

"I appreciate that," I told him honestly. "But I told you before, I don't want them. You'll just get hurt if you stay here, Welf."

"So will you," He said. "You can't say I can't help. This place has a forge, I'm sure, and there's no way you can stop something like that thing without my help. So either run away or let me stay but don't act like this is just a matter of protecting me anymore."

"Yeah? And who do you think would have to protect your ass as you made that thing, huh?" I challenged. "Sounds like you just want to give me even more work."

"Deal with it," He said. "Isn't that what you're so intent on doing, anyway? Something stupid, so we won't get hurt? Then if you're going to fucking do it, at least do it in a way that gives you a fucking chance, Percy!"

I looked at him for a moment, matching him glare for glare even as I grit my teeth and clenched my fists, but...somehow, I was...