Mysterious Swordsman of Betrayal

Prologue

"Well, I am off Goddess Hestia."

Standing in from of the white church, the latter nodded as she commented, "You know what Bell, that salamander wool is a little more conspicuous than I thought it would be."

Bell stood in front of her, covered in red cloth that hid his white armour underneath it. Fortunately, and Hestia had to silently admit, they gave him a cute look with his red eyes matching the cloth.

"Well, I am gonna have to be extra prepared for the middle floors. Miss Eyna would have it no other way," Bell replied, before extending his arms as he showed the wool, "You are right though; it is a little bit flashy."

"Yeah well, if your advisor suggested it to you, then I guess you should probably listen but don't start pushing yourself too hard just because you are level 2 now, ok?"

Bell grinned and exclaimed, "Alright! Wish me luck" concluding with a quick bow and sprinting off towards the dungeon. Despite his excitement, Hestia could not help but worry about his disappearing figure, a feeling of dread silently itching at her heart. How long had it been since she had last felt this kind of concern for a mortal? Maybe a millennium ago, when he was still around.

Getting to the middle floors was not a challenge, Bell noted till he began to face the damned monsters. A hellhound, shaped like a wolf with glowing red eyes and dark black fur, charged at the party, digging its claws into Bell's white arm guard. The white-haired hero struggled from the momentum before positioning himself and the wolf such that a tall, redheaded figure took the opportunity to jump and slice the wolf in half with the greatsword.

Dissipating into black smoke and leaving behind a purple crystal, another hellhound appeared. However, this one kept its distance as it began to flame its mouth, readying its fire.

"Now take it out!," a tiny figure exclaimed from behind the redhead, as she lifted her right arm, displaying the onyx coloured crossbow attached and fired an arrow at the hellhound. The arrow shot into its exposed eye, making it howl in pain and, taking the opportunity, the gigantic man rushed forwards and killed it with a single swipe.

Bell and the tiny figure excitedly cheered, "Whoa!"

"Well, we survived our first middle floor fight! Not bad, huh?" the man spoke as he walked towards the rest of the party, handing the crystal to the tiny figure.

Bell nodded, "Yeah, that wasn't all that hard. Even the fire attacks from those hellhounds were pretty easy to handle."

The redhead figure, Welf Crozzo, murmured an agreement as the supporter, the tiny figure, Liliruca piped in, "We need to find an open area. This isn't a good place to be surrounded by monsters."

Almost on cue, a squeak made her pause and turn to look at the reason as she saw three bunnies with white fur and red eyes staring back at her. The more she looked at them, the more she could imagine the resemblance between the bunnies and Bell, what with their cute looks and big red eyes.

"They look like you," she spoke without realizing, making Welf nod in agreement, "Little Bell bunnies."

"THEY ARE CALLED ALMIRAJ!"Bell screamed, embarrassed. Perhaps it was not the best choice as the monsters snarled and jumped at the party, bringing out their axes.

Welf dismissively said, "Bell's angry."

"Can you calm down your little friends?"

"Ah they have nothing to do with me," Bell replied, unsheathing his knife. Diving into the fight, Bell drew his other knife and began stabbing and defeating the bunnies, gathering crystals with each victory.