[DanMachi/Percy Jackson] Prytaneum

Chapter 39: Buried part 1

"Bors!" I shouted, marching back into the town and making a beeline for the greatest presence I could sense. "Bors!"

"What now!?" The older man snarled, looking up from where he was packing a massive bag full of...everything he could, apparently. He paused when he saw me, however. "Kid? What is it?"

"Do you have a forge around here?" I asked, reaching back to rap my knuckles against Welf's chest, making him grunt. "My friend here's decided to do something stupid and stay behind with me."

Bors frowned and looked Welf over, eying the smaller man for a moment before nodding.

"There's a couple," He said. "What the hell are you thinking about doing that you'd need a forge? A bit late to try making anything now—"

"He's a Crozzo," I interrupted.

"Ah," Bors said, cutting himself off and blinking several times. He furrowed his brows for a moment, as if considering it, and then nodded as if that changed everything—which I suppose it did. "He can use mine, then; it's the one out back. Used to be a Blacksmith myself, once upon a time."

"Bors Elder," Welf said quietly. "Yeah, I've heard about you."

Bors gave him a toothy grin and then hoisted his bag onto his shoulder.

"Damn right you have," He boasted before giving us both a nod. "I'd tell you not to break anything, but since most of it's going to get broken anyway, fuck if I care. Just don't break it if it's mine—and try not to die, I suppose. I'll treat you to drinks next time you come around if you make it out alive!"

"I'll be sure to take you up on that," I said, already looking around and trying to decide what would be most useful to me. I wouldn't know until I'd had a chance to size up my enemy, but I had a few ideas. If nothing else, it should help distract or delay the monster, if worse came to worse. "One more thing, Bors—let me introduce you to my other friend. This is Mrs. O'Leary."

As I spoke, I opened the door wider and stepped aside so he could see her, standing in the middle of the small town. She was doing her best to be unobtrusive and nonaggressive, but when you were her size, there was only so much you could do. Just about every adventurer nearby had stopped what they were doing and were eying her tensely, hands moving towards their weapons. At this point, I was pretty sure only two things were stopping them from attacking her; the fact that Lili was seated on her back as a sign that she wasn't a normal monster and the fact that most of them probably weren't sure they could take her.

In fairness, they probably couldn't, which was why I'd gotten Bors.

"She's with me," I told the suddenly pale-faced man as he looked up at her. "She and Lili here are going to help guide you and your men back to the surface safely, okay? Just in case anything else happens. But I wanted to ask you to keep your men in line; she won't attack you since I've told her not to, but if anyone attacks her first, I can't promise that nothing will happen. Worst case scenario, you may all die, so I'd appreciate it if you looked after her and made sure nothing like that happens, got it?"

"Got it," Bors said in response to the warning. "Oi, you idiots—put that shit down! Ain't none of you seen a goddamn tamed monster before!? And get back to fucking work!"

Bors' voice seemed to startle all the adventurers, who hesitantly looked away from Mrs. O'Leary and went back to preparing themselves for their coming flight, Bors moving to follow but sticking relatively close, just not too close.

"Mr. Percy..." Lili murmured from atop Mrs. O'Leary, looking down at me with frightened eyes.

"Sorry, Lili," I said as I reached up to pat Mrs. O'Leary's side. "But I need someone to guide Mrs. O'Leary and help keep these guys safe if something happens—and I need someone I can trust to get back to the surface as quickly as possible. Once you're back up top, I need you to spread the word that something's happened; at least make sure the Loki and Hephaestus Familias know, and tell Eina at the Guild. I'm sure word will travel fast, once a bunch of adventurers flood out of the Dungeon, but I'd rather not leave anything to chance."

"Lili knows, but...Lili feels like she's being sent away," She replied, looking between me and Welf. "Like she's leaving something behind again and running for safety while Mr. Welf and Mr. Percy are in danger."

"If it makes you feel any better, I can't guarantee the trip back up will be safe," I replied, feeling pretty worried myself. "You know the Dungeon like the back of your hand though, so I'm sure you'll be able to guide everyone around anything that appears. Listen to Mrs. O'Leary; she'll warn you if there's anything coming—oh, and make sure she eats some more monsters on the way back up. I don't suppose you kept track of how much she ate on the seventeenth?"

Lili shook her head.

"Over a hundred," She stated, though. "The two of you killed at least that many Minotaurs."

Did we? I hadn't really been keeping count. But if that was true, it was all the more concerning, because Mrs. O'Leary still seemed shadowy around the edges. She didn't seem like she was nothing but shadow, thankfully, but her fur was too dark, her edges too vague. All that and she was still a long way to recovery.

If she were at full power, it would be a relatively simple matter to shadow travel to the surface, find the right people, and bring them here, but...I couldn't risk it after having so recently brought her to collapse. Not even for something as big as this.

"Don't push yourself," I murmured, stroking her side gently. "I can wait. It's just another giant monster."

Mrs. O'Leary whined slightly and both hers and Lili's ears dropped. Lili's, apparently, were fake though, which was still something I was getting used to.

"Mr. Percy..." Lili said again. "Mr. Welf..."

"I trust you Lili," I said, giving her one last smile. "Just get there safe, okay?"

She swallowed but nodded, setting her shoulders, and I turned to see Welf already carrying supplies to one of the forges. He didn't seem to have any intention of saying goodbye, which I figured was his way of saying this would all work out. I guess we'd just have to try and make sure he was right. He should have everything he needed to make a magic sword, since for him it was no different than forging a normal one, but it would still take time. How much time, I wasn't sure and he hadn't volunteered an answer. I wasn't even entirely sure it would work, though having been on the receiving end of an apparently old and worn magic sword, I was willing to have a little faith in that regard. Holding on that long, however...

It would be easier just to kill the thing myself, I thought. Less dangerous for everyone involved, too.

And I'm sure it would be that simple.

"Get your people moving, Bors," I raised my voice to make sure I'd be heard. "I'm going to distract it so make sure you get gone."

"Of course," Bors nearly drawled, already prepared to leave. "But what are you going to do—"

I didn't hear the rest of what he was going to say, because I'd already walked off the side of the cliff. I plummeted over six hundred feet without fear, moving into a diving stance as I went, before plunging into the water without the slightest resistance on the surface. As I sank beneath the surface, I inhaled the fresh water, filling my lungs and taking a moment to just...appreciate it. I could feel energy flowing into me again, feeling it healing and reinforcing me, and there was no accompanying drain or exhaustion like what came with my summoned water and storms.

What's more, this wasn't simply a shower or a bath or getting my feet wet—I was submerged and it left me feeling stronger than I had in a long, long time. My eyes adapted quickly as I slipped into the depths, piercing the darkness in a way that wasn't even vaguely human. I could see the motion of the currents, the shades of heat and cold that marked objects, and I could feel everything around me, sensing it. The depths of the lake didn't suddenly seem full of light nor did they seem perfectly clear, it's just that neither of those things mattered to me. I was the son of Poseidon and I could literally have lit a match down here without the water getting in my way.

Bad as the situation was, this place was about as ideal a battlefield as I could possibly hope for in the Dungeon, at least until I found some place full of salt water. It gave me strength, healed me, and provided me access to my greatest weapons, all without any particular cost to myself, and as tactical advantages went...I could breathe underwater and most people couldn't. I was somewhat doubtful that'd be enough to keep me perfectly safe—since nothing else ever seemed to—but if the Dungeon wanted to send monsters down to fight the son of the sea god in water, I'd be happy to show it the flaws of that idea.

Assuming, of course, that it was willing to play along. The monster was after me, of that I was pretty much certain, but if it was smart enough, it might realize that it could draw me away from the water by simply going somewhere else. If it headed towards anyone else, I'd have no choice but to follow and I'd have to react fast.

To that end, I took a breath and waited, closing my eyes as I did. Opening myself up to it again, I tried to sense the odd flows and ripples of power that accompanied adventurers and monsters. It was easier now that I was in the water and I could feel the others up above me, already beginning to move, just as I could feel the Goliath, fortunately still heading my way.

Unfortunately, all of a sudden, he wasn't alone. Whether they'd appeared while I'd been busy with other things or if I'd simply failed to notice them until now, the forests were abruptly filled with the presence of other things. With my vague senses, that was pretty much all I could tell—that and their approximate power, which was pretty much the same between them all and made it hard to be sure of anything—but something, whether cynicism or pattern recognition, made me think they were more monsters. Because the only thing better than fighting a Floor Boss was fighting it and all of its friends, I guess, and they were heading my way as well.

For the sake of serving my role as bait, I willed myself to float to the surface and pulled myself up onto it, taking a seat on the water and kicking my legs distractedly as I waited. Soon, monsters began to appear—Minotaurs and Lygerfangs from the seventeenth, but also things like Bugbears and Lizardmen from the nineteenth. They bellowed and roared and screamed what were probably monster insults, but for the most part, I ignored them. For all that they made this that much more difficult, they really weren't my concern and as long as they focused on my like they were supposed to, I didn't care. Several of them tried to charge into the water to get to me, though.

It didn't work out for them. The rest learned that lesson pretty quickly and wisely chose to remain on solid ground, some of the more dexterous of the creatures taking to throwing things at me, which I either deflected with sprays of water or swam around leisurely. Not the most exciting strategy in the world, but I wasn't trying to beat them—right now, I just had to buy time for everyone else to escape. If they were willing to make that easy for me, then good for them.

And then the boss monster appeared, the darkly-colored Goliath. He didn't look that much different up close then he did from afar—he was still a naked giant of a man with unruly white hair who towered far above his fellow monsters. The creatures who'd pressed as close to the water as they dared and packed themselves tightly together on the shore immediately parted before the Monster Rex, who glowered at me with beady eyes, glowering and clenching his hands into fists.

I waved tauntingly, smiled, and sank back to the bottom of the lake the moment I was sure he'd gotten a good look at me. If he stood there impotently, unable to do anything, the fine. If he ventured into the water, even better. While I knew that Welf—and Hestia and Lili and Eina and a fair number of other people besides—was worried about me and, perhaps, not without reason, but I knew how to play things safe, especially when I was outmatched. If I couldn't beat the Goliath normally, I'd happily waste time until reinforcements arrived. I could think things through when I needed to.

And then something like a bomb went off in the middle of the lake, nearly blowing me clear out of the water, doing the same to most of my plans in the process.