Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.3] Quest 276- Visitors From The Rift

While high in the air, Artemis and Cirrus could see several of the giant humanoid monsters running around and people flying with steam.

"Cirrus, help that one over there! He only has one arm!" shouted Artemis.

Cirrus turned to see who she was talking about; he was on a horse with one arm and several monsters after him.

"Got it! Hold on tight!"

"Hm!" She got her arm around his neck and hung on tightly as he quickly flew to the person's rescue.

Riding through the woods was a man with blonde hair on a white horse.

Huff!

Huff!

Huff!

‘What happened!? We were fighting the Beast Titan and dealing with Reiner and Bertholdt on the wall. But now…’

Erwin rides in between the trees to evade the Titans, but his horse is quickly running out of stamina.

"If only I had a flare… It seems this is where I—"

Spurt!!

Thud!!!!

The sounds of several cuts and bodies hitting the ground made Erwin look back to see all the titans were gone.

"Huh? No matter!! I need to—!?" He looked forward to seeing a beautiful woman and a small child in bird armor land in front of him. "W-who are you!?" he commanded a bit, startled by the sight.

"My name is Artemis, and this is Cirrus. Judging by your clothes, you aren’t from around here, are you?"

"What do you mean here? This is outside the wall. You two shouldn’t be out here!"

"Wall?" said Cirrus. "No matter. For now, you’re coming with us. We can ask each other questions as we get the rest of the people who were flying around with steam."

"There are more! I know this is unlikely, but do you have a flare gun?"

"I do." Said Artemis.

"Do you have a purple flare?"

"Hmm, I think so. Hold on." Artemis rummaged through her bag and got out two flare shots. "I don’t, but I have blue and red."

"I’ll mix them quickly," Cirrus said as Artemis handed him the flares.

Erwin was shocked as Cirrus so easily popped the tops of the flares and mixed the powders of both.

"Wait, how could they see it? What if the tree’s foliage blocks it?" said Artemis.

"Dammit…"

"Oh, I can deal with that. You have something to start a fire, right?"

"No, but we have your magic! Cirrus, when the flare is high in the air, chant (Sing your Vespers.)."

"Aight!"

Cirrus sealed it, and with a powerful throw in the air, it flew high into the sky.

"(Sing your Vespers.)!!"

His magic circle formed and shot out a massive bolt of thunder.

Crack!!!

Boom!!!!!

The flare went off, and the thunder caught everyone’s attention, even the Titans.

"They will come," Erwin said.

"So you know what those monsters are, right?" Artemis asked.

"They are Titans, giant humanoid monsters that drove humanity behind massive walls. You can only kill them by cutting the nape of their neck, but seeing as you already killed them before, you knew that."

"More or less," Cirrus said. "I just chopped their head off because it would be hard to regenerate a fucking head. Also, why didn't anyone tell me I possessed fucking lightning magic!! That’s so fucking cool!"

Artemis would hug him by how childlike he was acting, but the situation didn’t call for it.

"For now, can you deal with any Titan that comes near us? You aren’t big enough to carry both of us."

"That’s fine. Hey, can I do anything else with my magic?"

"Hecton will explain it to you. Now go and deal with the Titans and help as many as you can."

"Got it!"

With a flap of his wings, he flew up and went to work.

"So… Can I ask who you are?" Erwin was tense.

"As I said, I am Artemis."

"Sorry, let me rephrase it. What are you? You seem to have an aura that makes me think I am hallucinating."

"Fufu I see, well your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. That is my divinity."

"D-divinity?"

"Yes, for I am a goddess."

"!!"

Erwin seemed shaken to his core; he never expected the divine to exist. He could see energy around Artemis. It held a fierce yet almost absent presence that could easily disappear with a single breath.

Despite his disbelief, the aura she was radiating told him, deep inside, that her words were true.

"Judging from your face, your world doesn’t have any gods, does it?"

"… No, we are left to fend for ourselves. I-I’m not dead, am I?"

"I see… Well, I can see from you lacking an arm that you have been fighting bravely, so rest now. Do not assume you are dead, which you are not, but be at ease. Cirrus will take care of it."

"But he is a child? How can I let a child—"

"What is your name, child?"

"E-Erwin Smith."

"Erwin, you have my word as a goddess that Cirrus will take care of it and gather the rest who were separated from you."

"I… Very well." He was exhausted. Just a moment ago, he was at death's door, and now he has just met a goddess and a kid who can fly. His brain was working too hard for him right now.

It didn't help either that knowing that if a goddess exists, so does the existence of heaven and hell.

"U-um Artemis?" He said it quizzically.

"You wanna ask me questions about death, right? I've seen that expression on your face on several other people in Gekai. Alright, go on. Just know I won’t be able to answer all your questions."

Looking at the flare, the group that came from another world spotted it.

"That flare is a member of the Survey Corp!" said Armin.

"We have to hurry! It could be someone important!" said Connie.

"Wait!" said Mikasa. "What if it’s a trap?"

"It’s not." Ais, who was on a quest in the forest, spoke up. "Thunder set that flare off, and there is only one person who could fire off such powerful magic."

"It was Cirrus." Said Bell. He and some of his family members received the same quest as Ais.

"Who’s that? Is he like your commander or something?" said Eren.

"Not exactly, but he is the strongest man in the world!" Lili said it with confidence. "We should hurry, and… Welf isn’t here!"

They looked around quickly and discovered he wasn't with them.

"We need to look for—!!"

Thump!!

Thump!!

Thump!!

Thump!!

"More Titans!" shouted Armin, interrupting Bell. "7-meter class. And several of them at that—"

They see a streak of silver and blood flash before their eyes as something small and fast cut off all of their heads.

"!?!?" Those of the Survey Corp. were frozen by the shock of it.

"W-was that that Cirrus guy…" said Sasha, scared.

"Did you say my name?"

"!?"

They turned to see a kid standing before them wearing the Stymphalian armor, but the voice sounded younger and his size was considerably shorter.

"C-Cirrus?" said Bell.

"That’s my name." Cirrus removed his helmet to show his appearance, which was significantly younger and far more feminine. "Ah, I’m assuming you knew the 'me' who was 14 years older, right? Sorry, kid stuff happened, and they, like, turned me back into a kid. Any-who let's get going, Lady Artemis, and some guy with one arm is waiting for us."

"Commander Erwin!" shouted Armin. "He is here!"

"Uh yeah? So let’s fucking go. These Titans are really fucking—"

Crash!!

A small titian leaped from the trees at Cirrus.

"Annoying." Cirrus drew Gram and sliced the titan's eyes and arms.

Slash!!

Spurt!!

Blood sprayed out, but before it could stain Cirrus, he rose his right leg and stomped its head into the ground.

Thud!!

"Annoying." He said it coldly. "The Goliath was far better." As it heals on the ground, Cirrus walks over its head and to its back. He held its head firmly and ripped the head right off. "There we go!!" Cirrus said as blood jetted out, spraying him and his clothes.

Everyone was scared. He did it so easily, without hesitation.

"Wow…" Everyone said they felt bad for the titan.

"Come on, you can ask questions once everyone is grouped up," Cirrus said as the blood and titan slowly evaporated.

"W-wait! Welf is still out there!" Bell shouted.

"Okay, what does he look like? Do you think I can read minds, rabbit boy? Oh, sorry, is that offensive? Sorry, all these killings kind of put me in a mood." He gave off a faint smile.

‘H-he really doesn’t remember?’ Bell thought.

‘His personality is also… different? Oddly, more like Lady Yoru?’ thought Lili.

"You gonna talk or what? Or is my face too distracting?" Cirrus glanced at everyone in the group, and they all look away. "You the blonde, pretty girl." He looked at Ais. "You know this, Welf?"

Ais was startled. She wasn’t used to this forwardness. It reminded her a bit of Bete but less patronizing and galvanizing.

"O-oh um, he—"

"He has short red hair and a great sword," said Lili, cutting Ais off.

"Fucking finally. Got it, just go where the flare was shot, and I’ll go look for Welf and any more people." The helmet came back on, and he went up in the air and flew away quickly.

As he left, the others looked at one another.

"… He is… different from what you guys told us." Said Eren.

"Haha… um, we didn’t think he would be… well, in that state," Bell said.

"Hm." Ais nods. "We should ask him next time. For now, let's go to your friend."

"But what about Cirrus? The one who left!" Armin said. "He is a—"

"Even as a child, he is still powerful, but his swordsmanship level is lower than what it once was," Ais said, remembering how he attacked the titan. "And his attacks are far heavier, more unrestrained. Brutal."

"In either case, we need to move Sora to clear the way for us," Lili said.

"Hmm… Still, he is a—"

"I am sure he is fine," Mikasa said. "You saw what he did to that titan. I doubt he even needs to use that sword of his."

Remember, it again put Armin at ease, and his heart raced as his blood ran cold thinking about the level of strength needed to pull that off.

Armin gently touches his neck.

"L-lets go!"

While flying above Cirrus noticed something red and moving.

‘Let’s see if he is the one, or it’s just a Bloodsaurus?’

Cirrus flies down, and he sees a quick glare of a blade.

"!!"

He flew down quickly and landed hard for intimidation.

Boom!!

The dust vanished with a flap of his wings, revealing four people. One was Welf, the other had black and blonde hair, and one of them was tall.

"Welf right?"

"Y-yeah?" Welf said, perplexed, as he saw a child fall from the sky.

"Cool, so head to where the flare was shot and meet up with some white-haired kid."

"Bell! He’s alright!" he said happily.

"Yeah, so head to where—"

"Hold on kid." said the rather short man with narrow, intimidating grey eyes. "I need to deal with these two traitors right here." He said this with his box cutter swords aimed at the tall man and the blonde guy.

"We're not traitors, he is!!" the blonde man said.

"Y-yes! He is the traitor!" said the tall man.

"Tch! You're trying to get away, you damn cowards." He said it with his eyes narrowing even more.

"I don’t fucking care. You can either come willfully or I’ll fucking break your arms and drag you away," Cirrus said, walking in between them while taking off his helmet.

"Oy kid! Stay away from them!" the short man shouted.

"?"

They grabbed Cirrus quickly and put their thumb to their mouth.

"He’s our hostage!" shouted Reiner. "Got that Levi!!"

"Dammit!" shouted Levi.

"Now if you follow us, we will—"

"U-um, I think you should do as he says." Welf interrupted Reiner's speech.

After seeing his face and eyes, Welf recognized who it was from his armor, and Eupheme just wouldn’t stop talking about Cirrus’s armor when he was under her tutelage for a short while before learning under Tsubaki.

"Hah? Do you not understand the situation you are—"

"Oh, I wasn’t talking about them. I was talking about Cirrus, right?"

Cirrus nods his head.

"That’s my name."

"He’s a kid, plus if we transform, he’ll be killed," Reiner said, inching his thumb to his mouth.

"So… Your transformation has to do with your thumb?" Cirrus asked, looking up.

"So long as we are cut, we can transform into Titans, and the transformation will kill you."

"I see… Well seems you were bad guys."

"Hah? What are—" Cirrus grabs his hand and pried it from himself. "!?" Other than Welf, the other's eyes widen as Cirrus moves his hand like a leaf on a branch.

"As I said, I’m going to fucking." He looked down as he slowly bend Reiner’s arm. "break"

"Ahhh!!!!" Reiner kneels in pain, meeting Cirrus’ eye level.

"Your." The arms bend even more. "Fucking. Arms. Bitch!" He then punches his chin, knocking him out.

Thud!!

"…" Levi and Bertholdt were shocked to see a child so easily bend someone as strong as Reiner down like that.

"Haa…" Cirrus takes a short breath. "Center yourself." He mumbled to himself before looking at Bertholdt. "So, are you going to do anything fucking stupid? Because if you do, I’ll fucking stomp your partner’s head in until it’s a fucking paste on the ground. You know, like a bug that walked in your path." Cirrus then places his foot on Reiner’s head. "Got it?" Cirrus presses down with a bit more force.

Creak~

They could hear the small sound of bones creaking.

"Y-yes!" Bertholdt shouted in compliance.

"Good." Cirrus gets his foot off Reiner. "Say I never caught your guys' names. What are they?"

"My name is Levi Ackerman, and I am the captain of the Survey Corp."

"Ah, so you work with Erwin, right?"

"He is here!?"

"Yeah, he’s where I fired the flare. Oh sorry, what’s your name, big guy?"

"M-my name is Berthold, a-and the one under your foot is Reiner."

"I see… Well, come along. I really don’t fucking trust you pieces of shit. Honestly taking a child hostage, it’s like you wanna be hated."

Bertholdt looks down in shame.

‘… I really like this kid.’ Thought Levi.