Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.3] Quest 278- THUD!!!!!

When they arrived at the city, they found it well fortified with 2nd class adventures, and right on top of the gate was Cirrus, looking over the area.

"So these are the travelers Lady Artemis was talking about." Said, Shakti. "Zephyr said to come on top, and you?" Shakti walked up to Reiner. "Hold still." She grabbed his arm and straightened it out as if it were paper.

"Agh!! Dammit, that hurts!!"

"Quiet." She poured a potion on him, and his bones all got back into place. "He told me you tried to use him as a hostage… Pffft hahahaha!!!!!" she laughed out loud, walking back. "Never did I imagine someone would try to do that! That potion is on the house! But try anything, and he will cut you down!"

The gate opened, and they entered the city, which was bustling with activity. The threat of the Titans seems not to affect them much.

"H-hey why aren’t you scared or anything?" asked Eren.

"Why? Because we have Zephyr." Shakti said.

"Why are you calling him Zephyr and not Cirrus?" asked Lili.

"Well, even though he explained what happened, it’s hard to call him Cirrus because of how much he changed, so it’s easier to call him Zephyr, the name he went by when he was that age, plus he has that roughness that he has long polished off. I’m sure you felt it in his fighting."

"They were more brutal than before," said Bell.

"They had a heavy coldness to them." Said Ais.

"Exactly a blade forged in the Dark Era… Well, better go up, his patience also thinned."

They went up the wall to see Cirrus staring out at the open scene. It was almost like the thousand-yard star most soldiers have, yet he still had a light behind his eyes.

"Tell me, does this view remind you of home?" Cirrus said, glancing at them.

They look out to see the vastness of trees out in the distance.

"… Sadly so." Said Bertholdt.

"Hmm… and what of that weird monkey peering over the tree line?"

"!!"

They all look again, but they couldn’t see anything besides Bell and Ais. Their high status made it easy for them to spot it.

"I-it’s a hairy titan!" Bell shouted.

"Tch! Even he came here!" said Levi with his hands on his blades.

"So an enemy then… You two, tell me what its name is?" Cirrus stated firmly.

"Why should—!"

Levi has his blade poised against Reiner's throat.

"Answer his question."

'I didn't expect Levi to be the good guy in this situation.' Everyone thought.

"Tch…"

"I’ll say it," Bertholdt said, walking up.

"Are you really—"

"Shut the fuck up!!" Cirrus shouted. "Levi was it? Kick him in the balls."

"Wait, wha—!!!"

Levi kicked Reiner hard in the balls.

"Gaaah!! Fuck!!!" He falls to his knees, holding his family jewels.

"No interrupting," Levi said as he put his foot on Reiner's head and got his blades ready to swing down.

"Go on, you PTSD-riddled gentle giant. Who is that weird apeman?" Cirrus said this with a slight annoyance in his voice.

"R-right, well, h-he is Zeke Yeager, captain of the Warrior Unit, and he is the inheritor of the Beast Titan."

"I see. Yeager huh? What a coincidence, huh?" He looks at Eren. "You and him share a last name."

"W-well they are, um... half brothers on their father's side."

"What!? I—Dad has another son!?" Eren said shocked.

"Hm. And what about that weird one with the long face and cargo on their back?"

"T-that is another Titan shifter, her name is Pieck Finger, and she inherited the Cart Titan."

"Hmm. Well, come along, Reiner, Bertholdt. The rest of you can take a breather here. We are going to go meet them."

"Sure thing," Levi said, sitting down. "But when you bring Zeke here, I want to talk with him."

Levi, despite not knowing Cirrus for long, has faith in him. He possessed the power of an entire nation.

"Sure." Cirrus gets up and cleans off the dust on him. "Come, I had them give us two horses."

"You want to ride with one of us?" Bertholdt said.

"Of course, you're going to do that stupid fucking plan again, and this time I’ll play along."

"By stupid plan do you mean…" Bertholdt swallowed his saliva, remembering the only plan they did.

The rest took Cirrus up on resting except for Levi, who sat there watching as they rode off.

Riding up to and past the tree lines, Zeke greeted them in his Beast Titan form.

"Reiner, Bertholdt, why did you bring a child? Did Eren Yeager not come here?" Zeke said, looking at the two of them.

"W-well, sir, he did, but..." Bertholdt said it nervously.

"Sir it’s a—"

"I want my mommy!!!" Cirrus cried out with crocodile tears, interrupting Reiner. "I don’t want to be eaten by a monster!!!!"

"S-sir he’s—"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Cirrus cried even louder.

"Now, now." Steam came off Zeke, and the titan's body began to slowly deteriorate while Pieck drew back a bit.

"Ahhh!!!! Ahhh!!!! Why is it melting!!!!"

From the nape of the titian, Zeke came out shirtless and put back his glasses.

"Sorry if that scared you. My name is—"

"Zeke Yeager," Cirrus said, getting on the horse with his two legs and jumping towards him.

"!!" Zeke’s eyes widen.

Cirrus grabbed his throat and squeezed it tight.

"You know, for a soldier who worked with child soldiers, I’m a bit surprised how easy it was for you to get taken by one?" Cirrus’s tone and attitude were far more mature than what he showed.

"R-Reiner!" he exclaimed, his throat choking.

"Try anything and I’ll—!"

Cirrus turns his gaze at Pieck as she came at him with her mouth open wide.

She bit him and swallowed him.

Gulp!

"W-what the hell was that!!" Zeke said, getting up and rubbing his throat. "Who was that child!!" he was furious.

"He was—Clatter!!"

They looked to see Pieck throwing off the cargo, and steam covered her body when she shouted.

"Agh!? Ahhh!!!! My insides!!! It hurts!! He is—GAAAAAH!!!"

She howled out in pain, and from her back, they could see a massive amount of steam erupting from it. Pieck’s body flops to the floor as Cirrus emerges from the steam drenched in blood. His bloody appearance intimidates everyone present.

"Ahh~ That was a new experience I never had," Cirrus said, jumping out of the hole he made by ripping and pulling apart flesh. He also combs his hair back with the blood that quickly evaporates into steam. "Oh, right, there is someone inside." He began to slowly walk but was up to her nape when a burst of steam covered his view.

"We need to run!" Pieck shouted while in the air.

"Wait!! Stop!!!" shouted Bertholdt.

As Pieck bit her thumb and thundering energy surrounded her, she felt something grab her leg and:

Baaam!!!

A meaty slam to the ground filled everyone’s ears.

"Cough!!!!" Pieck laid on her back, coughing up blood.

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head from the impact.

"Seems I’m faster than your transformation." Cirrus returns to the ground as he approaches Pieck.

"W-what did you bring…" Zeke said as fear grasped him.

They had returned with a callous devil, a demon. He wielded his strength with brutal swiftness.

"W-we brought this world’s strongest human…" Bertholdt looked away as Cirrus walked over and stood above Pieck.

"Hm! Hm! That’s a theory tested and confirmed! And look at you, pretty lady. She’s healing up just fine!" His face quickly turned cold, as did his voice, as he grabbed her head and lifted her up with a single arm as if she weighed as much as a feather. He then placed his other hand on her shoulder and, with a gentle push, forcibly dislocated her arm from its socket, jolting her back awake.

"GAAAAH!?!?" Pieck’s eyes darted around to see what was happening when she met Cirrus’s cold fish eyes.

"Do that again, and I’ll fucking throw you against a tree and break your fucking spine. You got that, you fucking little shit." He squeezed her head even tighter. "Got it?"

"Gah!!" Pieck could feel her skull beginning to crack, the swelling was unbearable. "Y-YES!! YESS!!!"

Pieck could tell from the strength with which he was holding her, it was the same strength she used when she grabbed a human and popped their head like a grape. She was quickly tarting to regret her life choices.

The feeling of fear and murderous intent filled the area, and it was instilled in all of them.

"W-w-who are you…" Zeke said.

"I am Cirrus Zephyr, but you can call me the Golden-Horned Demon."

"B-but you don’t have—"

"(Exousía, Adorn: Ceryneian)."

Cirrus was dressed in holy white armor and wore a deer mask with golden horns on his head.

"Any more fucking questions? Or do you want me to fucking hammer it in about how I got that name? Here is a hint, I killed a looooot of people, quick and very brutal to the point there was no white on this armor."

Even if Cirrus had his upgraded armor back during those months in the Kaios Desert, it would still have been dyed in blood, head to toe.

"Y-you don’t scare me!" Zeke said, standing up with shaken feet.

‘Who is this monster!! He is dangerous! Death has its hands around my neck!'

Cirrus could tell he had some will—a will that needed to be broken.

"… You will be the example." Cirrus let go of Pieck and walked up to Zeke slowly.

Cirrus looked at Zeke, who still had some thoughts of aggression.

"Hah! Try and—Now Pieck!!!"

Pieck grabbed Cirrus's leg as the same energy that had covered her before engulfed her.

"Die!!!" she shouted, this monster before her needs to die, it cannot be allowed to breathe anymore.

Cirrus merely watched her with unamused eyes and exhaustedly said.

"I am going to fuck you up."

CRACK!!!

Boom!!!

Lightning struck Pieck, transforming her back into her titan form.

"Grr!!" The others present covered themselves from the force.

"World’s strongest!! He is—"

CRASH!!!!

"…Eh?"

The three of them look to see Pieck already on the ground with her back to the tree.

"What did I say?" Cirrus walks through the smoke unharmed.

He walks past all three of them to Pieck. He then grabbed her leg and swung her against the tree like floppy baseball bat.

THUD!!!!!

Brutal. That was the only way to describe the look of this punishment.

THUD!!!!!

There was no hesitation or sympathy.

THUD!!!!!

Before tossing her to the other three, he pours a potion on her. Her injuries were slowly healing.

Looking at Cirrus, now covered in human blood, his words were true. He was a Gold-Horned Demon in name and action.

"… Get her and go," Zeke orders as he puts his glasses away.

Reiner and Bertholdt grabbed Pieck and took off without hesitation.

Cirrus didn’t mind. He can easily hunt them down and take his time.

"Wait here or I will—"

"Die!!!" Zeke bit his thumb, and, like Pieck, he transformed into his titan form. "Your little bast—Slice!!!"

The top of Zeke’s head was gone, leaving the lower portion of his mouth intact.

Cirrus walks to the nape of the body as it falls to the ground, and with a single thrust of his arm, he grabs Zeke and pulls him out from the spine.

"AHHH!?!?!" He shouted in pain.

"Shut the fuck up."

Cirrus tossed him to the ground and quickly kicked his chin to knock him out cold.

Thud!

"… Now. Where are… Oh, you two are rather close." Cirrus turned to see both Reiner and Bertholdt just a few meters away from the area with Pieck. "How fortunate your brain soaked in the situation."

The two of them were glad, ecstatic that they followed their gut and stayed behind.

"Drag him along. Bertholdt, you get to ride a horse. You blonde, help drag him back to town." Cirrus got on the horse with no issue at all. "You all understand what happens if I have to get off my horse again, right?" His eyes were as cold as those of a fish.

They both immediately nod.

As they leave the forest and arrive at the plains around Orario, Zeke regains consciousness but is all tied up. His injuries have also been healed.

"Ugh…" He groans in pain. "Where… is this a nightmare?"

"No," Reiner said. "We are almost back. Just close your eyes and go back to sleep."

"Yeah," Pieck said weakly as Bertholdt carries her on his back. "I can feel my legs again. I don’t want to get him angry."

Zeke couldn’t see Cirrus as he rides the horse. A throbbing pain pulsates, and the memories of what happened are seared into his body, never to be forgotten.

Zeke closes his eyes and goes to sleep. He wants this day to end.

The whole walk back was quiet. Only the sounds of the horse and the sound of walking could be heard.

When they returned to the city, they noticed Zeke and Pieck were traumatized. Shaki has seen that look on many of the criminals that Cirrus got his hands on when he returned from the desert.

"Uncooperative?" Shakti said.

"Yup." Cirrus gets off his horse.

"Well, I hope you four can get back to wherever you are from." She gives a slight smile.

"Thanks…" Reiner spoke softly and respectfully.

"Oh yeah, Shakti, I am not sure, but there could be more titans in the woods," Cirrus said.

"Not a problem. Those soldiers up top told me how to kill a Titan. Should be easy as cake, given how dumb they all are."

"I hope none of your men die from their own stupidity."

"Not a problem. I and Ganesha weed that out."

"Hm. Glad the city has a reliable Familia to lean on now." He makes a brisk smile as he takes the four into the city.

Shakti watched as Cirrus dragged them into the city and smiled.

"Heh. That certainly is a dangerous smile."