Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.4] Quest 337- The Raid, Terrestrial Tyrant- Part 1, Desert Town of Jo’b

In the Dedine Desert, which is a region north of Orario and far northwest of the county of Israfan, lies one of many towns that functions the same way Ukhara does but for The Empire. Several mountains block the desert's poisonous sand and wind from entering Israfan and the whole Kaios Desert.

Any merchant wanting to cut a massive amount of time off their travels to the west should go to the Dedine Desert through here at the risk of death if you loosen your guard and breathe in the toxic air or if any of their food or water is contaminated.

Unlike the Kaios Desert, this region doesn’t have any country or ruler besides Jo’b which was under the Empire’s control, and, thus, safer travel routes from other people.

Arriving at the town in a fleet of Desert Ships, many of the adventures found the following:

"Whoa, this place is rather empty?" Bell said, looking around.

"That is because we had them all evacuate to The Empire." Said Rethusa. "Whistle!!!!!" Her whistle flowed through the empty streets, and several members of the Artemis Familia came out.

"Rethusa, you're finally here!" said Cale. "We evacuated everyone and began to settle in."

"Good. Are the others still tracking the Behemoth?"

"Hm," she nods. "We found its projected path to be this town in 2 days."

"Then we have time, Finn and Lili. I’ll leave the battle plans for you two. The rest of us are going to prep the town for battle."

"Understood," said Finn.

The Artemis then scattered around the town and began work. The members of the Hephaestus and Goibniu families helped as well. Many of the Familia went and stayed in inns and the like, with the mayor’s office being the headquarters of the operation.

One day later.

"It’s still a bit strange to walk down a town with no civilians around," Bell said to Welf.

"Yeah, even with all the adventures that came with the raid, it still wasn’t quite enough to see that this town has life."

Around them, they could see many adventures and Xeno walking around, going from place to place, particularly a bar.

"Wanna head in?" Bell asked.

"I thought you weren’t a drinker?"

"Well, this is a special occasion, since tomorrow we may not see many of the people here."

"Hm."

They enter the bar to find several people drinking with some of the Xeno and having a good time.

"Another round on me!" shouted Let, a goblin with a red cap.

"Yeah!!!!" Everyone cheered.

"Come on, sing another song!" shouted an adventurer.

"Please!" they said.

"Fine, but this is the last one! My throat is getting sore!" said another siren, Xeno.

Watching them all, Welf turned to Bell.

"You know they got along really fast, huh?"

"I believe it is due to both fear and faith in the ones who lead us," Bell said.

"Those are really good motivations."

They began to drink and have a good time with one another before the next day came.

On top of the highest building, Ais watches the barren desert. She takes out the divine weapon Cirrus made her; she looks at the spine of the sword to find a name in Hieroglyphs.

"Sunrise?"

"Is that the name of that sword?" said Tiona, sitting beside her. "I wonder if these gauntlets have one as well?" She checked them out.

"Tiona… Do you think tomorrow will be alright?"

"Hm? Sure! We have these weapons and Orario’s strongest adventures, along with the Xeno!"

"Yes, but... even from the records left by the Zeus and Hera Familia, they lost members during that fight. It wasn’t until Zald ate the monster’s flesh and killed it with its own strength added to his own."

"So, are you afraid you won’t be able to kill it?"

"…Somewhat."

"Well, I’m sure we’ll kill it. After all, the Black Dragon is still alive, and we can’t die before we finally kill it!"

Ais looked at her sword once more.

"I guess that is why he named you Sunrise."

"Are you going to go down and have a drink? Might as well have a good fun night before heading off into battle."

"Hm, I’m coming."

East side of the town.

"And so that’s the plan." Said Lili. "Are you guys able to do that?"

"Not at all," said Lyd. "We will deal with most of the monsters along with the weaker adventures."

"Thank you, and for your champion, he’s... Where is he?" Lili looked around.

"He is on the outskirts of the city, meditating." Said Gros. "He always meditates before an important battle, ever since he lost to Fels’ boy. He also gave him some tips."

"Well, tell him he’s going to be in the vanguard, and if he gets too injured, he will join the mob clearing to regain strength from the magic stones."

"Very well."

"Say, can I ask you guys something?"

"Hm? What is it, Lili-cchi?" said Lyd.

"Do you guys feel scared? I mean, facing the Behemoth is something terrifying."

"Hmm...more or less. Our instincts are screaming at us to run or obey it."

"But we aren’t Xeno for a reason. If we can’t even fight our instincts of fear, then we can’t move forward." Said Ray.

"Yes, and the progress we made is very satisfying! Even old man Gryuu was grinning ear to ear!" said Lyd.

"So we will do our part tomorrow." Said Gros. "Fighting alongside humanity against a common enemy... Well, this certainly isn’t something we would have thought would happen all those years ago."

Outskirts of the town.

"…"

"You’re not going to drink? You damn bull," said Bete.

Asterius turns to see the werewolf.

"I am clearing my mind, wolf." He said as he returned to look at his divine great axe. "A warrior must have a clear, sound mind and body for the soul to settle."

"Hah!? That’s fucking weird coming from a battle junkie like you."

"For this monster, I must not let my own temptations sway me. It will be where our kind will take their step out of the shadows of the dungeon and into the light of the surface." He grips the weapon tightly, and a disturbing smile grows on his face. "And I can’t wait to fight!!!"

"I find it weird that I like you better with that creepy smile of yours."

"And I prefer you away from me."

Other establishments in town.

"How long has it been since we had a drink, Ottar?" Gareth said with a drink in hand.

"Many years ago. The last time I remember clearly was the day Zald left with his Familia to slay the Behemoth." Ottar said, taking a drink.

The bar had only the two of them.

"Ah yes, that takes me back." Gareth takes a drink as well. "Ahh, Do you remember when you first met Zald?"

"I do. I came up to him as a level one, and he beat me till I couldn’t stand up."

"Hahaha!! It sounds like my first time as well! He then splashed you with a potion and took you out for drinks, right?"

"He did. Then Maxim would come, and it turned into a party."

"That sounds about right."

"Gareth." Ottar takes another drink. He glances at him. "Do you remember the first time you met Nephele?"

"How could I forget? She was so young and a rookie."

"Yes, then one day she let Hera guide her."

"I have never seen such growth; it was terrifying how strong she grew. Even Ais was not that merciless."

"It was even worse after her one-year disappearance."

"And now we know why. A mother’s fury knows no bounds. But we are partially to blame. Back then, it was cutthroat. Loki had to pull every trick in the book for us to survive that environment."

"Yes, even Freya had to bow her head a few times to Hera."

"Scary times… I once remembered her fighting against Maxim and the other executives of the Zeus Familia."

"Ah, that. I remember the 18th floor being totaled. What happened?"

"You know the Zeus Familia; they were drinking a bit too much, and it pissed her off."

"Sounds about right. Do you remember when you first fought against the Goliath?"

"Hahaha!! Another fun day!"

The two began to go back and forth, reminiscing about their youth.

Some other part of town.

Ryuu was walking around the city with Malion.

"And that was how we finished it," Said Malion. "Zald, that damn gluttonous fool. Did you know he once ate sand?"

"From what I heard, he ate far worse, didn’t he?"

"He did, especially when we were delving down into the dungeon... Ah, those times seem so far away now."

"I figured you never had to fight such a creature again, right?"

"Yes, what luck? When I left for the Frontier, I had expected my life to simply be that of a vagabond looking around in search of the perfect ‘White’ to finally kill that damn one-eyed lizard."

"How…how powerful was it?"

"…. Dreadful. Its wings could knock down buildings under the pressure of the wind. Its breath could turn the land into a molten sea. Even its scales were hard enough to block our strongest attacks. I only survived due to me being in the back lines and especially because Maxim and Nephele got their attention."

"I see…"

They kept walking down an alley filled with old posters when one caught Malion’s eye.

"Hm? Well, well, this is interesting." She stops and looks at the wall full of old posters.

"What is it? Is it one of my bounties?"

"No, it’s Cirrus’." She holds up an old bounty poster of Cirrus with 50 million Valis. They knew it was old as it still had the Golden Horned Demon Zephyr on it. "50 mil, huh? Haha! He must really piss those Evilus guys off!"

"Did you ever get a bounty?" Ryuu said while looking at the poster.

"I did, but it wasn’t this big. It goes to show how much power and wealth they have amassed since we failed to kill the Black Dragon. Did you get one?"

"I did. It was 80 million."

"That's right. I sometimes forget that you had that dog in you with how cute you are sometimes."

"Dog in me?"

"It’s something Zeus said from time to time. Ah!" Malion comes in and wraps her arm around Ryuu. "How about I buy you a drink? I always wished to share a drink with The Gale! Did you know your name even reached pretty far lands?"

Ryuu blushed.

"R-really!? I did not think they would."

"Well, let me buy you a drink! Or all of them! I’m happy to have a fine elven warrior as a fellow Sister-Wife!"

They went to a bar nearby and got a few drinks.

Far over the horizon of the desert, the Behemoth slowly advances with poisonous black winds.