[Dungeon-Crawling Quest]

It had been a while since Haru and the girls actually went on a somewhat serious quest, any of the ones they've done recently being more casual than anything else if they had to describe. So they decided to head over to a guildhall to finally pick out their next big adventure.

Though in actuality it was mostly the girls picking them out from one of the many jobs attached to a corkboard as Haru was currently sitting on a comfy wooden bench that just happened to be within the guildhall as he was somewhat tired after that party that they all attended just a day ago.

Name: Kanzaki Haru
Race: Half-Wraith
Level: 80
Class: Executioner
Skills:

{Bone King}
Rank: Calamity
[Sovereign]

{Fleet} -Modified-
Rank: D

[Destroyer]
[Cruiser]
[Battleship]
[Carrier]
[Captain's Orders]

{Snipe}
Rank: C

{Hunter}
Rank: C

{Sharpened Edge}
Rank: C

{Swift Demise}
Rank: D

He looked at his status, having completely overlooked it after his fight with the First Bone King and the months since then. Not much changed aside from his level and now his race. He made a sort-of educated guess based on its name, and as you may think, it meant that he was not fully a wraith yet.

And with how he found out that Decarabia came back after being killed, becoming his current wraith form, he was sure that the same thing would apply to him. This made it slightly easier for him to come to terms with his very imminent demise. Something that he's been aware of for a while and had repeated to him multiple times by now. But then again, according to this world's texts, Wraiths are very weak against divine or demonic powers. So he might need to look out for those.

Aside from that his thoughts were still somewhat clouded by their fight. Haru wondered the limits of his Bone King powers, and how close he may be to reaching them. He's seen what they can do from a veteran user along with how he uses it, and yet he still feels like he's just barely scratched the surface of his power as the Second Bone King.

Even during said fight with Decarabia, he felt like he was holding back against him, he didn't say anything about it because he was too focused on fighting back and avoiding death, causing that thought to leave his mind as quickly as it came until just recently.

Though, this would be the end of his little reflection session as Celica was now standing in front of him. In her hands was a quest flyer with mostly text on it, the symbol of a crown thrown in at one of its corners, likely the one she picked out as one of the options for the party's next adventure. Haru quickly closed his status panel as the elf girl casually handed him the paper that she was holding. Taking a seat next to him on the bench, her head resting on his shoulder as he read through the brown parchment that contained a quest.

He got the basic gist of it after speed reading it, apparently it's a quest that involves them heading to a party undercover to protect an important figure. The word "party" made him look twice at the paper he was holding to see if he had made a mistake reading it, after which he turned towards Celica.

Haru: You realize we just went to a party last night?

Celica: Yes, I enjoyed your fight last night, so I was wondering if I could recreate that situation. Though I did expect this response from you.

Haru: Yeah... So can we just do something different? Like a more typical kind of quest?

The girl pondered on that for a couple of seconds, much to her fiancé's dismay as he held onto the quest flyer for now as he awaited her response to his question. Said response ended up being a simple but cute nod, getting a sigh out of Haru as he patted her on the head.

Someone else sat next to him on the other side of the bench at the same time, two people in fact, the two being Elleth and Airi. With Elleth holding a quest flyer in her hands as Airi flashed an enthusiastic smile towards the two sitting on the wooden bench.

Haru immediately swiped the flyer out of the dragon girl's admittedly soft hands, catching her slightly off-guard in the process as he proceeded to read through this second quest flyer that the two girls had brought him, hoping that it wasn't something that they've already done like what Celica had given him earlier.

His prayers were not answered. The quest that they had picked out was once again something that they've done before. The quest was that of a simple subjugation-type, that setting alone giving him some shivers. Reminding him of the last time he did one of those, even if it did lead to one of the best jokes he's pulled in a while.

But those demonic velociraptors were nothing to what this one had. It was a quest to kill highly-acidic green slimes that had infested a village, causing most of its inhabitants to run. Sure, his head definitely went in the direction of clothes-melting slimes, but he still wasn't willing to risk letting himself or the girls anywhere near the slimes despite most of them being able to pull off ranged attacks.

So he handed over the flyer to Celica, along with the one she had also given him while muttering a resounding "No" towards Elleth and Airi, a muttering that was clearly directed at the quest that they pitched to him as they also took a seat next to him on the bench.

A couple minutes spent just chatting with them later and the last one finally arrives. This time Haru gave a very defeated sounding sigh as Touka somewhat hesitantly gave him the flyer she had picked out. Her reluctance coming from seeing his reactions to what the other three had given him while she was off picking hers.

Haru: Let's see here....ruins....cavern....dungeon...

The look on his face going from very concerned as to what he was about to read, preparing himself to be disappointed for the third time that day to that of pure and utter joy, especially given the very last line of text that the flyer had, with him slowly reading through that one to savor the moment.

"After defeating the Chimera Leviathan at the bottom, a key will be granted to the victors which will unlock the vault just past the murky pool of water it resided in."

Haru: This is too good to be true...

His words laced with the same kind of joy as the expression that was on his face, with the other three girls that sat on the bench with him leaning over to read it for themselves as well, each girl getting their own looks of excitement from the text on the flyer itself.

Touka: I take it that's a yes from all of you then?

Haru: Damn right it is!

Touka swore Haru's eyes were gleaming, no shining, as if they were miniature versions of the sun itself, while the other three were nodding furiously in agreement with Haru. Garnering a small giggle out of her as she went off to pick up the map they needed to get to the dungeon in the first place.

While she was walking over to the receptionist's desk, she couldn't shake off the strange feeling like she was being watched by a malicious being. Even throughout the process of getting the map itself the feeling would not let up, she tried to distract herself in any subtle way she could think of.

And only when she was finally handed the paper map did that feeling go away, as if someone was waiting for one of them to actually take it. Reminding her of back then, how she, Haru, Airi, and Elleth at the time were lured into a normal-seeming quest but ended up having to fight someone that could turn into a Hydra.

She walked back over, the feeling of a stalker coming back once again as if it were confirming the take up of that one specific quest. That feeling went away as fast as it came when she saw that there was no one sitting on the bench anymore, sighing to herself as she turned to walk out the front door of the guildhall.

There, she finds Elleth already in her dragon form with one of her wings set down, likely to help her get up as Celica was already sitting on her back. All the while Haru and her older sister were still on the ground having a conversation between the two of them.

Touka: Hey! I've got the map now!

Haru: O-oh great. I guess we should get going then, right Airi?

Airi: Yes, dear. Guide us well Touka, that's an order from your big sister.

Touka: Yeah, yeah. I'll try my best with the navigator job.

She then went ahead and got on Elleth's back, the dragon girl beginning to lift off the ground as Touka unravelled the map given to her and took a look at the route they needed to take towards the dungeon. It was very detailed, showing landmarks of the various locations they were to pass through on the way. Though Touka was a bit skeptical as to their actual use for them as they were going to fly over to it instead of walking.

Luckily, they weren't too far above the ground allowing Touka to actually make use of the landmarks shown in the map, making the worries she had regarding them for nought.

At the same time, Airi and Haru brought out their respective wings. With Haru struggling a bit to get his to come out as this was the first time that he actually had to call on them voluntarily, with last night's show being a response to the mindset he was in at the time, an intimidation tactic to put it simply.

Airi then also began to lift off the ground, getting her balance in the air easily as she went over and grabbed Haru's hand. Helping him up and teaching first how to float off of the ground using his wings. His inexperience really shining through as she more or less had to drag him up, following Elleth and the other two from behind as she taught him along the way.

Haru: Hey, is flying always this taxing? I feel like my back's about to burn off right now...

Elleth: You get used to it, don't worry.

The dragon girl responded in place of Airi, the echoey voice her dragon form gave her disturbing Touka a little as she was very much focused on her job as the navigator, her eyes fixated on the old, almost ancient-looking and worn map up until this point in their journey.

Airi: What she said, dear...

Haru: Great.....

Airi: Watch this then if you need a bit of motivation.

She brings up her knees, getting them close to the lower portion of her stomach before quickly kicking them back. At the same time blasting out hellfire from the soles of her boots and explosively propelling herself forward as if she were a jet before wearing off as she turned to look at Haru. The blast of hellfire that she used would have hit Haru had his danger sense not kicked in and got him to dodge.

Haru: Damn showoff! You almost burnt me!

Airi: Sorry, my bad! But now you try it dear!

Haru: Just how the hell do you think I- ohhhh wait...

The scene the two were making got a small chuckle out of Elleth, who happened to be multitasking right now, both flying over towards the dungeon under Touka's guidance and entertaining herself with Haru and Airi's antics as the demon girl tried her best to teach him.

Haru: Just copy what she did...should be fine...I hope...

He does exactly that, following what he could actually remember her doing to pull off the short speed boost. Although with his own spin on it thanks to not being able to produce the flames of hell itself whenever he wishes, instead condensing his signature red energy into his legs and out of his soles as cone-shaped constructs. Red lightning crackled around his legs as the energy built up around them.

Haru: Fire!

It was then that the cones of red energy that he formed out of the soles of his boots burst, creating a powerful blast of energy directed backward. The look of them blasting out resembling that of a Science Fiction beam cannon firing its own energy blast. The boost generated by the blast being around the same as the speed of his Sovereign form's, meaning that it was fast but nowhere near the instantaneous Mach one of his Captain's Orders.

And using his experience with the extreme speeds that part of {Fleet} gave him, he was able to decelerate with some ease, struggling a little as he still wasn't exactly fully used to going at high speeds even if he's been able to do it for a while by this point thanks to many of his fights, after all, one of his ribs still seemed to hurt while going this fast, just like the first time he activated Captain's Orders.

Haru: So...How'd I do?

Airi: Well....

His head turned around, following her index finger which was pointed behind him. There he saw that the blast of energy he used to propel himself, following the example she gave him, had now destroyed the upper half of a nearby mountain, dark smoke rising from where the blast had sheared off as some of the rock had become molten.

Haru: Full power, huh...

Airi: Try not to cause that much damage next time, dear...

Haru: I-I'll make an attempt, no promises though...

The two then turned towards the front, seeing that Elleth was flying quite a good distance away from the pair already, with them soon following after as she continued teaching Haru how to effectively fly and actually make use of his newfound skeletal wings.

He ended up finding that most of what she taught him was fairly easy to understand, especially with the way she had phrased them, but hard to actually apply in reality. Whether or not it was because he found the strain it put on his back unbearable and thus affecting his performance was up to him.

Eventually, they would finally be able to reach their destination. The area where the dungeon that their quest flyer had told the five of them about would be. As they were now closing in on it, having entered from above, avoiding the need to hike up the mountains that had surrounded and closed it off to the world.

The ruins mentioned in the flyer came into play as they were met by the moss and vine covered ruins of what seemed to be a small kingdom covered by a thin forest green haze, a haze that seemed to smell just like freshly mowed grass on a cold morning as they had just landed within it, Elleth returning back to her human form as Haru and Airi retracted their respective pairs of wings.

The whole place gave off an eerie, almost horror movie-esque vibe as they wandered, exploring the place a bit before actually going towards the dungeon, their main goal, with the five of them splitting up, having agreed to meet up at the castle after they were done.

Lots of old broken down homes and stores, all in various states of damage and rot, and the occasional skeletal remains of people as Haru strolled around aimlessly, with one of his hands already looking like it was about to wield a sword at any moment. Getting ready to pull out Käseschäler if the need arose, his danger sense going haywire and constantly pinging him of impending yet non-existent danger.

Almost as if it was being affected by the paranoia he felt.

He really couldn't help it, and how could he? The ruins they were in checked off most of the major horror movie cliches that made him jump, his skill {Swift Demise} subconsciously being activated because of this as he muttered to himself, trying to calm down.

Just then, he heard something, or rather someone, coming towards them, footsteps getting louder and clearer as he turned in every direction he could see them coming from, backing himself up against one of the many broken-down houses in this abandoned kingdom.

And with a single, clearly non-threatening, tap on his shoulder, he screamed like a little girl before sprinting off to who knows where in an attempt to escape what fate they may place upon him only to trip on a pebble and be forcefully faceplanted into the ground in front of him.

While the person who tapped his shoulder and whom he thought was some kind of monster chasing him, that being Elleth, had the look of a concerned parent plastered on her face, she really didn't know how to react to this scene that had just unfolded right in front of her eyes.

Haru: You're not going to take me-

Elleth: Calm down! I was just trying to find you, the others are already at that castle we saw earlier!

Haru: R-right, I'll go with you then. Could you not tell them about this though?

Elleth: Sure, but you owe me for this. Now come on, we don't have all day.

The two then made their way through the mist-covered ruins, getting a bit lost along the way as it became thicker, the haze shifting from the forest green it once was to a more darker variant, making it even harder for the two of them to see where exactly they were heading towards.

Though eventually they would make it to the actual castle to regroup, or rather what was left of it anyway after quite a while of going in the completely wrong direction thanks to the thickening and darkening of the haze that surrounded and flowed through these very ruins.

The castle itself had several of its towers collapsed at various points and joining the rest of the rubble that was scattered around the outside of the structure, with only a single one remaining unscathed. Its large doors were burnt off judging by the blackened edges of the remaining parts along with the charred stone brick along the doorframe.

Inside was no different, more rubble along with tattered banners and carpets, all of which were stained by something to some degree. Aside from those were several broken weapons either left on the floor or stabbed into the skeletal remains of corpses that were strewn about the room.

In the back of this initial room were three golden chairs, the middle of which being more ornate and wider than the other two, as this was for whomever ruled this particular kingdom. But now, all three of these were covered in a layer of dust and dirt, their former golden shine now lost.

Touka: The lady told me that the dungeon should be somewhere in this castle, but it looks like we may have to split up again for this...

Celica: That's a bit frustrating, but sti- What's he doing?

She pointed towards Haru, who was currently staring into a formerly dark hallway, now being lit up by the red lightning he conjured up, showing a large metal door. One that looked like a vault door with its six-spoked handle set right in its center.

Haru: I was already looking for the dungeon's entrance, that's what. I'm pretty sure this might be it. I'll go in first to make sure of it.

He then went in closer, seeing a bunch of slashes and rust on the door. A small sigh escapes his mouth as remembers that others may have already come in here, or at the very least attempted to get in the dungeon, and with that, there may be less treasure than he may expect.

Adding on from that was the creepy fact that the vault door was left open, as if someone forgot it there or was setting a trap for him and his party. But nevertheless he called them over and led them down a flight of stone brick stairs, with Airi providing light using her hellfire.

And at its bottom was a hallway with jail cells lining the sides, some having more remains, and some holding beasts inside. The beasts growling at them as they passed by. All of them having their skills active just in case as Haru brought out Käseschäler, letting it rest on his shoulder.

Finally getting through that hallway into the main part of the dungeon itself, an open cave connected to the jail, with three dark tunnels at the back of it. Tiny yet heavy footsteps could be heard from all of them, getting louder and louder as they got closer to where his party was.

Out from those hallways came beastial goblins, all wielding some kind of club as a weapon. Their eyes glowing a bright yellow as they were headed towards them. With Haru throwing Käseschäler over to Touka as he went behind his party, having {Fleet}'s Battleship form already active.

Haru: Alright, you girls go fight 'em off while I stand here looking cool. Understand?

Touka: Of course...not! Help us out here you dumbass!

Haru: I was kidding! I'm going to act as your guys' fire support!

Touka: You better!

She then rushes off, joining the others in fighting the goblins, using his sword better than him thanks to her more extensive swordsmanship training than Haru's, who was only taught the basics of it. With him following through with what he had said and did his duty as support. Firing his cannons at the goblins and devastating their numbers to hopefully make the other four's jobs slightly easier over there.

The girls, well mostly Airi and interestingly enough, Celica, were showing off. Getting a bit cocky and needing Touka and Elleth to bring them back down to earth after saving them from a goblin or two's sneak attack while they were busy being flashy with their new moves.

It definitely worked on Haru, his reactions really capturing the essence of a kid watching his favorite action show on an early Sunday morning. Who had to snap himself out of it just to focus on being fire support only to end up distracted by the flashy attacks that those two kept pulling despite the other two telling them to take the fighting seriously.

At the end of it, all of them, except for Haru of course, were covered in goblin blood and guts. The smell of their dead bodies filling the cold cavern as they took a bit of a break, tired from all of the fighting they had just done, feeling the burn in their muscles. Once again excluding Haru since he didn't really do too much in the battle.

With Elleth taking it upon herself to clean them all up, using Repair Virus to eat away at the blood and guts that had spilled over them. Cleaning them off but still leaving the fairly nasty smell of dead goblin behind on themselves and their clothing much to their collective dismay.

The party's break would be short-lived however, as the same stepping sounds could be heard once again from the depths of those three tunnels. The looks on the girls' faces said all as Haru walked in front of them, placing one of his hands on the rough stone ground causing six tendrils made of his black bones to sprout from out of his back just past his Battleship armaments.

His tendrils then implanted themselves into the ground surrounding Haru, digging into the stone as the next horde of goblins got closer and closer to their location. And the moment a couple of them were in his field of vision, he used those tendrils he had dug to burst out several serrated bone spikes, the goblins running into them and impaling themselves and then some on those very spikes.

The rest of the horde remained in the back as Haru separated the bone tendrils that came out of his back from himself while having his main guns rotate in the directions of the left and right tunnel, with his anti-air guns angled towards the middle one. A smug look perched itself on his face as he fired all of them simultaneously.

The light from their fire briefly lighting up the tunnels, the feral goblins having a look of fear and terror on their green-skinned faces as the smoldering metal of his shells embedded themselves into various parts of the goblins' bodies. Their screams echoing through the hall as Haru kept on firing, tuning those noises out.

Goblin corpses filled the tunnels as Haru made the spikes in front of those tunnels disintegrate into nothing, removing the blockage that he had to put up as a defensive barrier. His guns went back to their usual positions, standing by until he needed them again.

Haru sucked in some air, his cheeks puffing up like a squirrel's, before firing off a blast of red and black energy from out of his mouth directly into the middlemost tunnel, the one he was already facing in a similar manner to Elleth and the other dragons' own Draconian Howl.

A somewhat proud look appeared on Elleth's face as he gradually moved his head, and therefore the blast, towards the right side first then the left. Getting all three halls a taste of the blast coming out from his mouth, the look in his showing his commitment and focus on this one attack of his.

By the time he was done, the three tunnels were now linked together thanks to the blast of energy cutting and melting through part of their walls. The stone glowing red hot and lighting up the cave, revealing that the middle and right ones were nothing but dead ends, charred goblin corpses lying on the ground by their ends, having been burnt to a crisp by Haru's blast.

Haru: Left it is, you guys can get up now.

Touka: Thanks for that, but how did you know to do that exactly?

Haru: I didn't, I just assumed there would be more goblins back there so I went ahead and got rid of them. Never thought I would find...well...that...

Touka: I really should've expected that answer from you. But still, thanks for that Haru.

Haru: No problem, I-

Elleth: Oi, you two. Stop flirting and get over here, are we heading down this tunnel or not?

She said, with her, Airi, and Celica already in the middle of that left tunnel the two were somewhat talking about. With Airi using her hellfire to light the way as she had done earlier. Getting the pair's attention, and causing them to rush over towards them as an awkward laugh escaped Haru's lips.

So the five of them once again walked down a dark hallway, finding that this one went lower and lower into the dungeon, the five of them thinking how deep does this dungeon actually go, staying on this main path and avoiding the other tunnels that they passed.

Eventually getting to the end and finding themselves at an opening lit up by particularly bright torches that lit up the whole area they were in, the entrance in front of them reminding Haru, Airi, and Touka of the entrance of a haunted house attraction, resembling a mouth complete with sharp teeth as said attractions usually would.

Touka: A bit...on the nose with the evil dungeon aesthetic don't you think?

Haru: Yep, but the treasure here's too good to pass up so let's just go in. We're plenty powerful enough to handle something like this.

He casually says as he goes ahead of them, Käseschäler once again resting on his shoulders. Having gotten it back from Touka somewhere in their journey towards this place. As he faces a room with a gigantic magic circle in the middle, surrounded by walls covered in carvings showing various monsters, creatures, and even demons.

And in the back wall was a large carving of a single particular figure. The carving was of the previous demon lord, Angra Lucifael, Haru recognized him from Decarabia's story, remembering the First Bone King's tone to be slightly loatheful towards this person when he was describing him.

The one who is technically the father of the very skill that he was now the sole owner of after Decarabia allowed himself to finally pass away after their fateful duel those months ago. His figurative crowning as the Second Bone King occurring just moments before that.

His eyes lingered on the carving as the girls explored the room for themselves, gawking at the intricate detail that the carvings had, how perfect the chiselling was into the stone of the walls. With Airi finding a piece of text carved in a demonic script at the right of one of the carvings, something she could read fairly easily with some minor flukes thanks to herself also being a demon.

What she read from it led to her gaining a dumbfounded expression on her face, still trying to process what it meant while also trying to deny it. Her little sister Touka noticed this from the corner of her eye and came rushing over to her out of concern for her sister.

To all heroes who have entered this chamber, let it be known that past this checkpoint, there is no guarantee you will all make it out of this trial unwounded by the bowels of this playground of mine...

She repeated the text she had just read, this time in a slightly louder voice than the almost silent muttering she did when she read this initially for the others to hear, this ominous warning being taken to heart by all of them in their own ways with a certain someone remembering a phrase he's heard dozens of times already, with it growing more and more terrifying to him.

Airi: It seems that we've been warned...

Touka: Trial? This is the first time I've heard of this...I was under the impression that this was just a dungeon to conquer...

Celica: What now, will we still go through with this?

Elleth: I'm not sure, but Haru...are you ok?

She looked at him as he was currently thinking how this might be it, the imminent demise of his that he was told about. After all it did make sense, a trial for the hero, it likely meant the one who would be defeating the demon lord. Though, the man he and Celica fought told him that his death would be at the hands of someone he knew, or at least that's what he interpreted from his words. Something seemed a bit fishy...