Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.4] Quest 385- The Bear Who Challenged Paradise

Standing in the arena, where Elysium fought Ai, stood a father and daughter.

“Hey, Dad, if I win can I sleep with you in your room?" Callisto said.

“Well, now he has to beat you,” Nox said. “If not you're cockblocking him.”

“Ooh! Your right! Dad, if I win can I get another little sister?"

"Nox, you’re a bad influence on Calli,” Elysium said.

“If I am, then it’s because of you. Remember, I got more influence from you.”

"Well shit.” Elysium holds his hand out. “I guess I’ll have to fix my past errors. Rhadamanthus.”

Crack!!!

Within the blink of an eye, a spear appeared in his hands while the air was charged. Callisto’s and Nox’s air began to lift from the static.

From the jump, Callisto could see it was far slimmer than White Night, with more regal decoration. But something about it seemed incomplete. Nevertheless, the feeling it gave off was that of a divine weapon.

“Hm! Then let’s begin, Dad!" Callisto held her hand out like her father. “Time to show Dad what we got! (Nox)!!!”

In a flash of light, Nox transformed into her weapon form, White Night, in Callisto’s hand.

'Remember my tips; that way we can last longer than a couple of seconds.’

‘Hah! I won’t go down that easily!'

“You should really take her advice to heart,” Elysium said as he took his stance.

“!!” Callisto and Nox were surprised.

“C-can you read minds!!” Callisto said.

“Of course not. I simply know that Nox knows my fighting style better than anyone. Rivaling that of Ai and Art, of course, I mean pre-deification.”

Nox and Callisto noticed the subtle differences now; his stance was far more refined to such an absurd level that one would need to have had a fetishistic obsession with spearmanship to reach such mastery.

It brought a whole new level of respect and awe for Callisto to her father. Callisto keenly analyzed his stance and slowly began to replicate and adapt it to her own.

Up in the stands.

“Such a fine stance,” Scorpio said. “I am very impressed by your and my lord's child! Lady Artemis!”

“It is scary how talented she is.” Said Gemini. “I thought Scorpio and Pisces E were monsters, but that little 11-year-old girl is something else.”

“Tsk… Why couldn’t you have been up top, and Leo be here?" Pisces E said.

“Lady Artemis, Lady Nara.” Said Aries. “Could I ask your personal opinion?”

“Sure,” Artemis said.

“Go ahead," said Nara.

“Ah well, how long do you think your daughter will last? Me and Scorpio held our own for an hour or so.”

Artemis and Nara look down at Callisto.

“I haven’t seen much of what she can do, but she is Art’s daughter. I wouldn’t put it past her to pull something out.” Nara said.

Artemis' smirk grew ear to ear.

“Of course! My daughter will impress everyone! After all, now that she is contracted to Nox, I am sure she will make Cirrus break a sweat!”

Back at the arena.

“Say,” Elysium leans against his spear. “If you are scared, sing this song.”

“… What song?” Callisto gets back into form, her body tense, ready to move at the second.

“It’s a song that is playing that makes one feel invincible. It goes like this.” He raised his finger, and a voice filled the whole area, even up to the stands.

(Affirmative: Now playing 20th Century Boy by T. Rex.)

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

Music began to play through the arena; even the lyrics, despite being spoken in English, could be understood in any language.

“Hey, this is pretty good!” Nox said, still in her weapon form.

“If this song is being played, it makes me invincible!” Callisto raises her right foot and stomps the earth. “Then let's fucking—"

Her heart steadies and her eyes focus like a laser on her father. The two sisters grin excitedly.

“—Go!!” Nox shouted.

“(Bless me, mother.)!!” A magic circle of pure white formed above her with Artemis’s emblem on it. “[Artemis Agnós]!!!!!!!!!!!!” The barbaric yet knightly armor dons her. “I am Callisto Zephyr! The Ursa Major Knight!!!” The bear helmet adjusts itself, and a sacred radiance comes off her. “Level 4!!”

“Level 4? Did you level up? I’m proud.” Elysium smiles.

“I sure did! I fought the Amphisbaena with one hand and one eye! Fom and Ottar watched my greatness firsthand!"

Elysium noted how much more prideful Callisto has become.

'Seems some traits of her mother began to show itself.'

“Hmm. Then, as one former adventurer to another, let me show you the respect you deserve. Hm!!” Callisto and Nox could feel his divinity begin to weaken and his appearance turns less godly. “(Theïká Panoplía: Ceryneian.)”

The armor quickly wraps around him fitting him perfectly.

“Me as well!" Callisto pointed White Night at Elysium. “I won’t hold back, Dad!! (Aim)!!” White Night turned pure white, while the feathers turned black. Light began to collect at the tip of the spear incredibly quickly. So fast, that it began to take the air in the surroundings, causing waves of darkness to the point of White Night.

"Well, it seems the gem Refraction worked a little too well,” Elysium said under his breath.

Its speed surprised both Callisto and Nox. Before, it took about 3 seconds to charge, but now it has been halved by 1.5 seconds. Callisto smiled as she placed her other arm on the spear.

“(Fire)!!!! Pew~!!”

“!!”

Elysium took a step to the right immediately as the beam of light moved at actual light speed. He looked behind him as the beam hit the mountains and—

—Boom~!!

A massive hole shot through the mountain.

“…Holy shit, that’s a lot of power.”

“Fuuuuuuu—”

‘—uuuuuuuuck.’

Both Callisto and Nox were terrified by the power output of the gem. The amount of power it put out was not what they expected.

“H-hey Nox maybe we should limit how much we put in. We could really shoot our foot here.”

'Y-yeah, I’ll be sure to limit it. How's your magic?’

“Still good. It took a good chunk of my magic, but thankfully we got the Mage Development ability to lessen the toll.”

'Well, keep your head in the game! We’ll learn while we fight!’

“Got—"

“It!” said Elysium, appearing before them. “Always remember to keep your head out of the clouds while in a fight!" Elysium struck Callisto with the flat of his spear.

Thud!!!

“GAH!!” Callisto blurted out as Elysium knocked the air out of her and sent her far off into the battle arena.

SKID!!

Callisto quickly slowed her momentum by impaling White Night into the earth along with her feat.

Rumble!! Rumble!!

Rumble!! Rumble!!

“Huff!! Huff!! Huff!! Huff!!”

Slowly picking herself up, Callisto gasps for air.

‘Well, you did say you weren’t going to go easy on him.’

“Y-you call this easy! He knocked the air from my lungs!!” Callisto said, looking at her father, far off in the distance. “Hey, Dad! You said this song makes those who hear it invincible!”

“I was joking!” Elysium chuckled a bit to himself.

‘He could have used the pommel of his spear, which would have hurt even more, or, you know, the tip of his spear.’

“Grr!! I’ll pay him back! Nox, we will have to use Spirit Drive!”

‘Heh~ are you sure you can handle me? Even your father couldn’t use me without severe damage to his body.’

“I am dead sure!” She stands up, and her armor fades away while the spear begins to glow. “We are sisters! You and I have been together since birth! So let’s fucking goooo!!!" She spun her spear and holds it skyward. "(Bless me, oh hallow spirit. Candidus Nox)!!!!”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From afar, Elysium could feel Callisto’s sacred energy skyrocket. Callisto is dyed an inhuman white.

“Well, that’s something.” Elysium spins his spear and readies himself. He ends the song to focus on his daughter. "You are a little monster, Callisto." He said under his breathe, fearful how his daughter will grow even stronger in the future.

Up in the stands.

“Well, she truly is a daughter of the moon,” Nara said.

“Oh! Very impressive!” said Pisces E. “It reminded me of Leo’s last moments!"

“Hahaha!! It seems the apple doesn’t fall from the tree!!” Cancer said.

“I am sure Virgo is rolling around in frustration having missed this.” Pisces O said.

“Get him!!!” Shouted Capricorn and Artemis.

“You can do it, sweetie!" Artemis is shouting from the stands.

“You got this, Calli!!!” Capricorn shouted as well.

Watching closely, Aries breaks a smile.

‘Hmm… I really do wish we could meet soon. Ais.’

Back to the fight 3 minutes later.

Pew!! Pew!! Pew!! Pew!! Pew!! Pew!!

Crackle!! Crackle!! Crackle!!

Clang~!!!

Ting!!!

“Huff!! Huff!!” Callisto was breathing heavily; her bleached skin and appearance were stained with blood, dirt, and sweat. Her armor resembled Elysium’s when he bonded with Nox, but it was far more armored. “S-shit…” she said weakly.

She fought with everything she had, but Spirit Drive drained her stamina massively. Lasting three minutes while sparing against Elysium is more than impressive enough.

“Phew~ you really did give me a drop of sweat. I gotta say I’m very proud you became this strong. So shall we end this spar?”

"N-not yet! I can still fight!" She shouted while her knees were weak.

"Hm... I always wanted to try this." Elysium bent down and flung a massive chunk of the earth up, said earth had Callisto.

Rumble!!

"Uwah!?" Callisto was flung forward towards her father. She gritted her teeth and aimed White Night at her father. "URAAAA!!!"

Cirrus let go of the chunk of earth and smirked. waited till White Night was more within range and simply stepped forward to the side and grabbed Callisto's leg. Given his speed this was easy to do.

Grab!

"Eh?" A bad feeling filled Callisto and even Nox.

"We are boned." Nox said through Callisto's mouth.

"I call this the <<La Quebradora>>!"

Callisto's eyes were now a blur.

Whoosh!!

Whoosh!!

"UWAAAAAAAH!!!" Callisto yelled out along with Nox as their father was using them as a nun-chuck swinging them around his body.

"Hahaha!!!" Elysium laughed as he was enjoying it.

Whoosh!!

Whoosh!!

Elysium always wanted to do this at least once, he is unbelievably happy he could do this.

"D-dad!!"

"Cirrus!!"

The sisters shouted for Elysium to stop.

"Give up?" Elysium said still swinging them around.

"YES! YES!! JUST STOP DAD/CIRRUS!!" They both shouted at the same time, their voices overlapping one another.

"The world is spinning!" Callisto said.

"I'm gonna hurl out my tea!" Nox said.

Elysium then gently puts them back onto their feet.

"Ugh..." The blue returned to Callisto hair and White Night returned to it's slumbering black state, her armor also fades away. "My... head hurts, my feet are wobbly... everything is still dizzy."

"You did well, Callisto." Elysium pats his daughters head. "I had a lot of fun."

"Good thing I am not in your body still." Nox said while in her weapon form.

"D-did I do good dad?" Callisto said regaining her balance. "I'm not even dizzy anymore!" She smiled proudly.

"You always do good." He knelt and began to comb her hair with his fingers. "You are very strong and I will always be proud of you." Elysium lips pulled into a big smile.

Callisto looked into her father's polished eyes and big smile and smiled as brightly as he was happy.

"Hehe! Thank you dad!" She dropped White Night and wrapped her arms around her father in a embrace.

"Hey don't drop me!" Nox said returning to her human form.

"So how about we head back now?" Elysium said as the father stood back up with his arms to his side.

"Can't you hug me longer?" Callisto said hanging off her father.

"Come get down." Nox grabbed Callisto's from the back of the collar and dragged her down back to the ground. "So, how would you rate her?"

"Yeah how would you rate me!" Callisto wanting her fathers answer.

“Hmm… I’d say she's on that dragon Erebus spawned." Elysium's appearance returned to his godly form. "Strength wise is comparable when you’re in Spirit Drive. Her spearmanship is about as good as Ai’s swordsmanship around that time. Maybe a bit worse.” Elysium leaned back, and the earth formed beneath him to let him sit down. “But she still has a ways to go; do you understand Calli?”

“Yeah,” Callisto said while walking slowly toward her father. “But couldn’t you have gone easy on your cute daughter? You swinging around was a messed up thing to do with your daughter!"

“You didn’t hold back, so I decided to as well, and you didn't know when to call it quits."

Callisto turns around and falls on her fathers lap.

"I'm glad you are still dad."

Elysium gently strokes her hair again, this time braiding her hair.

“Yes… you also smell of sweat.”

"Dad!” she shouted, hitting him.

Back up in the stands.

"It seems she is still a bit too wet behind the ears to really beat her old man.” Cancer said.

"Still, she fought well,” said Aries. “Given a few more years, she could put up a good fight.”

“Even so, her spearmanship is commendable.” Said Scorpio. “Lady Artemis, your daughter is very impressive.”

“Thank you, but she still doesn’t use her archery. If she had used it, she would have lasted for longer.” Artemis said.

"Oh, is that disappointment I hear in your voice, Art?” Nara said.

“Disappointment in the fact that she still refuses to use the bow and arrow.”

"Well, now that the spar is over, I will return to my post,” Scorpio said.

“It was a nice, short little spar.” Pisces E said. “Hey Capricorn, you wanna spar later?”

“I’ll think about it.” She said as she went next to Nara. “My lady, will you be returning to your floor or helping Lady Artemis?”

“I’ll show Artemis around. I’ll send everyone back.” She waved her hand, and all the knights disappeared.

“You seem to enjoy using your authority over the void, huh?” Artemis said, glancing at Nara.

“It’s very handy. Now, shall I lead you to our room? I’m sure you wish to spend your first night with our husband after so long.”

“I have to ask you, has what Ryuu and Malion said about him improved in bed? Since before, you know, he always satisfied all four of us with some struggle after the 6th hour.”

“Very! We can even do some stuff we couldn’t before!”

“W-well let's not get ahead of ourselves.” Artemis blushes.

Back in the arena.

Walking back for a bit, Elysium took this opportunity to get something done.

"Calli, can you do a quest for me?”

“A quest!? What is it?" She said excitedly. “Is it hunting down an escaped soul? Killing a monster!”

“Well… maybe.”

“Yes!!! I’ll do it!" She said it proudly.

“Callisto. Some words of advice: when taking a quest, make sure you listen to or read through it. As far as you know, you could have taken on a quest to kill a person.”

“Ah…s-sorry dad. So what is the quest?” She said it a bit more calmly.

“There are Rifts that have been nearing the edge of opening up. Ever since the Three Black Beasts returned with the Corrupted Flame of Heaven, they have started to develop. As strong as I am, it is too risky to mess with them. Space and time stuff are very, very delicate.”

“Really! Is it serious?”

“More or less, the last time it happened, a bunch of giants came out,” Nox said, walking next to Elysium.

“Are giants going to come out?”

“I do not know. I have been using my power to slow their growth as much as I can, and even Nara is slowing their development, but one cannot fix a dam that is already spilling water. So here.” Elysium takes out a 20-sided dice on the side of her hand.

The dice had hieroglyphs and complex formulas around the edges of the planes.

"Whoa, this is…really weird, Dad,” she said, examining it.

“It’s called an Anaximander. It has the magic formula to find and seal the rift and some other stuff; it has a portion of my and Nara’s power to fuel it. So long as you’re in this world, it will automatically recharge.”

“And what if I’m not?”

“Hmm… hold on a second.” They stop, and he places his hand on it. His Sacred Energy began to rise.

Callisto and Nox’s eyes widen. His aura was an ever-flowing breeze of stars. It was far different than Nara's, but only Nox found the near-transparent edges of his divinity had a sharpness almost as sharp as Nara’s.

“How good is your control of magic?”

“Uhh….” Callisto didn’t look too confident.

“Right, a rhetorical question. Nox put your hand on the device,” Elysium said.

“Can I get something? It’s not fair if Nox gets something and I don’t!” she said, puffing up her cheeks.

“Calli I have spoiled you enough. Besides, this isn’t a gift.”

"Yeah, daddy’s girl!” Nox said. “If you paid attention, you would know—”

“Then what about a weapon? I don’t want to keep using White Night for everything! It’s overkill!”

“You can get a—”

“No! I want one like what Fom gave to Haku! A heirloom!”

“Well, the only thing I have that could be considered an heirloom besides Gram is on the moon.”

“Oh yeah! Your prototype for White Night! It’s still up there, huh?” Nox was a bit surprised.

“Should be. If I cracked the moon, it should still be there. Unless you know it broke or something.”

Callisto's mind raced before smirking.

“…Okay! Let’s go back!” Callisto said walking ahead.

Elysium and Nox look at one another. They both know what she is gonna do.