Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

Quest 92- Land At Last

After one month at sea, the crew finally saw land.

"Land!! We found land!!" said the man in the bird's nest.

"Seems we made it!" said Poseidon. "As captain, I’m impressed we made it so quickly!"

"Well, that storm helped us out in covering a lot of distance," said Lance.

"Hm! Hm! Of course! If I couldn’t do that, what god of the sea would I be!"

Up on the foretop of the ship, Cirrus looks out with his Stymphalian armor.

"Hmmm…. this seems to be it."

‘Really? Can you see that far?’

"Yeah, my eyes improved after that… experience."

‘I see… you told me what happened as you slept back in Hecaton Village. I’m surprised my magic did that.’

"Yes… I would rather not have that happen again if we could avoid it. Who knows what will happen next time?"

‘Of course, it’s only for a last resort.’

As they kept sailing, they found a ship coming towards them, waving a flag with a mandala with a demonic-like mask with horns and skulls.

As the ship approached, many of the sailors on board could see several Amazonesses on board.

"Who are you trespassing on our waters?" exclaimed the captain, with only one thing distinguishing her from the other Amazonesses: her tricorn hat.

"We are here for the Alecto Familia!" said Lance.

"Alecto?" the ship captain said.

She turned to her fellow Amazons and chatted for a bit.

"Tell us! Is the one known as Zephyr on board!!" she shouted.

Lance simply gestured with his arm and Cirrus came down with his deer mask.

Thud!

"That is me." Nox then flew down and perched on his antlers.

The Amazonesses all had the same look Cirrus saw in the Amazonesses in Orario had.

"Follow us!" the captain said.

They followed the ship and docked at their port. There, several of the crew, who were all men, looked in awe at the sea of dark-skinned beauties.

The crowd then parted with a goddess walking through as the ship docked and Poseidon, along with Lance and Cirrus, came down.

The goddess was small, around Cirrus’s height, with hair as red as blood and eyes to pair with a matching divinity. Her clothing was that of the Amazonesses.

"Greetings, I am Kali, goddess of this Familia and country. I hope their Koine was good enough. I started to teach them it for a certain someone." Her eyes land on Cirrus. "So what is your name, god?" she looked at Poseidon.

Poseidon walks up with a confident stride.

"I am Poseidon, head of the Poseidon Familia! This is my captain, Lance Du Lac!"

Several of the Amazonesses whispered amongst themselves.

"Oh? So he's Knight of Knights, the world's only level 7..." Kali said, looking up and down at the Knight of Knights.

"That I am Lady Kali." Lance gave a regal bow that enchanted many of the Amazonesses.

Cirrus also followed along. He gave a bow as best as he could, but it wasn't as refined as Lance's.

"And I am Zephyr, the Masked Prince, child of the goddess Astraea, and a level 5!"

"Level 5, huh?" said Kali in disbelief. "I’ve seen the fight you had with that mountain-sized monster. You must have quite a few strong skills to let you fight like that."

Cirrus took a step forward, not wanting to continue more probing.

"I will cut to the chase, Lady Kali. I am here to get rid of the Alecto Familia. If you are sheltering them, I will rip through this country to get them."

The Amazonesses could feel a strong intent from his words, paired with his deposition to fight on a dime if needed, which brought a smile to Kali’s face. Kali had hoped he would be more of a battle junkie, but this was fine as well. A monster in a wolf's clothing.

"Bwa-hahahahahahahaha!!!!" she laughed out loud. "I would love to see you see you cause destruction..." The mere thought of such destruction gave her a big sadistic smile on her child-like face. Her divinity grew into a thick bloodlust. It filled the docks, and many saw Kali as a terrifying destroyer who towered high above them.

Even Lance and Cirrus felt a chill run down their backs. One of Kali's children came and whispered in her ear.

"Lady Kali." She said, with a scarf covering the lower part of her face. "You have guests in attendance."

Her divinity and, in turn, her bloodlust calmed down to normal levels.

"Fuu~" she exhaled deeply. "Unfortunately, this is the home of my children. I know you could easily destroy my country and then have a country's worth of Amazonesses at your beck and call. You just have to look around you to see my words are true."

Cirrus gave a glance and saw they all had the same face as the Amazonesses in Orario.

'I'm going to have to put in several locks in my room and windows.'

"Then where is Alecto?" Cirrus said, getting back on track.

"Gone."

"… What?" Cirrus and Poseidon said.

"Yup, she left 3 weeks ago after finishing that seal of hers."

"You learned of the seal and the dangers it posed and did nothing!" said Poseidon.

"Of course, I am the goddess of destruction, so my curiosity was peaked, and I knew you would come to try and stop her, or at the very least come and kill the monster."

"So… the monster is free, then?" Lance asked.

"From what I can tell, no, but during her time here, I could feel her Arcanum slowly whittling away at the seal."

"Hmm, Alecto is the Goddess of punishment and anger. What could she do?" said Poseidon.

‘Alecto… if I remember right, she had something to do with the underworld, but if her attributes are punishment and anger, so what could she… ah.’

"She used her Arcanum to make the monster stronger," said Cirrus.

"Hmm, I didn’t think of that," said Kali. "Then I guess you will stay here until the monster is released, right?"

"Well, we have no choice," said Poseidon. "Do you know where the place they sealed the monster at?"

"Of course, it’s over there. We left an old ship as a marker," said Kali, pointing out to the sea.

Poseidon, Lance, Cirrus, and Nox turn to see a ship way off at sea.

"Seems we will be staying here for longer than expected," said Lance.

After Kali provided the crew with a place to stay, the Amazonesses quickly challenged the crew. Most of the crew were part of Poseidon’s Familia and were between levels 1 and 3, so most of them could beat the Amazonesses and were treated very well, having an Amazon or two in each arm. Cirrus and Lance, who were the strongest, were treated as kings without needing to be fought.

 At night Cirrus had to go a bit away to give his report to Fels and Ouranos.

"So that’s the situation."

"That is troubling," said Fels.

"I plan on investigating the seal tomorrow if I’m not swarmed by Amazonesses… or even Kali."

"Why would a goddess swarm you?"

"She is the goddess of destruction, and she thinks I’m the one who caused that explosion with the Hecatonchires."

"Hm, she had a very starved look in her eyes. It was rather impressive for one with such a small frame," said Nox.

"Seems you will be gone for longer than expected, then."

"Yeah… I hope not too long."

Down in the water in the ruins.

Creak!

Creak!

The seal has slowly corroded the ruins.