Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.4] Quest 353- Westward Chapter, Final Chapter, Part 3- Summer’s Memories.

Epic, A term used to describe the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures, this—

Boom!!!! Boom!!!! Boom!!!! Boom!!!!

Bam!! Bam!! Bam!! Bam!! Bam!! Bam!! Bam!! Bam!! Bam!! Bam!! Bam!! Bam!!

Bwoosh!!! Bwoosh!!! Bwoosh!!!

Whoosh!!! Whoosh!!! Whoosh!!!

Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh!!

Swish!!!! Swish!!!! Swish!!!! Swish!!!!

Clang!! Clang!! Clang!! Clang!! Clang!!

Crackle!!! Crackle!!! Crackle!!! Crackle!!!

—Was the most accurate word to describe this battle that one would only read about in books or hear about from passing bards. A tall tale to make one grander than life itself, but not this time.

People and gods around the world bear witness to this battle of myths.

Boom!!! Boom!!! Rumble!!!

Crack!!! Whoosh!! Swish!!!

Each attack was capable of leveling cities; each use of magic was more than any mage could ever use; and every use of force was more than any warrior could hope to muster.

This was the strongest person the mortal world had to offer—the greatest hero the world has cultivated.

"(Sing)!!!"

"(Penetrate, lance of thunder. Your servant asks you, Amdusias. Incarnate of power. King of Thunder.)!! [Sunlight Spear]!!!!"

The heavens and earth break away from this battle as they tear through the continent, heading westward.

Fafnir, the Rainbow-Eyed Spirit, unleashes the forces of nature upon the hellish Black Dragon.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Slashing and biting, burning, freezing, electrocuting, and bashing, she used all of her magic and physical force she had.

Hecton, the Mountain, kept releasing landscaping, destroying fists, punching, and cracking the scales of the Black Dragon with strikes faster than sound.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" His fists flew, scorching the air because of how fast and vigorously he was punching.

Cirrus, the Heavenly Crown, kept ruthlessly attacking in between these figures of might with his Divine Weapon, leaving deep wounds and drenching the battlefield in not just the Dragon’s blood but his, The mountain's, and the spirit's blood as well.

"Huff!! Huff!! Huff!! Cough!!! Cough!!! Cough!!! Cough!!!" He weaves to and from all the attacks, cutting and stabbing, sending his electricity into the beast's body. He did everything in his power to kill it as much as he could.

For the ones who know the real reason for the coughing. For each impalement Cirrus makes on the Black Dragon, his life is shortened.

Stab!!!!

Cough!

Stab!!!!

Cough!! Cough!!

Stab! Stab! Stab!

Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!

Cirrus lost more blood from coughing than from actual battle damage. Had he not used Gram, he would have surely fallen long ago from the pain of it.

Many could see his face stained with darkness, sweat, and cuts from the debris.

"Keep… going." He softly mutters to himself like a mantra as he throws himself back into the fight. A fight that was more like three animals ganging up on a single apex predator, and it was holding its own against the three.

The battle was exhausting, frightening, and chaotic.

Crash!! Bwoosh!! Shunk!!

Boom!! Crash!! Crash!! Rumble!!

Bam!! Bam!! Bwoosh!!

Everyone involved was fighting with death just a single mistake away.

Swish!! Crash!! Bwoosh!!

Crackle!! Crackle!!! Bwoosh!!!

Thud!!! Swish!! Bam!!

Days went by during their fight.

           Tap!! Tap!! Shunk!!

Bwoosh!!! Swish!!! Boom!!!

Days in which they destroyed several acres of land from their battle were left in ruin as if a life-changing calamity had swept through the land as a scythe would a field of wheat.

Rumble!!! Rumble!!! Rumble!!!

Bam!! Bam!! Bam!!

Swish!! Swish!! Bwoosh!!!

Days when no one had a second of sleep.

Days of being constantly on the edge finally led to the climax of the battle.

12 miles from the western coastline of the continent.

"Uraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Hecton slammed the Black Dragon back to land.

RUUUUUUMMMMMMBLE!!!!

"*!!!*!!!*!!!*!!!" The Black Dragon could no longer even speak now. In its animalistic state, it tore through nine of Hecton’s arms as he slammed him with its tail.

"Gaaah!! Fafnir!!!!" Hecton shouted.

Appearing over the Black Dragon's face, Fafnir had opened her mouth.

"(Form, substance of life. Your servant asks you, Valefor. Incarnate of Diligence. King of Water.) [Crashing Tide]!!!!!!!"

SPLASH-GURGLE!!!

SPLASH-GURGLE!!!

SPLASH-GURGLE!!!

High-pressured water went down its gullet, and it was temporarily drowning before it grabbed Fafnir’s neck.

"Gak!!"

"*!!!*!!!*!!!*!!!*!!!*!!!" It let out a roar before.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Cirrus dove, impaling its arm with his Divine Weapon, causing it to let go of Fafnir and escape into Cirrus’s shadow.

"*!!!*!!!*!!!*!!!*!!!*!!!*!!!*!!!*!!!*!!!*!!!*!!!" The Black Dragon, in anger, flung Cirrus away, causing him to skid across the battle-torn land.

Skurt~!!

Skurt~!!

Skurt~!!

Skurt~!!

Skurt~!!

Thud~

Cirrus lay on his back, exhausted. His body cried to rest, to sleep—anything to not feel this deathly weight over its body.

"Huff! Huff!! Huff!! Huff!" Cirrus looks up at the gray sky.

It’s the only thing he could find enjoyable in all of this. The clouds had formed far above their normal height. The battle pushed them up higher.

‘Cirrus, one more! Just one more! Vesta rang in his head.

‘Wait, a second! I am healing you as fast as I can!’ Circe shouted.

Vesta and Circe’s words seem so far away.

‘**********’

‘**************’

He knew this was it. His body could no longer keep doing what he wanted; it craved the release of death. To no longer be shackled by the pain of existence. The comfort of the dirt that lay right below him.

"How..." Stringing letters together to form words was labor. "*Much." Language itself was an annoyance; he couldn’t tell one from another. "More~"

Vesta and Circe could tell Cirrus was on death's doorstep.

‘One more attack.’ Vesta said.

The time has come; the gun has been loaded.

‘Wait! Wait! I am healing as much as I can, so please—’

Circe’s words fell on deaf ears.

Cirrus could smell it, taste it on his tongue, and feel it on his skin. He knows that what he seeks is within reach. Cirrus wished he could smile, but the muscles in his face felt like lead.

He summoned all of his courage, anger, pain, sadness, happiness, and every other emotion he required. He impales White Night into the ground.

The target has been set.

He knew it was close; the end was upon him.

The finger is now on the trigger. The world falls around him.

Time counts down for the finale.

10

__________

The strings of fate pull on him to move.

"…ex…tend." The weapon extended, and Cirrus used it as a way to lift himself.

"Master." Fafnir emerged from his shadow with a body littered with wounds and cuts. "I have little strength left."

"Me either, sir," Said Hecton, regenerating his lost limbs slowly.

9

_________

He is thankful of his right hand and his shadow.

‘Cirrus.’ Said Circe. ‘You can’t last any longer! I did my best to try and heal your body throughout the fight, but this is it! Your body can no longer handle the burden of this abuse of a constant intake of magic and healing… Cirrus, if you attack one more time, your chance of survival is as close to 0% as it could ever be!’

"…" Cirrus closes his eyes and takes one last lungful of air. "One last attack." Cirrus steps forward, and his magic circle appears with chains going in a spiral. "I am fully ready to accept whatever comes next."

8

________

He is regretful that he made Circe, his little sister in his eyes, bear this pain. He regrets a lot of things. Now those regrets are behind him.

Circe was full of anger at her contractor. If not for the situation and her current form, she would have struck him in tears. Sadly, she is not one to stop a hero from doing his duty. She had only wished she could have done more for him to help avoid this fate.

7

_______

Yet she knows this was required of him.

‘…So be it. I’ll support you as best as I can by maximizing your magic efficiency away from healing.’

"Thank you."

The armor's faint glow had grown slightly in intensity. Electricity flickered around it as he slowly put White Night in it, making it also spin and gather electricity.

6

______

She bitterly accepts this; it is what it is.

"One last attack... It’s been my greatest honor fighting by your side like this master," Fafnir said as magic built up in her.

"I will support you to the end, sir," Said Hecton as his muscles bulged.

"Thank you, all of you."

5

_____

They all stand by the Cloud of The Western Wind.

As the Black Dragon got back up slowly, it too was exhausted. It spotted Cirrus and the others preparing for an attack. Its pride, even after losing its intelligence, remained that of a king.

It will not back down.

They could see it getting ready for a breath attack. It also knew this was it—one last attack.

4

____

The End prepares their gun and aims.

As it built up the breath attack, Cirrus’s attack quickly gathered great amounts of power. It spun faster and faster, and sparks of electricity flickered off it.

3

___

The Cloud of The Western Wind puts his finger on the trigger.

The heat gathered by the Black Dragon melted the nearby earth.

They both became faster and faster; they couldn’t wait for any more, and whoever charges up first will be the victor.

"Fafnir!!!" Cirrus shouted.

2

__

The End and Cloud of The Western Wind will go through with it.

"(Thought, form, force, pierce, and roar. Above heaven, under heaven, I am worthy to by the honored one’s shadow. Alberich, Herrscher of Mystery. Ruler of the Phantasmal.)!!!!"

An iridescent breath could be seen, ready to fire from Fafnir’s chest. This was a magic created along with her second form, the magic that symbolizes Fafnir's balance, her wholeness.

They locked eyes with the Black Dragon, and it was as if time stood still.

1

_

The Cloud of The Western Wind has no more regrets left in him.

This was the second that Cirrus wished would never end. He could no longer hear anything else. A huge pain in his chest from what was to come. Even when surrounded by those who had been by his side for a long time, he felt lonely. He truly wished he had more time—more time to think of Ai, Artemis, Hakushika, Callisto, Malion, Auberon, Ryuu, and Alise—his legacy.

 

0

 

They squeezed the trigger, and the bullet finally fired.

Time begins again for the last clash of legends.

The Black Dragon spewed its mountain-melting, beaming flame.

"BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And for The Heavenly Crown and Rainbow-Eyed Spirit, they throw everything at it with The Mountain having their backs.

"[ORION]!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"    "[Glühlampen Verflüssigung]!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Many could see a bright flash of light fill the screens and the world, along with a terrible sound.

The two shafts of light were all they needed to cease the darkness from killing them.

The final key stock character has finally appeared for this Greek play.

Though a bit late the last actor has finally come to take stage.

A candidus star approaches.

WHOOSH!!!

WHOOSH!!!

WHOOSH!!!

The Messenger had come with the Old Man, the Old Man offered their insight.

The Chorus watched from afar this play offering their commentary.

Now the last character has come to help the Tragic Hero—Protagonist.