The small port city of Melen received a few reports from their coastal watch tower. The School District had appeared over the Horizon, but they were moving quite slow…
"It's been more than a month since they left. I wonder what they're coming back here for?" Borg Mudock, the city governor grumbled, fiddling with his beard.
Njord, a god in charge of the fishing district within the city, let out a chuckle. "Even as an older man, you still complain like a child. It's cute."
"Eh, I don't need to hear that. Every time that damned ship comes back we hemorrhage workers in other areas just to make the repairs and get it moving again. I wonder how long it's going to take up the docks this time!"
"No need to worry. I'm it won't be damaged too much. At least, not too much after fighting a calamity class monster."
"True… I should expect a bit more damage than usual. But even so, they better not have lost the fight. Or I'll charge them double!"
"Governor, the School District is coming into port now. And- It, uh- it's got quite a bit of damage. They'll be here for a while. But-"
"Just great! Fantastic! Royman, you better get ready to pay up, DO YOU HEAR ME!"
…
Miles away, while Royman was having a rare moment to enjoy some of the… Not so finer, finer things in life… A trip to the red light district was far too perilous for him, so he'd enjoy his time during the rare moments of the daylight… He sneezed.
"Hey, you're paying me to fuck you, not be your personal tissue. That'll cost extra."
"Hmm, someone must be talking about me. Let's continue…" His face went all perverted again.
…
"Governor, please calm down, I wasn't finished with my report. They've slain the Leviathan, and brought its corpse back to the city. Their representative says they plan on using it to seal the dungeon entrance beneath the lake."
"Heh" Borg's lips smirked… "HAHAHAHA! Talk about a major economic boon! With this we could even give them a discount on the repairs." He caught himself… "No, I just won't charge them an extra."
"Truly slick at heart, through and through." Njord laughed.
The port workers looked at the School District in despair, the damage they saw hurt their souls. Some mechanics cried when they saw their hard work was destroyed.
"Wahh! I worked so damn hard on that! Now it's broken!"
"Hey man. You're making me cry too."
"NOO!!!! All the upgrades I toiled day and night to make to that gun!" One man bellowed, pounding his fist on the ground. "It's all gone!"
"Ah, so that spin was because of you?" Zald spoke with a focused look, having suddenly appeared in the man's sight. "It worked great, though the balance was rough, it spun the ship around in a circle. The stabilizers struggled to recover, but they managed somehow."
The man looked up, crying as his pride and joy, though gone, was highly praised, rubbing his eyes with an arm, he declared… "The next one will be perfect!"
"That's the spirit!" Zald laughed, patting the man's shoulder.
"Zald. We can't stay long. The last monster needs culling. And you know what'll happen if we stay here too long."
"Yeah, the boy will come running. In fact, I think he's in the dungeon… Otherwise he'd have been here by now."
"Heh, you're probably right. Let's get everyone together, reorganize our supplies and head off to battle. One more time, we can take a break after that."
"My sword… I need something that'll work for me…"
"We don't have anything that can handle your skill, so stick with a shield and act as heavy support for the mages. The rest of us will just have to make do."
"And the seal?"
"Poseidon familia is going to take care of that. They're the ones best suited to it after all."
The familias gathered, and then began their assault on the final monster. Alone, without the help of knowledge gained through the efforts of a familia, or the construction of a massive weapon.
"This fight will be the hardest of them all." Maxim stated the obvious as they all walked.
"Huh? Why's that?" Gale, the oblivious type asked. "If we can't kill it we just need to strengthen the seal, right?"
"That's our last option. If something major happens, then we will do that instead."
"Got it. So we're just gonna wing it then…"
"Sorta…"
That night at their temporary camp. Everyone had a heart to heart. "Zald, if things go south with me… Do whatever you can to get out of there." Maxim's voice was firm, and full of conviction. Then he turned to Alraj… "You've come a long way, the pervy little boy, has become a pervy young man. With a kid of his own no less. If things go south, I want you to run. Save whoever you can. But run."
"Why are you talking like you're going to die?"
"This next monster, I get the feeling that my skills will be the only ones to fully activate. And if I die in that state… Well, not to brag, but what chance would you have? Remember what's the most important thing?"
"Confidence."
"And how do you get that? Without underselling, or overestimating?"
"Knowing what your limits are, and just how far you can truly go."
"Good, ideally things won't reach such a critical state, however… I'm sure everyone here senses it in some small way. Empress, if I die, do what you can to get back to our little girl. If you can't…"
"Oh shut up. Nothing's written in stone yet. Let us see how we fare against it first. Whatever choice we make at the moment will just have to be the right one."
Several days later…
Everyone saw the inside of the Dragon Valley, and of course the monster at the very top of the food chain… The One Eyed Black Dragon. An Apex Predator of the highest order. The very top of all monsters. And more than this… It had a giant green crystal embedded in the wound he'd received at the hands of a mighty hero.
It fired a concentrated breath attack, so hot, anything it touched, sublimated on the spot. Maxim, the strongest adventurer to have ever lived, only barely managed to keep the attack concentrated on him, sacrificing himself to save his allies… The last of what remained of his; body, and armor… now nothing but air.
The look of horror on everyone else's faces was too much… Alfia screamed. "IMPOSSIBLE!"