Sorry but, this chapter was edited a bit in a hurry, I'm a bit late for Uni, and I edited on the fly very quickly.
It should be alright, but in case something happens, I'll be editing it on the way back.
Peace!
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/Inside a decorated hall.../
'Thanatos sat on a big round table, holding a small teacup, drinking tea calmly as he waited for someone to arrive...'
/Crunk!/
'In front of him, a pair of massive double doors opened, revealing two people clad in white clothes.'
"Look who we have here? It's a pleasure to see you in full form again." Thanatos said with a smile as he looked at a woman in the plain white robe
'Next to her was a man in similar robes, he always stood a step behind her, silent and unresponsive... Like a statue, or better put, a shadow.'
'Because that was his place, his position.'
'The woman lifted her hood, revealing her face.'
'With a serious expression on her face, Ishtar replied:'
"Can't say I'm flattered seeing you again."
"How cold, please, have a seat, else the tea will grow cold."
'Thanatos pointed at the chairs with a small smile.'
"Enough talk, I don't have all day, my schedule has been a mess ever since... That happened." Ishtar said in displeasure
"Everyone commits mistakes, albeit I hope that you stick more to the overall plan, or at least warn us before doing such a thing..."
"I want to repay you for everything you've done to us, but I can't do so if..." He said with a genuine smile
'But Ishtar simply smiled scornfully, interrupting him:'
"I came here to make some things clear, not for small talk."
"Speak then, I am all ears."
'She approached the table and sat on the chair, it was very comfortable, and the tea was perfect, although she herself wasn't a fan of this type of flavor.'
"I'm thinking of increasing my investment."
"Oh!"
"That's music to my ears."
'His eyes then sharpened…'
"But what do you want in return?"
"Simple, I want you all to hurry up."
'Thanatos was once again very surprised, but he retained his emotions and said:'
"Ironic, after all that happened, you wish to push our plans forward?"
'Ishtar's expression changed to one of distaste as she replied:'
"Spare me the talk, I did not come here to hear you making fun of me... Nor will I stand it."
'Thanatos was quickly to apologize...'
"I had no such plans, instead I only wish to ask... Why do you wish to push things forward?"
'As he said that, someone appeared on the side, holding a silver tray full of bottles.'
"I believe you misunderstood me, I do not wish to push the plans forward, I merely wish for you to become faster." She said as she grabbed a small cup full of alcohol
"I understood my mistakes, I let my anger rush to my head, I thought I had it all, that the pieces had fallen together… That it was time to pull that pretentious hoe from her throne..."
'She stared at her reflection on the cup, and upon seeing her now, shorter hair, she bit her lips and said:'
"I have reflected upon my actions, but this simply reaffirmed my goals."
"I want power, more power than ever before, and I need it soon."
"I'll invest more in you all so your plans may progress further and more stably, while I'll also try harder from my side, my children should be now trying their best in the Dungeon, training to improve after their previous failures."
'She looked at Thanatos' purple eyes and said:'
"Next time I won't fail, and for that, I want you to guarantee your side as well, to make my investment worth something."
"Oh my, it looks like you truly changed…" He replied with a smile
"You can trust us, we'll deliver upon our promise, after all, you can come to see it for yourself any time..."
"But at the same time, some things cannot be sped up, not because we lack funds, but because we're already operating as fast as we're allowed."
"Any faster could attract unwanted attention, so some things we'll have to be left for later..."
/Sip…/
'Ishtar took one more sip from her tea, before pushing it aside and drinking the alcohol as she said:'
"I know, I was just reaffirming what I wanted…"
"But there are a few more things I want."
"I thought as much, this is little compared to your promises, speak your word."
'Ishtar put her cup down with a bit of force, saying in a deep tone:'
"My children… I want you to assign assassins to each of them."
'Thanatos wasn't surprised.'
"Going directly to the point..."
But... Are you truly willing to follow such a path?"
"I'm surprised that you would be this sympathetic after everything you've done." She said with an ironic smile
"Is that how it looks to you? I'm merely concerned about the losses you'll take from these actions."
"The gains will surpass the losses, a new Level 4 can outclass 2 to 3 Level 3's... So yes, I'm sure, otherwise, I wouldn't have come here, so enough talk and tell me if you can do it or not."
"The feasibility of such a thing is not the question, it can be done, at any moment, in fact."
"The problem is the success rate, I cannot guarantee it when we take into account your entire Familia."
"That is up to me to consider, you just need to do your part." Ishtar said as she got up from her seat
'She grabbed a paper from her bosom and threw it on the table she was sitting on.'
"This is?" Thanatos asked as he grabbed the paper
"It's a list, the order in which and the appropriate Level for the Assassins for each of my Children that are close to Leveling up."
"How reliable..."
"It seems you came more prepared than I had initially expected..." Thanatos said with a small smile
"Of course, I'll not send in my Children to die, I'm not that wasteful and cruel, I only need to push them a bit further so they can grow..."
"Amazons are used to fighting to the death, leveling up in such harsh conditions…" Ishtar said in a deep tone
"So let us have them remember the brutality in their blood, and the power they have."
"... Alright, I'll make it happen as soon as possible, the details…"
'Ishtar waved.'
"Send it to me once they're ready, I have other things to do."
"... It shall be done." Thanatos said in a low tone with a thin smile
'He watched her leave silently, being escorted by a few guards out of the room.'
How amusing, to send your own children to death over a simple desire...
Carnal Beauty...
Envy...
How fickle…
'His smile became macabre as his expression darkened...'
"In the end, does it really matter how? I should be thankful she is so eager to send her followers to the domains of Heaven."
This is a good trade, an increase in our funds, and now Ishtar has gotten serious.
Instead of living secluded in her tower, deeming herself as the queen, she has now decided to embrace the true potential of her Familia…
Her personality did not change, but her methods have, she's now a bit more self-aware...
This makes things harder, if the Ishtar Familia becomes too strong, controlling them will…
"Sigh… How tiring." He mumbled out loud
I'll leave this to Valletta-Chan once she's back, she'll know what to do…
In fact, she'll probably join in herself!
She's very keen on the holy task of sending souls back to heaven!
"If everyone was just as enthusiastic about this as her..." Thanatos said as he thought about the many souls waiting to be cleansed back in Heaven
'Sticking to his name, the God of death was more than happy in killing mortals, as it was his job to do so, even if it meant descending and doing it with his own hands.'
'Forever...'
'... And ever.'
…
/Back in the Dungeon…/
/Fwoosh!/
'The Xenos ran across the dark hallways of the Dungeon, going floor by floor as they fought and killed everything on their path, making use of every secret path they knew to catch up with the poachers from the Ikelos Familia.'
'And right behind them was Silver, with his augmented stats, he found no difficulty catching up to them, in fact, their pace was rather slow.'
'He approached Lyd and asked:'
"Look, if we go by like this, someone is going to die, even if we accomplish our objective."
"And you already know that don't you?"
"..."
'Lyd did not reply, his expression said it all.'
"There is a way though, they can be saved, we can win this fight… Although I cannot guarantee that there'll be no casualties, I can at least save the hostages." Silver said quickly
"You…"
'Gros approached them from the side flying, his expression was one of a mix of concern and anger.'
"Is what you said true?" He asked, going straight to the point
'Silver did a small smile before proceeding. '
"According to what the Hobgoblin said…"
"Jamiru, his name is Jamiru." Lyd interrupted
"Right, apologies."
/Cough!/
"According to what Jamiru said, from his group, he was the only one that escaped, while the other 6 were captured, isn't that right?" He asked as he looked behind
"Yes... I'm a failure, I... I escaped alone and..."
"No, it's okay Jamiru." Ray said reassuringly
'Silver nodded and said:'
"There is no need for you to feel guilty, someone had to come back to tell the tale, otherwise, we would've still been down there, waiting for no one to come."
"..."
'The Hobgoblin, Jamiru closed his eyes with a pained expression.'
"Still... It's clear they let him escape, all so they could attract us and hopefully capture more of us." Lyd said as he looked at Silver
"You're right."
"Their objective is to capture, not elimination, but this doesn't mean they'll hesitate to do so when the time comes…"
"Get to the point." Gros said
'Seeing his impatience, Silver said "Calm down." as he jumped from a tall rock.'
'Before he hit the ground, he came to a quick stop as he floated on the ground, landing smoothly.'
"We have some time, if we don't make this clear now, we'll run into problems later on."
"What I'm trying to say is that they'll have a nasty trap waiting for us, so I want you all to be aware of that."
"If something were to happen to any of the 3 leaders, then everything will truly be over." He said towards Lyd, Gros, and Ray
"..."
"So what do you suggest?" Ray asked as she flew by, looking forward and scouting for any potential danger
"I'll rescue the hostages, or at least, help with doing so."
"You? How?" Gros asked
'Silver smiled, saying, "Yes me, like this." as he disappeared, reappearing several dozen meters ahead.'
'Once everyone arrived next to him again, he continued:'
"I can teleport around and do so with others as well…"
"This means that as long as I can get my hands on the hostages, I can bring everyone back with me, essentially ridding you all of the worries of having to rescue them."
There is no need to think about their reactions unless their leader has a Divine level of foresight, it is impossible for them to predict this.
"That! It's actually feasible." Lyd said as he went into deep thought
'Silver raised his index finger and said:'
"There are several problems with this, the first one being the enemy's decisiveness."
"Depending on how serious they are, the moment they realize something is wrong, even if we did nothing, they may injure one of the hostages or do something worse in order to put pressure on us."
"A fight will obviously be inevitable, I don't think any of you will concede to any of their demands, nor will they try to negotiate at all unless it's within their wishes to buy time."
"But the possibility of them starting to hurt the hostages in order to affect our morale is extremely high, especially you three."
'He pointed at Gros with a frown.'
"Don't rush ahead, don't rush ahead... Did I already say for you to not..."
"I HEARD YOU!" Gros growled from the side
'Lyd let out a sigh while Ray closed her eyes.'
"We definitely win in terms of numbers, environmental knowledge, and firepower, as such, they'll lure us somewhere where they can reduce those advantages as much as possible…"
"Hm..."
'Ray thought as she flew, eventually reaching a conclusion:'
"The 18th floor?" She said in disbelief
"WHAT?" Gros said loudly as his eyes darted open
What does the 18th floor have to do with this?
"Unfortunately, that may be the case…" Silver said slowly
"..."
'Gros did not understand shit, but it seemed things weren't good.'
"The 18th floor is Adventurer territory, if suddenly, a group of monsters rushes inside while going after a group of adventurers…"
'Lyd closed his hand saying, "Everyone is going to attack us…", Frustrated.'
'But silver said one more thing:'
"But that is not their plan."
"WHAT?! Explain it in simpler words!" Gros said, extremely annoyed
"Of course."
"I'll go over everything again while changing my words."
"We're currently halfway through the 22nd floor, while our enemy is most likely taking their first steps into the 20th floor at this point in time."
"If they arrive at the 18th floor… There is no more discussion, we lose."
"Albeit there is a very faint chance of us being able to finish them before others intervene, that in itself is going to be hard, it wouldn't be surprising if they have a team waiting for us there..."
"Because of that, we mustn't follow them to the 18th floor under any circumstances."
"We'll be forced to wait and lead this fight to the surface, either that, or ambushing them after they leave the 18th floor, but that'll also…"
Especially since they'll never do so… The Ikelos Familia has access to the entrances leading to Knossos on the 18th floor, they don't need to leave through the conventional exits...
The moment they arrived there, they'll vanish together with anyone they captured.
"But this isn't what our enemy wants, they want to capture more, otherwise, they wouldn't have let one escape and warn us."
"If they wanted to flee with what they had, even if it meant silencing him and incurring losses, Jamiru wouldn't be here with us right now…"
/GRRR!/
'Gros growled, he didn't like the sound of his words.'
"Sorry if I sounded insensible…"
"No it's okay, continue Silver-Chi." Lyd said deeply
"As I was saying…"
"They don't want to escape like this, they are greedy, and our enemies have another plan in mind... And we'll use that greed to our advantage."
'He pointed towards the three of them, Lyd, Ray, and Gros.'
"If you three were to run with everything you had, it would only be a matter of time until you reach them, you'd probably intercept them around the 19th floor."
"Don't tell me…" Lyd said with a frown
"They want to separate us." Ray concluded
"Correct. Their plan is to have the fastest to arrive first."
"They are definitely fully aware that the ones that'll arrive first will be the strongest, but they must be extremely confident of their ability to finish things before the slower ones arrive."
"That is why I say they'll definitely wait for us on the 19th floor at least for a little while, as once they finish, they'll be able to retreat to safety."
"Or in case something goes bad, they'll have a retreat path…"
"ROARRRR!"
'Gros suddenly roared, shaking the entire cavern.'
'He was frustrated, incredibly so…'
"Gros! Now's not the time to give in to your emotions!" Ray said hastily
"GRR… I know!" He replied
'He looked towards Silver and said:'
"Human! Can you do it?... Can you save them and allow me to… RIP THEM ALL TO SHREDS?!"
'Silver smiled slightly.'
"I have a few ideas, but first, let's determine who'll be coming with us."
'Lyd and Ray nodded.'
"Me and Gros will advance with you, Ray, you'll stay behind just in case they have something else prepared." Lyd said as he looked behind
"Understood." Ray said as she decreased her flight speed
"You all heard that right everyone?!" He screamed loudly
'Silver took this opportunity to say:'
"From what Jamiru told us, their numbers are around 12, but this number is very likely to increase once we're actually there."
"I can imagine something on the likes of 20 or even 30 adventurers..."
"The problem was their strength, according to him, they were only attacked by 10 people, while 2 remained behind, being subdued after a decent struggle."
"This means they're all at least Level 2 by the Adventurers' standards... And albeit a Bait team, all of the captured Xenos were equivalent to Level 3, so subduing them shouldn't have been that simple."
"We should be expecting something in the likes of 15 to 20 Level 2 adventurers, 5 to 10 Level 3's, and perhaps a few Level 4's, but no more than 5."
"Also, if their Captain makes an appearance, something I'm sure it'll happen, we'll have to be even more careful, because he's definitely Level 5... A strong one at that."
'Lyd nodded as he looked at the Xenos behind him.'
"We'll be taking Four, Ranye, Let, Helga, Aude, Cliff, Kiln, Ecos, and Ygor. The others will continue marching behind us and try to catch up as soon as possible!"
/Roar!/
'Behind him, a tall Formuire, an Arachne, a large Hellhound, a Warshadow, a Hippogriff, a Madbeatle, a Merman, and a Troll all nodded, increasing their speed to keep up with Lud and Gros as they marched towards the horizon.'
'Both Four and Ranye were Level 5 monsters, while everyone else had their strength around 4 and 5, these were some of the most elite warriors of the Xenos.'
'Albeit not all of them, after all, a few had to stay behind to protect the villagers and the non-combative Xenos, while some others were left in the backlines group to ensure their safety...'
"We'll be saving everyone!" Lyd said with determined eyes
"..."
'Silver remained silent, he was thinking about what to expect, and what plans his enemy could use against them…'
'But he would have to wait in order to see if what he choose was for the best.'
'His actions have just changed the future of these Xenos… But was it for the best, or did he just condemn them to die?'
…
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Notes
In the past, I made a small mistake, I though the leaders were the only Level 5's apart from the Elder Xenos, but that isn't true, there are many more Level 5 Xenos.
They also aren't the strongest, what makes them good is probably a mix of their leadership abilities and combat abilities.
Since not all Xenos can talk, even if it's Level 5, you can't have a mute leader...