There are two more chapters left, enjoy!
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/BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!/
"?!"
'While Silver fought the Violas, exterminating all one by one as he moved to the Hermes Familia, a massive explosion rang in the distance... Exactly where his destination stood.'
This direction… Shit.
/BLAST!/
'Without waiting for another explosion to ring, Silver dashed in the air, ignoring the chaos around him, stopping in the air above the street directly where the explosion rang.'
'He raised his left hand, about to extinguish all of the fire when he saw something that made him frown severely.'
'Crawling from within the rubble and fire were people of all ages and races, but they had one thing in common, apart from their ragged states...'
'They all had the same look of despair and complete helplessness.'
Those people… Evilus.
/Crunk…/
'His right hand started to transform, and so did the right side of his face, turning into transparent glass, revealing his organs and muscles underneath.'
'His right eye became a red garnet as he stared at the flames.'
'Now, he could see within the heat, being able to identify his targets.'
... I can see several people trapped in the fire, they must be the people from Evilus who got caught in the explosion.
As for those people running in the opposite direction, there's no mistaking…
Hum... I don't see nor feel any civilians around, looks like they either ran away before the fight started... Or they were all killed long before it happened, though I don't think that's it either.
There's no smell of blood in the air and I doubt Hermes' children wouldn't notice if someone died right next door... Especially in droves.
There's a chance they were kidnapped but... The same rule applies.
Speaking of them, they're being pursued.
/SNAP!/
/SHUA!/
'Understanding most of the situation with a single glance, Silver snapped his fingers and all of the fire within a 50 m radius of him turned to black ash instantly.'
'Even if he wanted those people to burn for what they did, he couldn't let Melen turn into their cremation chamber.'
'This was still a city full of ordinary people, they did not deserve to burn for the actions of those stronger than them.'
'Weakness itself can be a form of sin in this world, but such truth is too much for anyone to bear, so much so even the Gods often don't talk about it, knowing full well it would break the mortals around them.'
'These people deserved some peace, that was what countless generations fought for in the first place.'
/Teleport!/
'Finishing his task, Silver vanished from his location, reappearing a few hundred meters away from his previous location on the ground, directly on the Hermes Familia's path.'
/Unsheath.../
""?!""
'They almost attacked him due to how sudden he appeared, but the moment they noticed who he was, they understood what was going on, running past him as they kept their momentum.'
'Silver didn't bat an eye to their actions, quickly floating behind them.'
"..."
They're rather hurt, as expected an explosion of that degree was bound to leave them hurt.
The mages and Level 2 adventurers show it the most.
Time to get to work.
"!"
Hah?!
"What happened?" Silver asked loudly as he pulled one of the girls from the ground
'She had a severe injury in the arm, a long gash running across her shoulder to her forearm, it bled severely, causing her face to grow pale as she ran.'
'He used this chance to heal her as they moved, holding her in a princess carry as he floated in the air
'The girl blushed a little but she didn't resist his actions, she didn't have the strength for it anyway, it even seemed as if blushing took a tool on her.'
"Huff… We were ambushed from nowhere... Suddenly the entire city exploded at once and fire rained." Vultus said on the side as he ran
"When we went to check what was going on we were mobbed by those people... then to escape, we blew half of our supply of Blast Oil, I'm thankful the rest didn't blow up on us."
"In fact..."
/BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!/
'A terrific explosion rang behind them!'
"... We set them up as a trap..."
"..."
Smart, for what was a desperate situation, they acted quite well, though I don't think the Mayor will enjoy finding out such tactics were employed in his city.
An entire street block went up in ashes with that one...
"We need to move, if we're their target then we…"
"You're not their target." Silver said out loud as his expression darkened
By the looks of it, they aren't aware of what Hermes planned, this just pisses me off even more.
He really used his children as bait and didn't even warn them… Is this recklessness of confidence?
Maybe a bit of both…
/Crackle… Raise!/
'The stone at the end of their path rose and a portal formed.'
"Quickly, pass through it, anyone that's injured raise their hands if you can, I'll heal you as soon as possible." Silver exclaimed as he landed on the ground
"What do you…"
'But Silver didn't let them ask questions.'
"The portal will lead you to the end of the port, quickly find Hermes and Asfi, they'll tell you what to do next."
"I'll join you all soon enough." He said as he approached Aisha who was holding onto her stomach with a rather tired expression
'There was a terrible wound there, Silver almost felt as if he could see her muscles moving, but the Amazon barely showed any pain.'
'This made Silver respect her, as she ran about a Km without stopping with such a wound.'
'For her bravery, he didn't mind getting his hands dirty at all as he covered her wound with them before healing it with his Plasmids.'
"Huff... If only you were so assertive in ordinary situations." She said with a smug smile as she saw Silver pushed her arm away to heal her
"Cut it, unless you want a scar."
"Scars can be sexy, but I like my smooth stomach." She said with a light laugh as she held her pain back
'After he finished with her, Silver looked at Vultus' broken arm, quickly noticing something wrong.'
"You... You aren't coming with us?" Laurier, the girl he healed just before asked with a concerned expression as she watched him heal Lulune's bleeding forehead
"Unless you want to be within the target of my 'Spells', it's better if we regroup later, with our numbers, fighting within the city won't do us any good."
"I'll try to minimize the damage, regroup first and understand the situation, rest, heal, and save the others in the meantime."
"I'll take care of them."
"..."
'Even though Silver didn't say it, he was pretty much saying they were getting in his way, which wasn't a complete lie.'
'Silver needed space for what he was about to do.'
"Anyhow, how did you two get so injured?" He asked as he looked past them at the end of the road
The pursuers are coming, they're unusually fast.
First Class adventurers?
'Vultu's arm was completely bent, and if not for his strong skin, his bone would've definitely been sticking out.'
"Huff... They have..."
/CRACK!/
"UGH..."
'With a sharp gaze, Silver's index finger turned into a needle as he injected several doses of something all throughout his arm before he went and fixed its position before pulling an Elixir and applying it on his arm.'
'Some injuries were better treated with his Plasmids, others with the good old potion.'
"Huff… Thank you." Vultus said out loud as he saw his arm return to its previous look
"Don't thank me yet, it's going to hurt again after the sedative wears off, and it's going to be soon so be ready for a kick."
"Huff... For your question… It's First Class…"
"Evilus brought First Class adventurers with them." Vultus said as he breathed heavily
"..."
As I thought, the target wasn't the Hermes Familia in its entirety… It's me, or more precisely... The Guild's main forces.
Evilus already knows Hermes works for Ouranos, it's not really a secret they have a good relationship, but it's just that the public doesn't know that it goes this deep.
Since Hermes never hid his intentions with Melen, they must've figured out something, I wouldn't be surprised if he had 'leaked' the mission's contents to them in some way.
I'm sure Evilus is aware that this is likely a trap so they prepared extensively, they don't want to lose access to their supply line, even if it means causing trouble.
Evilus is already aware they're exposed, so they're likely going to start pushing their plans forward, even if it means giving up others.
As for me, since I've participated or was involved in more than one operation with both the Hermes Familia and the Guild, Evilus must've assumed I would be in here as well this time.
And if not… Well… The Hermes Familia is still a good target to clear, it's like removing Ouranos' Eyes and Ears, so much so that, if you remove the Hermes Familia, Ouranos basically loses all of his access to information outside of Orario.
He's been trying his best to maintain the social-political structure of the nations surrounding Orario, and that's when the Hermes Familia comes in.
They may not be out there to help with uprisings and revolutions, but they'll dig even the dirtiest of secrets on everyone so they don't ever dare cause trouble around Orario.
The only reason the outside world isn't in chaos is because Evilus is... Arrogant.
They want to bring forth the end of the world from within the very center of its hope, Orario, otherwise, the world outside would likely be inhospitable by now.
Regardless… They're getting bold, extremely so, to cause such destruction…
Don't they fear gathering too much attention too soon? Their plans should still be far from completion...
Unless… They believe they can hold out for long enough… To clash with us while they push their plans forward.
Urg... This is bothersome, a pain in my damn ass, I don't have the time to play mind games with Gods and Deranged people all the time...
I'm barely getting enough time to sleep as it is...
...
'Thinking quickly, Silver healed everyone and handed them a few boxes of potions from his pocket space before raising his right hand in a hurry as he turned his head to look at the distance.'
/BAAAAAM!/
""KYAAA!""
'A powerful fireball exploded in the air right behind them, pushing some of them back slightly as they exclaimed in surprise.'
"They're here, quick! Don't waste any more time." Silver exclaimed as he snapped his fingers, causing the portal to flare
"Tsk!... You all heard him, move!" Vultus exclaimed as he jumped into the portal
"Don't get too hurt, we still need a rematch!" He said out loud as he vanished to the other side
""Take care!"" Pock and Pot said together as they entered the portal
'Everyone in the Hermes Familia entered the portal quickly as they thanked him and encouraged him to follow them, but Silver could not.'
'Better put, he didn't want to. After all…'
"Heh, you're all here." He said as he turned around slowly, closing the portal as the stone crumbled into dust
'In front of him, from within the distant black smoke and the house ceilings around him were dozens of adventurers wearing full white robes.'
'Just from their speed, Silver knew they were all Level 4 if not stronger… All pretty good dummies for him to punch... Uhh... Villains he had to take down!'
'Knowing himself, why would he waste such a pristine opportunity to grow?!'
/BANG!/
/CRACK!/
"That explosion was nasty... Hm? Where are they?" Gran asked as he looked around with a confused expression, only to have his eyes sharpen when he saw Silver
/Step…/
"That was why I told you to finish them off at once! You let them go and this is what happens." A woman said as she walked from a nearby alley
"You can't talk about me like that! You also failed to take that Amazon down!"
"..."
There they are, the First Class adventurers that heavily injured both Vultus and Aisha.
But something's strange, these people… Aren't they from the Ikelos Familia? I thought Dix was the only First Class they had.
Besides, these two weren't this strong the last time I saw them.
'It may have been a while since they last saw each other but Silver still remembered their faces, because out of everyone they captured during the attack against the Xenos, only two bodies weren't recovered from the mass murder that happened on the 17th floor.'
'He made sure to remember their faces from the bounties the Guild placed on them. Though don't misunderstand, the Guild would never reveal why they were wanted and instead created a fitting excuse.'
'That day, all members of the Ikelos Familia attack squad were assassinated and their bodies were then burned viciously together with Ouranos agents in charge of keeping them trapped.'
'Ouranos likely never expected Evilus to have enough firepower and capability to maneuver a First Class agent to intercept his own people before the Ganesha Familia arrived.'
'This only points out to a single possibility, that they were being watched from the beginning.'
'The Ikelos Familia became a sacrifice for Evilus to collect information.'
'Still, there was something strange about them… Not only those two but all of the adventurers around him.'
What is that on their bodies? Tattoos? Black markings of some kind...
'Every single one of them had strange dark markings on their skin, being usually similar to each other... At least most of them had as he couldn't quite see their bodies due to their clothes, he could only see a few due to how ragged their clothes had become.'
This is quite the force, enough to put the previous Ishtar Familia to shame.
I don't remember Evilus having so many Level 4 and 5 adventurers even with Ishtar joining them.
Another one of those "Consequences" from changing the usual timeline of events?... Sigh.
Those markings are too coincidental.
Evilus never used any kind of symbol like this exactly because it made infiltration and other similar jobs that much harder, so it's likely the culprit.
And given their track record, it must be a curse of some sort, and the only type of curse you put on your own body is the kind that increases your strength.
But as any curse goes, something has to be taken for it to take effect.
"... It's been a while since we last saw each other."
"What's that on your neck, did you decide to go Punk or something?" Silver asked out loud as he looked at Gran and the mysterious woman, trying to provoke them into speaking
/Thud!/
"Heh, you speak just like the Gods, even your words are the same." Gran said with a chuckle as he placed his massive sword on the ground
"No talking, start the operation." The woman said out loud as she swung her hand around before pointing at Silver
"..."
She sure is eager.
/Shine!!/
"Hm?!"
'Dozens of lights suddenly flashed all around, behind him on the street, atop the houses, and from their windows.'
How uncreative...
/SHUAAA!/
/Baddum!/
'Silver didn't have a lot of time to think as he felt his body weaken.'
Curse items, of course they would bring those again…
And they've prepared an unbelievable amount this time.
'If he wanted to, Silver could've tried to evade the curses, because even though the number of casters was overwhelming, it didn't matter if he wasn't there.'
'And although many curses were unavoidable as long as one was confirmed as their target, Silver would've at least avoided half of them.'
'If the necessity arose, he could also open his inventory and take out the Curse removal item or a Moly, a plant that could protect from Curses and Anti-Status effects.'
'However… That would be boring.'
"Oh? You stood still, can't say if you're courageous or stupid." Gran said with a small grin as he scratched his chin
"Shut it, don't let him escape! Surrounding him and prepare the next barrage of curses!" The woman exclaimed loudly as she looked at Silver
"Hee… So even after doing all of this, you'll just stare? That's a bit… Anticlimactic." Silver said with a smile as opened his right hand
Guess I'm just that scary to them, they'll only engage when I'm kneeling on the ground after drowning me in a mountain of curses.
Curses are scary, I've had enough of them for now.
/Flash!/
/CLANG!/
'After the light receded, he now held a black weapon in his hand, his trusty halberd!'
"Let's begin."
/FLASH!/
""?!""
'Silver vanished, reappearing behind the woman.'
/CLANG!/
'Silver swung the sharp end of his Halberd against her, but she barely managed to block it by raising her arms.'
'Due to the strength of the impact, her sleeves were torn completely, revealing her metallic arm guards underneath it.'
'However, the impact was so strong it sent her flying to a house nearby, collapsing it.'
/BAM!/
/Fwosh!/
'Taking this as an opportunity, Gran took a heavy step on the ground, cracking it as he used his heavy weight to strike downward with his greatsword at Silver.'
/CLANG!/
'But instead of defending it, Silver threw his Halbert to the side, using his hands to parry the greatsword to the side as he took a step closer to Gran.'
'After training with Take for months, doing something like this was a simple thing.'
"That's not how you use a greatsword big guy, you need to be a bit faster and heavier." Silver said as he placed his hand one inch of his chest
/SMASH!/
'His fist accelerated, smashing onto Gran's body as he was sent recoiling back into the collapsed house as well.'
"Haha, that's more like it." Silver said with a sadistic smile as he used his martial arts for the first time in a while
I'm still not as good as Take though, he can collapse a boulder with the one-inch punch despite his ordinary physique.
'Training every day was slowly making a difference, because even with his reduced stats, Silver could still easily push both of them back.'
'If Takemikazuchi could take a Level 3 adventurer with a normal Human body, then Silver could tackle a Level 5 with his reduced stats.'
'But he frowned at his own strength as he opened and closed his hand.'
Did the Curses send me back one Level? Well, it's true that I didn't update it ever since I leveled up, so any significant Curse will push me back significantly.
Hum... Guess I'm back at Level 3 then.
Still... I killed a Level 6 before.
/Crack…/
'Silver stopped thinking as he grasped his spear tightly again, looking at Gran and the woman as they slowly rose from the rubble.'
"... Guess warm-up's over." He said as he looked at the houses nearby
'He could feel the faint Magical Energy flowing in the air as the cultists invoked stronger curses, ready to throw them at him.'
One against many… I like these odds.
'Burning with excitement, Silver's body started to release steam.'
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Notes