Ryuu fell silent at the sight of the boy's murder. She noticed the pressure he was emitting which was clearly something beyond the likes of a level three.
Only thirty seconds had passed since they left [Alice's Wonderland]. She didn't expect that Nobu could defeat a Level Five during that period. He cleverly hid the blade behind the pillar of flames and predicted where Dix would be.
However, the more concerning thing was his attitude. He looked unbothered by this. To kill without any emotions, how much should someone experience?
At least, Ryuu got to that level after killing hundreds of Evilus members.
Bam-!
The sounds of fighting rang out. Nobu checked [Shaldo] and found out it was still affecting Valletta and Evilus. This specially-prepared magic barrier has a hundred meter radius. Their preparations turned against them.
"We need to support them. Valletta is strong."
"...Alright."
Nobu said as he burnt Dix Perdix's body to ashes.
Meanwhile, the battle ensued. Tsubaki, Aiz, and Rethusa fought against Valletta. The latter felt her status slowly slipping away due to the magic barrier.
Sou-!
Boom-!
An arrow exploded as it struck Valletta. Her flesh was burnt as it started bleeding. Moments later, it visibly regenerated before turning back to normal.
"This'll be a troublesome one!"
Aiz had a different response to Tsubaki's words.
"Awaken, Tempest."
An armor of viridescent winds encapsulated her. As she rushed straight at Valletta, her speed visibly changed. Her momentum rose far higher than before.
Clang-!
Clang-!
Aiz's rapier, [Desperate], matched Valletta's attempted counters. The latter could not parry her attacks and managed to skillfully place feints in between. Gusts of wind damaged her body. It continuously drew wounds to her body. If not for her insane regeneration, a normal level six would be greatly pushed back by her.
'Just like him..!'
Aiz's golden pupils reminded Valletta of someone.
She realized the similarities between her skills and Nobu's. Within their final fifteen-second clash, she could not even properly land a hit—everything was either blocked or redirected. Moreover, the tricky feints and 'intuition' exhibited by Aiz only feel short from him.
Unfortunately, Aiz was still inexperienced.
Clang-!
Valletta utilized her higher status. She blocked Aiz's strike before her leg kicked her away.
Bam-!
Despite incurring cut wounds all over her leg, Valletta sent Aiz flying.
Just then—
"Shit..!"
—the effect of her curse strengthened.
Shaldo's effect increased as time passed. She was able to subdue Bete easily by using it during the eighth iteration. That was what happened in the future when she hunted the remnants of Ishtar Familia and lured Bete into a trap.
Right now, she is about to lose her level six status. She will fall back as a high level five. From how the situation looks, she will lose.
"Fucking brat..!"
She tried to cancel her magic, only to fail. She sensed a resistance while doing so. This resistance could be overcome, but Valletta needs more time—and time is something she is lacking right now.
Just as she was thinking, Tsubaki appeared and sent a diagonal strike. The broadsword shook her entire body. Several wounds appeared and leaked out blood.
Sou-!
Tsubaki spun and brought the momentum from before.
Valletta dodged her vertical strike. After a while, Tsubaki retreated and was replaced by Aiz. Occasionally, explosive arrows came to her. The three-adventurer team completely suppressed her. Her regeneration was the only thing that held her up. She remained uninjured to their attacks.
Nevertheless, Valletta kept her composure. The weakening effect hindered her status, but it won't be long before she could disable it. Although it was controlled by Nobu's [Phenomenon Mixer], it originally belonged to her.
Boom-!
Hearing the explosions, she smirked.
"You should worry about your companions now."
*****
We are about to support the others when someone blocked our paths.
"Have you forgotten about me?"
I responded coldly, "The ones I have killed? I don't waste time thinking about them."
"How conceited! Again, you're none other than Orario's brightest star! You have the capital to think as such."
He is an acquaintance. His crazed look overlapped with the one in my memories.
"What business do you have, Vendetta?"
The maniac whom I killed in the twenty-seventh floor.
"Are you interested to my lord—"
"No."
Seeing his actions, I knew he was completely 'brainwashed' by the Demi-spirits. He must've wanted me to switch sides or something.
I scanned my surroundings.
The Vendetta I know wouldn't act confidently without cause. He could get overconfident, but it has to have a source.
I was thinking about it when I sensed something thrown at my direction.
Sou-!
I deftly dodged it, but it still drew a line on my shoulder. The ring on my necklace shone brightly. It swiftly eliminated any traces of curse on it.
The projectile was none other than the spear used to impale me back then. It is originally the level four adventurer's weapon before being borrowed by Valletta. Of course, she didn't have the capital to borrow it from her.
The unconscious level four adventurer stood up. She drew a dagger from behind her waist.
"Please take care of her." I looked at Ryuu-san. Upon seeing her nod, I focused my attention to Vendetta.
"Wardrobe."
Two magic circles appeared before I donned my repaired armor. The circuits carved onto it bore the burden of maintaining [Sirius]. I lowered my blade before wordlessly charging at him.
Swoosh-!
Pssshk-!
Vendetta tried to dodge confidently, only for his right arm to be cut off. His confidence disappeared as confusion clouded his expression.
I didn't let that go. I changed [Sora]'s grip, pointing the blade's edge upwards.
Pssshk-!
An upward vertical strike strike severed his left arm. I stepped back for a moment and aligned the blade's tip to his chest.
[Wave Blast]-!
Psshk-!
Crack-!
Shatter-!
[Sora] was successfully embedded to his chest. It directly aimed for the spirit core and completely shattered it. The blade's magic elevated its sharpness to terrifying levels. Such is the skills of Hephaestus-sama, the one hailed as the god of forge.
Vendetta's pupils widened in shock before turning dull. He was easily killed with that.
"Hm..?"
Clang.
A red crystal fell from his pocket.
"Shit?!"
I recognized it as the [Inferno Stone]. It is the hand grenades of Orario. If—
Boom-!
Boom-!
I was sent back several meters. [Sirius]'s enhancements allowed me to keep my feet rooted to the ground. I did not experience anything else form my eyes and ears due to the dream organs. It was as if a wave of air passed through them. That was it.
"Ryuu-san."
I looked back and saw a slightly charred Ryuu-san. Her green robe was burnt by the explosion. Fortunately, it wasn't enough to severely injure her.
I looked at the pile of dust that used to be Vendetta. He turned into dust after crushing his spirit core.
I ran over to her side. I took out a High Potion and gave it to her.
"You must be injured."
"Isn't—?"
"Please don't mind it. Your safety comes first. You've already done a huge favor by helping."
In the end, she gave in. She used the High Potion to fully recover.
As I burnt the level four adventurer's corpse, I realized something…
Isn't my situation with Filvis the same back then?
Bam-!
Looking to the direction of Valletta, I resolved myself. We need to kill her now. She shouldn't reach her level in the future. I will be cutting off Evilus' commander right now.
I received the feedback from [Shaldo]. Right now, it decreased Valletta's status to peak level five.
"We must hurry."
*****
"Tch!"
Valletta brandished her cursed sword. The two women avoided it as they knew about its effects. To Valletta's advantage, it served as a deterrent. That was why she could hold up until now.
If Aiz and Tsubaki were unrestrained, they would've defeated her already—especially Aiz. Valletta doesn't know much about the girl's magic. Only, it elevated her strength to a huge degree. Coupled with her trained 'intuition', Aiz was able to directly hit her now and then.
"Jou-chan!"
Tsubaki shouted all of a sudden.
"Mn."
Much to Valletta's surprise, Aiz backed off. The former was ready to chase after her. All of a sudden, three arrows were sent to her direction.
She easily dodged the first and second one before deflecting the third.
"Just this—?"
Buzz-!
A white line passed through the three arrows before forming a triangular barrier. It locked Valletta's position before a strong gravitational pull sank her feet to the ground.
Hum-!
To her surprise, she couldn't move. At this time, Aiz was rushing towards her once again. The viridescent winds enveloped her entire body as well as her sword. Her weakened status—now akin to a high level five—turned her vulnerable to the gravity cage.
The moment Valletta was freed, Aiz is now in front of her. She had a second to react before—
Psshk-!
—the blade passed through her chest.
"..!"
Aiz didn't feel the sensation of the spirit core shattering. That was the major weakness Nobu told her when fighting Valletta. He repeatedly emphasized her regenerative abilities.
Turns out, she wasn't able to destroy it. Aiz's intuition flared up. She pulled out [Desperate] and parried the incoming attack.
Bam-!
A dull sound was made. [Desperate]'s edge completely dulled in this battle. Still, it was able to hold up against Valletta's attacks. Instead of pushing forward, she retreated.
Aiz distanced herself before returning to Tsubaki's side.
The latter wore a wry smile as she said, "The girl I met back 'en already learned her mistakes."
"...Sirius taught me."
Tsubaki no longer saw the 'sword' she met back then. Aiz escaped from the Twilight Manor in hopes of finding the conditions to achieve the so-called 'level-up'. Tsubaki was the one who told her about its requirements, which is high-quality excelia.
Now, she saw that the girl could properly assess danger. She wasn't as reckless as before—whereas she will fight despite a broken blade.
Valletta zoned the two first. Her strength kept falling as it neared to middle level five. The regeneration that she possessed as a creature became the thing that kept her alive.
'I need to retreat.'
She didn't care about Olivas nor the others anymore. Under her [Shaldo], they will have trouble even with a 'level two'. Upon further analysis, she realized that Nobu had somehow predicted this and brought allies—unexpected ones at that.
'He came in alone… Did he bait me into this?'
She knew him as the maker of 'unbreakable' magic swords. If he knew about an incoming ambush, it explains everything.
The amount of preparation he could do within three weeks are unfathomable. From her previous experiences, he would definitely be stronger than before.
This thought cemented her decision to retreat. Just as she had the thought, a piercing scream resounded in the entire tenth floor.
Screech-!
An image of archangel solidified. Her appearance is a woman wearing a blindfold. Both of her hands were clasped in a praying gesture.
Moments later, a white bolt of lightning descended to her place. It carried a purifying attribute that loathed corruption.
BAM-!
Rumble-!
The ground shook. When everything was over, they saw Valletta's state of being severely charred.
Thud-!
Her body fell to the ground. Her regenerative capability dropped to an all-time low. It no longer worked as strong as before.
"It worked…"
Aiz saw the sight of Nobu walking together with Rethusa. His deep sigh could be heard from inside his armor. The staff—Edatsu—glowed before the archangel dispersed. The same went for [Shaldo] and [Phenomenon Mixer].
"Never thought ya could be that strong, Nobu."
"I share the same sentiment." He replied to Tsubaki.
The four women silently looked at him. Clearly, they treated that as a joke.
Seeing this, he took the lead in checking Valletta out.
"She's still alive."
"Well, her tenacity is one heck of a trouble!"
Aiz agreed with Tsubaki with a nod.
"Arachnia..." Ryuu muttered with a hint of resentment.
Seeing the leader of the organization which killed her familia, she felt her long-lost anger surging. An equal amount of bloodlust came from her, surprising the three women.
"I will end her." Nobu declared.
He switched his staff with [Sora] once more. At this time, Valletta regained her consciousness. She saw his eyes which hid his bloodlust.
"You don't deserve any last words." He asked.
"You..."
Psshk-!
Crack-!
Shatter-!
As soon as the spirit core shattered, Valletta's body turned into ashes. The others were surprised by this outcome. Though, there are the one who was surprised the most.
"Sirius. She's a monster?"
The air around Aiz changed abruptly. She knew about the 'Creature' thing but she didn't knew of their true essence. Part of it was Nobu keeping it for now. Her knowing about Demi-spirits wouldn't be good.
"That's right. She took the form of a monster while retaining her human form. That's the true nature of 'creatures'."
Tsubaki looked like she wanted to ask something but withheld it.
"The work is done?"
"Not yet, Rethusa-san. I will proceed with the interrogation next."
It is the reason why Nobu left the Evilus members alive.
In the end, it went smoothly. They are even weaker than Vendetta in terms of willpower. They divulged everything they knew, including the unknown routes inside Knossos as well as the number of the Demi-spirits in that place.
It is for this reason that they kept the level threes.
After that, Ryuu asked something:
"Where do we leave them?"
"I got that covered."
*****
"Until when will he make us wait…"
On the eighth floor, two adventurers stood rooted to the ground. One of them is the overworked captain of Hermes Familia. The other is a recently-leveled up member, Lulune.
Both of them wore the mask Asfi created to turn invisible, [Hades Head].
"Captain, was that the person you told me? The Definitely-Not-A-Phantom-Thief?"
"That's correct. His magic tool evaded the surveillance and detection of our entire familia."
"Magic tools? He's also an item maker?"
"Possibly the sixth known holder of [Mysteries]."
Hearing Asfi's speculations shocked the chientriope. Within the last thousand years, only five people were known to be the holder of [Mysteries] skill. That alone granted Asfi the ability to create magic tools.
Just then, they saw two people walking to their direction. One of them wore a black hoodie while the other unfamiliar one has a green robe with burnt edges.
Asfi unmasked herself before being followed by Lulune.
"You've finally arrived."
"Did I make you wait? Then again, this is supposed to be your sleep schedule."
"Not when you gave us more work."
"I'm also working here too, no?"
The red-haired man placed the two robed people to the ground. The masked adventurer did the same.
"Who are they? Some pitiful adventurers whom you kidnapped?" Asfi asked. "We don't deal with this kind of thing."
"If you consider Evilus as something pitiful, then go ahead."
"...Evilus?"
The air of Hermes Familia's captain showed itself in full glory.
"I assume you aren't joking."
"I'm not. As for the proof…" Nobu took out a cursed dagger sheathed on their waists. "...these should suffice."
"Cursed weapons?"
Asfi's mind went back to the aftermath of Great Feud. They didn't know where, but this weapon emerged among the Evilus remnants. She herself analyzed some of them. When she closely examined the dagger, it was the same as from back then. Of course, it was extremely few in numbers.
"Where did you—?"
"In the dungeon. Remember the gates I told to you before? We happened upon them."
Of course, Nobu was lying. He made sure to place a 'psychological cue' to keep what happened a while ago secret. They will only answer questions related to Evilus, nothing else.
As to why he did so, it is due to Dionysus. He's vigilant against his [Divine Wine]. One of the conversations he heard was him using it to 'trick' his familia into converting to another god—all without them noticing.
Since he's active as Enyo as far as twelve years ago, he knows Hermes Familia's identity as an information guild as well as Ouranos' helpers. He could simply dig information by making someone drunk.
It is the diversion purpose he thought of before he rescued Filvis.
"Anyways, feel free to interrogate them."
"You're treating our familia as a garbage bin."
"Not really. Why would I do that horrible thing?"
Ryuu silently watched their conversation. She couldn't believe how Nobu turned from his previous gentlemanly demeanor into a playful one. She knew everything was an act, but his acting could put most actors to shame.
"Then, see you for 'nother time!"
"Let me rest."
"I'll ask Hermes-sama to give you a paid vacation after this!" He teasingly added.
When the two left, Lulune could finally speak. Nobu's aura made her feel like standing in front of Hermes himself. She could see his body gestures honestly following his words. However, would such a man be that 'see-through'?
"Captain… That masked adventurer…"
"I recognized her. Gale Wind…"
The adventurer who used to belong to Astraea Familia—Gale Wind. She went on a rampage and cleaned many Evilus bases along with their gods. Due to that, she is placed at the guild's blacklist—she infringed the rule that mortals couldn't 'kill' gods.
Never had Asfi expected that she's now working with the red-haired man known as 'Red'.
Clearing that thought, she focused on solving their current dilemma first—bringing the Evilus members without anyone else noticing.
*****
A/N: If you've noticed the slower update rate, that's due to uni. Yes, I am officially in uni. I predicted it might get busy at that time, and boy it did. I feel like I would begin sacrificing my sleep at this rate. Anyways, some might remember this update from weeks ago. No worries, though. This fic would continue updating as usual. I would appreciate it if the power stones would keep coming. As of now, the update schedule would be one chapter every two days. The chapter length would be the same as before.
That's it.
Have a Good Day~!