(Sorry for the delay. Something unexpected happened irl and I didn't have much time to write for the last few days.)
With the unexpected and sudden development in the city of Orario. Many top Familia were ordered by the Guild under Ouranos' name to investigate and immediately put an end to this chaos.
One of the Familia is the Loki Familia.
"My Ariel could do nothing to the fog." Ais said with a disappointed tone while stood before the executives inside the Familia base.
"It seems this fog is no ordinary fog." Riveria said while trying whatever she could to try to understand the fog but failed which made other executives equally helpless.
Riveria look at Loki that starred in a daze at the fog. The fog is quite odd. It cannot enter into any building even with the door wide open. No amount of wind can disturb the fog as if they were not there.
"That fog is not magic." Loki suddenly said and frowned. "It's an illusion produced by Arcanum. But for what reason?" Loki ask after seeing through the nature of the fog.
This question made the executives frantically wracking their heads.
Finn lifted his hand as an epiphany hit him. "To hide something. The perpetrator is doing something and hiding it from others using the fog."
Loki nods as she reaches the same conclusion with an even deeper frown. Why would anyone need a city wide fog? When adding up to the powerful killing intent they just felt, the answer is only one.
"Everyone get ready, we are going out immediately." Loki issued her order while praying she was just overthinking.
"How about the manor? Most of our members are affected by the killing intent and only a few are unaffected." Finn stopped and asked. "We cannot simply leave our base undefended." Others nod and agree.
"Fine then. Ais, Bete, Riveria and Finn will come with me. The rest will stay behind."
The five immediately departed but they first went to the guild. Loki went to meet Ouranos first in the basement of the guild.
"Oi, old man. Give me the permission to use my Arcanum or else we will never be able to resolve this situation." Loki requested permission with a disrespectful tone. But the god on the throne didn't mind.
"Fine. I will grant all god the permission to use Arcanum under the conditions that it is to resolve this situation. Those who break the rule will be judged by me and sent to heaven." Ouranos agreed because this situation is very peculiar and being a powerful god. He already understands what happened but he is helpless to make any move because he needs to stay here and suppress the dungeon.
"Good." Loki unlocked the restraint to her Arcanum and left immediately.
After the brief stop, Loki and her children resume their journey. This time, Loki uses her Arcanum to create a domain around her to eliminate the fog, allowing them to see clearly.
*Sniff* *Sniff*
"I smell blood." Bete said and pointed to the direction which is away from the main street.
They rushed to the scene and were horrified to find dozens of corpses that appeared to be savagely mauled which made them think there is a monster on the loose but once they checked closely, the injury didn't look like it was caused by the monster.
"Which demented people would use a saw as a weapon?" Riveria questioned after inspecting the wound.
"This one is a clean cut with a very sharp blade." Finn checked another corpse.
"This guy got his visceral tore out." Bete looked at another corpse and commented.
Suddenly, Ais ran into the alley after she saw something in the fog.
"AAHHHHH!" A painful cry comes from the direction Ais was heading and the others drop their investigation to quickly chase after Ais.
However, they didn't run long before Ais suddenly stopped and prompted others to also stop as they looked what is ahead.
A very tall lady in a weird outfit like a noble outside of Orario wielding a saber. Her saber is pointed at a human Adventurer on the ground trembling in fear and pissing his pants. She lifts her blade and swings it.
*Clang!*
Sparks flying around and the saber were blocked by Ais with her rapier. Her face frowned that the tall lady is very strong and that Ais needs to use all her strength just to block what seems to be a casual slash.
"Stop! Why are you murdering innocent people?!" Ais grunted to push away the saber and ask.
The tall lady didn't answer and simply looked at Ais' eyes before she turned to the rest of the group. Her eyes stared longer at Loki which contained disgust and displeasure.
"People of Loki Familia. I advise you to stay out of this matter that does not concern you.
"You dare ask us to stay out of this while you are murdering people on the street?" Finn was shaking in anger as he tightened his grip on his spear while looking around warily for any sign of ambush.
Bete however had enough of watching and immediately jumped into action and threw a kick at the tall lady but she simply vanished and reappeared before she kicked Bete on his back and sent him crashing into a wall. Ais took this opportunity to attack and aim to disable her opponent by injuring the arm or leg but the saber was faster and nearly slashed her arm if she didn't quickly raise her rapier to block. Ais then get kneaded on the chest before flying to a wall like Bete.
Finn and Riveria frowned at how easy their opponent manhandled two Level 6. Someone with such strength should be well known yet none of the three recognised the tall lady.
"Who are you?" Finn asked while keeping his guard high for any ambush.
"You do not need to look tense, Pallum. I am Lady Maria of the Astral Clock Tower. A Hunter that will cleanse Orario from the disease that had long settled in it." Maria introduced herself with a light bow before she looked at Loki. "You gods can sense falsehoods, right?"
Loki nods and is curious why Maria asked.
"You filth." Maria points her saber to the adventurer. "Confess to this god how innocent you are. I promise I will let you go." Maria offered the deal before lowering her saber.
The terrified adventurer didn't hesitate and instantly thrown himself on Loki's leg and confessed all the murder he did in the dungeon for the sake of looting gears to be sold on black market and even involved with other crimes which made the group from Loki Familia to look at the adventurer in disgust.
Maria looks at them and asks, "Is this what you call innocent?"
Ais feel ashamed and she even wanted to kill the criminal himself but she couldn't.
"I can go now right? You promised me!" The criminal asks while crawling away from Maria before running in opposite directions. But the moment he enters the fog, his painful wail can be heard and a Hunter emerges with a Beast Cutter in hand, dripping with blood of his fresh prey.
"Lady Maria, this section had been fully purged."
"Well done, the Good Hunter awaits us. Let's not let him wait for too long." Maria nods and walks away.
Loki and her children are still stunned, not knowing what to do. For one, they know what the Hunters did is for the good of Orario. Those criminals are very difficult to be captured and punished. Having someone else doing this for them is no doubt better even though their methods are very extreme.
"What should we do now, Loki-sama?" Finn asked.
Loki breaks off from her deep thoughts and walks forward. "We will follow. We still need to investigate this matter and resolve it."
Loki is curious and puzzled by Maria. She can feel traces of divinity from her even though it's very faint and somewhat tainted. Her only assumption is that she is a descendant of an offspring between God and Human.
"But who?" Loki wondered as curiosity was gnawing inside her.
"Did you say something?" Finn overheard the faint mumbling of Loki, asked.
"No, it's nothing." Loki shrugs off and continues the chase.
———
Not many Familia are currently capable of launching an investigation team like Loki. Thus, those who aren't affected are forming a group after randomly stumbling into each other and launching an investigation.
Those who are close to Deadalus street can hear the commotions. Terrified screams and painful wails filled the district which isn't hard to locate.
Upon arriving in Deadalus street, most of the adventurers gagged and looked horrified at the scene.
"Who did this? This…"
The street has blood splashed all over, dead bodies and body parts strewn around with equally terrifying wounds.
The adventurers steeled themselves and entered deeper into the Deadalus street and the deeper they went, the more they found blood, limbs and corpses decorating the maze-like winding streets. The residents hide inside their home in terror, not even daring to answer the adventurers' call to ask for information.
Deep in the heart of the Deadalus street, another scene is unfolding.
Leo sat on a crate surrounded by Hunters on standby and waiting for order. His eyes were staring into the distance unfocussed as he indulged in the cancer causing stick on his lips, exhaling plumes of smoke.
"Good Hunter, Lady Maria and her detachment of Old Hunters had returned." A hunter squeezed through the encirclement around Leo before giving his report. "But, they also are being pursued by the trickster god and her childrens."
Leo stood up and flicked away the incinerating remains of the half consumed cigarette. He stared straight and walked towards the heart of the Black Market.
"It didn't matter. Their presence cannot stop our enactment of justice that had long overdue." Leo summons Artemis/Holy Moonlight Greatsword into his hand. "Let's free this land from the disease that had long ailed it people."
The Hunters chant their warcry as they raise their weapon and respond to Leo's call. However, few of them feel inappropriate…
"Rip and Tear! Rip their guts! Eviscerate them!"
"Blood for the Blood God!"
"Unleash the tentacles!"
That is among the few that stood out.
The Hunters flood the street, the roof and every corner they can fit in. They surround and close all paths of retreat as the criminals hiding in the black market were forced to flee deeper without any other choice. However, the entire black market is very vast, grander than the city of Yharnam in scale when accounting the layers upon layers of buildings all the way to the subterranean labyrinth below the ground. Combing through every inch of this place is near impossible in such a short time. But thankfully, time isn't an issue as the blood moon hangs on the sky unchanging.
———
Loki and her children chased after Maria all the way to the Deadalus street and found this place alone is unaffected by the fog.
"Tch, there are more of them." Bete halted on top of a roof and sniffed the air before he blanched at the heavy scent of blood that had permeated the district.
Loki, Ais, Riveria and Finn also halted and stared at shock. They thought it's the work of a Familia or just a group. But this is definitely no mere Familia or group. It's a full fledged organization.
Hundreds to thousands of Hunters with closely similar styles which are easy to identify. Each equipped with weird weapons and some with firearms that were straight out cannon. Those Hunters with their warcry descend into the heart of Deadalus street.
Riveria look around and analyze despite the surrounding filled with blood, corpse and limbs made her feel sick.
"These people are criminals." Riveria check few of the dead adventurers and recognized their face that have bounty from the guild and their falna which belonged to Familia associated to crime and the underworld.
"Still… To massacre them is too overboard." Finn also checked a few of the dead and frowned.
Ais has been staring intently at the Hunters and felt a sense of familiarity. Loki noticed that and asked her.
"What's wrong, Ais?"
"Nothing." Ais tore her attention away from the Hunters and shake her head before joining Bete on the roof while accelerating her movement with Ariel.
The group resume their chase into the heart of the Black Market along with the group of Adventurers that saw Loki's group.
—————
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