(General POV)
A glowing figure moved swiftly through the shadows upon Orario as the nightlife bloomed among the city's residents.
Niall quickly transitioned from the busy, lively streets to the dark, moody, narrow alleys of the Daedalus slums—a place filled with suspicious individuals, drug dealers, bandits, and other sorts of people who were, in his eyes, a waste of oxygen.
The location pointed to a tall house with a shady red roof and two chimneys at the top. According to the letter, this house was the headquarters of Fredrig and his ruthless gang, who had been plaguing Orario's underworld for some time.
Niall wondered how the Gods of this city could allow such vile things to happen right under their noses. The Gods always had a powerful private army at their command; they could easily send a couple of second-class adventurers to deal with those bastards.
But as Niall wandered deeper into thought, he realized why, despite the Gods roaming among mortals, Orario was in such a bad state.
"Bad state" wasn't exactly the right term compared to what the city had been before things calmed down. The Dark Ages of Orario, also known as the Great Feud, were the perfect example.
Many people died during that time because the Gods didn't care about stopping the evil forces with all their might. Instead, they played a chess game, especially when a certain God was hidden from everyone's sight.
Ouranos, that is.
The conclusion was that most of the Gods didn't care about mortal lives despite their power to change things for the better. That's why so many bandits roamed the town, murdering innocents.
This was one of the reasons Niall hated most of the Gods; they were just humans with divine powers.
Rustle
Niall hid inside a bush that overlooked the entrance of the house. The first thing he needed to do was scout for a while until he noticed some movement.
He had turned off his cloak ability beforehand so he wouldn't be noticed. The drawback of that ability was that it was terrible for stealthy operations.
Another con was that the ability prevented him from gaining durability stats when leveling up, but he had yet to discover this drawback.
--- (Niall's POV) ---
I was moving through the dark street corners of Orario's slums. The city was quieter at this hour since most people were sleeping by now.
Orario might be big by medieval standards, but it couldn't be compared to some of the cities from my original world, Earth. The good thing is that there isn't light pollution here, as most of the city is powered by crystals.
I made my way inside the bush placed near the house that matched the description from the letter.
Before I could think about my next moves, I noticed some movement. Two large human men had just exited the red-roofed house. They looked like standard grunts you would find pretty much anywhere in the slums, most likely a bunch of level 1s.
"Man, I hate this night patrol. I always get so sleep-deprived that not even a fresh bottle of beer can keep me up properly," one of the men, bald as could be, commented. His blandness reminded me of my favorite hero, Saitama.
"I agree, dude. The bright side is that we are free to use some of the captured slaves we took days ago. The stress's been piling up on me like flies on shit. Can't say I feel the same as that shit, though."
Hearing that, I made up my mind to execute every single living being inside that house who wasn't a slave. I mean, I had already decided that, but this just confirmed it 100%.
Now, there are two options I could pick to deal with this situation.
One is that I go in stealthily, either using my cloak and a mask to introduce myself as some sort of slave or organ buyer with business with Fredrig.
The second is that I go apeshit and commit carnage inside the entire house. Although I think this house most likely has some sort of underground system like every criminal hideout.
Not that it matters. This time, I want to try out the DOOM method.
And that is to rip and tear until it is done.
---
"HEY! What the fuck is that?"
A bald grunt pointed at me to his friend. Both of them looked scared and surprised for a moment when they noticed me.
"Who are you?! And what are you doing out here, kid? Get the fuck away before you get hurt," the other one said, a bit calmer, thinking I was just a kid playing a game with them.
BLAM
Suddenly their bodies were struck from above, slamming them into the ground so hard that it caused cracks on the stone floor. They died instantly, their brains unable to handle the sheer impact. Basic level 1s, I'd say.
'I feel like the right song for this would be "Only You," even if most people would think it should be some DOOM music. Classic music is somehow perfect for chaotic, garish scenes of mass destruction.'
Stopping my thoughts, I opened the house door and made my way in. Immediately, I was met with a couple of grunts, surprised to see me.
BLAM
BLAM
BLAM
BLAM
BLAM
The entire place became alert as I started blasting every single one of them. The first guy's eyes fell out from the impact against the wall to his right.
I didn't let them speak or yell. Pulverizing them with my gravitational powers made them disoriented and confused. The poor guys could only watch, their eyes widening in their last moments of life before they turned into a pile of blood and gore.
"WHAT AR---"
One Amazoness yelled in primal fear before I sent her flying into the air, hitting her repeatedly with my gravitational magic until her organs burst. Blood poured from her eyes and mouth until she collapsed onto the ground.
"TAKE THIS, BASTARD!!!" one shorter demi-human, a wolf-man, yelled before he ran straight at me.
The next moment, the bombs connected around his body exploded all at once, creating huge chaos around me. The house began to fall apart, with pieces flying around like in a tornado.
The entire scene would look amazing if it were recorded in slow motion while "Only You" played in the background.
Perfect.
-- (General POV) --
"SIR FREDRIG, A MYSTERIOUS ATTACKER BLEW THE UPPER FLOORS OF THE HOUSE! WE MUST CALL ENOCH TO DEAL WITH THE INTRUDERS!!!"
One of the criminals yelled in panic as the sounds of destruction echoed from the upper floor. The sounds of death sent shivers down his spine.
"BASTARD, go up there and deal with the idiot! You're a bunch of leveled level 1s, and you're scared to face the enemy!"
Hearing this, Fredrig's entire unit of bodyguards was sent above to deal with the intruder—a stupid decision, to be precise.
Fredrig was a cruel man but a big coward. Some could say that he couldn't live without a group of bodyguards around him all the time.
BLAM
"AAAAAAAARHHHHH!!!"
BLAM
BLAM
BLAM
BLAM
And then, there was silence.
Fredrig locked himself behind metal doors that were considered good protection, his dagger ready in his right hand.
To him, it felt like hours passed until a knock was heard on the door. He hoped his men had dealt with the mysterious enemy, but their screams convinced him otherwise.
"Wh...who's there?!" Fredrig tried to sound sharp but failed. His voice revealed an obvious fear for his well-being.
A couple of moments passed, but no answer came—only an unpleasant silence.
The silence spoke of horrors.
"Brad?! DON'T PLAY THE FOOL WITH ME, ANSWER, YOU IDIOT!!" Fredrig yelled out of frustration, but that anger couldn't hide the fear in his voice.
BOOOM!!
The metallic door flew right at the unfortunate Fredrig. Thanks to his falna, he managed to survive the impact, but not without scratches.
"This still isn't enough to complete the quest, fuck...." Niall commented under his octopus mask, which made him look like a badass.
Fredrig brushed his eyes to clear his vision. The first thing he could see was a shorter cloaked figure staring down at him.
"Who... who the heck are you? What did you do to my men?!" He tried asserting dominance but failed.
"Stop with that alpha male act and answer my questions if you want to get out of here alive. Here, to freshen your mind a little."
Niall threw what appeared to be Brad's head at the unfortunate Fredrig, which made him scream in pure horror.
"PLEASE... please spare me, I will answer anything you ask, just spare me!" Fredrig hid his dagger under his sleeve.
"Okay then, tell me why exactly you are selling these organs and, most importantly, to whom you are selling them."
Niall crouched down to match Fredrig's face as he lay on his stomach with visible bruises on his face and body.
"Nobles from the empire have a large market for healthy organs to prolong their lives as much as possible..." Fredrig stared down at the floor.
Hearing this made Niall realize how similar this world was to his in terms of dark dealings. "But I don't know anything more, I swear! Not like those nobles would ever risk revealing their true identity to someone like me."
Niall nodded at Fredrig's point. "That makes sense, but one more thing before I let you go."
Fredrig's hope sparked upon hearing the possibility of coming out alive. As soon as he escaped, he would gather an army to execute this madman.
"Mind telling me Aeshma Familia's whereabouts? And everything you know about him, his Familia members, and his breeding program?"
Fredrig's eyes widened upon hearing this. He wondered how someone would know so much about his God's breeding program, which was meant to be a top secret.
"So, are you going to speak, or am I going to have to kill you right here?" Niall pointed his finger at the pathetic display of a criminal boss.
Fredrig began to sweat furiously before speaking, "Of course! Aeshma Familia is located right by the entrance of the entertainment district of Ishtar Familia! The God Aeshma and Ishtar have some kind of deal going on, so Aeshma is allowed to live right next to her."
Niall thought for a second until Fredrig continued his explanation, "The strongest member of Aeshma Familia, as far as I know, is Enoch. His level is not known to me, but I believe he's high level 2..."
"I see, I see... Well, thanks for helping me gather some information about Aeshma and his Familia. You've been a great help so far, so I will let you go."
Fredrig looked at Niall with sparks of hope in his eyes, thinking he would come out of this alive.
Niall turned back to leave. Sensing this opportunity, Fredrig stood up fast and picked up a dagger that was hidden under his sleeve.
However, Niall knew this would happen very well. He ignored Fredrig's movements behind him and acted oblivious for a moment.
"FUCKING DIE, YOU BASTARD!!!" Fredrig aimed his dagger at Niall's neck, but instead of plunging into the neck, it only made a blunt sound.
The dagger curved and flew right out of Fredrig's hands, leaving a couple of painful scratches on his fingers.
"AAArghhh! What the hell?!"
Those were the last words that came out of Fredrig's mouth before an invisible force of gravity struck him down, crushing him on the spot.
"He wanted to rule the underworld with that kind of IQ? Shame. Eh, not like I would have let him go anyway. He doesn't deserve a place in this world."
Niall gave one last look at Fredrig's bloody corpse before turning away to open the cages that held the prisoners.
As he opened the cages, the slaves inside—mostly young girls—started running out of the house in a hurry.
One slave, however, stopped to glance over at her savior. A human girl, only 11 years old, stared at the masked Niall.
"T-thank... thank you," she mustered with all her strength. She had been severely abused and beaten by the captors to the point that she had lost most of her will to live, so to speak.
"No problem," Niall said and made his way outside the house. The fire spread through the area, which alerted Ganesha Familia.
"Gotta go quick before I get cooked," Niall quietly murmured and started running back to his hidden home inside a church.
--
"Have you seen that, God Hermes?"
"Yeah... to think that he possesses such strength. You know, Asfi, Niall reminds me of Silence when I look at him closely. Now that I have seen his powers, I can surely say he's a male version of her."
Asfi stared at her god for a moment before looking back at the burning display down the street.
"Now I know who killed those people from before."