I took off the ragged pants and bloody cloak that the cat man I'd killed moments ago wore—basic adventurer clothes, though fitting for myself. The girls could finally take their hands away from their eyes, but a wave of embarrassment caused an awful silence.
After I finished putting on the clothes, I looked around and saw the destruction caused by the explosion. The ground was cracked, with some parts still burning, and blood and gore were everywhere from the bastards I'd killed.
I had mistaken the cat man for someone else earlier. I just remembered that Jura had been killed during my attack some time ago. Killing this man didn't bring any significant change, but it did prove how many Evilus members were still hiding out there.
I didn't know if they had bases outside of Orario, but I would surely track them down. The best way to take them down was to kill their gods and goddesses. That was my plan: to kill and erase those gods and goddesses from this world.
I hoped the girls would realize there was no way to deal with these people peacefully. It was either destroy or be destroyed, and I preferred that we destroy them all so they could never rebuild.
"How did you survive?! I saw you all injured and was sure you were dead. Is it a skill or magic?" Karen asked, her voice filled with confusion and amazement. Never before had she seen such regeneration.
The girls all stared at me, expecting a quick answer. With a sigh, I turned around and started walking toward the floor that led to the upper levels. Without my answer, they began following me, gossiping among themselves.
Emma approached me from the side and gently turned my face toward hers. "Are you really okay, Niall? Your body was all torn up moments ago, and now you're standing perfectly fine. Do you need to visit a healer?"
Her gentle voice could soothe any troubled mind, and her soft hand caressed my face until I gently put her hand away. She looked at me with concern but had a soft smile on her face. Seeing her like this could make any other man blush.
"I truly am fine, Emma, but you all should hide until the danger passes. These people are far worse than the Aeshma Familia. They have no morals or goals beyond bringing chaos to the innocent."
She glared at me for a moment before shaking her head. "It would be cowardly for us to abandon you and leave you to fight alone, Niall. We'll go through this together and put those people behind bars."
I shook my head, denying her view of the world. "No, you'll get yourselves killed if you're merciful toward people who want to destroy you and everything you love. I'll go alone, and there's nothing you can do about it."
We stopped in our tracks, looking at each other eye to eye. The girls behind us stared at me with annoyance in their eyes. Some of them even gripped their weapons tightly, which was honestly ridiculous since I was the one who had saved them from being blown up.
Emma noticed some of her fellow members glaring at me and tried to lighten the mood. "Relax, girls. I'm sure we're all pent up from the constant threats hanging over us, and that's why we should stick together to find a way out of this. Niall, we appreciate what you did for us—we truly do—but we won't let you go alone."
I couldn't believe the audacity of these people and decided that if I wanted to accomplish anything, the best way was to do it alone. I'd need to act like I agreed with their plan and find out the location of the Aeshma Familia so I could finally be done with it.
"Okay then, we'll attack them together, but first, I need to scout the Aeshma Familia's home so we don't go in unprepared." The girls nodded, and the masked lady handed me a drawn map of the streets where their base was located.
Despite her unfriendly attitude, Gita knew how to do her job very well after years of experience working for various familias. However, before I could say anything, she stepped forward and faced me.
"However, I will go with you to ensure the mission's success. You cannot refuse this because, without me, you won't be able to track down their base properly, even with the map in your hands."
They were persistent in not letting me fight alone, so I nodded. Gita wouldn't be a problem when the time came; I could just knock her out before going on a killing spree. We agreed, and we could finally continue our ascent to the surface.
As we ascended, we passed some newbie groups aiming to reach new floors. They glanced at us before disappearing into the darkness. Surprisingly, there was no Juggernaut, despite the heavy damage done to the dungeon.
Maybe Azathoth had influenced something, or perhaps the dungeon just wasn't in the mood to send a beast like the Juggernaut to hunt me down. I still didn't know the limits of my regenerative abilities—it would be fun to test them out.
On the first floor, we encountered a massive crowd of adventurers trying to kill any monster that spawned. Those who couldn't land a kill abandoned the lost cause and went deeper into the dungeon.
Amid the crowd, I noticed a group of Amazonesses pushing through with annoyance in their eyes. These were the girls of the Ishtar Familia, more particularly the cloaked girl, who I knew was Haruhime, along with Aisha and other random Amazonesses.
As they passed through the crowd, the girls averted their eyes elsewhere, while I stared at the cloaked girl. Sensing my gaze, she returned the look. For a moment, our eyes met, and she gasped in shock before covering her mouth with a hand.
"Something wrong?" Aisha came closer to inspect what had caused Haruhime to gasp but only noticed me staring before I averted my gaze elsewhere.
"Hey! Mind your own business, foolish boy. Staring at someone like that can be seen as hostility. You surely wouldn't want a few broken bones, would you?"
Aisha yelled, putting on a tough act, but I could see right through her—she was tired of being Ishtar's slave. However, she had to obey the goddess who charmed her. With an apologetic bow, I apologized.
"Sorry for disturbing you. I just spaced out." Aisha went silent for a moment before she and her group went their own way. I turned back and saw the girls glaring at me with anger, especially Gita and Karen.
"Can you not go to war with the entire Ishtar Familia, for god's sake? Why did you have to stare at that person again?" Gita asked, her voice filled with visible anger, thinking we were done a few seconds ago.
I raised my hands in the air as a sign of surrender, and we all continued on our way to the surface. Eventually, we reached the surface and climbed the circular stairs that led to the exit, passing various adventurers along the way.
"Finally! Now we have to introduce you to our god. You saved our lives—God Player will be very grateful!" Emma cheerily spoke, and they led me to their Familia home, which was located somewhere near the Soma Familia home.