Chapter 31
GODDESS HESTIA
Hestia was no stranger to death. She was a Goddess who had lived for thousands of years and was far more understanding and aware of human life's frailty. Perhaps this frailty and mortality made humans so attractive to gods and goddesses like them.
But death was one thing. Slaughter was a whole other thing, and what she had witnessed that day was not death. It was a slaughter, and now, despite it being days past the Cathedral massacre, Hestia could scarcely come to terms with it.
Inumaki-kun was her child, and yet, at that moment, it was as if he was a different person, a different being. That ruthlessness, cruelty, and disregard for human life was not something that she had expected of him, and he was having trouble making sense of it.
And there was no one she could talk to about this.
Astrea's girls, which were now her own children, were busy acting with Ganesha familia as they tried to root out the people associated with the evil set to destroy Orario, the one person who had brought Evilus back to life.
Enyo, and now, due to Ishtar, they knew who that was. A God, one who had played them all for a fool—Dionysus. And she was not surprised by the name, having witnessed his rants in the heavens above many times.
And now the whole city searched for members of the said God and his familia, and yet despite it being two days since the discovery, no trace of the Dinoysus familia could be found. Each and every member of the said familia had vanished into thin air, and despite multiple searches, the Guild had nothing.
And now the people of the city grew nervous and tenser as they sought answers but got nothing in return.
And as she sat there in the center of the city, below the fountain, she could feel that the fate of the city was about to shift, that the world around her was about to shift.
It was her intuition, but down here in Tenkai there was nothing more dangerous than a God's intuition.
"You seem rather troubled, Hestia-chan," a sweet and beautiful voice broke her put her muse as she looked up and found herself at the hooded face, and yet, despite it being covered, one could hardly deny its mesmerizing beauty and elegance.
And how could they? Now, after Ishtar's ascension, she was the only Goddess of beauty in Orario; it was Freya. And she was surprised at seeing her like this, given that her familia was in much trouble with the guild.
Freya had refused to let the Guild's inspectors search through her mansion, and her actions were making her familia look complicit, and yet despite that, the Guild was hesitant and nearly incapable of acting against her, given hers was the strongest familia in the city.
"What are you doing here?" Hestia questioned, and despite her kind and pleasant face, Freya had always made her cautious, for she was a Goddess she could scarcely understand.
"I was just passing by after my meeting at the guild, and was surprised at seeing you so down," she added, and she was surprised by those words as the said Goddess plopped down beside her.
"So, I am curious why when you should be happy at the progress and achievements that your familia has made, yet you are sitting here in such a somber mood?" Freya questioned, and her familia had indeed grown by leaps and bounds.
They may not be as strong as Loki or Freya familia, but now it was only because of the sheer number of adventurers associated with these familias. When it came to aces and elites, Hestia familia was loaded and was second to only the cities' two strongest familias.
"It's nothing," she rebuffed, but the words felt like a lie even to her as Freya smiled at her.
"Now that is a lie," Freya added with a chuckle as she looked into her eyes.
"I do have an idea what troubles you, though," she continued as she found herself surprised by the Goddess of beauty as she continued.
"It is Inumaki-kun," she continued, and Hestia was surprised at how true and right she was in her guess.
"His powers, his ruthlessness, his disregard for both mortal and godly beings," and her every word rang true, as Hestia found herself speechless.
"You question it, question him, think him wrong, don't you?" she continued as Hestia hesitated to answer, and yet, in the words, her mouth opened up.
"I think..." she hesitated to voice it out and yet did so in a way.
"...that there should be another way. That so much killing should be avoided," and Freya scoffed.
"That is both beautiful and naive of you," Freya added with a scoff, and she felt something shift in her eyes as the Goddess of Beauty looked into them.
"We are Gods, deities who have lived for thousands of years. Our own actions over the course of this history could be called heinous as we saw famines, monsters, wars, and other feuds lead to the death of millions," Freya continued her words truer than any words she had yet heard.
"Even now, as we sit here, we sit here for only our own joy and entertainment as our children toil and war in the dungeon against monsters and then up here against a few of our own," and that was scathing of her. She had always thought Freya to be shallow, and superficial, and yet the Goddess of beauty had surprised her with her insights.
"So, I ask you this, Hestia, by what right do you judge him? By what right do you judge them, judge him?" she questioned, and indeed, it was chilling. For some reason, there was anger and disappointment in that tone.
"It's just..." and she did not really have an answer.
"It's just as I thought," Freya whispered as she stood up.
"Come to the main square tomorrow, Hestia. I believe there you shall find your answer..."
And a day later, the whole of the city gathered in the main square as the Guild made an announcement, and then the fate of Orario changed.
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INUMAKI HERAKLES
'Nidhogg' it was a name he had heard before. Years ago, and yet he could not remember the story associated with it.
But he did not really have time to think about it as the expedition tore through the lower floors as he and Ais led them, their combination more deadly and lethal than it had ever been after his rank-up. They tore through the lower floors as they finally reached floor 52.
This was where the Frozen Hell began. As soon as they stepped onto the floor, he felt something was off. As they entered a cavern, he raised his hand as the whole party came to a halt, as a sole figure emerged from the other side.
"Revis," Ais gasped as she saw the red-haired tamer girl appear in front of them, alone, as everyone perked up. And there were visible changes in her body. While previously she had resembled a human's physique, she was different now, as her features became more and more monster-like, with a visible magical crustal resting in her chest.
And without even exchanging a single blow, Inumaki knew that she was powerful, far more powerful than she had been when they had faced her before, and she had grown so much stronger in so little time.
She really was just like Olivas Act, a humanoid monster—or, more accurately, an evolved spirit.
"So you are finally here, Ais, Herakles," she voiced out as both he and Ais perked up, their weapons ready at their sides, and the whole party stood behind them.
"There is no need for this fight. I know your secret and your plans, and they are being dismantled as we speak. You have failed," he announced as those snake like eyes shifted towards her.
"Is that so, Silent?" Enyo's greatest power was his anonymity. And with his identity revealed, he doubted the Dinoysus familia would be able to put up much of a fight and would probably have been dismantled and rounded up by now.
"You cannot stop us, Silent. No one can," and with that the red-haired girl vanished, as Inumaki turned towards Ais, shouting at her.
"Watch out..." but he was cut short as he only later realized his mistake, for the girl had ignored Ais and had come after him.
She swung her blade at him, and he was too late to bring up his spear and was sent flying back, surprised by the sheer force of her strike. As his feet landed on the ground once more, he saw a whole slew of monsters emerge and surround their party, as the red-haired girl cut him off from them.
"I have been ordered to keep you alive for some reason, but I am afraid I cannot say the same for all of them..." he stilled as he heard those words as the red-haired girl pushed her blade into the ground.
"WATCH OU..." he tried to scream, and he was surprised as the girl screamed.
"ROAR!" and it was a scream unlike any other as suddenly, a massive amount of blasts erupted all over the ground shaking the whole dungeon floor.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOOM!
Dust covered the whole area as he himself jumped back to avoid being caught in the attacks, and as the dust cleared, he watched as a massive crater stood where the rest of the expedition party once stood, as he realized Revis's plan.
She had just separated him from the rest of the party for some reason, dropping them down to the lower floors by causing a massive cave-in.
"And now we are all alone," she commented as she took out her sword and looked him in the eyes as Inumaki plucked out the spear himself and got into his stance.
"You know who I am, and yet you think you can hold me back," he questioned, and those slit-like eyes narrowed.
"With what is waiting for them down there, I need not even do that for much long. Even if you get past me Silent, it will be too late for the rest of them," she answered as a shiver ran down his spine at those words.
"It will have long devoured them all by the time you reach them," and with those words, she vanished once more, and yet this time, he brought up his spear just in time to block her attack as the whole air ruffled at the clash of their weapons, the ground beneath their feet cracked up.
CRACK!
"...that is if you can reach them at all!"
BOOOM!
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As the rest of the expedition fell through the floors, they fell through not one, not two, but at least seven floors, and in the end, they found themselves at the floor, which was the beginning of uncharted territory for them.
"What the hell!" Tione screamed as they all fell to the ground, surprised and taken aback when suddenly the voice of their captain rang aloud.
"EVERYONE GATHER UP!" and they all halted at his words, jumping to attention as the party formed up. As they looked up they realized the reason for his hurried cry, for their infront of them was a being unlike any they had ever seen, one half-humanoid half plant that was as tall as a twenty-story building, with a beautiful face.
"Could it be?" the high elf gasped as she felt its powers spread throughout the dungeon floor. She was caught in surprise and awe, for she was amongst the only ones who recognized it—that power.
"Is that a spirit?" she gasped as the half-human half monster opened its eyes and gave a single cry.
"ARIA!"
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Back in Orario, a beat-up Bell Cranel rushed through the deserted and abnormally quiet streets of Orario as he tried to reach the dungeon, seeking help as all of the city around him fell under the Spell of Goddess of Beauty Freya.
He did not know of her intentions, but he doubted they were good, for she had robbed the people of the city of their free will.
And out of the entire population of Orario, only two people had been able to resist her prowess. Him, and his Goddess.
"We need to get to the Guild Building," he whispered to the said Goddess as they hid in the shadows of an alley, his body covered in cuts and bruises as he found himself as the target of each and every adventurer of the city.
"There is no place left for you to run, little rabbit," an ominous voice cut through the air as Bell looked up, and found a blonde elf standing on the rooftop with a staff in his hand.
"He was an executive of Freya familia, a mage known as Hedin," and bell clicked his tongue as he grabbed his Goddess by the arm and ran towards the street.
"Shit!" he cursed, and he ran for despite his recent rank up, he was no match for the might of the Freya familia, and as he neared the end of the street, another figure emerged from the shadows, a man with cat ears, holding a spear as he looked at him lazily.
"You should know how futile struggling is," and as Bell raised his hand and made to shout.
"Fire..." but he could not even finish his spell, as pain ripped through him as the cat-man appeared infront of him and punched him in the side.
"AGHH!" and he was sent tumbling into the wall, taken aback by the sheer difference of strength between him and Freya familia member.
"Bell-kun!" his Goddess ran towards him, as he tried to move his arm, and yet could not as the Freya familia member walked towards him.
"Stop!" Hestia-sama shouted as she pushed herself between him and the cat-person.
"Don't harm him. I will come with you! But please do not harm Bell-kun..."
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