Chapter 31 - The Man-Made Dungeon

---Orario, 3rd Person POV---

After months of pressure on the five Familia's Mael had listed, Loki, Freya, and Astraea had yet to find an entrance to the Dungeon. They had been considering stopping their search when one of Loki's spies finally located an entrance not far from the Hostess of Fertility. The spy followed one of Thanatos' men out of the tavern, and stalked him back to a rundown home where the entrance was located. Relaying the information back to his Goddess, Loki called an emergency meeting with her colleagues.

"That boy...he was spot on!", Loki said looking at Astraea, "That place is freakin enormous!! My spies have only made it down to Floor 20, but everything Mael said is true. They have dozens of exits outside the city, and hundreds inside...it's no wonder we never found them. In addition, they found thousands of monsters trapped in cages down there. Erebus is making one hell of an army!"

"At this point we know they intend to attack the city without a doubt.", Freya stated with a calm tone, "We need to involve a few other Familia's to bolster our forces, there is no other choice in the matter. If we launch a preemptive attack, there is a chance we win the battle with minimal bloodshed."

"The problem is the number of exits...", Astraea said looking at the map Loki's Familia had made, "There are too many entrances to cover safely without stretching ourselves too thin. If we aren't careful, we could be looking at a massive loss of life. Not only that...we haven't been able to confirm where Erebus is keeping the ones he is raising himself."

"Ottar, what do you think?", Freya consulted her Familia Captain.

"Too dangerous, they could have the place rigged to collapse. If our forces get buried there won't be anyone to stop them.", he said curtly, "My Lady, I didn't want to say this but...we are going to need outside help. The Familias in Orario aren't strong enough to stop a horde that size, knowing how the enemy thinks...it's safe to say they have more monsters stowed outside the city."

"Why do you say that?", she inquired.

"It has been well known for some time now that the Dungeon has been spawning less monsters. The reports started well over two years ago, several thousand monsters is only maybe three months at most.", Ottar replied having heard from various adventurers on that topic, "If I were to wager a guess...we are looking at over 250,000 or more monsters. We need to ask Hera and Zeus for help...we need Zald and Alfia, they are the closest Level 7 Adventurers to Orario."

Closing her eyes, she didn't like the idea of asking them for help. Loki and her ran them out because of personal reasons and safety concerns. That said, Ottar had a very good reason to ask them for help. They were less than a week from Orario, the next closest Familia with a Level 7 or higher Adventurer was nearly two months away...one way.

"Freya...I don't think we have a choice in this.", Astraea and Loki stated.

Letting out an irritated sigh, she agreed with them. Sending a messenger out to them, she told the messenger to bring the two Familias to Babel as soon as possible. Acknowledging her order, the messenger left immediately.

"I think we should bring Artemis, Hermes, Ouranos, Ganesha, and...Ishtar into this. We need as much muscle as we can get.", Astraea said cautiously.

All the deities were well aware of the feud between Ishtar and Freya, but this was a special case. They needed all the strength they could muster to fight the horde of monsters. If they couldn't stop them...the feud they had would be meaningless. A army of that proportion would wipe out the city, and destroy the seal over the Dungeon.

"Don't ferget Hephaestus, she'd be a big help too.", Loki stated with a chuckle.

"Agreed, let's have a meeting with them.", Freya said opting to put her feud on hold for the time being.

---Avatar World---

Evacuating the Head Priest, I stood back and watched the two brothers fight. Unsurprisingly the two of them were equally matched as they had been trained by the same teacher. Even though Iroh had finesse and skill that Ozai didn't, Ozai more than made up for it with raw power. If it came down to a war of attrition, Iroh would win in the end as he was conserving his strength while Ozai was busy trying to overwhelm him.

Their fight had already scorched the front of palace, and had destroyed centuries of cultivated plants. The guards that came rushing out of the palace, assuming we were being attacked, could only stand there and watch them fight. No one was stupid enough to get close as they would have been killed almost instantly just from the blow back from their attacks. Standing by and watching closely as well, I was gleaning everything I could out of this fight.

Up till now I really hadn't seen any skilled fighters actually have to put effort into subduing someone. Everything that I was watching and learning would help me control my power that much easier, and make me more well rounded in a fight. As the fight dragged on, the two of them were gradually drifting towards the Royal Garden.

"You dishonor the Royal Family!! How dare you force your child to fight your battles!!", Iroh shouted, "You should be ashamed of your cowardice!!"

"The throne is mine to take!! I will kill that brat boy of yours, and ensure our line stays pure!!", Ozai refuted, "Our father spoiled that brat just because he was a decent fighter!!"

Watching the two of them beat the shit out of each other was fine, but the capital was in an uproar as well. Since Ozai made his play now, the nobles supporting him started sowing chaos in the streets. My troops and those loyal to Iroh were doing their best to hold them back, but they were at a stalemate right now. Following my orders to the letter, my troops were prioritizing the safety of the civilians over property.

"Mael, you have to stop them.", Ursa said seeing the city burning below, "Ozai and Iroh have to focus on the citizens."

"Why? I mean no disrespect, but Ozai has this coming to him. If it wasn't my father giving him a beating, I would be the one delivering his judgment.", I remarked with a stern look.

Looking at me in shock, she asked if I enjoyed this senseless violence.

"No, unfortunately though Ozai has to die for this meaningless war to end peacefully. Unlike Iroh, Ozai won't be happy till all the other nations are reduced to ashes.", I replied knowing what the alternative to this was, "If this world is going to get better, Ozai can't be a part of it. He's far too gone to be saved now, you know that first hand don't you. You have seen first hand how much Azula changed without his influence, that man is the Bane of the Fire Nation."

Seeing the conflicted look on her face, I knew she had mixed feelings about him. On one hand, he was the person that forced her away from the man she truly loved and that was something she couldn't ever forget or let go of. On the other hand, he was the father of her two children and she was married to him. Tradition dictated that she had to support her husband, but in this case tradition shouldn't have mattered in my book.

"Damn it, this is getting me nowhere!", Ozai spat realizing Zhou and the guards were nearby, "Zhou, if you want that promotion now is the time to show your loyalty. Help me kill this traitor and his two sons!"

Noticing that the group of them were considering it, I got between them and the two brothers. Iroh was good, but even he could be overwhelmed especially if one of the fighters was as powerful as Ozai. Getting ready to fight them, a few of the guards were smart enough to stand down as they didn't want to die in a fight with me. As for Zhou and the remaining guards...they weren't so bright.

"I don't care how talented the boy is, he can't fight all of us!", Zhou said trying to make the remaining men join him in attacking me.

Rushing me together, I decided to get a little flashy with them. Causing a massive flame tornado, the men stopped their charge and tried to backpedal. Stopping their fight to see the display, both Iroh and Ozai were stunned by the amount of power I was using without any issue. Jumping out of the way, half of the soldiers managed to dodge while the other half were engulfed by it. Watching them suffocate as they burned, Zhou realized how close he had come to a painful death.

"Kill him!!", Zhou ordered, "Stop messing around!! He's only a child!!"

"I am a child am I?", I growled, "How about I show you why you should never underestimate your enemy Zhou!! Your recklessness has sealed your fate today, die in the face of overwhelming power!!"

Since this was a pivotal moment for the world, I lifted my restrictions on sticking to Firebending only. Sucking the water out of nearby plants, and made it float around me and rotate at high speed. Staring at me in disbelief, he realized I wasn't an ordinary person. Going to order his men to runaway, he didn't manage to get the words out. Before he could speak, I compressed the water into a high pressure stream of water and bisected him like he wasn't even there.

"That's for planning on killing the Ocean and Moon Spirits!", I spat in anger, "As for the rest of you..."

Creating a tidal wave of earth, the soldiers dropped their weapons trying to run from me. Burying them only feet from the gate, the smart soldiers watched them scream out for help as they were pulled down. Having watched me use Water and Earthbending, Ozai became no better than a rabid dog. Thinking that I was the Avatar, his anger boiled over as he threatened me.

"The Avatar was still alive!?", he snapped, "You stand in the way of the Fire Nation!! Your line should have died nearly a hundred years ago!! Our spies have been watching for any signs of your return, and killed every child we found!!"

I hadn't read anything about that nor did Azulon know anything about it. Nowhere in his memories did Azulon ever pass down that degree...Ozai had taken it upon himself to kill anyone he thought might be the Avatar, even though he truly thought the Avatar was dead. Realizing he had just used it as a fucking excuse to children...that was the last straw.

"Iroh...stay out of my way...", I growled as the curse mark appeared on my face, "Ozai is mine..."

Vanishing from sight, I reappeared in front of Ozai. Readying himself for an elemental attack, he instead found a barrage of fists flying at him. Using Combo Star and the Sin of Love in unison...Ozai didn't know what hit him. Suddenly feeling the strength in his body leave him, he couldn't lift his hands to intercept. Slamming my fists into him every consecutive hit struck with two hundred thousands more force than the last.

Using magic to keep him intact, I forced him to take the blows without the chance to die. Stopping at thirty blows, the last punch sent him screaming through the Royal Garden. Appearing in front of him again, I grabbed him by the face and slammed him into the ground.

"Greatest Sun!!", I shouted unleashing a blast that vaporized the garden and a quarter over the palace.

The roar of the attack was loud enough that the fight in the city came to a screeching halt. Looking up at the palace the citizens saw a massive pillar of fire that climbed far beyond what they could see. Back in the garden, Ozai was no longer among the living as he had burned away completely in the fire.