Chapter 22: Astraea Familia

Two years ago, during the chaos of the Great Feud, the evil god Erebus had gathered the scattered remnants of Evilus under one banner for a super attack on the city. Alongside them were two Level 7s, and the chaos they unleashed became infamous. Justice had prevailed, but not before the city had suffered unimaginable losses.

It wasn't until a year ago that most of the remaining Evilus were wiped out, not by the guilds or by the familias, but by their own catastrophic plan—an event now known as the Nightmare on the 27th Floor.

The Nightmare was by far the most devastating of all the atrocities Evilus committed. It began when they leaked information about strange occurrences deep within the Dungeon. The news had drawn a large crowd of adventurers to the 27th floor, hoping to investigate, and they gathered at a specific point, unaware of the ambush awaiting them. In a horrific turn of events, the ambushers—Evilus members—used their own member to draw an overwhelming number of monsters into the area using pass parades.

Monsters from across the floor, including monster Rexs, were pulled into the chaotic massacre. Evilus had been trying to use massacre to fake their deaths and go into hiding, however what they hadn't expected was Finn Deimne of the Loki Familia discovering their plan. Instead of sending help, Finn targeted the gods of Evilus who remained on the surface.

Without their gods, many Evilus members were left to die in the Dungeon, having lost their falna. Trapped and unable to escape through their planned path, they were slaughtered alongside the adventurers. 

Latecomers described the scene as something from hell. Endless rivers of blood, an ocean of dark flames, and a mountain of mangled humanoid bodies, as well as bestial corpses. The one responsible, Olivas Act, had orchestrated this massacre, which led to the deaths of thousands—both adventurers and Evilus members alike. He had also died during the atrocity.

After the Nightmare, Finn led a sweeping campaign to wipe out what remained of Evilus. Their presence in the city faded to mere whispers, and for a year, they disappeared without a trace. No attacks, no sightings, just silence. The city calmed, and organizations like Ganesha Familia shifted their focus away from hunting the remnants of Evilus. Even Astraea Familia, known for their relentless pursuit of justice, began focusing on other matters.

And then, today, they struck again.

And it wasn't some scattered, desperate Evilus trying to just cause chaos and get revenge on their fallen comrades. It was similar to when the evil god Erebus took command two years ago. They were organized and a part of them were five Level 5s—two who were believed to have died when Alecto Familia was destroyed, one who had managed to escape during the great Feud after nearly losing to Gareth of Loki, and two who had appeared out of nowhere.

Four of these five were positioned strategically, holding the 'frontline' to slow down or halt the Astraea and Ganesha familias, whose main bases were near the southwestern industrial district, where the attack. The last one was positioned further south, in the Shopping District, to intercept and slow any member of Freya Familia who were at their home, Folkvangr, and trying to help.

Yes, the four Level 5s in the frontline wouldn't have been able to completely stop all the adventurers, but they were supported by nine Level 4s, twelve Level 3s, and nearly thirty Level 2s, all strategically placed on the southwestern frontline. 

Meanwhile, Level 1s remained within the district, their goal simple: kill as many civilians as possible. Their presence ensured that even if adventurers managed to break through the frontline, they would face a moral dilemma—head to the factory, the obvious target of the attack, or try to save as many people as possible from the chaos.

Several managed to break through the frontline, but none reached the factory before the retreat horn was blown. By then, the five Level 5s of Evilus and many of their members had escaped. Only after the retreat did Astraea Familia arrive at the guild owned factory compound.

The remains of the five factories lay in utter devastation, the air thick with the acrid stench of burnt wood and charred metal. The once towering structures, built to produce magic-stone items for the city, were now nothing but twisted, blackened ruins with flames still flickering in the rubble.

The walls of the ruined factories, once sturdy and industrial, were now reduced to crumbling piles of ash and debris. Steel beams had buckled from the intense heat, their twisted forms sticking out of the ground like jagged bones. The ground was littered with burnt shards of glass, molten metal pooled in some areas, still glowing faintly with heat. 

It was a sight of utter annihilation.

A girl with vivid red hair tied back into a high ponytail, stood still, her green eyes staring at the five burnt factories. Her fair skin seemed to have gone pale not only from the factory destruction but the bodies she had seen on her way here. She had sent other members of the Familia to help with the civilians while she and two others made their way here, wanting to at least try to salvage what they could. But there was nothing they could do.

She clenched the hilt of her rapier resting at her side, her knuckles turning white. "If only I hadn't let my guard down."

A slender fair-skinned young woman stepped forward, her long, straight black hair flowing elegantly down her back, adorned with a red kanzashi pin that caught the sunlight. She wore a traditional red floral kimono tied with an orange sash at the waist, accompanied by a beige robe draped over her shoulders. 

"You are not to blame, Alise." she said simply, her voice calm yet firm. "We all had let our guard down. No one expected this, especially not this organized."

"Yes, but our pure heart couldn't even take down one villain to help the civilians," She whispered, memories of the destruction flashing in her mind. "We weren't at all perfect today, Kaguya."

"We were perfect." Kaguya rebutted as her sharp and almond shaped pinkish-red eyes flicked toward someone standing behind them. "Our failed perfection was on her."

The elf in question blinked, her striking blue eyes glancing at the black-haired woman. Her expression was veiled behind the green mask that hid the lower half of her face, yet the sharpness in her voice carried through clearly. "Please, tell me how, Kaguya."

The elf wore a form-fitting white tunic that hugged her slender build with a green hooded cloak draped over her shoulders, fastened with a golden brooch at her neck. Her light brown shorts were paired with a wide, green-bordered belt, and she wore tall armored boots extending to her knees, with additional armor covering her right thigh and left calf. Brown leather gloves reached up to her biceps, her slender right finger holding a seemingly wooden sword.

Kaguya remained calm. "Why didn't you leave after I opened the path for you?" She asked, "If you had listened, you would've not only broken through the frontline and save more lived but would have reached the factory in time to put out the fire and foil the plan."

The elf's gaze hardened. "If only you had held off that so-called 'God-Killer' long enough, Neze and I could have gotten past him." She pointed her wooden sword directly at the woman's face. "Don't put this on me, Kaguya, when you couldn't even fulfill your end of the plan."

Kaguya's lips twisted into a thin smile, her tone unnervingly calm. "But I did. You asked for three seconds." She paused, "I gave you four."

"Four seconds of that man keeping an eye on me!" the elf snapped back, slashing her sword to the side. "Yes, you held him off for four seconds, but the moment I moved, his focus shifted right back to me." 

Her voice rose, "Your job was to distract him, not to engage him. I was only supposed to move when his attention was entirely on you!" But Kaguya kept smiling and only riled her more, "If you hadn't slacked off in your training over the months, I am sure your horrible swordsmanship would be able to get his full attention for at least one second."

Without breaking her smile, she asked, "What the fuck did you say, bitch?" Her personality changed completely, her smile turning deranged. "Horrible swordsmanship? Who was the one who scarred his eyes? Me. Who was the one who saved your trashy life? TWICE? Me! And who was the one who killed all the level 4 that were trying to assist him? FUCKING ME!" 

Her eyes seemed to glow, which even put the elf on edge. "You didn't do shit that entire fight." She raised one finger, "You had one fucking job, to reach here before we do, to get past him and get here before us." 

She looked towards the sky, thinking, "Heh? Why did three women run together to this location instead of two? Why was there a third in the supposed group of two?"

Her eyes widened as if realizing something, and she touched her cheek cutely. "Oh, that's right," Her voice became that of treacle as she returned her pink eyes to the elf. "That's simple because a blond trash pixie couldn't get her BEFORE us and do its job~"

"Trash pixie?" The elf blinked, "IT?" But before she could continue, a voice came. 

"No, it was my fault." Alise spoke up, "If I hadn't been caught by his chain magic..." She trailed off as the two stopped talking but kept their glare at each other.

"But," Alise clenched her fist with a sudden smile, "We can't let this get us down." Her tone shifted almost instantly from gloomy to cheerful, her grin wide and determined. "We are pretty and pure-hearted girls. We'll definitely KILL him next time we meet!" Her words, despite the smile, were far from pure-hearted. She flicked her hand toward the ruins ahead. "Now, let's go down and see if there are any survivors."

"I doubt there are any," The elf muttered in resignation as her fingers tightened around the hilt of her sword while she surveyed the surrounding ruins. "There's too much destruction."

Alise laughed. "We won't know until we check, right, Ryuu?" She glanced at her companion, whose posture seemed hesitant.

"R-right," Ryuu nodded, though there was a shadow of uncertainty in her eyes.

The three young women made their way toward the wreckage. Smoke still lingered in the atmosphere, and the burnt smell of charred wood and stone clung to their nostrils. They moved cautiously, searching through the rubble of the burnt factories, hoping, despite the odds, for signs of life. But after several minutes of inspecting the ruins, it was clear Ryuu had been right—there were no survivors.

"Come on, there's still one factory left!" Alise's voice broke the silence as she dashed toward the remaining structure—the only factory left standing.

When they arrived, Ryuu stopped suddenly, her sharp eyes scanning the area. "Someone got here before us," she murmured as she inspected the scene.

The bodies of Evilus members lay scattered, utterly mutilated. The ground before them was cracked and cratered, a massive hole at least five meters wide with web-like fractures spreading outward from its center. In the middle of the crater was a pool of blood—a lot of blood—that seemed only now to be drying.

"Whoever it was... they're most likely dead or have been captured," Ryuu said, her sky blue eyes inspecting the blood from the edge of the crater. "That amount of blood in one place... it came from a fatal injury."

Alise's brow furrowed, a flash of realization crossing her features. "A hero, someone who was behind the frontline, must have made their way here. Evilus met their match," she muttered. Her mind flicked back to the mangled bodies of Evilus they had found earlier—brutally killed. Yet here, in this crater, it seemed like the one who challenged Evilus had finally fallen.

"One of the fighter was someone big," Kaguya's voice interrupted Alise's thoughts. She pointed toward a half-buried helm that glinted under the rubble, and both Alise and Ryuu turned their gaze to where she gestured.

Alise walked over, crouching to pick it up. It was only half of the full helm, the front crumpled inward, as though struck by an immense force, and the jagged edges looked as if they'd been ripped apart by brute force alone.

"A Level 2," Alise muttered, staring at the surrounding destruction, then her eyes landed on a blond stand of hair.

"Would you look at that?" Kaguya chuckled darkly, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "One of the trash pixie's sisters died because she couldn't get here in time."

"Stop calling me that!" Ryuu snapped, her blue eyes flashing with anger. "And she's not my sister!"

But Kaguya ignored her, stepping past to inspect the body of a blonde-haired elf, her lifeless form partially buried under light rubble. A clean stab wound pierced her throat, the cut too round to be from a sword, too wide to be from an arrow. 

Kaguya's eyes narrowed. 'A spear, maybe?'

Alise shook her head, her tone turning serious. "We will definitely stop Evilus next time. We won't let our guard fall like last time." She then pointed toward the only standing factory. "But first, let's check out this mysterious standing factory."

Without waiting for a response, Alise sprinted toward the building, her feet crunching over the debris as she approached the entrance. Kaguya followed close behind, and Ryuu, despite casting one last sorrowful glance at the dead elf—whose wide blue eyes were still frozen in horror—turned and followed her captain.

As they entered the factory, an eerie silence greeted them. Bodies lay scattered on the floor, victims of the attack, but the rhythmic hum of the machinery running in the background somehow made it worse. 

"It doesn't seem to have made it inside." Alise mumbled. If they did, there would have been bodies of Evilus members like they were outside. 

"Sorry I'm late, Alise!" A voice suddenly called out from behind them, quick footsteps following.

Alise turned and smiled. "Ah, Shakti, you came!"

Shakti, taller than Ryuu who was the tallest of the trio, jogged over to meet them. Her azure hair was cut short with a rough edge, complementing her sharp, chiseled facial features. Her figure was toned, well-proportioned, and she wore an orange battle dress with a deep side slit, fastened with golden belts and buckles. Black leggings covered her legs, while sturdy white boots clung to her feet, and her arms were wrapped in some kind of gauntlet that shimmered in the dim light.

"I had to help the inspector that was here when the attack occurred get to shelter," Shakti explained, her voice calm, though the exhaustion of the day was visible in her eyes.

"How did she leave?" Kaguya asked, one brow raised. "She was here, yet she managed to make it out alive?"

"I didn't have the time to ask her that." Shakti confessed, "But she will get investigated. She's suspicious."

Ryuu then asked, "Why do you think Evilus suddenly came out of hiding to attack these factories?"

"They even brought out level 5s." Kaguya agreed, "This was not just to kill a few civilians and adventurers and burn down five factories."

"So what are we looking at, Shakti?" Alize asked, walking to stand beside the woman. "Do you have something in mind?

Shakti glanced around the factory, then she spoke. "We already know why they came here," she said, her voice heavy with a sense of inevitability. "And why this factory wasn't destroyed like the others."

Ryuu's eyebrows furrowed. "And what's the reason?" 

Shakti let out a long sigh before answering. "They came to steal Blazerocks."

"All this for some Blazerocks?" Kaguya raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. "I doubt you got that right, captain of Ganesha.

"No, it's correct." Shakti paused for a moment, her expression darkening. "Someone in the Guild—someone whose name I can't mention—put millions of Valis into creating a device made from Blazerocks, magic stones technology, and multiple magic weapons. Basically," she hesitated, "it's an explosive device that could destroy a quarter of the entire sector."

A heavy silence fell over the group as they all stared at this woman. Alise's was the first to break it. "Why would the Guild create something like that?"

"Preparation," Shakti answered simply.

"Preparation for what?" Kaguya's voice was sharp. "What could we possibly be preparing for with a weapon like that?"

Shakti looked back at them. "The Guild has completely given up on adventurers defeating the One-Eyed Black Dragon." Before words could be spoken, she continued, "The reason is simple—this current era, ruled by Freya and Loki, is more than ten times weaker than the era of Zeus and Hera who lost to the dragon." She glanced down at her hand, clenching her gauntleted fist. "They thought it would be impossible for this era to kill the apocalyptic beast when it re-emerges so they decided to create weapons that, at the very least, damage it enough to give the familias an upper hand."

Kaguya's eyes narrowed. "And it seems somehow word got out."

"And that weapon is now in the hands of Evilus," Ryuu finished.

"Why wasn't it guarded?" Alise's voice turned serious, the lightness from earlier fading into sharp concern. "I understand the need for this device, but why couldn't you have told us about it? We could've kept watch."

"And if we did that, it would be obvious something was going on in this factory." Kaguya crossed her arms. "Too many eyes, too many questions."

Shakti nodded in agreement. "This device was so secret that only a handful of people, apart from the scholars working on it, knew about its existence." She paused, her expression darkening, and her voice dropped into a low growl. "Meaning, there is an imposter among us."

Her jaw clenched, her teeth grinding audibly. "We'll need to conduct a thorough investigation of our members."

A long, uncomfortable silence settled over the group, but Alise broke it with her usual cheerfulness. "We just have to foil their plan before they succeed!" Her grin returned, though her words carried a weight of determination. "We don't have to know every detail to stop them. We need to beef up the city's security."

Shakti nodded, though her expression remained grim. "I'll also have to inform the Loki Familia about this—" She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening in shock.

"What?" Alise asked, turning to face her, puzzled by the sudden shift in tone.

Shakti pointed to the ground. "That,"

On the floor was a large footprint of blood, partially smeared as if someone had tried and failed to erase it. The print was enormous, far too large for a normal person.

"W-who wears shoes that big?" Alise's voice was filled with shock, her eyes wide as she stared at the print.

There was only one person who came to mind.

"Ottar?" Alise asked, her voice hesitant.

Kaguya shook her head. "No, Ottar's feet aren't that big."

Ryuu saw her chance and smirked. "And how do you know that?" She raised an eyebrow, "What have you been doing in that time you weren't training."

"When I kick your face, I'm sure you'll remember my shoe size," Kaguya said, her tone laced with dry humor.

Shakti blinked, visibly confused. "Wait, when did that happen?"

Kaguya simply smiled as she continued. "Those footprints don't belong to Ottar."

"Either someone bigger than him or someone with comically large feet." Alise said, chucking at the thought, but the mood shifted quickly when they noticed Ryuu's sudden blank face, her ears twitching.

"I hear something odd," Ryuu whispered as her sharp elven eyes scanned the area, and then her gaze locked onto a small device tucked away near the raised platform at the back of the factory, accessible only by a spiral staircase.

A faint, almost inaudible whistle was coming from it, a sound that even Shakti, a Level 5 adventurer, couldn't pick up. Ryuu, being a Level 4 with enhanced elven hearing, could only detect it after sharpening her senses, realizing how dangerously 'relaxed' she'd become.

All eyes followed Ryuu's gaze, and as Shakti's eyes settled on the device, her face paled with horror. "EXPLOSIVES!" she roared, her voice cutting through the eerie silence.

Just as the words left her mouth, the device emitted a blinding flash of light.

Meanwhile, several high-tier adventurers from the Ganesha Familia made their way toward the factory where their captain had instructed them to meet after settling the scene outside. The streets were eerily empty, with only bodies of civilians and mutilated Evilus members scattered intermittently across their path.

As they darted through the desolate streets, a sudden, powerful wave of air blasted past them. It was followed by a resounding boom that shook the ground beneath their feet.

Ilta, the vice-captain of the Ganesha Familia, halted in her tracks. Her eyes widened in horror as she watched a massive plume of smoke and fire rise into the sky from the direction of the factory. The thick column of black smoke twisted upward, blotting out the light as flames roared from the explosion site.

"No..." Ilta uttered, her voice barely above a whisper. 

~~~~~1st Person POV — Noah~~~~~

Fuck, I'm horny. I want to beat my square galvanized steel… 

But to whom?

The elf of Loki? 

The girl that charmed me?

The little boy Finn?

Oh that big muscular woman. "Ohh~" Mama Mia~

No, I can't do that while inside the dungeon. Look, even that Silverback is looking at me weird now. "Have you seen any infant dragons on this floor?" I kind of need its magic stone for a recharge.

"OUUUU!" The Silverback roared and charged at me like the uncivilized beast it is. 

Bro, I just want to recharge man. I don't care about you. 'Should I make a business to buy rare monsters' magic stones?' I am sure I can be pay to win and wouldn't have to step foot into this dungeon again.

But alas, the guild has monopolized everything. 'Should I…' 

Should I become robin the hood? 

"OUUU!"

Nah, I am too big to be—

"OUUU!"

"OUUUUUU!" I can do it too, bitch. "OUUUUUU!" Fucking MONKEY!

"OUUU!"

Yours only have three 'U' while mine have six. "OUUUUUU!" I am two times better. "OUUUUUU..."

Wait...

Why am I arguing with a fucking monkey?

Haah~ I need friend.

"OUUU!" 

"OUUU!" 

"OUUU!" 

Let's see who's louder. "Roar! Tsar Bom—"

~~~~~~~~Author's Note~~~~~~~~~

This chapter was a bit annoying to write and I don't think it will be fun to read. 100% not my best chapter, but at least now you know what those Evilus member were setting up and now no one will find out if the MC stole anything or not.