Chapter 7: Sinner

"Umm, the hidden village we reside in is in the 27th floor." Ray revealed.

She didn't know why, but she had the feeling that she could trust Lars and Alfia.

It's like they don't care about what she looked like. Alfia just attacked her because she was acting suspicious.

And Lars just didn't see her as a monster. After all, he was a person that has seen tons of fiction.

A harpy looking siren is the least of his worries. What truly worries him, are humans and the gods having a nefarious purpose.

"Then let's go, lead us to the place." Alfia gestured at her to go. And she looked impatient.

Gulping, Ray immediately saluted and she started flying.

Alfia looked at Lars and he was still too slow. So she grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and ran after Ray.

"Hah, it is what it is." Lars just shrugged and he has long accepted that the plane called Alfia will drag him all oher the place.

Turning monsters into mince meat left and right. Alfia just made a path for Ray.

Their travel was smooth and Ray got excited at the thought of being led by Alfia.

'She's a level 7! Our strongest combatant is just a level 5... We'll be able to save the xenos that are roaming around more easily.' Ray thought.

After about an hour of constant travel, they arrived in front of a wall.

"I can feel the draft inside. You better seal that better, more sensitive adventurers will definitely find this place." Alfia revealed immediately.

"O-ohh, that's why we stayed here. The waterfalls around hides our sounds. And this place is far away from the entrance to the 28th floor." Ray explained.

"Good choice, but you won't be staying here for long anyways." Lars shrugged.

Ray started to chirp and somebody opened up the entrance of the village.

"Ray-chi... Humans!?" A red lizardman that was wearing some armor looted from adventurer corpses immediately put his hands up.

"Lyd! They're friendly! Don't even try! She'll kill you with a single hit." Ray got deathly nervous for her friend.

"So noisy..." Alfia got irritated and Lars patted her on the back.

"He just got startled is all, Alfia. Hello, I am Lars and this is Alfia. If I were you, you should listen to your friend." Lars said seriously.

Lyd then looked at Alfia and he shuddered at the aura coming from the woman.

His instincts were screaming at him. He'll be killed without even being able to do anything.

"O-okay, I'll trust you as Ray-chi's guests." The lizardman let them enter their village.

"So, how old are you guys? I don't really know how to check a xenos' age." Lars broke the ice.

"We're both 14, there's a green dragon called Gryuu. But he's much older than us. There's also another leader figure called Gros, he's a gargoyle." Ray revealed.

"Ohhh, then you're kind of like fresh adults in human years." Lars continued conversing with them.

They started to get a bit more comfortable with him.

"Hey, Lars-chi. What does the surface look like?" Lyd asked him in curiosity.

"Don't know, I was born in the dungeon." Lars shrugged without a care in the world.

Like they were hit by lightning, Alfia and the xenos stared at him.

"Uhhh, don't stare at me so intensely. I'll melt and blush." Lars fidgeted around.

"What!? You were born in the dungeon?" Alfia blinked. But he was human, she was sure of it.

"Sure am, I don't know my parents. But when I gained consciousness, I was already in the 39th floor." Lars told the truth, technically.

"Wow... A human that doesn't know the surface. You're kind of like us." Ray chuckled.

"Yeah, but I'll be going there soon. I need to find a good familia to start leveling up." Lars shrugged.

Eating magic stones and growing in strength is good and all, but he could feel it.

A year was a long time. He was stagnating. The only person he used his skills against is Alfia.

In a sense that wasn't bad, after all. He was turning into an anti-Alfia weapon.

But he'll lack versatility against other people. Alfia's brutality is extremely hard to fend against.

Yet there are sneaky bastards out there. Monsters with desperation moves. People with hidden weapons or curses.

And if he gets caught in them in a pinch, he'll most likely get killed. Humans aren't infallible, Alfia included.

Though she was next to impossible to kill. Magic doesn't work against her. The woman's martial prowess is insane.

And her magic bypasses normal durability. It uses physics to deal damage. And physics is a bitch, even against magical beings.

After they walked a bit, they were suddenly met with a green dragon.

It had a white horn on its head and it was easily 10 meters long, 4 meters tall.

An enhanced species for sure. It couldn't talk, but it snorted at Lars and Alfia.

Though Alfia's magic didn't let its breath hit them.

She then raised a brow at it and the green dragon stared at her for a few seconds.

It then started trembling due to Alfia's pressure. A monster's instinct is incredible. And it felt her immense, tyrannical power.

"Gryuu, they're friends. We'll be under their protection. We'll be moving to the 39th floor!" Ray said with a smile.

The dragon growled softly and it moved to the side.

"He says that we're thankful." Lyd translated and they nodded.

"Tell him to be silent, I don't like noisy things." Alfia gave the dragon a side eye and it nodded immediately.

"Y-yeah, sure." They got scared by Alfia's domineering attitude.

"Don't be too harsh on them Alfia, they'll behave." Lars gave them a meaningful look and they nodded.

"Good... Because I dispatch those who are noisy." Alfia cracked her knuckles ominously.

"Humans!?" They heard a low voice. Ray and Lyd immediately frowned.

"Ray! Lyd! Why do you bring humans here?" A gargoyle shouted at them.

Alfia's face scrunched up and she was getting agitated. The neurotic woman was definitely at her limit.

"Shhh! Shhh! Stop being noisy Gros-chi!" Lyd shouted silently.

Ray then pointed at Alfia with immense urgency.

"How about you guys inform everyone first? So we won't have any... Happy accidents." Lars smiled wryly.

Lyd then jumped towards Gros and covered his mouth.

"Shut up... She's insanely dangerous, and she doesn't like noise. You'll get us killed!" Lyd grimaced.

Gros looked at Alfia and her sour expression was clear to see. Her magic was leaking and the pressure emanating from her was immense.

"I... I understand." Gros whispered and they started talking about what happened.

"Truly?" Gros looked at Lars and Alfia. Lars wasn't that strong looking, especially with his build and his aura.

But Alfia was a whole different beast. "Is he her son?" Gros asked and Alfia's eyebrows twitched.

"Are you calling me old?" Alfia glared daggers at him.

Gros, who was proud of his scales that were stronger than steel, suddenly felt his torso almost explode.

Alfia slugged him and he flew like a bullet, crashing through multiple trees. He was definitely not getting up.

"Ahhh I forgot, Alfia here is forever 18." Lars commented and she glared at him too.

"What? You look youthful, your skin is as smooth as a baby even without using lotions." Lars quickly gave some lip service.

And it might not look like it, but Alfia is a vain woman. "Hmph, let's go." She was happy that he didn't seem to be lying.

"Y-you're amazing Lars, you can pacify her easily." Ray was sweating bullets.

"Shhh, she can hear you." Lars mouthed to her and she shut up immediately.

After that, the xenos informed the whole community to shut up or end up like Gros.

And he was one of their strongest combatants. An estimated level 4 monster.

"Hi, I'm Fear~" A harpy introduced herself to Lars and she had brown feathers.

She was a bit different to Ray who was a siren, her legs were digitigrade.

"Ranye..." An arachne just introduced herself succinctly.

(Pic)

"Ohhh, humans! I am Laura, does she perhaps have a lover?" A blue skinned lamia asked Lars.

(Pic)

He kind of turned into their diplomat. As Alfia is calm around him.

And he can converse with her normally, even trading slights against each other.

"Uhhh, one at a time please?" Lars smiled wryly.

He was then tackled by a girl with blue skin and green hair; a mermaid.

(Pic)

"Hello~ me Marie." She pointed at herself and she didn't have a cover for her chest.

"Uhhh, Lyd, Ray. Shouldn't you cover her chest? Humans find them attractive." Lars didn't have a libido yet.

But he was sure he was going to remember this later.

He also looked at Laura who didn't have anything to cover her large chest.

Ranye quickly spooled some silk and made some makeshift clothes for them.

"Thanks for that." Lars gave her an appreciative nod.

"It was for them as well." She pointed out, still acting a bit cold. Which was unavoidable, as arachne silk is very valuable.

And her kind was hunted down every chance humans got. They were also not aggressive towards her even though she is a xenos.

"Anyways, we will be going to the 39th floor. We'll be making a town there. And you guys will retrieve all the xenos you can find." Lars started to announce.

"I will be the guardian of the 39th floor, those who disagree, leave." Alfia announced with finality.

She has no time to argue with ungrateful garbage. Lars was already giving them a chance to have a more free life.

The 39th floor is massive. It was easily the same size of Orario. And they could make a dwelling there.

It might not be the same as the surface that a lot of them craves. But it was better than hiding in a cramped village.

'The adventurers will also never accept them. Monsters still look like monsters even if they are harmless and meek.'

Humans work like that. Even their own race gets discriminated on just because of color and ethnicity. What more of a non human?

By creating a fortress that is made by monsters, they will be forced to accept them as a group that just lives there.

Though they need to be strong enough to match the top familias. Something that they don't have right now; strength.

Everyone got excited, but they refrained themselves due to Alfia.

"Let's move." Alfia announced and the monsters started packing their meagre belongings.

But Alfia suddenly heard a commotion. A stampede of epic proportions.

"A monster parade..." Alfia whispered and Lars could infer what it meant.

"Someone is trying to lure monsters?" Lars knew of it from playing rpg's.

That was the most efficient way of farming monsters. But this was real life.

And people's lives are on the line. They don't have infinite stamina like game characters that just need to chug potions infinitely to never run out of mana.

"Basically, yes. And it's really big." Alfia could feel the vibrations. Thousands of monsters were moving.

The weaker xenos also started to growl. Alfia and Lars noticed it.

Lyd, Ray, and Gros gasped when they smelled it. Something that only monsters react to.

"That accursed powder... It makes us go berserk." Lyd explained.

"Luring powder, someone is most likely trying to kill people in droves." Alfia frowned.

It was a tactic of unsavory bastards. Lure a ton of monsters to a group and let them get killed by them.

They will then loot everything once both groups have suffered immense damage.

But at this scale? Something weird is definitely happening.

"Let's go, everyone stay here." Lars looked at the xenos and their leaders started to pacify those who are affected.

"Lars..." Marie tugged on his shirt and she took a knife from a goblin.

Lyd understood her intentions and he fetched a container.

Marie then cut her arm and collected her blood.

"Mermaids have regenerative properties... She's giving it to you as a gift." Alfia explained to him.

"O-oh. Really? Thank you very much Marie." Lars immediately drank it and he licked her wound clean.

"I can gain traits of monsters by consuming them." Lars expounded as he saw the confused expressions of the xenos.

"Woah, that's... Overpowered." Ray commented and the others nodded.

Alfia puffed her chest in pride, after all. She's a part of the reason he found out about it.

The duo then went outside and when they opened up the rock that acted as a gate, they were assaulted by the scent of blood.

There was a sea of monsters around. And dozens, no. Hundreds of adventurers were being sieged by them.

"T-this... This is terrible." Lars almost puked when he saw the bloodshed.

Adventurers were getting ripped apart. And it was like a goddamned war of extermination.

"Unpleasant and noisy..." Alfia furrowed her brows.

"Are you going to intervene?" Lars understood her circumstances.

It would be a pain in the ass to reveal herself. And he also didn't want the top familias to investigate them.

After all, their relatively peaceful lives will be in jeopardy.

"How about you, what's your move?" Alfia asked him.

"Me? I'm just a normal guy." Alfia snorted at his answer. He was anything, but normal.

"I'm only human, I get scared. Those monsters are going to kill me easily." Lars knows his limits.

Alfia beat it into him. "But I can't just watch. I'm conflicted." Lars thought of something, anything to help them.

But as long as Alfia doesn't want to help, he'll respect her wishes. He wasn't an idiot that just dives into danger.

"Then what will you do? Just watch?" Alfia watched on in interest at what he'll do.

"Can I ask of you to extricate me when I get in a pinch?" Lars felt a bit brave.

Marie just gave him regenerative powers. And how will he test his limits if it was in a controlled environment all the time?

His soul was burning, his golden eyes glowed as an irregularity formed in his unique soul.

Mortals are said to unlock their skills instead of gaining them.

And his back glowed, a symbol of a peacock that had 6 feathers pointed around in a circle.

The very first feather formed another symbol. A symbol of a pig engorging itself.

Superbia, the cardinal sin. Marking his soul as an arrogant mortal that declares the gods to be sinners.

Gula, the deadly sin of gluttony. As he feeds endlessly on the essence of monsters.

His skin turned into red scales and his teeth went as sharp as daggers.

Breathing in deeply, he released a beam of pure heat towards the horde of monsters.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.