Chapter 1-The Silent Heir!

Chapter 1-Prologue

Seven years before, an adventurer named Bell Cranel entered the city of Orario, the capital of the world, and saw its darkest times, the city was plunged into darkness.

Propagated an evil unlike any, named Erebus. The city saw upheaval and destruction unlike any time before, and yet all this would not have been possible had this God not been supported by two of Orario's strongest legends.

Heroes thought long gone, had now emerged once more to bring an end to the very prosperity they had brought to the city. The last remnants of the familias of Zeus and Hera-Zald, the Glutton and Alfia, the Silent Witch.

"So, this is it," the giant of a man asked as he saw the ruins of the city infront of him, as thousands lay dead and even more suffered on struggling against the evil they had prospered.

"There is no more turning back," and despite the words, there was no regret in his voice. And why would there be, after all, all this had been done at their own behest, their own free will?

"Whether we win or not, both of us will go down in Orario's history as the greatest of sinners," the woman said slightly. A small breeze blew her hair, showing her mismatched eyes, which looked down with no emotion at all.

The Giant Armored legend of Zeus familia smirked at that, looking down at his hand.

"That never really mattered to me anyway. I don't really care about fame after my death. What matters to me is whether I am satisfied or not," he had no attachments to this world. All he held dear had now been taken from him by that one-eyed calamity.

He would die soon, and the last thing he could do for the next generation was to light a fire under them, to give them a final push so that they may succeed where the Zeus and Hera familia had failed.

"But the same cannot be said of you. Can it be Alfia?" he asked his female companion the lingering question, for unlike him, she was not truly alone. There were those who carried her legacy, two of them.

"Meteria's child has nothing to do with me. As I told you before, he is with that 'old man' on a farm far from here. I have not seen him to this day, and don't think he will have the opportunity to do it either," she replied, for she had no right to see the child of her sister, one whose life and talents she had sucked out of her in the womb.

However, Zald thought of her decision regarding her nephew. He did not speak, yet he still gazed at her intently as if waiting for an answer that never came.

"And what of your own child?" he asked, knowing of the secret child that bore an uncanny resemblance to the Silent Witch. He had come as a surprise, and to this, none knew of who the father to the child was and how she had even managed to give birth to a child and survive.

Yet somehow, she had defied all the odds and had a son of her own.

"Unlike that nephew of yours, they all know of your son. They will hate him for your sins, spurn him, detest him for your sins," he warned, knowing full well what the consequences of their actions today will be.

Both of them were set to die soon enough, and though they had done it only for the best of the city, to prepare the next generation for future dangers. And yet only he—her son shall be the one to answer for their crimes.

Yet Alfia's expression did not change. According to many people, her relationship with the boy had always been complicated, bordering on hate. There were rumors that she had thrust a blade into his hand as a four-year-old, training him herself and breaking several of his bones—her being Alfia, not knowing how to hold back.

"He will live," she answered after much silence, refusing to elaborate any further. He raised a brow and sighed, thinking of the callousness she held for her own blood.

"If you hate the boy so much, why did you even give birth to him, putting your own life in danger?" he asked, and it had always bothered him.

"Because it was needed," she replied, looking to the skies above, and dark clouds covered the skies, obscuring the moon, enveloping the city in absolute darkness.

"Because I needed to know that if we failed, there would be someone ready to step in my stead and carry our burden," she answered, and he was surprised by her answer.

"You truly are a callous woman," he whispered, feeling pity for the boy he had seen as a babe once, born with her own grey-silvery hair.

"To put your own child through something like this, making the whole world turn against him," he sighed out, apologizing to the boy in his heart for his role in all this, though he doubted it was sincere.

"He will live," she reiterated, and he was surprised by her conviction.

"After all..." and he did not miss how her voice had softened as she began. Her lips slightly turned up as the clouds parted so slightly that a ray of moonlight fell straight onto her.

"...he is my son."

0000

GODDESS ASTREA

Two years had passed since the Great Battle that rocked the foundation of the city of Orario. Two years ago, the Great Evil of Evilus, led by the evil God Erbeus, nearly brought the city of Orario to its knees, threatening to end the age of heroes, and yet in that time of absolute despair, heroes had emerged from the next generation of adventurers. Heroes who would go on to defeat Erbeus's strongest soldiers, the two 'greatest sinners'—Zald, the Glutton, and Elfia, the Silent Witch—and save the city from the clutches of evil.

Her own children would face the Silent Witch, defeating her in a pitched battle on the twenty-seventh floor and bring hope to the despairing city. Yet Erbeus was but one of the evils that plagued the city, and there were many more at his side who wished to plunge this city into absolute despair.

And so the battle between good and evil continued to this day, and her children carried on bringing her justice to the world. Astrea Familia, was not the strongest of the familias for that honor was held by the Loki and Freya familia. However, they were still one of stronger familias, one who had taken it upon themselves to protect the weak and keep Orario safe from evils like Evilus.

So, for the past two years her children had been working with the guild trying to root out the remnants of the organization that had brought the city to its knees, with all of them leaving for one final campaign against a member of the Evilus, the Rudra familia.

Rudra was one of the three major Gods that were part of Evilus. The other two, Alecto and Apate, had already been torn apart by Loki and Freya familia, while her children made the Rudra Familia their target.

And if the information from the Guild was anything to go by today, her children would emerge victorious and bring to an end another chapter of Evilus, bringing Rudra familia to its heel.

And yet she was not elated. A sense of foreboding continued to eat away at her, her mind whirling with worry as an ominous feeling ate away at her that her children were in danger. And nothing was more dangerous than a God's intuition, specially when it came to its children.

And so that worry and apprehension had brought her here, to the ruins of a church long forgotten by everyone. And yet she knew that in here lay the only hope for her and her children.

Despite being a popular familia, the truth was that there were not many people she could turn to in this time of need. Because despite being small, there was no question that Astrea familia was amongst the cities elite, and hence anything that could trouble or threaten her familia would be dangerous enough that even Loki and Freya familia would hesitate to provide aid to her, and then there was the question of the time it would take for them to assemble such teams.

That is why she could not depend on them. No, the answer to her troubles lay here. In this abandoned church. And as she made to knock on the decrepit wooden door a voice from inside made her stop.

"Don't bother knocking," and she stilled at that tone.

"Come in," it commanded, and she gulped down as she pushed the door, back wincing at the creaking sound it produced as she stepped into the abandoned church.

Even now, there were signs of a battle having taken place here, a battle she was acquainted with, for it had been her children who had fought here, surviving barely as they faced the Silent Witch of Hera Familia.

And yet she was not here to think about that. No, she was here to seek aide, and the one person who could provide it sat there on the stage, one of his legs dangling from the edge as he sat there clad in worn-out armor. His clothes showed signs of wear and tear, which had been repaired by hand.

He was short and thin but not weak. His hair made her gasp, its silvery grey all too similar to the horror her own children had faced here once, the very horror whose blood ran through his veins, for he was the son of one of Humanity's Greatest traitors—Inumaki, the Silent Son.

She did not let his gaze unsettle her as she stepped forward, walking upto him until she was but a few meters away from him, and only now did the dullness of that gaze hit her. No child barely into his tens should have an expression like that. But he was no ordinary child.

"What brings the infamous Goddess Astrea to my humble abode?" he asked, his voice even and soft, yet filled with curiosity and apprehension.

Of all the thirty thousand casualties suffered by Orario because of Zald and Alfia's treachery, Inumaki was one as well. The boy who had been so desired by every familia for his abilities once often talked about in the same category as Loki's 'War Princess' and Freya's 'Vana Freya' had lost all his support after news of his mother's treachery had spread.

And though the boy had played no part in that treachery, away from the city on an errand, few believed that to be true. Inumaki, would lose all his other titles and accolades and would gain only one in return.

The Traitor's Son.

And now, familia would welcome him after that, shutting their doors on him so as not to be associated with his infamy and reputation. It had become somewhat of an unspoken rule amongst the Gods, set forth by Loki and Freya familia, that none shall support him and that any God who would do so shall be exiled from Orario.

So, in the two years after the great battle, while his peers progressed forward, he remained stuck at Level 3.

"I am here to seek your help," she began as she looked him in the eye, not missing the black slit that ran down one of his eyes, as if marking where his sin had come apart.

"My help?" he asked, raising a brow, and she nodded.

"My children went to the dungeon a few days back to deal with a faction of the Evilus, the Rudra familia. Yet I keep having this premonition that something is not right. I feel that they are all in danger." She laid the secret bare, for she knew that despite the allegations against him, the boy in front of her was not a part of the Evilus. That he was a victim as much as everyone else.

"Rudra familia," he whispered as his eyes narrowed.

"Those bastards are still alive, huh," he continued before looking her in the eye.

"But why would you seek my help? After all, I am but a level 3. Even your own familia has several level 4 adventurers. I doubt I would be of any help," he declined her. Yet she could not give up, for her children she needed to do this.

"Plus, haven't you heard the rumors, Astrea," he continued in a mocking tone.

"I am a part of the very Evilus your familia has gone to destroy. What makes you think that I would..."

"That is a lie," she cut him off as she stepped forward.

"I know that you are not a part of Evilus," she said vehemently, and she saw his eyes widen.

"That changes little. As I said, I am, but a level 3 I cann..."

"Then I shall help you level up," she offered—her final trump card. And there was a genuine surprise on his face at that offer, and why wouldn't there be? He knew, as well as she, that doing this would end in her exile.

And yet, that would matter little to her. As long as her children were alive, she would gladly go into exile. But she needed to rescue them.

His brows arched as he looked her up and down as if getting a measure of her, and his gaze was as unsettled as that of a god. And why wouldn't it be, after all, he was the son of that witch.

"You understand what you are offering, right? And even if you level me up, that would make me a level 4, and yet, for some reason, you are here in this old church seeking my aide when you could have gone to Loki and Freya familia, both of whom have members much stronger than I," he asked sharply.

"Why?" he asked, and she bit her lip.

"Because it would take them time..."

"Do not lie to me, Goddess of Justice," he cut in sharply as his eyes shifted for a second. She felt them turn crimson, yet in the next blink, there were the dark black irises from earlier again as he saw through her lie.

"Tell me the truth," he asked.

"It is the truth," she rebutted.

"A half truth. Tell me why you have come here. Otherwise, this whole thing is over," and as he made to stand, she finally spoke up.

"Because I know of that skill of yours," she cut in and saw him still as he glanced back at her. This time, his eyes were indeed the dark crimson they were rumored to be, as an ominous aura radiated off of him.

"And how do you know that?" he asked.

"Lady Hera," she answered truthfully. She had met the exiled Goddess once and was rather fond of the old Goddess who once had shared her deepest secret with her. Telling her proudly of the little child of her family's ace, Alfia, and how the boy had inherited his mother's talents.

"Of your generation, you were hailed as the greatest prodigy. Allen Fomel-Vana Freya and Aiz Wallenstein are now both around Level 5 in their strength. You have been traversing the dungeon longer than either of them and doing so all alone. I refuse to believe that with a falna upgrade you would not get a level up," she argued and saw him gulp.

"Help me save my children, and I shall bless you with my falna, and make you a part of Astrea familia," she offered in a single breath and began to huff as she waited for his answer.

When he did not respond, tears welled up in her eyes, and she clutched her clothes and bowed her head.

"I beg you. I, the Goddess Astrea, beg you for your help. Please save my children. Please!" she begged helplessly, the ominous feeling in her heart growing with every passing second.

'Aliza, Lyon, Kaguya, everyone, just hold on,' she prayed in her heart as tears fell down on the ground.

"They will exile you," his voice cut across the silence, and she looked up and found him standing right infront of her.

"I will petition for you, call a Deta..."

"It will not work," he repeated as he shook his head, and his voice was softer.

"You will be exiled," he repeated, and she bit her lip as she looked him in the eye and made her decision.

"Then so be it. As long as my children are fine, I do not care about being exiled," she answered, looking him in the eye firmly.

"I have conditions," he began, and she nodded. That was to be expected.

"You shall never share details about my falna with anyone. No matter what," he said, and she nodded. That was reasonable enough.

"I will not," she agreed.

"I will need weapons, armor, and potions," he added, and again, she nodded.

"And you shall not interfere in my activities after this mission. I will do what I can to save your familia, but after that, you and your familia shall have no association with me or my activities," and she nodded again.

"Good," and with that, he turned around and began to take off his shirt to reveal his back to her.

"Then we have no time to waste," and she nodded as she bit her finger and put it over his back as she granted him her blessing.

Initially, the falna on his back shifted, to her insignia as she saw his stats and her eyes widened as she saw his level 3 stats.

Her own familia was one of the strongest ones in Orario, and she was aware of what it took to increase one's stats. And so she was rather surprised when she saw his stats. As she had expected, he was up for a level-up.

And so, as he levelled up, a light enveloped him, and she saw his stats shift suddenly, and then in the next instant, she was taken aback once more as she paled at the sight infront of her.

"Impossible..."

0000

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