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The Chalk Colossus stood above the Dungeon entrance like a lid, towering into the clouds, so tall that its peak was almost impossible to see at a glance.
Even from the highest floor, hundreds of meters above the ground, the Goddess could still see that dark yet brilliantly multicolored soul on the surface below.
"It's become even more radiant…"
A bewitching silver-haired Goddess gazed down at the foot of the great tower.
Her eyes shimmered with fascination, and a possessive desire appeared on her face as well.
A Goddess's desires were always direct and terrifying.
Not to mention that she was the Goddess of Beauty, possessing beauty enough to charm all living things, allowing her to demand anything from the world in the most self-indulgent way possible.
But unfortunately…
That boy alone refused to indulge her whims, no matter what.
"Ottar."
Standing before the glass window, the Goddess softly called a name.
"Yes."
A powerfully built Boaz, over two meters tall, appeared at the doorway and lowered his proud head before the Goddess.
"If I had you start a war with the Loki Familia right now, could you win?"
From the Goddess's lips came words terrifying enough to plunge everyone on the surface into fear.
If Orario's two strongest Familias truly went to war, it would spell disaster and upheaval not only for this Labyrinth City, but perhaps for the entire world.
"If victory alone is the goal, then with proper preparations, yes. But what comes afterward would be the real problem."
The Boaz, Ottar, pondered briefly. Without the slightest intention of asking why, he simply gave a cautious answer.
As Freya-sama's sword, he had no need to question divine intent. He only needed to obey her heart.
"You mean the retaliation would be troublesome?"
Freya let out a silent sigh.
Given the scale of the Loki Familia, it would be impossible to completely annihilate them. Anyone making a move against them had to consider whether they could withstand the inevitable retaliation.
Freya possessed charm.
But Ryoji also possessed charm.
Under those circumstances, her advantage as the Goddess of Beauty was nearly neutralized.
In other words, if she truly chose to wage war against the Loki Familia for Ryoji alone, she absolutely wouldn't come out ahead, and would likely earn Ryoji's hatred in the process.
If sacrificing her entire Familia could make Ryoji change his mind, she could act without hesitation.
But if such an action would only backfire, then maintaining the current situation was better. At the very least, he was still fascinated by her body, and occasionally they could even sing together.
Just for the sake of one man, she had become hesitant to this degree.
It was so unlike herself that even she found it strange.
"What about Evilus?"
Freya pushed aside those thoughts outrageous enough to make others call her insane, and instead asked about another matter.
Evilus.
That single word alone was enough to make veteran Adventurers instantly turn pale.
In Orario, the word carried exactly that kind of terrifying power, it could stop even crying Adventurers in their tracks.
"We don't have much intelligence on them. So far, we've only learned that there may be relevant clues on the 59th Floor of the Dungeon."
Ottar continued in his low, heavy voice.
"I see… Keep a close eye on Ishtar."
"Yes."
Only after that dark yet dazzling soul entered the Dungeon did Freya raise her head and shift her gaze toward the southeastern part of the city.
From this height, she could perfectly overlook that enormous palace, Belit Babili.
It was the temple of another Goddess of Beauty in Orario, Ishtar, as well as the headquarters of her Familia.
Discovering traces of Evilus had only been an accident.
Because Ryoji had previously assassinated Phryne, Ishtar had recently been constantly causing trouble for her. Freya had merely been dealing with her as usual, but unexpectedly came away with an interesting discovery.
"If I report this matter directly to the Guild, Ishtar will definitely be ruined. But that would be no fun."
Freya looked down upon that temple, her eyes gleaming with the particular amusement unique to gods.
…
"Evilus?"
Ryoji repeated the word doubtfully.
They were currently in the southern forest of the 18th Floor, at the temporary resting camp of the First Army.
This expedition was once again divided into two forces.
A small vanguard force consisting of elites such as Finn, Riveria, Ais, Ryoji, and the Amazoness sisters had set out first, sweeping away all monsters above the 18th Floor, including the Floor Boss, Goliath.
Then the Second Army, led by Gareth and Bete, would bring up the main force from behind. Both sides would rendezvous on the 18th Floor before pushing straight onward to the 50th Floor in one go.
Considering that Ryoji and Bete had only recently gotten into a conflict, Finn deliberately separated the two.
While resting on the 18th Floor, Ryoji learned this unfamiliar term from Finn and the others.
This expedition also seemed to be connected to Evilus.
More precisely, their objective was to descend to the 59th Floor and investigate intelligence related to Evilus.
"You know about how the Zeus Familia and Hera Familia launched an expedition against the Black Dragon fifteen years ago and returned in disastrous defeat, right?"
Finn rubbed his chin and asked Ryoji in return.
"I actually don't know that!"
Ryoji shook his head honestly.
"Well then, looks like I'll have to start from the very beginning."
Finn helplessly shook his head.
"Let's listen too!"
With nothing much to do, all the executives gathered around, chiming in here and there as they listened to Finn tell the story.
It had already been a thousand years since the gods descended to the mortal world.
Although the strongest Familias in Orario nowadays were the Freya Familia and Loki Familia, in truth, they had only risen to prominence within the last dozen or so years.
For most of the past thousand years, the supreme powers of this Labyrinth City had always been the Zeus Familia and Hera Familia.
At the time, these two Familias were at the height of their glory. Each had considerable numbers of Lv.7 and Lv.8 elites, and they occupied the throne of Orario's strongest Familia for an entire millennium.
There were even rumors that the Hera Familia possessed an unprecedented Lv.9 Adventurer!
"Lv.9? How long did it take to reach that level?"
Even Ryoji was stunned.
So Orario once had such a glorious past?
"At the very least, several hundred years. After all, that 'Empress' lived for nearly a thousand years."
At the mention of that glorious era, both Finn and Riveria showed nostalgic expressions.
The higher an Adventurer's Level, the closer they come to becoming like the gods.
This was indeed a rumor often heard on the streets, but it wasn't entirely without basis.
Among the many races on the surface, even long-lived races like Spirits and Elves generally only lived around three to four hundred years. An Elven royal like Riveria would be fortunate to reach five hundred years at most.
But that legendary Adventurer of the Hera Familia, the "Empress", had lived for a full thousand years.
Only after accumulating a thousand years of experience did she finally become a Lv.9 Adventurer.
So it had been proven that the higher an Adventurer's Level, the longer their lifespan became.
That era possessed a mighty and one-of-a-kind Lv.9, several Lv.8s, and a large number of Lv.7s. It could truly be called the strongest age on the surface world since the gods descended.
And yet, such an overwhelmingly powerful era had been buried by a single monster.
That monster was known as the "Black Dragon," also called the "One-Eyed Black Dragon", a ghost-like incarnation of terror that still wanders the world to this day.
(End of Chapter)