The city's dark period lasted a very long time.
Ryuu remembered that from the moment she first arrived in Orario, this city of adventurers had already been wrapped in an atmosphere of oppressive tension.
The Dark Familias held enormous power at the time — not just Rudra Familia and Thanatos Familia, but also Alecto, the goddess of vengeance, and Apate, the goddess who embodied [Endless Restlessness] and [Unease], the deity who presided over [Deceit] and all things unjust.
Their ranks were filled with vast numbers of Lv. 1 adventurers.
The irony was that the city's justice-aligned Familias were, by contrast, in a comparatively weak position at the time.
Loki Familia's Riveria and her two companions were still Lv. 5. Freya Familia's captain, Ottar — known as the city's strongest adventurer — had only just reached Lv. 6. Hedin and the other senior members were likewise Lv. 5.
And at the same time.
Ais, Ryuu herself, and the other young adventurers of their generation were generally around Lv. 3.
In terms of raw combat strength — setting aside Ottar as the city's undisputed peak — the two sides were actually fairly evenly matched.
Not to mention... a figure surfaced in Ryuu's mind: Alfia, with her long silver-grey hair, and beside her, that swordsman of impossibly towering stature.
The reason the [Great Dispute] had inflicted such catastrophic damage on the city was directly tied to those two — the last survivors of Zeus Familia and Hera Familia.
"Let's change this tragedy together, Isagi!"
The young Elf girl bit her lip lightly and turned to the boy beside her.
But at that moment.
Isagi's thoughts had already drifted far away —
To Babel Tower, blazing with light, now regarded as one of the city's most important strongholds by its adventurers. And to the Dungeon that lay beneath it.
What Isagi was actually thinking was:
If all the gods from the Dark Familias right here were shoved into the Dungeon at once — what exactly would happen?
He'd heard something about it before — that the Dark Familias had apparently sent several gods back to Tenkai all at once, and in doing so had caused a monster called the [Greatest Evil] to be summoned.
But from what he could tell, that thing's strength had been pretty underwhelming.
Going by Ryuu-senpai's account, Riveria at Lv. 5 had obliterated it in a single blow using her most powerful attack magic, [Verse · Viddheimr].
Which meant at most it was somewhere in the Lv. 6 to Lv. 7 range — roughly equivalent to the Monster Rex [Balor] on the 49th floor, maybe even weaker.
That clearly wasn't going to cut it.
Isagi was pretty confident that if he was the one sending them in, the results would be completely different.
Mulling this over.
The two of them moved on to working out the specifics of their actual plan.
They only had one day — so dealing with all the Dark Familias at once was essentially impossible. It would have to be done step by step.
And so Ryuu-senpai had her own three-step plan ready.
Step one:
Alert the Guild and the Goddess about the single most dangerous thing from the [Great Dispute] period — the Dark Familias stealing the technology from the city's Magic Stone factories to manufacture crude human-bomb devices.
That was the root cause behind the massive destruction inflicted on the city during those seven days, and the deaths of so many adventurers and civilians.
"We split up, Isagi."
"Got it."
Time was short.
Ryuu sent him off to the Guild to find the chairman, Royman Mardeel, and explain the situation — ideally face to face, since the Guild's internal staff were riddled with informants working for the other side.
She herself intended to go find Goddess Astrea.
From there, the Goddess could inform the other Familias — that way, nothing would be left to chance.
They agreed on a place to regroup afterward.
The two separated quickly, and Isagi moved fast — heading for the Pantheon, the Guild's main headquarters located on Northwest Main Street, the adventurers' district.
The street that he remembered as bustling and lively was, at this hour, suffused with an air of grim tension.
Nearly every shop along both sides had shuttered its doors. Every so often, small patrols — made up of Ganesha Familia members or other adventurers — swept through the thoroughfare.
There were even makeshift checkpoints blocking the road at intervals, where every passerby had to verify their identity.
According to Ryuu-senpai.
During the day the city was still relatively calm — the Dark Familias generally didn't make any major overt moves in daylight. But once night fell, scattered attacks occurred with unsettling regularity, targeting several locations of critical importance in particular.
In the second ward, the industrial district — its Magic Stone factories were the lifeblood of the city.
In the sixth ward, the commercial district — home to numerous merchant guilds and vaults. That said, since Ganesha Familia's base of operations was also situated there, it was at least somewhat reassuring.
And then there was the adventurers' district.
Beyond housing the numerous shops of Hephaestus Familia — packed with weapons and gear for adventurers — it was also home to every manner of tool shop and apothecary catering to adventurer needs.
Calling this street the logistical backbone of Orario's adventurers during the dark period was no exaggeration whatsoever.
The Guild's main headquarters was here as well.
And most importantly —
The Pure White Clinic — Dian Cecht Familia's hospital and base of operations.
Isagi moved through the darkness.
At Lv. 5, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, he was virtually undetectable by any adventurer below.
The main concern was that getting stopped for questioning would be an enormous hassle — he could hardly tell anyone he was a future member of Astrea Familia.
After all, the Goddess of Justice's current roster was entirely female, and quite well known for it. Claiming to be one of them would get him laughed out of the room.
In the dead of night.
The Guild's main building and the hospital building sitting on the opposite side of the street had already come clearly into view.
Isagi's plan was straightforward.
Slip directly into the Guild, find Chairman Royman, and inform him about the bomb plot the Dark Familias were going to carry out.
The man was someone most adventurers and city residents couldn't stand.
But all things considered, he had been Guild Chairman for many years — he was fundamentally a reliable sort.
He wasn't going to just shrug off a warning like this.
And honestly speaking.
His own role here wasn't the critical one — as long as Ryuu-senpai managed to reach Goddess Astrea, that was what mattered.
Once the Goddess of Justice passed the word to the other gods of the city, no one would be able to dismiss it.
His part was just a backup measure.
He had to admit — Ryuu-senpai had gotten quite a lot smarter.
Thinking this.
Isagi suddenly noticed a furtive figure slipping out of the Guild building's side door through the darkness, making sure no one was watching — then making their way toward the Pure White Clinic just a short distance away.
Without hesitation, the boy followed.
During the dark period, Dian Cecht Familia, as the city's largest healing Familia, had been attacked more times than anyone could count.
There was one very important reason why Amid, despite her young age, had risen to become the Familia's captain:
During this period, every single one of her predecessors had been killed.
Dian Cecht Familia had undergone a lengthy period of rebuilding after the [Great Dispute] — and a good number of those who joined during the reconstruction were adventurers whose lives had been saved by them during the dark period, and who had subsequently changed their allegiance.
At this moment.
The busy hospital building still blazed with light.
There were plenty of guards stationed around the perimeter, but the shadowy figure clearly knew the patrol rotations inside out — and slipped into the Pure White Clinic without much difficulty.
Then moved to set it on fire.
Only — the moment they pulled out an oil drum, Isagi knocked them out cold.
He then bound them up to hand off to the Guild later, hoping their interrogators might be able to squeeze some useful intelligence out of them.
While he was at it.
Through a nearby window, Isagi caught a glimpse of Amid in the corridor — a little girl of about seven or eight at this point in time, being carried on the back of an adult woman.
The girl who was already small even in adulthood looked even more delicate here, like a porcelain doll — and yet she was weaving through a corridor packed with patients, working tirelessly to treat them one by one.
The Pure White Clinic was filled to bursting.
Not just the wards and corridors — even the courtyard outside was soaked through with rain, bedrolls and tents thrown up wherever they'd fit, with many of the injured having to be temporarily housed out there.
If that fire had actually been set.
Even if it had been extinguished quickly, the chaos alone would have been devastating.
These Dark Familia scum — always pulling this kind of underhanded filth from the shadows.
After a moment's thought, Isagi summoned Teardrop Big Bro.
He'd tested it before.
Teardrop Big Bro was an independent existence — capable of acting even when apart from him.
Isagi gave him orders to guard the Pure White Clinic. It was only for one day — but that was better than nothing.
Once that was done.
Isagi brought the Dark Familia member he'd just captured and headed for the Guild — where he found Chairman Royman fast asleep at his desk in his office.
And because of that small, almost offhand decision the boy made —
Many years later.
Amid would often find herself thinking back to that one day during the turbulent dark period — a day that had been, inexplicably, completely peaceful. Not a single incident.
Because it was the only day when nothing had gone wrong, it stood out in her memory all the more vividly.
Why was that, she wondered?
She couldn't work it out — only a dim, fleeting recollection of glancing out a window by chance, and catching sight of a pitch-black silhouette clad in dragon armor shaped like a forest of sharp, lancing spears.....
____
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