Loki
The white magic circle hummed under her boots, its magic so thick in the air that Loki could almost taste it.
Standing beside Astraea in the inner courtyard of the Stardust Garden, Loki watched their combined vanguard file in. As more members stepped onto the circle, the glowing runes shifted and spread outward across the flagstones, making room for the sheer mass of bodies.
The circle sat idle, waiting for someone to give it the intent to move, and until the last of them was in place, there was nothing for Loki to do but wait, alone with her thoughts.
Restless, she shoved her hands deep into her pockets, and her thumbs brushed against cuticles still stained with black ink. The deep ache in her joints was a stubborn reminder of the marathon Falna session she ran yesterday. The new network completely hijacked her routine, letting her bounce between their scattered safehouses and update the status of every surviving child at an intoxicating speed.
But that speed came with a cost. Her fingers tightened into fists inside her pockets, nails biting into her palms, as she remembered how those frantic updates finally cemented the grim arithmetic of their losses. 9 dead. Five Level 2s, three Level 3s, and one Level 4, all butchered by Evilus zealots. The only small mercy lay with her backline, since her mages finally recovered from the crippling curse Arachnia inflicted on them.
The sheer weight of that butcher's bill made her genuinely consider proposing a temporary divine policy—a brief leave of absence to Tenkai, just so she could drag those bastards' souls out and put them through eternal suffering with her own two hands. Knowing how impossible that was, she could only pray for Odin to handle the torture in her stead.
She sighed and let the fantasy fade, but the bitter helplessness underneath it stayed, the same helplessness she felt last night on the long walk back to the Astraea compound. The network only ran one way, from Astraea's residence to Ganesha's, and she wasn't about to ask Astraea to open her private anchors just to spare herself a walk.
Usually, a long walk cooled her head. Last night, it didn't. No matter how loud the streets got, they couldn't drown out the faces of the children she lost, and by the time she arrived, her legs were heavy and her mood was pitch-black.
A sharp grinding noise pulled her out of the spiral.
Glancing over her shoulder, Loki spotted Riveria standing near the expanding edge of the circle. The High Elf's jaw was locked shut, her knuckles were white around her staff, and the very tips of her ears burned a furious pink. Alise and Kaguya waited quietly just behind her.
Seeing her stoic executive so visibly ruffled coaxed a ghost of a smile onto Loki's lips, and the lingering gloom cracked as she remembered exactly why Riveria was grinding her teeth. It started yesterday at Ganesha's residence, the second the masked "Guild Representative" left, when Finn cornered her.
"That was Maximus," the Pallum said, leaving no room for it to be a question.
She simply sighed. "Yeah."
Beside her, Riveria choked on her own breath. "The... the ear request. He made it?"
Riveria was clearly struggling to connect the quiet Itachi with the brat who asked for her ears, and the look on her face made Loki bark a laugh. "The very same." She looked at Riveria for a moment, and then her smirk widened, gaining its foxy edge. "Are you interested in him now, Princess? Is that why you were staring at him so hungrily?"
Riveria's face flushed a violent red. "I studied his runes! I took notes! I drafted a treatise on his matrix!"
"And he wanted to touch yer ears," Gareth rumbled from the corner, his broad chest shaking with quiet laughter.
Finn, however, wasn't laughing. While the others teased Riveria, his face settled into the blank mask he wore when calculating a future he hated.
"I asked Shakti if he used a parchment or any physical medium to bring us back from the Dungeon," Finn murmured, thinking aloud as he paced a short line across the floor. "She said no. When he was summoned to the 36th floor, there was no trace of a magic circle left in our wake. The same holds true for our arrival points here. Once the matrix delivers us, no trace of it remains."
He stopped and met Loki's gaze. "That means the Freya Familia holds at least one traceless anchor on the 36th floor right now. And I refuse to believe Freya didn't already send a party to secure a deeper spawn point, likely down to the 39th floor. Meanwhile, Ganesha and Astraea's access is strictly capped at the 28th floor. If we get access as you proposed, I suspect it will stop at the 28th floor as well."
His face stayed blank, but his voice turned almost defeated. "The worst part is, we don't even have the leverage to ask otherwise."
Finn tapped a finger against his arm, his mind already mapping out the city's new reality. "He is shifting the balance of power too fast. Every strong base in the city now runs through his anchors."
Loki sighed as the undeniable truth of it settled over the room. "That is very much possible. But what can we do?"
The discussion stopped there because it had to. Finn's logic left no room for argument, and quite frankly, Loki lacked the energy to invent one. Even with Goibniu promising to finish Twilight Manor's reconstruction by tomorrow, the sheer survival of her Familia demanded her undivided attention. The expedition and the siege cost them dearly, but they also forced level-ups across her second-class ranks. It was a boon, but her executives hit a wall. None of them broke through to Level 6, and all of them were stuck at the very edge of it.
Then there was Ais.
The Sword Genius was already halfway through Level 3, a suicidal pace that defied the laws of the Dungeon. Recalling the black ink settling into the girl's skin yesterday, Loki swelled with pride, only for grief to hollow her out right after. A girl that young had no business holding stats that high. Loki knew Ais's trauma bought those numbers, and her desperate need to one day cut down the Dragon paid for them. She shouldn't have to feed herself into a meat grinder just to earn a few hours of sleep.
Before the ache could take root in Loki's chest, the last member of the vanguard stepped onto the edge of the circle. With everyone finally in place, the circle took their intent, and the magic spiked.
The white light flared, blinding the courtyard in a single flash. When the glare vanished, the flagstones beneath her boots had given way to the polished floor of Ganesha's residence.
Anticipating the spatial nausea, Loki locked her knees and braced for the phantom vibration that usually left her swaying like a drunk, but the sensation never hit. Her stomach held firm, and a grin of petty victory stretched across her face. She finally conquered the damn phenomenon.
A sudden weight tipping against her side interrupted the triumph.
Astraea was swaying, and Loki caught the younger goddess swallowing hard, losing the same fight against the sickness that Loki just won. Before Loki could shift her stance to offer a steadying arm, Astraea's hand clamped onto her shoulder, disguised as a gesture of comfort while gripping the fabric for balance.
"Are you okay?" Astraea asked. The concern in her voice rang clear, expertly burying the tremble Loki could feel through her fingers.
Damn, this girl is good, Loki thought, biting the inside of her cheek to trap a laugh.
Patting the trembling hand, Loki kept her grin steady. She had to admit, after the bond they forged over the past few days, the sheer audacity of the bluff was endearing.
"Never better," Loki joked, planting her boots a little wider so Astraea could share her balance. "Think I can finally feel my legs."
Little by little, the tension in Astraea's grip began to ease. The younger goddess let out a slow breath and straightened by degrees, her hand still resting on Loki's shoulder, still selling the comforting act for all it was worth.
Loki let her keep it. Good bluff. Terrible poker face.
She was still enjoying the show when a familiar voice shattered the quiet.
"I AM GANESHA!"
The elephant-masked god stood waiting just past the edge of the circle, his hands planted firmly on his hips. As his gaze dropped to the fading runes at their feet, he let go of his theatrical pose with a heavy exhale.
"I must admit," Ganesha said, gesturing to the glowing floor, "this network is simply too useful. I will propose a formal petition to change Royman's alias from 'Guild Pig.'" He scratched his chin as he thought. "'The Tardy Turtle' has a nice ring to it, and it seems fitting for a bureaucrat who finally changed his old ways."
Loki looked up at him, one brow climbing. "I don't think anything beats 'Guild Pig,'" she muttered, rolling the tension out of her shoulders. "Though if you really want to change it, I'm partial to 'The Obstinate Oink.'"
Beside her, Astraea finally found her voice again and smiled openly. "Alise says her patrols were seventy percent faster today."
At the mention of her name, Loki's gaze drifted past Astraea's shoulder to Alise, who stood a half-pace back, her arms folded tight behind a mask of neutrality. Kaguya, standing next to her, was less successful. The miko's lips pressed into a thin line, and her hand drifted toward her stomach before she forced it back to her side, her dark eyes darting to Loki and then immediately away.
Caught ya! Loki thought in victory. The miko was fighting the nausea just as hard as her goddess.
On Loki's other side, Riveria stood with her arms crossed, her ears back to their usual color and her dignity finally restored. Loki was being generous by not bringing Max's topic up.
With the greetings done, the booming showman fell quiet, and the god underneath looked directly at Loki. "How are your children coming along, Loki? Are they well?"
Shifting her weight onto one leg, she gave a shrug. "They're coping. Cramped, but holding together. At this point, we're just waiting on a roof. Goibniu swore he would finish the construction by tomorrow."
He'd better. Every time she closed her eyes, she still saw her home as she found it after the raid, nothing left of it but rubble and wet ash.
Ganesha nodded. "It is a terrible tragedy. I only hope the dive blessed your children with abundant promotions to weather it."
Loki's mouth twisted into a wry line. "'Abundant' is one word for it."
Before she could say more, the synchronized tramp of approaching boots cut the conversation short.
Finn walked in, flanked by Captain Shakti and the rest of the Loki Familia sheltering at Ganesha's residence. They moved with the rigid discipline of a frontline vanguard, and when they reached the gods, the Pallum captain came to a stop.
"Braver! The man I wanted to see!" Ganesha bellowed, closing the distance in two massive strides to grab Finn by both shoulders. His grip was loose, but warm. "I hope you are settling in well?"
Enduring the grip, Finn offered a humble smile. "Yes, Lord Ganesha. We have all settled in well. You have my sincere gratitude for opening your doors to us."
As soon as Ganesha let go, the Pallum stepped back and offered the god a crisp bow. "I sincerely apologize for not greeting you since we arrived. We were heavily occupied by Familia matters."
Ganesha waved the apology away. "Nonsense! No need for formalities here, Braver. Your people bled enough this week. It is time for your Familia to feel at ease."
Reaching down, the god pulled Finn back upright, and as he did, his welcoming warmth vanished. Beneath the elephant mask, Ganesha's eyes took on a cold glint.
"Tonight," Ganesha said, his voice dropping hard as iron, "a part of the injustice done to you will be repaid."
Finn nodded solemnly, but Loki saw his fist tighten at his side, and she knew he was thinking of the same nine faces she was. After that, there was nothing left to wait. One by one, her children filed onto Ganesha's circle, and when the last boot touched the runes, Shakti swept the formation with a final count, then fed her intent into the circle, and the golden light swallowed them whole.
They arrived instantly in the public teleportation room on Babel's 9th floor. The Guild sealed it for the day, because tonight, the Tower would witness a deity's execution.
They were barely off the platform before a Guild representative hurried forward, bowing. "This way, Lord Ganesha, Lady Loki, Lady Astraea. The Guild has prepared an escort to the Terrace."
He led them to the central elevators, only to stop short in front of a sign hanging across both doors in official red lettering.
UNDER MAINTENANCE.
The representative cleared his throat. "Due to excessive usage, the elevators are under maintenance for the time being," he said apologetically. "Lord Goibniu's construction crews were busy with other priority work."
A beat of silence passed.
"Huh." Ganesha's mask tilted. "Then I take back my proposal. Royman will continue to be the Guild Pig," he said in a hurt tone. Then he straightened, and his voice climbed right back into its festival register. "But wait—where is that Ghost Weasel of the Labyrinth when you need him?"
The Guild staff exchanged blank looks.
"Bah! You don't know about him?" Ganesha planted his hands on his hips, already inflating toward a lecture. "Then allow me to impart upon you the capabilities of the Ghost Weasel of the Labyrinth!"
Before he could get going, a hand landed on his shoulder. Shakti, her expression carved from stone, spoke calmly. "We have access to another magic circle on Babel's 30th floor, Ganesha."
She turned to the representative. "Are the elevators on the 30th floor working?"
He nodded, quick and frightened.
Ganesha deflated with a wounded sound, muttering something about intrusive captains ruining a perfectly good lecture, but Shakti was already pressing a parchment tag to the circle, and golden light took them before the god could finish his grumbling.
-◈ -
Chloe
At PAL, Chloe flicked the surveillance screen over to the Babel feed.
Her boss slipped a few shop secrets to her a while back: surveillance routes, activation methods, and which doors to use when you didn't want to be seen. Officially, she never used any of it. Unofficially, that was exactly what she was up to on her rare day off.
The glass filled with a whole pack of gods clustered around the central elevators, fuming at a little red sign, and the sight was so perfect that Chloe fell straight out of her chair, howling.
"Did you see that, Rim-rim?! They fell for it!!" She kicked her legs against the desk, wiping tears from her eyes. "A bunch of gods, beaten by a placard! Ahaha—I should've put the same one on the first floor! Such a shame, such a waste—"
Behind her, Rimuru's pen kept scratching across the ledger. Unhurried. Unbothered. The sound of a man pretending very hard not to be part of this.
Then, mid-cackle, it hit her why she was never allowed to put a sign on the first floor.
She scrambled up off the floor and whipped around. "IT'S YOU! You stopped me from getting my entertainment!"
"Wait a minute, Chloe." Rimuru set his pen down with a click. "You prank our customers enough. You don't get to go around pranking unsuspecting gods on top of it. You even dragged poor Rehmer into this! Imagine what the boss would do if he found out."
Chloe waved him off. "Please. Rehmer got his share out of it too." She jabbed a finger across the desk, the screen's glow washing her grin blue. "And the boss would reward me!! I know him. You're just a spoilsport! You should be punished!"
"Sure, sure, Tardy Cat. Whateve—"
He froze mid-word as what she said finally sank in.
...Punished?
"WAIT, WHAT??" The ledger hit the desk. "PUNISHED??? ME?? I'M THE MOST HONEST MERCHANT IN ORARIO! WHY SHOULD I BE PUNISHED??" He was nearly shrieking by the end, one hand splayed across his chest like she slapped him with an invoice.
Chloe just stared, stunned by the sheer volume coming out of such a composed fraud. She dug a finger into her ear and wiggled it until the ringing settled. "Jeez, what a loud noise. Are you sure you're not part banshee??"
Rimuru spluttered at the sudden change of topic. "Th-that's not the point! You're insulting me! This is undignified! I am a humble merchant of Orario!"
"Humble??" Chloe barked a laugh, hopping up to sit on the counter's edge, legs dangling. "You damn squirt, you're neither humble nor honest. One of these days, I'm going to unravel how the hell you jumped from Level 2 to Level 3 in a single night! But right now—" she cracked her knuckles "—it's punishment time!"
Rimuru's eyes went wide, his gaze darting around as if calculating an escape.
"Wait wait wait—"
Chloe didn't listen. This is my chance! Finally alone with him in a soundproof room! She was going to extract every last one of his secrets, and just imagining it made her drool in anticipation.
Then a sudden ping went off in her mind, throwing her off for a moment, and she knew the pipsqueak heard it too. She could see it written all over his face.
An emergency. Official business. Salvation.
"WHA! A REAL EMERGENCY! DUTY CALLS!" the merchant yelled frantically, backing into the teleportation circle etched into the office floor, the one he always insisted was for emergencies only. Chloe lunged after him, but the runes flared and the light swallowed him whole, and she landed in the spot he vacated with her hand closing on empty air.
"Damn it—he slipped away!!" She whirled and punched the display glass in frustration.
On cue, the security measures shocked her.
She slumped back down, shaking out her tingling fingers, glaring between the empty circle and the screen, where more gods were arriving to find the sign in front of the elevators.
Worth it.
-◈ -
General Pov
The Terrace of the tallest building in Orario was filled with gods and their attendants, gathered under the cold stars to witness the disgraced return of one of their own. Wind came up off the edge in slow pulls, carrying the faint hum of the city below, and the crowd's murmur rolled over the stone like distant surf.
All of that murmuring centered on Rudra, who knelt in the middle of it, gagged and bound to a raised block of black stone. He struggled against the bindings all day, and Guild braziers ringed the stage, their light hard on his face. The Guild displayed him there deliberately, letting every arriving deity get a long look at what happened to a god who wanted to cause chaos.
When the gods' party reached the top of the Tower, Ganesha and Astraea went out onto the Terrace ahead of everyone else. Someone had to make sure the arrangements held, and only when they were satisfied did they send for Loki.
Loki was grateful for that. She had no interest in spending one second longer than necessary looking at that scum's face.
When the call came, she walked out with her whole Familia in tow, and it was no accident. This wasn't just an escort. Her children flanked her all the way across the Terrace, a wall of familiar faces and familiar weapons on either side, and she drew strength from every step of it. She didn't care how the gathered gods read it. Her family bled for this night, and they would stand with her while it was paid for.
The walk was long, and she made it longer. Because behind her eyes, walking in a formation of their own, were the other faces. The nine who would never bear her Falna again.
As her people found their place among the crowd, Ganesha, who was in an uncharacteristic conference with the Guild representatives about an important matter, finally took the stage. He walked to Rudra and circled him once, slowly, his shadow crossing the bound god's face with each step, as if to give him a final taste of everything he was about to lose.
Then he planted his feet.
"I AM GANESHA!"
The bellow rolled across the Terrace and silenced it.
"Everyone! As announced, we are here to send this scum back to Tenkai for his crimes against the innocents and adventurers alike! His crimes include not only the intent to bring down one of the pillars of Orario, but allying himself with Evilus in an effort to plunge this bright city into darkness! For all those atrocities, his punishment is exile from Gekai, by the Ouroboros!"
Murmurs swept through the gathered gods like wind through tall grass, and of all of them, Hermes did the worst job of hiding his surprise.
Ouranos is actually bringing out the Ouroboros. He knew the Guild was rattled. Whispers of the changes reached him days ago. But this? This was a scale of response even he never saw coming.
And yet, the more he thought about it, the less surprising it seemed. However bad or evil a god was, that was their nature, and there was nothing to be done about it. It was Loki's nature to trick and fool, Astraea's nature to strive for justice, and the nature of the Evilus gods to sow discord, drag the city into darkness, and strive for its destruction. Descending to Gekai never changed that. It only gave them a stage to play out their natures among mortals, and a life to enjoy while they could.
Hermes shook his head. In the end, none of it mattered. They all went back when the Promised Time came, and what remained afterward were the memories made with these mortals, the only currency that survived the return. Which meant, in essence, that the lot gathered on this Terrace were angry because the god being sent back disturbed their fun.
"I didn't think you could get this lost in thought, Hermes," a teenager said in a low voice beside him.
He turned to his vice-captain with a wry smile. "What else do you think about me, Asfi-chan?" he asked, his grin tilting.
The effort it took her not to punch him, right there in front of the assembled pantheon, was visible and deeply amusing.
"In moments like this," Hermes said solemnly, gazing out at the lights of Orario below, "I search for the true meaning of life."
"Very profound, Lord Hermes," a calm voice said behind them.
They both turned. A young man with black hair and black eyes stood there in a strange black robe stitched through with crimson clouds, a white porcelain mask hanging at his side as if he took it off out of respect for the occasion. He watched them both with the assessing patience of an appraiser.
"Who might you be, my young friend?" Hermes asked, tipping his hat low over his eyes.
"My name is Itachi, Itachi Uchiha. A Guild employee." He gave a measured pause. "I am here regarding your application for the Teleportation Network."
On the stage, Ganesha finally ran out of proclamations and called for the execution weapon, but Hermes's eyes brightened for a different reason. He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a confiding murmur. "Was it rejected? I know my Familia is poor. E-rank and all. I doubt we meet any requirements."
He never expected to be approached by anyone. The application was filed purely to blend in, to stand in the same line as everyone else while he dug into this unexplained generosity from the Guild. He still didn't understand the mechanics of it. Was the access limited to Orario, or—
If those circles reach places outside the city, Hermes thought, that changes everything.
And he had to admit it: the shrewdness of this Itachi, choosing a moment when every god in Orario had no choice but to stand still and listen, was flawless. A ghost of a smile touched his face as he leaned in to dig deeper.
While Hermes chased his answers, the call for the execution weapon reached the front of the crowd. Across the Terrace, Loki heard none of the gods' whispers. Her attention was locked on the stage.
She stepped out from her place among her children and moved forward. The crowd parted for her without a word, and her children's eyes tracked her the whole way. None of them had ever seen her walk like that, without a grin or a joke on her lips.
At the foot of the stage, a Guild representative waited with an open case. Inside lay the Ouroboros, the dagger forged by the Hera Familia from the Dungeon's essence. Its edge burned any god it touched, and the wound followed them, weakened, into Tenkai. That was why it was kept in the Guild's vaults and only taken out with the Guild's permission, and tonight, the Guild allowed its use.
Loki took the dagger from the case. The black hilt was cold in her grip and heavier than it looked, and when she raised it, the moonlight glinted along its edge, giving the blade an almost ominous look. Against her palm, it hummed faintly, as if the Dungeon's essence inside it could sense a god nearby.
Up on the stage, Rudra saw the black blade in her hand and went rigid. He didn't need anyone to tell him what it was. Every god in Orario knew the Ouroboros.
With the dagger in hand, she climbed the steps one at a time, and the Terrace grew quieter with each one. Rudra began to whimper the moment her boots hit the stage, his bound frame scraping against the black stone as he pressed back as far as the bindings allowed, his eyes fixed on the dagger.
She stopped in front of him and made herself look at him, really look, for the first time. This was the god who walked with the assault party and enjoyed himself while her children fell, and now he was a sniveling little coward cowering away from her.
She crouched down, close enough that only he could hear her over the wind. Her free hand curled into a fist until her nails bit into her palm, and she waited for the shaking to stop before she spoke, her voice low and level.
"Why are you struggling now? You were cackling when my compound's defenses fell. I heard your crazed yells, you know."
She went silent, as if she was hearing those yells again, and under her stare, Rudra stopped struggling.
"You were very creative with it, too," she went on quietly. "I wonder, did the loss of your own children never grieve you?"
Again she went silent, and this time the silence went on so long that Rudra's breathing grew ragged against the gag.
"You killed nine of my children. Did you ever bother to remember the ones you lost? For me, it felt like nine threads tearing out of my chest while I stood there, unable to do anything." Her voice started to shake as she went on. "Wait for me in Tenkai. When my time here ends, I WILL come for you."
She rose slowly to her feet, and when she spoke again, her voice was steady and cold. "Here's to a slow, merciless repentance, Rudra."
She spat the name, then stepped aside so that he could see her children, and set the tip of the dagger against his chest.
It slid in easily at first. One inch. Two. Rudra jerked against his bindings, screaming into the gag, and Loki held him there with her free hand. Three inches in, the blade stopped dead. Through the hilt, Loki could feel that it reached the seal on Rudra's Arcanum.
So she pushed. When the seal resisted, she gripped the hilt with both hands and leaned her whole weight into it, and for a long moment, nothing moved. Then a loud tearing sound rang across the Terrace, and every head snapped toward the stage. Even Hermes stopped talking and turned. Everyone watched as Loki slowly sank the dagger deeper.
With the seal torn open, Rudra's Arcanum broke free for a heartbeat. Divine pressure flooded off him in a wave that made the gods nearest the stage stumble back, and his golden light blazed bright enough to wash out the braziers. But the Dungeon's essence reached his Arcanum too, and before the fallen god could do anything, a terrifying purplish-red glow spread out from the wound. It crawled through his veins and up his neck, swallowing his golden light as it went, and when it reached his face, the gag over his mouth crumbled away.
With the gag gone, Rudra screamed. It was a blood-curdling sound, raw and endless, and it didn't stop. He cursed Loki, he cursed Freya, and he screamed both their names into the night, but the purplish-red glow kept spreading.
It burned. Every vein the glow touched was on fire, and the fire didn't stay in his body. It went deeper, into his Arcanum, and he could feel the Dungeon's essence eating into it piece by piece, chewing through the core of what made him a god. Along the glowing veins, his skin split open, and golden light bled out of the cracks, only for the purplish-red glow to swallow it too. Every time he thought it couldn't get worse, the glow found something new to tear apart.
Why the fuck am I going through this? Rudra thought through the pain. We all came down here to play. Every god in this city plays with mortals. Why is it me on this stage?
The glow sank in deeper, and his scream broke into a choked sob. When Erebus proposed that they plunge into the Dungeon and die gloriously, Rudra laughed at him and refused. Now, with his divinity rotting away from the inside, he wished he said yes.
In the crowd, Ishtar felt a chill run through her the moment her eyes landed on the Ouroboros in Loki's hands. Without meaning to, she took a step back. The plans she made and the meetings she held these past weeks flashed through her mind one after another, and she swallowed nervously.
On the other side of the Terrace, Dionysus calmly watched Rudra's agony. He felt that this much was worth it for a last-ditch effort to cause chaos.
Near the front, Astraea watched with pity. She wished it never had to come to this, and she couldn't understand why the other gods couldn't move past their prejudices. Beside her, she heard Ganesha's hands tighten at his sides.
Through all of it, Loki held the dagger in place and didn't look away. Rudra's screams filled the Terrace, and with every one of them, relief settled deeper in her chest. Her children were avenged. She hoped they would find peace in their next lives, and that by the time they grew up again, she and the others would have dealt with the problems of this world. At that thought, her gaze moved past the screaming god to where Max stood beside Freya.
Around the stage, her children stood unmoving. They lost nine of their own to him, and they wanted to see this through. Riveria closed her eyes and let a single tear fall, and beside her, Gareth bowed his head slightly. Finn never blinked, and his hands slowly loosened at his sides.
On the stage, Rudra's screams grew weaker as his golden light dimmed. The cracks across his body stopped bleeding light, and the purplish-red glow covered almost all of him. When his golden light finally sank to its dimmest, barely a flicker under the corruption, his screams cut off. For a moment, everything went still.
Then a pillar of golden light burst upward from where he knelt, so bright that it lit up every god and attendant on the Terrace, and it took him away from Gekai and back to Tenkai.
When the pillar faded, Rudra was gone. The Terrace of the tallest building in Orario stood in silence. Just the wind again, and far below, the astonished sounds of the city.
Loki lowered the dagger, but she didn't move from the spot. The relief was real, but it didn't bring anyone back. Nine chairs at her dinner tables would stay empty forever, and nothing that happened tonight would fill them.
But the ledger was no longer open. Tonight, one entry closed.
--> Devil in a Dungeon <--
AN:
That's a heavy chapter and I feel the last part from Loki stepping on the stage went away from me. Aside from that, we see the dynamics between Rimuru and Chloe, her prank and Rudra finally executed.
Obviously Hermes is back and this time with Itachi. That would be an interesting conversation and the Itachi is Gojo clone, repurposed. We also see other Gods reactions as well, interestingly.
We will jump to the Denatus in the next chapter and Loki familia going back to their home and Max's continued plans in the Dungeon.
Do share how you felt the chapter was. Was it good or did you feel it was a bit forced? Please share your feedback/suggestions on how to improve the story in a comment/review.
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Next update will be on Friday.
Ben, Out.
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