In the midst of the haunting silence of a stark white world—as a blindingly bright light forced every inhabitant of Orario to shut their eyes—Charlie's voice drifted out, incredibly soft, contrasting sharply with the destruction that had nearly occurred.
"The joke ends here."
*BOOOOMMMMMM—!!!*
In the next second, a colossal blast followed by a deafening, thunderous roar exploded from the heavens.
*PU-CHI!* *PU-CHI!* *PU-CHI!*
Simultaneously, a rapid succession of the sound of slicing flesh echoed faintly, nearly imperceptible to the senses as it was drowned out by the far louder thunder claps in the sky.
The blinding light gradually faded, and one by one, people began to recover their sight. Realizing they were still whole and healthy, many fell to their knees in gratitude, having just bypassed a catastrophe capable of annihilating Orario in an instant.
"Look at the sky!"
It was unclear who started the shout, but ordinary citizens, adventurers, and gods alike looked up in awe.
The sky above Orario now appeared incredibly bright, clear without a single cloud, whereas previously the sky had been heavy with overcast as if a storm could break at any moment.
Clearly, this was Charlie's doing. Since he could not cancel a technique that had already been unleashed, he chose to divert the nuclear explosion into the sky.
"Is this actually something a human can do?!"
In the area of the Empyrean Citadel, the gods stared at Charlie with various complex reactions, yet one emotion united them: an overwhelming, immense interest.
"I can't believe he's only a Level 6! The power he just showed is no less than that of the Empress!" one god said with absolute conviction, referring to the captain of the Hera Familia in her prime.
"Level 9? Wow... in that case, the alias 'Solo Leveling' no longer suits him. It seems we must hold another Denatus immediately to discuss a newer, grander alias."
"Geez... I'm so jealous of Hera. Why does that psycho goddess always get the best talents in the lower world?"
"No wonder Hera, who is usually so strict and only recruits women, went as far as breaking her own iron-clad rule. That youth's potential truly qualifies him for making her break the rules."
The gods and goddesses continued to chatter about how extraordinary Charlie was. If not for Hera's formidable name shielding the youth, they would surely have swarmed him by now, offering Familia contracts with sky-high incentives.
However, Hera's reputation was too terrifying; many of them harbored trauma from humiliating defeats in Heaven during their hundreds of millions of years of existence. They did not dare touch Hera's child.
"What should we do with them?"
Aishia stepped closer, pointing toward the corpses of the thirty-two attackers whose heads were now rolling on the ground.
Earlier, Charlie had exploited the crucial moment when everyone was dazed and had their eyes closed in the white world. Though he himself had to close his physical eyes, his Six Eyes were not affected in the slightest. In an instant, he had moved to decapitate his enemies before a single one of them could react.
It didn't matter if they were Evilus Level 2, 3, or 4, or even Creatures with Level 5 strength, up to Banshee who possessed power equivalent to Level 7; not one of them was able to survive. No matter how high their Endurance stats were, their necks were sliced cleanly under the sharpness of the Holy Sword Severian.
"Burn them. There's no point in letting their corpses rot here."
Charlie used the Hundred Gauntlets to identify the true identities of his attackers. His gaze lingered for a considerable time on the now-lifeless body of Banshee.
(You chose to serve the wrong god, Filvis Challia.)
(It is no exaggeration to consider you one of the most tragic characters in the entire Danmachi universe. Your life was truly filled with isolation, manipulation, and the loss of self.)
Through the manipulation of cause and effect, Charlie knew the pitiful background behind the figure of Banshee. Her true identity was Filvis, the captain of the Dionysus Familia.
In reality, Filvis had long since died, killed by a Corrupted Spirit when her entire Familia was slaughtered on the 27th Floor of the Dungeon.
After her death, the Corrupted Spirit implanted a magic stone into her corpse, giving birth to a "new Filvis" as a Creature like Revis.
Time and again Filvis had tried to commit suicide, but her body always forcibly regenerated. It was in that broken state of soul and body that she met Dionysus, who manipulated her with sweet words, turning her into a mere tool. He even created a magic called Ein to split all her negative thoughts and evil ambitions into a clone.
Simply put, Filvis was a portrait of what would happen if Ryuu Lion had been "unlucky." If Ryuu had never met and been saved by Freya's persona, Syr, there was a high probability Ryuu would have suffered the same tragic fate as Filvis.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
"I don't care who prevented that Evil God, I'm just saying thank you!"
Loki opened her eyes wide, wiping imaginary sweat flooding her forehead while exhaling a very long breath of relief. Her previously tense body now slumped limply into her chair, as if all her energy had just been drained by the passing horror.
"Don't you realize something is wrong, Loki?"
"Hm? What do you mean, Riveria?"
Loki looked at the 'Elf Mama' with an annoyed gaze. At a time like this, she absolutely hated having to solve riddles or think too hard. However, Riveria remained standing tall with a serious face, her eyes staring sharply toward the sky that was now clear of clouds.
"If this incident was started and stopped by a god releasing their Arcanum, then why did the phenomenon of Divine Ascension not appear in Orario's sky?"
"I was thinking the same thing."
Finn agreed with Riveria. The small-statured captain crossed his arms over his chest, his thumb tapping his elbow in a rhythm that betrayed his thoughts.
Originally, the primary executives of the Loki Familia were outside Orario to stop the invasion of the Kingdom of Rakia. However, the disparity in their strength was too lopsided; facing Rakia's regular army was for them no different than an adult bullying a baby.
Rather than wasting precious time, Finn eventually handed over the task of preventing the invasion to the Second String ranks, such as Raul Nord, Anakitty Autumn, and other adventurers, so that they could immediately return to headquarters.
"Eh? Now that you mention it... that is indeed strange. Very strange." Loki began to rub her chin, trying to find an answer. "If there really was a god 'cheating' by using their original power, the pillar of light for banishment should have been visible long ago. So, what actually happened?"
"The answer is simple, Loki. This entire commotion was not caused by any god. Therefore, doesn't it make sense that no Divine Ascension appeared?"
Riveria's answer sounded perfectly logical and reasonable, yet for anyone who had just felt that oppressive Mana pressure earlier, it was incredibly difficult to believe.
The destructive power shown by the purple dome and the explosion in the sky just now was too terrifying to be performed by an adventurer, even by a Level 6.
The reality that there was a human who possessed such power was a truth far more frightening than the invasion of the Kingdom of Rakia.
Loki waved her hand in the air, a dismissive gesture that tried to banish the remnants of tension still hanging in the hall of Twilight Manor.
"Enough, enough! Stop making such serious faces, Riveria, Finn! My head might burst if I keep thinking about things that make no sense." She grumbled while stepping toward her chair in a style that had returned to casual.
"Listen, a commotion that big—something that nearly made all of Orario wet their pants—it's impossible for anyone to just ignore it. Let the Guild deal with the headache. Royman and his lackeys must be scrambling right now. They will investigate and eventually make an official announcement to calm the masses."
Loki snorted softly, then grinned widely in her signature fashion.
"Let them do their jobs. We don't need to bother looking for the cause if they're going to spoon-feed it to us later. Whether it's an evil god, an ancient monster, or even a superhuman, let the Guild handle the bureaucracy."
However, suddenly Loki's expression changed. She stopped her pace and looked around the room, realizing there was one presence missing from their executive circle.
"By the way... where is Ais-tan?"
👨🏻💻Support me by reading on my Patreon: Patreon.com/cw/transenden or bit.ly/4uObLvf
☕Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/lovefanfiction
🛍️Benefits:
🎁Access 190+ chapters: [Anime Crossover: Making Money in Classroom of the Elite]
🎁Access Kamikawa Naoki
🎁Access 30 chapters: [Journey to Planar Word]
🎁Access 130+ chapters: [Infinity Reincarnation]
📜Update Schedule:
📨Translated Fanfiction: 3 chapters per day
📨Original Fanfiction: 1-3 chapters per day
👍🏻Thank you so much for your incredible support, everyone!👍🏻