Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
The Room of Prayer, the place where Ouranos resides. The room was truly enormous, dark, and empty; only the center was visible, where Ouranos sat on a small platform.
"Riveria Ljos Alf, Nine Hells." Ouranos said as I slowly approached.
"Ouranos-sama, it's a pleasure to meet you." I said, bowing with the appropriate courtesy, which was considerable; he was the god who kept the dungeon in place, and he deserved the utmost courtesy.
"Stand up, child of Loki. You claim to have information," Ouranos said, his eyes narrowed. I stopped, about to speak, when I saw a shadow in the darkness. I narrowed my eyes and stared at what appeared to be a specter. "You can see it," Ouranos said simply. I nodded.
"My eyes are good," I said simply.
"Even to see through invisibility?" the specter asked as it approached, no... not a specter, he/she? was Fels.
"Very nice eyes." I said with a smile. Fels just hummed.
"Enough, you said you had information about Freya, speak." Ouranos demanded. I stared at him.
"Oh yes, I lied about that," I said easily. Both Ouranos and Fels froze in place and stared at me.
"You lied..." Ouranos said slowly, "I could feel that he believed my words were true."
"Ottar is leaving, that's not a lie, and he'll follow Freya, I didn't lie about that either," I said honestly. Ouranos stopped and frowned. "I know where Freya is," I repeated. His eyes widened slightly. "But I won't tell you where she is, it's pointless to know, Freya won't return to Orario," I said honestly. Ouranos stared at me.
"Why are you here, then?" Ouranos asked. I could feel the weight of his divinity. I made a slight grimace, but I remained completely upright.
"The xenos." I said immediately. The presence of Ouranos grew stronger.
"What do you know?" Ouranos asked, glaring at me.
"They are intelligent, sentient monsters; they yearn for the surface." I said easily.
"What will you do with that information?" Fels asked. They had moved behind me, where the door was. I had seen them move, but I did nothing to stop them.
"Help them." I said easily, and that stopped them both in their tracks.
"Help them?" Ouranos asked with a frown. I nodded.
"Do you know I'm engaged?" I asked softly. Ouranos stopped and nodded. "Well, that person... is the same person who's married to the one you know as 'Alucard,' who sells magical items to the guild. Although Alucard doesn't actually exist, he's just a disguise for someone else." I said easily. Ouranos's eyes narrowed slightly.
"That doesn't tell me anything," Ouranos said easily. I nodded.
"This person is called Serena Prince. She's a king. She has a territory, a city with tens of thousands of people. She accepts anyone who needs help... she'll accept the Xenos." I said with a small smile. Ouranos's eyes widened slightly.
"Will you accept... the Xenos? Just like that?" Ouranos asked suspiciously. I chuckled slightly and nodded.
"Yes," I said simply and honestly. "The xenos won't... they won't be the most exotic thing there, really. They won't stand out, they won't be feared. In fact, strength is quite respected. The xenos will be able to make a life for themselves there." I said honestly. Ouranos and even Fels looked puzzled.
"That... is... hard to believe," Ouranos finally said, and I nodded.
"Xenos don't carry the same stigma as they do here," I said gently. In Orario, monsters and humans are destined to kill each other. People will hate it if it's discovered that they can speak and understand; many adventurers will hesitate in the middle of a dungeon and die for it.
"And what does she want?" Ouranos finally asked. "If she's the same woman who makes the magical artifacts, 'Alucard' has already made a deal with the guild. Most of our profits and magical artifacts go to her. We have nothing to trade for the xenos," Ouranos said. I blinked.
"I didn't ask for anything, and she doesn't want anything," I said easily. Ouranos just looked at me, confused.
"Really... you'll accept the xenos... just like that?" Ouranos asked, once again surprised. I chuckled and nodded.
"Yes, I'm serious, the city... was created for... for a weak race, to protect them, think of the Pallum, something similar. Serena doesn't need anything from you or them; besides, she shouldn't cause problems with the other people in the city." I told them as vaguely as possible. "And if you don't believe me... I was the one who helped the Xenos less than a month ago." I said easily. That stopped them both in their tracks, and I smiled slightly.
After defeating the remnants of Evilus and securing Knossos, I went after the Ikelos familia. It wasn't... difficult to track them down. My clairvoyance, which allowed me to see everything in the present, wasn't... as strong as I would have liked, but it was enough to scan the entire city until I found Ikelos.
It was… easy to find and exterminate the entire Ikelos familia. As for the god… Ikelos, he should be the Greek god of nightmares, but there was no need to keep two gods locked up in the mansion, so I had sealed and sold Ikelos.
Ikelos (T7) from Danmachi –SOLD [80]
The problem was that the familia had been trafficking in the Xenos, and they had some of them caged. So I took the time to return them to their hiding place in the dungeon with the rest without them noticing.
And I'd also left a large amount of supplies for them to use. I really didn't know what they'd need, or if they even ate normal food, but I'd left a little bit of everything to last them the rest of the month before I left.
With that, there really were no serious threats left for Orario. Knossos and Evilus were destroyed; the Xenos were being dealt with; Ikelos was gone; Rakia wasn't really a problem; Freya was in the Underworld; Dionysus/Enyo had also been sold out, so... there really were no problems left.
Except for one, the only truly worrying thing left was the corrupted spirits on the 60th floor: Regina's Revis and the corrupted spirit obsessed with Ais and Aria. But… they weren't really strong.
The corrupted spirit was weak; Reginas Revis was the real problem. With a base at level 8, it was… slightly worrying. I was going to lead the others to face Regina's Revis; that… would be enough to get us all a level boost.
If this had been months ago, when all six of us were just level 6, we would have been dead before we could even do anything to Regina's Revis. But with Serena's rings, everyone's stat boosts, and my magic... I was absolutely confident we could fight Regina's Revis and beat her.
After that… there shouldn't be any remaining threats to Orario and its people, beyond the danger of entering the dungeons. Even if all of this had been resolved thanks to Bell Cranel's intervention, I really wasn't going to expect a novice to solve everything, not when deaths were more than likely.
I didn't even bother thinking that I was taking away crucial points from Bell Cranel's rise as an adventurer. I would ensure my familia's safety before anything else. Bell Cranel would grow just as far as he maintained his momentum; he's barely 15.
"Was it you?" Fels asked gently, pulling me from my thoughts. I just nodded. Fels just looked at me and nodded.
"Thank you for helping them," Fels said affectionately. I shook my head.
"It was the right thing to do," I said simply.
" And I suppose that explains the disappearance of Ikelos and his familia," Ouranos said, looking at me. "I didn't feel him return to the sky." He narrowed his eyes, and I just smiled coldly.
"He didn't," I said easily. Ouranos continued to look at me as if he were waiting for an answer, but I remained silent. Ouranos finally sighed.
"Dionysus, Thanatos, and now Ikelos —they're all missing, but… I suppose as long as these disappearances don't happen to more gods, I wouldn't have any reason to start a search," Ouranos said easily. I just chuckled softly.
"And I suppose that since those gods cannot be found, there would be three slots for other gods to descend." I said easily. Ouranos stopped and nodded.
"I'll think about it," Ouranos said simply. "Then, the Xenos." He returned to the subject, and I nodded.
"Actually, we could have contacted them and made them the offer directly, but we wanted to warn them and not make the Xenos disappear suddenly." I said easily. Ouranos nodded.
"Thank you for that," Ouranos said easily. "I still can't believe she actually wants the Xenos in her city," Ouranos sighed.
"Could we visit them?" Fels asked gently. I shook my head and gave them an apologetic smile.
"As I said, the city exists to protect; it's inaccessible enough that you can't get there without someone to guide you," I said easily. Fels looked sad. "I could bring some of them along now and then so they can tell you how they're adapting to the city, and while they're at it, bring any new xenos that appear in the dungeon." I struck a compromise. Fels seemed delighted, and Ouranos, satisfied with that answer, finally nodded.
"Good," Ouranos said firmly. "You have permission, Riveria Ljos Alf. Though I still feel... in gratitude toward this Serena Prince." Ouranos said, and I could see a weight lift from his shoulders as he relaxed. I hummed. Really, there was nothing Serena wanted. I mean, there was Fels's magic.
But healing magic wasn't something Serena needed; resurrection magic was more desirable, but... Enid could achieve it just as easily, or even more so, and Serena also had the Grails.
"Hmm, you could do something for us. In fact, that was the second thing I came to talk about." I said, pulling two small artifacts from my pockets, then held them up. "These are teleportation points. Anything placed on them will be teleported to its counterpart." I said, showing him the artifacts.
"It's... small." Fels said, approaching immediately.
" They shrink, they expand, enough for a group of 6 to 10 people to enter at the same time," I said easily. I looked at the artifact in my hand. It was a simple... metal platform. On top was a huge teleportation magic circle that was attached to its counterpart. The only extra thing about it was the enormous platform underneath.
"Teleportation... from one place to another? Do they want to place it inside Orario towards... their city?" Ouranos asked cautiously. I blinked and shook my head.
"Oh no, you're misunderstanding, Ouranos-sama, they're meant to be placed inside the dungeon." I said easily, and Ouranos looked at me incredulously. "I have several. The idea is to have each of these platforms at the base of the dungeon, while their counterparts are distributed throughout the dungeon, say… every 10 floors. This way, it will be easy for adventurers to descend."
"The luggage issue was already resolved with storage bags and tents, but descending remains a big problem. Even if they don't present a challenge, most high-level adventurers arrived tired enough by the time they reached the deeper floors due to the number of monsters that accumulate on the middle floors, so their gain is... marginal at best."
"In this way, by shortening the need to travel, we can explore the dungeon deeper and deeper, map it correctly, and dive even deeper more comfortably," I said intensely; Ouranos's eyes were glassy.
"Do they work?" Ouranos asked forcefully. Fels had already snatched one from me and was beginning to study it.
"I... I have no idea, it doesn't seem to be made with any mystery, I can barely understand magic circles, this... is incredible." Fels said, fascinated, and I laughed amusedly.
"Yes, Serena is... truly amazing," I said honestly. "The spikes will pierce the dungeon, bond with it, and camouflage themselves from her sight, making her think they've always been there to prevent her from destroying or attacking them."
"To activate them, magic stones will be needed, so anyone can activate them, and since the magic stones also come from the dungeon, using that energy will provide even more camouflage to prevent the dungeon from noticing," I said easily. Both Ouranos and Fels seemed to think quickly.
"Can they be placed on any floor? Can anyone install them? How many pairs do you have? Can we order more?" Ouranos asked quickly.
"They can be placed anywhere, unfortunately, for the moment, only I can place them. As I mentioned to Royman, and I'm sure you heard, tomorrow I'm going on an expedition with Finn and the others. We'll descend as deep as we can, and I was planning to place as many teleportation platforms as I can along the way."
"I have at least 10 pairs, but I could order more, although I don't think we'll need them. Perhaps on the lower floors, it would be better to place them every five floors," I said easily. Ouranos frowned and nodded.
"This... this will revolutionize the entire dungeon expedition system. We could... we could actually reach the very depths of the dungeon," Ouranos said, a hint of excitement in his voice. I simply nodded. "You have permission. Place those teleportation platforms deep inside. I'll take care of containing the dungeon if anything goes wrong," Ouranos said without hesitation, a determination in his eyes that made me smile.
"I will, Ouranos-sama." I said firmly. Ouranos nodded.
"And... what was that favor? I don't think helping us explore the dungeon more efficiently would be considered a favor to her," Ouranos said dryly. I chuckled and shook my head.
"I'll let the guild decide how to manage the teleports to prevent adventurers from committing suicide by going down to floors that don't belong to them, and really, I was planning to give this away simply, exploring the dungeon is something that interests me too, so I didn't need any profit, and Serena agreed with me."
"But let's say... they could set a toll, a tax, a small fee or charge for each teleportation use, no matter how small, and I could give those profits to Serena. You can never have too many magic stones." I said, shrugging. Ouranos hummed softly.
"Deal," Ouranos said. "I'll take care of everything at the guild. You said they're leaving tomorrow, right? Do you need to place the first ones at the dungeon base?" Ouranos asked. I thought about it and shook my head.
"We can go up and down normally. I'll place the first ones on each floor, in safe places, near the entrances where there are no monsters. Once we go back up, and the guild has all the places ready, I'll place the other halves." I said easily, and Ouranos nodded.
"I'll take care of everything," Ouranos said easily.
"Can I come with you?" Fels asked immediately. "I'd like to see the process, at least of the first few floors." Fels said without hesitation, and I stopped and nodded.
"Well, you could also go and help me explain everything to the Xenos about moving. I'll need a few weeks until I return to the surface and sort out the rest, but it's best if they're ready to leave at any moment." I said easily. Fels nodded excitedly.
"Of course!" Fels said cheerfully. I smiled slightly. That settles everything. After that chat, I said goodbye to Ouranos and Fels.
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