The meeting room on the 30th Floor of the Tower of Babel was filled with the clamor of gods. No one paid attention to the extravagant decorations today, as the focus of every divine entity in the room was fixed on one main issue: the continuation of the Orariopiad. The grandest festival, designed to celebrate the era of heroes, had been indefinitely postponed due to the anomalous disappearance of Bell Cranel into a different timeline.
Now, after the youth had returned bringing victory from Floor 60 along with a group from the past, the gods and citizens of Orario demanded the festival be concluded immediately.
However, what made this Denatus vastly different was the person sitting in the leader's chair.
A black-haired youth with green-tipped braids sat leaning back with a bored expression. Venti, the God of Wind, rested his chin on one hand while twirling a quill pen over the marble table.
"I still don't understand why I have to lead this meeting," Venti complained, cutting straight to the point and interrupting the gods' debate. "I'm just a god dropping by from another timeline. Leading a formal, bureaucratic meeting like this is not my style at all."
Ganesha, who usually took the role of the Denatus facilitator, crossed his arms. "That's because you are the only god from outside this timeline, Barbatos! The presence of your familia is the root of all these delays. Furthermore, the entire city is extremely curious about the strength of the Familia from Another Timeline. The gods have agreed, you have the most right to set the stage for the Orariopiad finals!"
Loki, sitting in her chair, chimed in with a smirk. "Don't make so many excuses, Wind God. You've already messed up the order of this city by bringing those people who should be dead back here. Now, give us the entertainment we deserve."
Venti let out a long sigh. He had indeed refused at first, but after being urged by Hestia and driven by his own curiosity about how far the strength of the adventurers in this future had come, he finally accepted the role.
"Alright. Let's get this over with quickly then," Venti put down his quill pen. "But before I discuss the final format, I think there's someone itching to ask a question."
Venti glanced toward the blonde god sitting not far from him. Hermes stared at Venti with a sharp gaze; the messenger god's signature smile didn't entirely hide the tension on his face.
"You're very perceptive, Venti," Hermes said. He leaned forward, staring straight at Venti. "There's one thing that is severely bothering my logic. In our timeline, seven years ago Orario was nearly destroyed by The Great Feud. Zald and Alfia were Evilus executives who slaughtered many adventurers. They were the embodiment of pure despair. Even your Dina and Vena."
The atmosphere at the round table instantly fell silent. Hermes's eyes narrowed sharply.
"My question is simple. How could you recruit those four people into your Familia in your Timeline? What method did you use to make the Silence, the Gluttony, and the Dis Sisters join under your banner?"
That question was the greatest mystery that he and the entire Orario Familia wanted to solve. Zald and Alfia were Level 7 adventurers with anomalous power and perhaps Level 9 now. Making them familia members was not something that could be done with just sweet words.
Venti looked at Hermes calmly. He knew full well Hermes was looking for a weakness or an information loophole. However, Venti had no intention of divulging any information.
Therefore, Venti gave the shortest and most annoying answer possible.
"Maybe I just got lucky," Venti answered lightly, accompanied by an innocent smile.
Hermes's forehead twitched. A fine vein became visible on his temple. A "lucky" answer for recruiting two Level 9 adventurers was an insult to his analytical skills.
In his heart, Venti had to hold back a loud laugh. He looked at Hermes with amusement. If this hat-wearing god knew that in my timeline I didn't just recruit Zald and Alfia, but also successfully hijacked Asfi Al Andromeda into my Familia, he would definitely smash this table and cry blood, Venti thought.
Considering that the Hermes of this era relied heavily on Asfi's intelligence as his captain, the fact that Venti stole Asfi in the past was a little secret he thoroughly enjoyed.
"Lucky, you say..." Hephaestus sighed loudly, breaking the tension between Hermes and Venti. The blacksmith goddess shook her head firmly. "We're not going to get a sensible answer out of him, Hermes. Let it be. Barbatos, get back to the point of the meeting. What format have you prepared for this Orariopiad final?"
Venti sat up straight. His relaxed expression was replaced by seriousness.
"The format is very simple and straight to the point," Venti stated firmly. "For this Orariopiad final, I am inviting every Familia in Orario. Without exception. All adventurers from all factions are allowed to enter the battlefield."
Ganesha widened his eyes behind his mask. "Everyone?! Then who will be their opponents?!"
Venti grinned widely. "All the adventurers in Orario... against the four members of my Familia."
Hestia suddenly stood up from her chair. The twin-tailed goddess stared at Venti with a deathly pale face and heavy breathing.
"Are you crazy, Venti?!" screamed a panicked Hestia, her voice trembling violently. "I was there! I saw it myself when Zald first took off his cloak and showed his aura in my house! That insane pressure made my kids instantly collapse to the floor unable to breathe!"
Hestia remembered the horror in the living room of Hearth Mansion very clearly. When the air pressure radiating from that giant man was so dense and terrifying. Pitting all the adventurers of this city against four people didn't mean Orario had the numerical advantage; it meant handing the adventurers over to be defeated by monsters like Zald and Alfia.
Venti looked at Hestia calmly, then smiled faintly. "Calm down, Hestia. Precisely because of that, this is called a challenge. Besides, Zald himself entrusted this message to me for all of you."
Venti lowered his voice, mimicking the heavy and deadly pressure typical of the former Zeus Familia executive.
"Gather all your strength. If you come half-heartedly, I will crush your bodies and your resolve until not a single one of you can stand again. Prove to us that you are worthy of surpassing the era of the past."
That declaration of challenge, purely testing the endurance limits of Orario's entire combat force, instantly triggered a strong reaction in the Denatus hall. Instead of being afraid, the other gods were fired up by the provocation.
"Very tough!" Takemikazuchi glared at Venti, his war god blood boiling with enthusiasm. "An open challenge from legends of the past! None of my followers will run from this test!"
"Four people against an entire era," Hermes's smile bloomed again. He immediately brushed aside his earlier annoyance. "This is a war scenario far crazier than any labyrinth expedition."
Hephaestus interrupted, voicing her practical analysis. "Hold your enthusiasm for a moment. If we combine all of Orario's adventurers against the power of Zald and Alfia, the Colosseum arena or any facility inside the city walls will not be adequate at all. One large-scale magic clash or the impact of their physical attacks would destroy the surrounding residential district structures."
"I agree," chimed in Miach with a serious face. "We need a location immune to mass destruction."
Venti had already anticipated this issue. He pulled out a map scroll of Orario and its surroundings, then unrolled it on the table. His hand pointed to a vast area located east of the city walls.
"We will hold it here," Venti said. "The Great Plains."
The gods immediately examined the map. The choice of location was purely based on tactical calculations. The Great Plains was a vast geographical area, with boundaries beyond the visible eye.
Its main characteristic was a totally open terrain consisting purely of grassy plains. There were no natural defensive fortresses. No giant trees to hide behind. No cliffs or mountains that could be used for ambush tactics. Historically, this area was only used for massive line battles, such as wars between kingdoms.
On these plains, guerrilla tactics became useless. Everything would depend on raw clashes of power, long-range magic artillery fire, and how strong the frontline (Vanguard) could withstand the impact. In this place, Alfia, Zald, Dina, and Vena could unleash their maximum power without worrying about destroying civilian buildings.
"A totally open battlefield," Loki muttered, analyzing the situation. "That means the Orario forces must build an absolutely solid Vanguard line at the front to protect the mages at the back. If the frontline breaks, Zald will decimate the backline in a matter of seconds."
"This is a pure test of strength and tactical formation!" exclaimed Ganesha excitedly. "The location and format are agreed upon! All Orario Familias against the Barbatos Familia on the Great Plains! So, when will we hold this event?"
Venti crossed his arms over his chest. "Orario is currently celebrating the success of the Floor 60 expedition. If we wait too long, the momentum will be lost. How about three days from now?"
"No."
A firm, calm voice carrying absolute pressure cut through the entire discussion. All eyes at the round table instantly turned to Goddess Freya.
The goddess of beauty did not stand up. She merely sat with her legs elegantly crossed, but her silver gaze implied an authority that accepted no refusal.
"Three days is too soon, Venti," Freya said, staring straight at Venti. "The final event will be held two weeks from now."
Loki glanced at the goddess. "What's your intention stalling for two weeks, Freya? Don't tell me your precious boar is scared and needs a long time to mentally prepare himself to fight Zald?"
Freya wasn't baited by Loki's provocation. She smiled mysteriously.
"This is not about fear, Loki," Freya answered in a very convincing tone. "It's about the worthiness to stand on that stage. Right now, Ottar and the captain of the Baldr Familia, Leon Vardenburg, are not on the city's surface."
Hestia's eyes widened in shock. "Wait... they went down into the Dungeon again?!"
Freya nodded slowly. "Correct. Ottar and Leon Vardenburg are in the depths of the labyrinth. They descended to the lower floors purely to hunt ruler-class monsters and harvest Excelia. Two weeks is the time I need for them. When they return from the labyrinth later... Orario will highly likely have two new Level 8 adventurers."
Freya's statement slammed into all the gods in the room like a sledgehammer.
Hermes tilted his hat, his eyes shining brightly with a flash of extraordinary excitement. His gaze was full of the intrigue of a highly enthusiastic hero observer.
"Two new Level 8s..." Hermes chuckled softly, a wide smile blooming perfectly on his face. "Ottar and Leon putting aside factional rivalry and going down together to break through the strongest limit? Amazing... Truly a stage scenario I never thought I would witness this soon!"
Hermes clapped his hands softly, admiring destiny moving so crazily. For a god obsessed with the birth of true heroes like Hermes, seeing the two strongest adventurers of this era unite and break the Level 8 limit purely to challenge monsters from the Zeus and Hera era was the most precious entertainment ever.
Far below the surface of Orario. In the depths of the gloomy and deadly lower floors of the Dungeon, the thick stench of monster blood evaporated into the air.
In the middle of a ruined labyrinth hall, dozens of high-level monster carcasses lay lifeless. Their magic crystals had shattered and turned into blowing ash, indicating a massive slaughter that had just occurred.
In the midst of that sea of ash, Leon Vardenburg sheathed his greatsword. His golden armor was covered in scratches and soot, his breath panting after unleashing a relentless series of magic slashes.
"The fifth wave on this lower floor is finally clear," Leon said flatly, sweeping his gaze around the now-silent labyrinth hall.
In front of him, Ottar stood tall with his black greatsword planted in the ground. The boar-man's body radiated hot steam. He had just deactivated his Beastification ability. His massive muscles were covered in scratches and sweat mixed with rock dust.
"It's still not enough," Ottar's heavy voice echoed, his feral eyes staring straight at the tunnel leading to the deeper floors. "Just hunting ordinary monsters on the lower floors won't provide enough soul pressure to break through the Level 8 wall."
Leon shook the blood off his gauntlets. He recalled the moment when the two of them fought in the depths of the labyrinth during the Loki Familia rescue mission. Back then, right after the battle against the ruler monster was over and the threat subsided, Leon stepped closer to Ottar while he was fighting Balor.
"Both of us are stuck at the absolute peak of Level 7," Leon had said back then in a cold, calculating tone. "That Zald from the Other Timeline is in his prime condition. He is technically a monster. If we advance with our current strength at the festival later, we will only end up humiliated in front of all of Orario."
Ottar hadn't argued. He stared at Leon in a gripping silence.
"Work with me, Ottar," Leon offered an absurd alliance. "We go down to the deepest floors. We hunt ruler monsters without pause. We gather high-quality Excelia together. We break through that Level 8 wall, and we force that old monster to fight seriously."
Ottar immediately agreed. A surprising decision, but a very reasonable one.
For Ottar, Zald's challenge was not just a festival event. It was a warrior's pride that he had to settle. Seven years ago, during the time of The Great Feud, Ottar had faced Zald directly. That fight ended in the greatest humiliation of Ottar's life.
Zald, who was already coughing blood and dying from the behemoth's poison at the time, defeated Ottar with absolute ease. But what infuriated Ottar wasn't the defeat, it was the fact that Zald pitied him. Zald let Ottar live. Zald intentionally made himself a whetstone, letting Ottar attack him repeatedly so that Ottar could gather Excelia and level up.
Being pitied by an enemy on the battlefield was a pain far deeper than any sword thrust.
I will not let that humiliation happen again, Ottar's mind roared, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly. This time, you will not look at me with pity, Zald. I will make you use all your strength, and I will defeat you as an equal fighter!
Ottar turned towards the dark corridor leading to the Floor 50 tunnel. "Let's move, Leon. We only have two weeks. Don't waste time."
Leon nodded slowly. "Let's show those legends of the past that this generation has surpassed them."
Back to Floor 30 of the Tower of Babel.
The news about the grinding alliance between Ottar and Leon silenced all the gods in the room in awe. The air boiled with palpable anticipation.
Venti stood up from his leader's chair. He looked at the faces of all the gods and goddesses around him with a satisfied gaze.
"Two weeks! Perfect timing!" Venti exclaimed with a loud voice and a confident smile. "That's enough time for your children to evolve, and enough time for me to prepare the stage!"
Venti pointed to the map of the Great Plains on the marble table.
"Pass this on to all your children. Prepare their strongest weapons, get the best recovery potions ready, and sharpen their ultimate magic. Two weeks from now, the Great Plains will bear witness to the clash between the future that refuses to surrender, against the past that refuses to be forgotten!"
Venti smirked, issuing a final challenge that shook the room.
"Make sure they come with the intent to kill, gods of Orario. Because the Barbatos Familia... will never hold back."
With that declaration ending the Denatus, the prologue to the most devastating war on the plains of Orario officially began. Two weeks was the time remaining before new history was carved upon the boundless grassy fields.
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