Flames erupted with a thunderous explosion that tore through the sky. A torrent of searing heat, capable of incinerating even high-level adventurers, surged outward, licking the cobblestones and scorching the skin of everyone nearby. Though small, the bomb—crafted from materials scavenged from the Deep Floors—possessed more than enough power to reduce a human being to ash.
Amidst the billowing glow and scorching winds, the air shimmered under the intense heat and pressure. Stone fragments flew like shrapnel, and thick black smoke choked the surroundings.
"What? Is this real? Did you protect me...?"
Ardee had been shoved away. Now, staring back at the spot where she had stood moments before, she saw the boy who had pushed her. His body stood at the heart of the inferno, engulfed by the searing flames.
"── Heh, heh, hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah!!"
"Are you watching this, you bastard Thanatos?! Ahehe, hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah ──!!!!"
Valletta unleashed a fit of hysterical laughter she couldn't suppress. Resting her sword on her shoulder, she watched the scene unfold. She laughed loudly, running her fingers through her poisonous, pale pink hair, screaming with a joy that signaled a total victory. Her laughter echoed across the battlefield, quickly spreading panic and confusion among the adventurers.
"This... can't be real."
"── Damn it!! Alise, Kaguya!! Get away from those on the ground!!"
Ryuu, who had been fighting nearby, witnessed the strongest member of her group—her companion in the Astraea Familia and the boy younger than her—burn before her eyes. She lost her composure and nearly sprinted toward Al.
Thick black smoke and the stench of burning blood obscured the center of the blast. However, the sight of the walls and floor, gouged as if a dragon had gnawed them with its fangs, made one doubt that any "remains" could be intact. Faced with this, Ryuu's mind went completely blank.
Lyra, a Prum (Pallum), was the quickest to regain her cool, fully aware of her own weakness compared to the others. She grabbed Ryuu's arm to stop her from charging and shouted to her teammates. In the Age of Gods, where "quality trumps quantity," the enemy had integrated low-level foot soldiers—some without even a Blessing—into the fray as "suicide soldiers" carrying self-destruct devices.
── "If you die and take an adventurer with you, you will meet your departed families and loved ones in the afterlife." These were believers seduced by the words of that evil god.
"── Truly?!"
"Oh Lord... take this soul, and deliver it to the one I love ──!!"
As if the first blast was a signal, human fireworks began to detonate throughout the battlefield, not just around Alise and her group. Screams from adventurers caught in the explosions filled the air.
Amidst the booming laughter of the "Murderess Empress," the entire battlefield plunged into chaos. The rabble of the Dark Faction vastly outnumbered the adventurers, regardless of their combat quality. As explosions began to ripple outward like fire igniting a fuse, all semblance of military control vanished.
This brutal onslaught did not spare the Astraea Familia, who stood stunned by the apparent death of the boy who was like a younger brother to them. The successive shockwaves from the suicide bombers sent everyone flying, slamming them hard against the walls.
The Ganesha Familia, who had been protecting the shocked Ardee, fared no better. Flying debris from every direction, propelled by explosions and extreme heat, battered them. Warehouse walls crumbled one after another in a chain reaction, and clouds of dust rose from the falling rubble.
(Simultaneous detonations of all enemy soldiers ── the facility won't hold ── they want to crush us along with the building ──!!)
"Shakti, Lyra, retreat!!"
"I know!! But... Ryuu, Ardee, stop!! That's enough!!"
The relentless explosions began to sound like a never-ending crackle of fireworks. Sensing the enemy's intent through the storm of fire, some began trying to flee the building. The bombs continued to detonate in sequence, and the structure began to collapse. Valletta had already blocked the exit. If they stayed, they would be buried alive.
Alise and Lyra, the quickest to recognize the danger despite the shock of losing their comrade, shouted at Ryuu, who was still trying to reach Al, and at Ardee, whom Shakti was forcibly pulling away. Alise, Lyra, and even Shakti—the only Level 4 present—all realized that with the loss of Al, who represented their greatest striking power, they could only try to flee and minimize further casualties.
"── Al!!"
"It's a lie, a lie, a lie... Why did you protect me?! Why?!"
"Are we leaving that brat behind? That means ──"
Kaguya, usually the picture of cold composure, showed a rare flash of emotion. An internal struggle played out in her trembling eyes.
"Damn it... I know!! But don't go. Do you really think we can reach him?! We'll be buried alive too!!"
Agonizing screams blended with the booming symphony of fire. As the building crumbled, Alise and Kaguya began to move, gritting their teeth against the pain. Meanwhile, the group's strategist, Lyra, issued harsh orders through her own anguish, telling them to take Ryuu and Ardee and flee.
──────── Leaving behind Al, who had fallen where he stood.
"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!"
"── What a wonderful chorus!! This is amazing!! This is what I've always wanted to do!!"
"Come, let the banquet begin!! Scream with those beautiful voices!! Then die!! Hah hah hah hah hah!!"
"I won't let anyone escape. The commoners, the adventurers, even the gods—I'll exterminate everyone!! After all, this is the 'Great Feud' between good and evil!!"
"── Filvis!! You, rest now!! You were on the verge of Mind Down a moment ago!!"
"No...!! I will fight too!! I'll show them my strength!!"
In a corner of the battlefield, a medium-sized group fought the Dark Faction as if in trench warfare, covered in ash and soot. They were members of the Dionysus Familia. These followers held absolute loyalty to their god, Dionysus, and were ready to sacrifice their lives for him. Their morale was incredibly high; everyone was doing their utmost to protect Orario, believing that defeat was not an option.
The girl who shook her head, refusing the captain's request, was an Elf who looked to be in the prime of her youth—or rather, she could still be described as a child. The girl named Filvis was the youngest person there. Though her beautiful, fairy-like face was smeared with soot and her flawless black hair trailed behind her, her crimson eyes burned with resolve. Her beauty suggested she would grow into a noble and enchanting Elf. Despite her age, she was a pillar of the Familia's strength, showcasing her skills as a mage without hesitation.
"In this battle to protect Orario from the Dark Faction, I cannot rest alone!! Even that person!! Lord Dionysus, surely his heart aches to see this hideous battle!! I will do anything—support, defense, or attack!!"
Her name was Filvis Challia. Dressed in combat gear resembling white shrine maiden robes, she gripped her large sacred wood staff and began casting spells, targeting the Dark Faction soldiers rushing toward them.
"In the north of the city, the Freya Familia reserves and first-tier adventurers are stationed!! I'll leave the protection of the Guild and the industrial area entirely to them!! We won't send reinforcements!! In case of an emergency, request instructions from 'The Braver'!! I will entrust him with full command authority in the North!!"
●○●○●
In the "Central Park" located directly in front of the Tower of Babel—the city's final line of defense and its command headquarters—Finn Deimne stood. The captain of the Loki Familia, one of the few first-tier adventurers, and the supreme commander of this battle, he issued orders to various Familias arriving with battlefield updates.
"The attack in the south is too fierce!! Send the combatants from the Ishtar Familia, and Tsubaki and her group from the Hephaestus Familia as well!! We will concentrate our forces from the South to the Southwest!!"
(Our losses are already heavy. However, we can manage. If we deploy under the leadership of first-tier adventurers, we can bridge the gap in strength. This is 'Orario,' the Labyrinth City. If this turns into a total war encompassing the entire city, no force can match us. The Dark Faction should know that well.)
The use of suicide bombers and fire stones was a significant threat, especially since the enemy used them without hesitation and with enough power to kill even high-level adventurers. Many had already fallen. However, this was a city of adventurers who treated "The Unknown" as their enemy. Despite the power of the blasts, those carrying them were mere rabble with levels close to ordinary humans. Strategies to counter these suicide soldiers were quickly established; they began harvesting them from a distance using magic swords, spells, and arrows. The terror of the suicide threat only lasted initially; if the battle continued, losses would occur, but it would end in victory for Finn and his allies.
Ultimately, battles in the Age of Gods depended on "quality, not quantity." As long as the other side did not possess a force capable of crushing the first-tier adventurers of the Loki and Freya Familias, or the Level 4 second-tier adventurers from powerful Familias like Ganesha and Ishtar, the situation remained manageable.
Because of this, the most important task now was to monitor and contain the movements of the enemy leaders who equaled first-tier adventurers and to maintain the city's defensive lines. Slaughtering an enemy trying to breach the city from a single point was much easier than fighting defensive battles throughout the entire city. Therefore, the rush from the South had to be curbed first, which would provide enough security in the North and East.
The targets to watch were the powers equivalent to the first-tier: Valletta, the mastermind of the Dark Faction, a ferocious woman who loved nothing more than a massacre. And the leaders of the two Familias feared even within the Dark Faction for their extremism: Vaisram, the hideous beastman and acting leader of the Abatt Familia, specialized in crushing and looting under a false banner. And the Dis sisters, the captain and vice-captain of the Alecto Familia, the extremist combat wing that harbored the worst demons. All were lunatics who killed innocents just like Valletta, and they were the enemies who had to be crushed here.
(The throbbing in my thumb is getting stronger... what are they planning after all this?)
Because of this, Finn could not read the mind of Valletta, the enemy's field commander, who presumably understood the situation as well as he did. Finn's intuition continued to whisper to him that the worst was yet to come.
"Captain!! The Familia holding the Southwest has been wiped out!! The high-level adventurers... they're all dead!!"
"──!! Is it Valletta?"
"── No!!"
Finn's eyes widened at the report from Raul, who arrived breathless. It seemed Finn's intuition had hit the mark. The annihilation of a significant number of high-level adventurers could not be the work of suicide devices alone; it was the result of massive individual power. Finn guessed it might be the work of the enemy's first-tier-equivalent leaders, but this time, his god-like prediction was wrong.
"They were defeated by a warrior carrying a massive sword... and a witch... they were defeated in an instant by just two people..."
Destruction spread everywhere. The suicide soldiers of the Dark Faction lit their fuses, exploding one after another, eager to drag adventurers with them into death. It was a scene like flowers of blood blooming on the battlefield—beautiful in its ugliness and cruelty. Those fires of death did not stop at adventurers; they spread to burn the city and its people.
Fire engulfed the city, and buildings collapsed. The blaze spread in the blink of an eye, and people fled in every direction. The sight was a portrait of hell. One person burned their life to join their family in the next world; another sacrificed themselves to protect those they loved. The rabble of the Dark Faction died simply, without fear of the end, as if death were their only salvation. The sounds of explosions rang out like a testament to their end, striking terror into hearts and reaping innocent souls.
But amidst this chaos, the adventurers fought with everything they had. Through the roar of explosions, the smoke of fires, and the dust of blood, they battled valiantly. Despite the flashes from the suicide bombers, and despite the screams and the noise, they fought with the resolve of those who do not fear death. However, the numerical gap between the adventurers and the suicide bombers was so great that it outweighed the power gap. Soon, the adventurers began to fall as they reached their limits, allowing the Dark Faction rabble to seize the opportunity and plunge their blades into their bodies without mercy. A hell of screaming and wailing.
"....."
Amidst all this, one woman stood alone, completely silent as if she did not belong to this place. Her eyes, visible from behind her hood, held no emotion. She showed no interest in the battlefield stretching before her, simply standing there. If one listened closely, the sounds of explosions were everywhere, and from afar, screams and the clashing of swords and the gusts of magical battles echoed. Yet, she did not flinch. She was just there, embodying "stillness" in the heart of destruction.
"What are you doing?"
A cold voice rang out, piercing that "stillness." Realizing the words were directed at her, the woman finally reacted. She turned slowly to find the emerald-haired Elf and first-tier adventurer of the Loki Familia. It was Riveria Ljos Alf, the High Elf whose beauty sparked the envy of goddesses. Behind her stood Gareth Landrock, the Dwarf warrior and a pillar of the Loki Familia, gripping his battleaxe with a grim expression. Both realized this woman was the only anomaly on the battlefield and that, in this place, certain priorities had to be addressed above all else.
"A hateful noise, but a melody that will not echo again. I am listening to it. This is my form of listening and silent prayer."
The woman's tone did not change in the face of Riveria's storm-like mana, nor against the killing intent radiating from Gareth. She phrased her words calmly, coldly, in a monotonous voice devoid of life. Her response was far from what Riveria and Gareth's questions demanded.
"No matter how annoying it is, one feels sorrow at its loss. Is that not the way of humans?"
Her quiet voice echoed like the surface of a strangely still lake amidst the surrounding noise. Her words seemed directed at herself before others.
"── Your actions are not those of a human. What is this spreading beneath your feet?"
A voice charged with anger pierced the woman's chest, but she showed no disturbance. She ignored Riveria's anger and continued coldly.
"── Many corpses."
Beneath the woman's feet were the corpses of men and women, "shattered" as if a dragon had chewed them. Furthermore, the bodies of adventurers with blown-off limbs and gaping holes in their chests were scattered around her, their entrails strewn about. All had been alive until recently. She looked at them with a cold gaze, as if they were mere stones on the road, and spoke without emotion, as if stating the obvious.
"── Enough. Atone for these atrocities with your life!! [Storm, O three winters of eternal frost ── I am Alf]!! [Wynn Fimbulvetr]!!"
Riveria channeled her fury into her spell, manifesting an emerald magic circle. The power of ice manifested at the tip of her staff instantly, and an absolute-zero freezing wind surged toward the woman. A storm of thick snow and howling winds. The absolute-zero gale attacked to swallow the woman, but she merely raised her hand and whispered a single word calmly.
──────────── [Silentium Eden]
In that moment, the freezing storm rushing toward the woman froze completely. No, rather, it vanished. The magic Riveria had unleashed—the absolute cold—vanished entirely, as if hitting an invisible wall.
"Vanished?! ── No, negated?!"
Astonishment colored Riveria's emerald eyes, widening them to their limit. Impossible. This couldn't be real. A spell of this power canceled by a single, ultra-short chant?! Yes, this wasn't just a magical collision that led to dissipation; it was pure "negation." But faced with this impossible phenomenon of the spell's effect being canceled, Riveria felt a strange "familiarity." She remembered seeing a similar scene a very long time ago.
The woman cut off Riveria's thoughts by raising her hand, and a massive amount of mana began to concentrate with terrifying speed.
"Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh ──!!"
Gareth, sensing the surge of mana, let out a battle cry and charged, swinging his great axe. But the woman did not flinch; she waved her arm. With that movement, mana completed with just a single word burst forth.
──────────── [Genos Angelos]
"Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!"
"Gareth?!"
In the next moment, sound vanished from the world. No, rather, sound exploded. The very concept of sound exploded and disappeared. A lightning strike resulting from a shocking sonic wave surged across the battlefield. That wave easily sent the great Dwarf warrior flying, launching him like a projectile into the wall with immense force. A crushing, destructive power had blown away a first-tier adventurer specialized in defense with massive "Endurance" stats in a single hit. Gareth barely managed to stay upright by using his axe as a crutch, but his body was trembling. That shockwave, though merely a side effect, struck Riveria's entire body.
"You are still as noisy as ever. It seems nothing has changed in eight years."
A quiet voice that didn't suggest it had just unleashed the trumpet of destruction. Before the trembling Riveria and her companions, the woman spoke coldly. The magic negation and the trumpet of destruction—both completed with just one word—were terrifying.
"This destructive magical power... could it be...!!"
"This unique ability that has no equal... You!!"
Gray hair emerged from under the hood, and heterochromatic eyes glowed within. These were the same features as the greatest witch who had once sat upon the throne of Orario.
"── 'Silence' Alfia!!"
Their voices overlapped, charged with terror and awe. They screamed the name of the woman who represented the symbol of "Despair." The response was a silent confirmation. Before that despair, Riveria and Gareth's expressions changed drastically.
"The woman gifted with the greatest 'talent' among followers since the beginning of the Age of Gods. The embodiment of talent, and the monster of 'The Calamity of Genius'!!"
At that time, and at only sixteen years of age, she had reached the rank that no hero in Orario currently possesses: Level 7. The strongest mage in the city's history. The divine genius who was capable of reaching even the peak of history.
"Were you alive, O follower of the strongest goddess...!!"
●○●○●
< Al Cranel's Perspective >
──── Amazing!!
Ahehe heh heh heh heh heh!!
Ah, this face, and this voice—this is what I wanted!!
Ah, amazing ────────!!
I can't resist; seeing the faces of Ardee and the others like that!!
I can't stop smiling... if I'm not careful, I'll burst out laughing...
It's fine to be buried alive and die like this, but...
Whether with "demons," "elf soldiers," "gluttony," or even "silence"... Orario is full of opportunities right now.
If I must die, let it be a "Great" death!!
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[100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
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