Chapter 36 - Checkmate and the Reign of Darkness
After the apparent victory by surface world fighters and the Xenos, the tables quickly turned. First, communications was suddenly cut off from the headquarters. Then, almost everyone may have instantly lost all of the power of their Falnas. As terror set in, the 4 battle groups desperately tried to figure out what happened.
First, they were able to communicate with Hestia, but she also lost communications with the headquarters. She would contact them after trying to figure out what has happened from heaven.
Second, the 4 battle groups figured out that only the Xenos, Wiene, Ais and Mikoto retained their Falna powers, though they are unsure about Bell and Lili who remained unconscious. Team 1 & 2 members still seemed to be receiving 1 level of power from the level boosting group, which was apparently alright. Thus, Finn quickly deduced that the Hestia familia likely retained their powers. So it is likely that unconscious Bell and Lili also retained their powers. Furthermore, it was clear to Finn that something really bad happened at the headquarters but did not apparently affect the Haruhime boosting group.
As most of them had become powerless to protect themselves from deep level monsters, they all agreed that they must try to evacuate immediately. They could try to figure out what happened to headquarters as they head back up to the surface. Hopefully, Hestia would soon have answers for them.
With the decision made, teams 1 & 2 immediately removed the magic stones from the fallen enemy. Combined, there were magic stones from 2 level 9, 3 level 7 and 13 level 6. With the Xenos now the most powerful contingent in the group, it was critical that the magic stones be distributed carefully. From the battle, Wiene and Asterius had become the most powerful, but Wiene had already consumed the magic stones of 1 level 10, 2 level 9, and 2 level 6. Thus everyone agreed that the best strategy to boost the other Xenos as much as possible:
1. Asterius received 2 level 9 and 4 level 6. The boost appear to take him to at least level 8.
2. Gros received 1 level 7 and 3 level 6. The boost appear to take him to mid-level 7.
3. Lyd received 1 level 7 and 3 level 6. The boost appear to take him to mid-level 6.
4. Ray received 1 level 7 and 3 level 6. The boost appear to take him to mid-level 5.
5. Wiene did not receive any more. The previous stones appeared to take her to at least mid-level 7 pre-boost.
With the Xenos friends all powered up, the 4 battle groups merged together and quickly headed up the dungeon. The front of the group was headed by Wiene and Mikoto while Lyd and Gros protected the rear. Meanwhile, Ais, Asterius and Ray stayed in the middle to protect against attacks from the side. They realized the colosseums are going to be a real challenge...
As the large group headed up the dungeon, Hestia was trying to peer into the headquarters to see what happened. What she finally saw was disturbing, as all the gods had apparently vanished. After more careful searching, she also saw a red hair woman and some magical entity heading towards Telskyura from the headquarters. She was also able to see that the Haruhime group was apparently unharmed. She then checked in the various familias. Apparently all the gods had gone missing, and their children were desperately trying to figure out what was going on.
Thus, the enemy must have performed a daring end-run and went straight for the checkmate with surprise attacks against the gods on the surface world. Hestia then thought about Welf, but he did not have a communication stone. Fortunately, she was able to see that Welf and Tsubaki were still at the Hestia familia home but Hephaestus was missing. It appeared that Welf and Tsubaki were aware something was very wrong and were to figure out what to do.
Someone, probably Revis and Enyo, had checkmated them. With the report that the other Falnas had ceased to function, something happened to the gods on the surface world. Unfortunately, the surface world would be almost powerless against monsters from the dungeon. The red hair woman and the magical entity were most likely responsible, and they definitely fit the previous description of Revis and Enyo. At the end of the day, their enemies have successfully created a reign of darkness where monsters would run free all over the surface world.
Thankfully, Hestia is in heaven and probably safe from the magic used against her colleagues. Although she is no longer able to go to the surface world to use her divine power, there is still a fighting chance because her familia will retained her Falna powers.