It hurt. A lot. Man, I almost felt bad for Dix because of this curse. Almost. He did say he was going to torture us, so I couldn't really feel all that sympathetic. Putting the thought of mortal suffering behind me, I moved back to my original body and made sure to first grab my 'Soul Jar'. Inside I saw Dix's soul, and it was almost like a gross dark green ooze. After that, I grabbed my mini chest and activated my Secret Chest. Pulling a health potion out of the now full sized chest, I poured it over my sleeping self. Shockingly, the potion did nothing to close my body's wound.

Casting Identify on my body showcased the issue. I, too, had been cursed. Apparently, Dix's weapon cursed whomever it stuck, preventing them from healing. That was terribly annoying, but not too much of a concern with how shallow the wound was. Still, I didn't want to risk an infection or opening the wound further as I moved my body, so I was left with no choice but to cast Counterspell on my inert body to remove the curse and use a second potion to heal the wound. That left me with only one more tier three spell for the day. thankfully, I could cast counterspell at a higher tier if it came down to it, but hopefully, that wouldn't be necessary.

Now that my body was properly taken care of, I made sure to poke around the bodies of Dix's allies. Thanks to his curse, I knew there were keys that would work on every door of Knossos. Grossly, those keys were the literal eyes of the descendants of Daedalus. As gross as it was, I needed that eye. After a few minutes of scavenging it, I found the key on Gran's corpse. I needed the key to be somewhere safe for now, so I just tossed it into my Secret Chest and dispelled it, making the chest tiny again.

Lifting my body over my shoulder, I started making my way back to the Xeno's hideout. Naturally, everyone was extremely upset by the fact that a stranger walked in holding the body of their friend. Something I honestly should have thought of beforehand, but in my defense, it was difficult to think with all of these damn voices from the curse in my head.

"Hey, wait, it's me!" I shouted as Bell tried to cut my throat open, and I had to use my spear to block a sword strike from Lyd.

'Pride back me up here!'

As I had communicated that to Pride, I saw him fly past me and begin to flutter in front of Bell's face while cawing madly in order to stop him from attacking me. Taking the opportunity I had tried to reason with Lyd. "Lyd, this is one of my spells. I possessed this guy."

"Is this that Soul Jar spell you told us about?" I heard Lili ask.

"Yeah, I found this guy and a few other adventurers sneaking around this floor. They had planned on killing us and capturing the Xenos, so I possessed their leader." I explained. The Xenos seemed suspicious of my claims, but thankfully, everyone in the Hestia familia believed me.

"So why do you come back in his body instead of your own?" Gross asked, looking as if he just wanted an excuse to kill me.

"This guy has information I need, so we need to bring him up to the surface alive. It just so happens to be that remaining in control of his body is the easiest way to do that." I explained.

"Why do we need this guy alive?" Welf asked.

"I found out where the terrorists are likely hiding." I proclaimed, "This guy is cursed with knowledge of a man made dungeon called Knossos. Seeing as I possessed his body, this curse also affects me now."

"What happens now?" Veneficus asked.

"Well, now we make our way back up to the surface, find out what we can from this guy, and rally an army to siege Knossos." I explained.

"And what about us?" Lyd asked. I wasn't really sure what to say. I mean, it would be nice if they helped, but they didn't really have a stake in this fight.

"I'm sure it would help put you and your kin in a positive light if you were to help in the attack, but this isn't your fight, so you don't need to help us." I said.

"I see. We will discuss this matter. Would you care to return to us before you make your attack?" Lyd asked as the rest of the Xenos were murmuring amongst themselves.

"No problem Lyd. Bell, let's go." I said with authority. I didn't want to stay inside of this cursed body any longer than I had to. Bidding our farewells to the Xenos, we made our way out of the dungeon post-haste.

"So what are we going to do about this specifically?" Welf asked as we made our way up.

"I'm going to speak to the Loki familia. Their higher level executives will be able to physically restrain this guy, and we can properly interrogate him. Bell, you make your way to the guild and ask for someone called Fels. Tell him that I need to speak with him. The rest of you get home and tell Hestia what I've told you." I said as we trudged through the dungeon all while I ignored voices from the curse.

'Pride, I actually want you to make your way to Loki. Warn her that i'm coming in Dix's body and not to attack me when I arrive'

'Understood'

It hadn't taken much longer for us to reach the surface, and I had immediately headed to the Twilight manor. There, I found Loki, Fin, and Pride waiting for me at the gate.

"Matthew? There's always something new with you, huh?" Loki asked, looking at me carrying my own body when I arrived.

"Hey Loki, mind if we head inside. Possessing this guy is miserable." I whined. Fin nodded and began leading me inside while Loki was busy poking and prodding at my comatose body.

"Can you feel this?" She asked, pulling on my cheek.

"No. For all intents and purpose, my body may as well be dead right now. It has no soul." I explained as we walked.

"And what about this guy's soul?" She asked poking at Dix's body. To that, I simply showed her the oozy dark green magic stone.

"Is that really a soul? Neato." She said, trying to grab at it. Naturally, I pulled it away before she could, but the attempt was cute. As I spoke with Loki, Fin led us into a room where the rest of the Loki familia executives were waiting. And also Lefiya, but I don't think she was an executive. Ignoring that, I placed my comatose body down on one of the couches and laid it in a way that should be somewhat comfortable before sitting next to Tiona and Gareth.

"Okay, so most importantly, I should inform all of you that this man, Dix, is cursed with knowledge from his predecessors. When I possessed his body, that curse passed onto me, and I learned of the existence of a man-made dungeon under the city. I suspect that's where the terrorists are hiding. This guy can confirm whether or not that's the case though." I explained as the Loki executives were listening intently.

"So we question this fellow and find what they're hidin in the dungeon?" Gareth asked, and I nodded in response.

"Do you know what level this man is?" Finn asked. I just shook my head. I knew he was powerful, considering I was him, but I didn't know exactly how powerful. "Would you care if we used a status revealer on you?"

"I don't know how that would work considering my soul is in his body. Wouldn't it be better for me to leave first?" I asked. If need be, I was willing to show my status. In a worst case scenario, the Loki familia declared a war game on us after this whole Knossos deal was over and by that time I would Likely have access to tier seven spells, and while I don't remember exactly what was available, it had to have been stupid strong.

"Nae. Tiona, help me hold the lad down." Gareth said as the two of them suddenly grabbed me and twisted my arms behind my back, preventing me from moving. I struggled against Tiona and Gareth for a moment, not actually trying to escape, but to ensure they had a good grasp on Dix.

"Okay, I'm going to return Dix's soul to him. Be ready." I said, giving them a few seconds to prepare themselves before returning my soul to the magic stone and returning Dix's soul in the process. I could have remained in the Soul Jar, but now Dix would have a greater resistance to possession for a short while, so it would be best to be in my own body.

I awoke in my own body once more to the sound of Dix screaming in a bloodied rage. "You little bastard! I'm going to kill you!"

"Nice to meet you as well." I remarked sarcastically before noticing him begin to chant. Unfortunately for poor Dix, this attempt at an attack only prompted Tione to get up and punch him in the teeth. Even if Tione hadn't preformed caveman dentistry, I was ready to cast Counterspell the second the chant had finished. "Want to try that again? Or are you ready to behave?"

"Fuck you!" Dix spat. Well how am I going to make him cooperate? I could promise his safety, but the problem with that was that there was no way I could let a known associate of terrorists walk away free. Even if I was willing to, that said nothing of the Loki familia, and they looked like they wanted to skin Dix. We could torture him, but that was kind of... evil. Even if he deserved it, I don't think I would be comfortable with that.

As I was pondering our course of action, I felt a sudden surge of a divine presence before Loki spoke, "Dix. Tell me everything you know about Knossos."

As Loki spoke, Dix obeyed. I couldn't blame him. Loki wasn't even addressing me and I felt a compulsion to obey her. To think that was only a fraction of the god's power.

"The brat already told you the important things. Other than that, it is where the remnants of Evilus are hiding as well as my operation." He explained. Loki commanded him to explain further once he tried to stop. "My familia and I were capturing monsters and selling them on the surface outside of Orario."

"How many members of Evilus are hiding there? What levels are they?" I asked, unfortunately drawing Dix out of his goddess induced haze.

"And why would I tell you?" He snarled.

"I will eat your soul." I threatened emptily. Loki immediately recognized it as an empty threat, but given the petrified look on Dix's face, he didn't. Probably because I had just possessed him not long before.

"I don't know much. Just that my half-brother Barca and some psycho bitch named Valletta as well as a bunch of low level nobodies. I swear that's all I know." He said in a panic. I hadn't expected him to just tell me everything like that because of an empty threat so I gave a look to Loki to confirm Dix was telling the truth. With a nod from the goddess I prompted Dix further.

"And have you seen an older man that looks like me?" I asked.

"Wait a minute. You do look a lot like that asshole!" Dix snarled. Well that confirms where he's at.

"That's all I need to know." I said looking over to Loki. "You can keep interrogating him if you'd like. I'm going to go see if I can't recruit Ganesha and Freya into this raid."

"Wait!" Fin said to my surprise, "This would be a great opportunity to earn prestige for your familia. Are you sure you want to squander the glory by inviting everyone?"

"Glory? What glory is there in taking out the trash?" I asked. I mean sure taking on the terrorists would earn some street credit and make us look impressive, but I don't think Fin was taking into account that this wouldn't just be a battle against a bunch of adventurers like him and his familia. This would be a battle against a bunch of adventures, two powerful mages stronger than I am, an assassin, and whatever my last brother was. Fighting for glory simply wasn't an option.

"Oi oi Matthew. What about us? We want some glory and we can't get it by callin to Ganesha and Freya like scared lil kids." Loki said with a sly grin.

"Well, seeing as I'm the one with the key to Knossos and I'm going to be the one scouting it out, I say we're bringing everyone who can help." I said.

"Meeooow." Tiona's familiar mewled as it crawled from under a couch. To be entirely honest I had forgotten she had a familiar of her own, but that would help a lot while we prepare our assault on Knossos.

"My familiar can help too!" Lefiya said as she pulled a squirrel out of her pocket.

"So do we get a say now?" Loki asked.

"I still have the key and I'm not letting you pick a fight with my family without backup. You know how I just stole Dix's body. They can use spells more powerful than that." I explained with a frown. I know Loki's familia aren't my responsibility, but they're my friends and I would feel terrible if they got banished to hell or something because we were underprepared.

"Fine fine. Just don't go beggin alright. If they refuse, they refuse." Loki said.

"Hey stop acting like I'm not even here you bastard!" Dix shouted indignantly to which I simply shot him a glare and he shut right up.

"I'm heading out, we'll speak again about the raid tomorrow at the Hestia familia maner once I've gathered everyone who will bother coming." I said as I made my way out. So first order of buisness is to find Fels. I sent Bell to speak with Fels earlier so he probably brought him back home.

'Hey Pride, can you make your way over to Babel to let Freya know I need to speak to her?'

'On it boss'

With Pride flying off towards Babel, I made my way home. The walk back was strange. I felt like I should be watching my back, but it wasn't like Evilus would know that I was organizing an attack on their base. When I got home Hestia and Fels were waiting for me outside, one looking rather upset.

"Hestia before you say anything, it is necessary for us to do this." I began as I watched Hestia sigh tiredly.

"I know. Just promise you'll be careful." She groaned.

"I wasn't gathering stronger familias for no reason Hestia. You should believe in me more." I laughed.

"I know, it's just scary. You're my second child, I don't want to lose you." She pouted. I felt for her, I couldn't imagine losing Bell or Lili.

"I understand how you feel Hestia, but this isn't something I can hide away from or ignore. I need to be there. That doesn't mean i'm not going to stack the odds in my favor as much as possible though." I said with a smile, patting her head.

"Stacking the odds in your favor? This is why you called me? I'm afraid I won't be terribly useful in combat against Evilus." Fels said, interrupting the moment. Ah, yeah Fels. There is absolutely no way I'm going to let you fight with us when at least two of our enemies are necromancers.

"That's no issue, I was hoping you could persuade Ganesha to join the raid on Knossos." I explained.

"I see. I don't believe Ganesha would refuse such an invitation. Will I tell him and his familia to arrive here?" He asked.

"If they agree, tell them to meet us at the Hestia familia mansion tomorrow morning. And Fels, The Xenos might be interested in joining in on the raid." I said.

"Is that so? If they do join we will be forced to reveal their existence. Do you not think that would be counterproductive to our goals?" He asked.

"Nothing unites people more than a common eneime Fels." I told him, trying to sound wise. I couldn't tell whether it worked or not I couldn't tell given his mask. "Well, I'm off to try and recruit Freya."

"And I to Ganesha." Fels said as he began walking off.

"I'll be back soon Hestia, get some rest and relaxation." I said as I began to make my way to Babel. Not really wanting to hunt down another member of the Freya familia I cast Fly at a higher level and simply flew to the top of the tower much to Freya and Ottar's surprise. Thankfully Ottar didn't immediately lop off my head, but he certainly didn't look happy about my impatience.

"Oh my, what a surprise." Freya said so casually that it made me wonder if she already knew I was coming.

"Sorry for the intrusion, but I needed to speak to you about something important." I began ignoring Ottar's scowl. "There is a man-made dungeon underneath the city holding the remnants of Evilus within it. Tomorrow the Hestia, Ganesha and Loki familia are going to raid this dungeon and wipe out the remnants of Evilus. I came to see if you and your children would be interested in joining us in the raid."

"And why would I do that?" She responded, leaving me in shock for a moment. I was stunned. Ottar was the single strongest person in the entire world and it wasn't like the rest of her children were weak either. Why wouldn't she help wipe out a dangerous sect of terrorists?

"I'm sorry, I just thought the strongest familia in Orario would be interested in helping in the raid to wipe out the rest of Evilus." I said, unsure of how to convince her.

"And why would we? What have we to gain?" Ottar asked simply.

"Gain? You should be asking what you stand to lose. The people hiding in that hole in the ground are the ones who wiped out all of Rivira." I said. It wasn't a lie either. While I may not know whether or not Evilus was actually involved in the attack, I did know that my family were also hiding in that hole.

"You're partially right. We are the strongest familia. That's precisely why i'm not interested. No matter what those dungeon dwellers do, there is nothing we have to worry about." She said with all the confidence one would expect from a goddess of beauty who had some of the most powerful people in the world under her command. She was wrong about one thing though.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." I began peaking the interest of Freya and annoyance of Ottar, "The truth is that my father and brothers are also in the man-made dungeon. Due to my amnesia I can't say exactly how powerful they are, but I do know that at the very least one of my brothers and my father are both wizards more skilled and dangerous than I am. I couldn't tell you if they were a threat to you and your familia, but it wouldn't surprise me."

"And what makes you think your father could possibly be a threat to me?" Ottar asked.

"Well to be honest Ottar, if I wanted to, I could steal your soul and take control of your body. I alone could pose a threat to your familia. My father can do that and more." I said causing Freya to open her eyes in shock and Ottar to place his hand on his sword ready to attack.

"Oh my, are you threatening us?" Freya asked with a sly smile, obviously not worried that I would do that.

"It wasn't a threat, I was just warning you of what could happen should this raid fail." I said.

"Even if what you say is true, how would attacking them in the dungeon be any safer than taking our chances on the surface?" Ottar asked. Well the answer to that was simple. Counterspell.

"Well that's because I'd be fighting with you. I can negate their spellcasting abilities. Problem being I can only use that so many times before I'm out of magic and there are at least to of them against me. Truth be told the raid should be successful with or without you, but I want this fight to be as one-sided as possible." I explained.

"Is that so?" Freya grinned, "I'll think about it."

"Well if you decide to join, meet us at the Hestia familia maner." I said before making my way towards the window. I was kind of low on higher level spell slots and wanted to save what I had left just in case. So rather than fly out of Babel I jumped. As I felt the wind rushing past my face and my clothes flapping wildly against me I cast Feather Fall, suddenly slowing to a non-alarming rate.

Once I landed I walked home to get some rest. Unfortunately I couldn't rest once I got home. I still needed to go back and speak with the Xenos. Fortunately I could cast spells through Pride so I could speak to them using message and wouldn't need to physically enter the dungeon again. Once I got home I greeted Hestia and Bell who were speaking to each other about the upcoming raid.

"Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that I'm using Pride's body to go back and speak with the Xenos so I'm going to bed." I told them.

"Alright, just make sure you know what all to tell the other familias tomorrow." Hestia said.

"Good night Matthew." Bell said. A short walk later and I was in my bed getting ready for a flight in the dungeon.

'Pride I'm going to borrow you real fast.' I warned my familiar before possessing his body. To be honest, I don't really think I will ever get used to this possession stuff. Even with prior experience, it still felt weird to use a bird's body. Never the less I made my way to the eighteenth floor. A few of the feral monsters did try to eat me, but they were far too slow to hit a small flying bird.

Once I found my way back to the Xenos hideaway I spoke to Lyd telepathically using Message. While I was out convincing Loki and Freya to join us, the Xenos deliberated amongst themselves about whether or not they should join. Apparently the decision was extremely split. Lyd, Ray, Veneficus and their cohorts were rather enthusiastic about joining in on the raid, eager to earn favor amongst the mortals on the surface. Gross and his cohort however were adamant that they would not be joining in on the raid. I didn't particularly care one way or another. I would have just been happy with Veneficus's help given that he had an innate resistance to magic.

'Thank you for offering your aid Lyd. There is an entrance to Knossos here on the eighteenth floor on the easternmost part of the floor. Tomorrow after the raiding party enters the dungeon with me, I'll spit off to open the way for you.'

'And what of the rest of the raiding party?'

'I will make sure to warn them of your involvement. As for you, just make sure to kill anyone who looks like me but isn't'

'Anyone that looks like you?'

'Blonde hair and green eyes are a rather rare trait in Orario and the rest of my family are amongst the enemy ranks.'

'I see. Thank you Matthew.'

That took a bit longer than I wanted. Sorry for the wait, I had an unusually busy week.

YuanDxD: You have no idea how good that comment made me feel. I never in a hundred years would have thought I would actually inspire someone to write. I hope you do carry through with your story. Writing is a great hobby.

Dungeon: Yeah, to be honest that's how I felt writing that chapter as well. I wanted to include a war game, but I didn't want to throw them against Freya or something, so I just followed the main story there. I do hope the rest of my story is different enough from canon though.