Chapter 17

"It was never a matter of if, only when."

Adam Taurus walked through the streets of the city of Orario. It was night time, and as it was to be expected, rather cold. Although, tonight's cold was heavier than usual.

Had anyone else been here, they would say it felt like in the days when the infamous Gale went through her killing sprees.

"I know. What nobody knows is what exactly Aurion is doing to whichever Deity managed to get on his blacklist." Adam replied, as a sigh could be heard from the small device in his right ear.

"With all due respect. The worst thing he can do is kill him and send him to Tenkai; I feel you are a bit over-exaggerating."

Adam and Ratatosk snorted at Lett's statement.

"Drake might not be the bloodiest Guardian. But he's without a doubt, the cruelest one."

Adam mentally nodded as he turned at the next corner to see a group of people near the location of his objective. A little while ago, Ratatosk and Tenebrae felt Aurion using his divinity for but a mere moment, making them be alerted not knowing for what exactly.

Therefore, Adam decided to go investigate with Tenebrae's directions.

'Looks like we were too late.' Tenebrae said in his mind as they watched the members of the Ganesha Familia securing the entrance and questioning various numbers of people, most of them women.

"We weren't the only ones that felt his little stunt. Ganesha Famila is already here." Adam replied as he noticed Ganesha's captain.

"Keep me informed." Ratatosk said before Adam hummed, leaving the call with only the Bull Faunus and Lett the Goblin.

"Lett, keep searching for Aurion. Remember to put minimum Aura in the cloak to stay hidden." He eyed the tower from afar, pretty much doing the same with what he was currently wearing, courtesy of Aurion. "Meanwhile, I am gonna see what I find from what's most likely to be a crime scene investigation."

"Got it. Go and say hi to Shakti from me." Adam rolled his eyes before almost ending the call, but the Goblin decided to stop him. "Wait, wait, wait."

Adam raised an eyebrow.

"Since you say are walking into a crime scene, and are wearing shaders-"

"For fucks sake, Lett." Adam already knew where this was going. "Get serious."

"Hey, you are the one wearing shaders at night, and literally walking to a crime scene. All I am asking for is for a good end liner for a cold opening."

"And then you can reenact the 'Yeaaaaah!' from that one song? No."

"Oh come-"

Adam pressed the red bottom on the screen of a plate-like device before placing it in his pocket.

"That Goblin has too much fucking free time." Adam thought out loud, to which Tenebrae chuckled.

'It's both your and our lord's fault for introducing technology to them.'

"Don't blame me, blame Aurion. He had a lot of stuff in the shadows."

The Centurion silently agreed as he approached the Captain of the Ganesha Familia, who wasn't gonna be happy seeing him on the surface; that much he already knew.


Recently, there had been a lot of weird occurrences happening in Orario.

The Incident with the shift of power in the Dungeon about a month ago, the thing with the Abnormal Goliath soon after, a new type of earth serpent-like monster going through the floor of the Dungeon, and now this.

Someone had used their arcanum on the mortal world, and yet there hadn't been a single pillar of light indicating a deity had been sent back to Tenkai. So Ganesha had sent them to investigate, not expecting to find various members of the Aeshma Familia at the entrance of the deity's mansion, without their Falna for that matter.

That had managed to raise several alarms in her head; but that had only been the tip of the iceberg seeing how no one was expecting the bloodbath that waited for them inside. But the weirdest part of it all was that there was only blood, no bodies or trace of any whatsoever in sight.

'None of this makes any sense.'

"Captain." One of her fellow Familia members got her attention. She turned around and scowled as she saw someone standing next to the Ganesha Adventurer. "Let him pass."

Red hair, black glasses, horns protruding outwards from each side of his forehead, and a rather striking black suit with a rose design on its back, black pants, and rather unusual footwear of the same color. But the most notable thing was the blade hanging on his hip, or rather the weird mechanism of its sheath.

"Shakti Varna."

"Adam Taurus." She greeted him; his expression as neutral as hers before sighing. "Shouldn't you be in the Dungeon?"

"Felt like going for a walk." He eyed the members of Aeshma Familia, all of them with eyes full of what he could recognize as determination, anger, and maybe even a little bit of Hope.

'Drake didn't use his domain over Hope on them. However, he did take away their Despair.'

Adam narrowed his eyes; it still wasn't enough for them and most likely every other deity in the city to feel him use his divinity.

"A walk?" Shakti stopped his train of thought, her eyes full of suspicion. "Do you perhaps know something I don't?"

He hummed. "Maybe." Adam walked past her and headed into the mansion, her steps close behind him.

"You can't get in there, we are currently investigating the mansion." The Faunus couldn't help but snort.

"You people are so technologically delayed that you don't even know the proper procedure to not contaminate a crime scene." Her eye twitched, seeing as the person in front of her had corrected her about some things regarding her word in the past, as well. "Have you determined from where the assailant entered the mansion?"

Her gaze on him turned suspicious again, seeing as she hadn't mentioned anything regarding what awaited him inside, and yet he had already concluded there had been a murder.

"… whoever it was," Adam chose his words carefully. "They used the main door to enter."

She raised an eyebrow. "How are you so sure? The lock wasn't forced, and for all we know the member of the Aeshma Familia decided to leave it open after exiting the mansion."

He gave her a low glare, his blue eyes briefly visible. "Because those with power feel no need to search for another way to enter."

Shakti scowled, seeing that the only person who could do that was Orario's King. And she really didn't want another person like that to exist; mostly because unlike Ottarl, whoever did this didn't have a leash on them.

Adam whistled as they got in the entrance hall. Windows were dirtied with stains of blood, while most of it could be found near a shattered floor on the center. He looked right up and noticed there had been a hanging chain on the ceiling.

The Faunus narrowed his eyes. "…There used to be a chandelier here."


The sound of the door in the main hall got the attention of everyone present.

None of them were able to even utter a word as the intruder moved very quickly, making the Adventurers near stop as he walked past them; only so they could fall on the ground as a sudden burst of blood exploded off their chest.

Shouts and curses were heard as everyone in the hall charged at him. The assailant looked at the chandelier and then at the ceiling before unleashing a blue sphere of energy that severed the chain.

None of the Adventurer's noticed the piece of furniture falling on them before they were crushed in an instant, making the whole blood spread through the whole room and tainting the windows red with gore.


"Ok, that explains most of the mess." Shakti thought out loud, coming to the same conclusion as him after seeing the chain on the ceiling. "But just like all of the bodies, there's no chandelier."

'Aurion most likely put them in the shadows.'

Adam silently agreed. Before Drake had arrived in this world, Tenebrae had tried to get the living into the shadows like they could in Remnant; however, that was not the case here in Orario. By the looks of it, only objects or things that weren't alive could get in.

'And since the dead obviously aren't alive…' Adam thought in a rather sardonic way seeing as Aurion figured out the most effective way to hide a body, temporally at least.

'I guess you cannot double check if he indeed did that.'

'Negative, even just tapping into it would alert him. His domain over the Darkness completely overpowers mine.'

Adam sighed, not really focused on answering Shakti's previous question as he kept walking and stopped in front of the stairs to the second floor. There was a rather visible patch of stain a couple of steps ahead.

"One of them managed to save himself from the chandelier, and ran back here." He carefully went up the stairs to the stain.

"And what happened to him?" Shakti asked, even though she knew the end that befell the Adventurer was most surely painful.

Meanwhile, Adam narrowed his eyes, managing to see the distinct mark of teeth sticking out over the blood.


The Adventurer fell back in shock, his comrades killed in an instant by the furniture. He crawled back in panic before he stood up and ran up the stairs, only to fall after going up a few steps.

He tried to stand up, but his eyes widened as he felt the assailant's foot making a slight pressure on the back of his head, his teeth forced to bite the surfaces in between the steps of the stairs before it was completely crushed.


"… Have you questioned the members of the Aeshma Familia that are outside?"

Shakti just stared with narrowed eyes as Adam simply kept looking at the evidence. "Why?"

"Judging by how things looks; the victims didn't receive any kind of mercy at the moment of their deaths. Especially this last one." He looked back over his shoulder. "It seems this was personal for whoever the assailant is ."

Adam wasn't lying.

However, he also knew Aurion would never throw the first stone unless there was a good reason, even if it was against a deity. And yet, he could almost feel the despair and hate in the area, as if traces of how his soul was feeling were left behind.

Tenebrae simply hummed in confirmation. Meanwhile, Adam turned around seeing as Shakti seemed to become uncomfortable all of the sudden.

"My men are still questioning them. However, it looks like Aeshma was using his Familia solely to,and I quote: 'create the perfect Adventurer.'"

Adam narrowed his eyes. "He was breeding them." His conclusion made Shakti slightly flinch, not liking the sound of that one bit.

'And there's his motive.' Tenebrae concluded.

"Still, for someone to take Justice in their own hands. We are not judge, jury and executioners."

The Captain's reply made Adam give her an empty look.

"… What?" his glare could be described as if he was feeling nothing but pity for her. However, it also felt like he felt absolute disdain towards her.

Adam showed his back and headed up upstairs. She called his name once more, but he just ignored her before turning at the first corner of the second floor; The Faunus groaned as he saw the corridor, the blood on the walls made it look as if it had completely been repainted.

'For fucks sake Aurion.'

"You said he was breeding them," he voiced, deciding to break the silence to ignore the fact that Shakti was drilling a hole in the back of his head with her stare. "What happened to those offspring?"

"Aeshma had registered them in the Guild as part of his Familia. Since newborns in a Familia automatically make them part of said Familia, nobody questioned them. Aeshma had been doing this for years, so he's been raising them into Adventurers from a very young age." Shakti felt disgusted as the words came out of her mouth.

"And now that this whole thing has come to light, what's going to happen?"

She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the sudden questions thrown by the Bull person, especially since every question asked made her feel worse thanks to the fact that none of the answers were positive for Aeshma's victims.

"...Nothing. Despite Aeshma's actions being a complete violation of a mortal's right, his actions didn't cause any harm to Orario in any way; therefore they would face no real repercussions whatsoever. Even if his actions were to be revealed while they had been alive."

Shakti could have swore she heard the sound of gritting teeth coming from Adam.

"Why are you asking me this? You have been here long enough to know how things work."

He didn't reply. Instead, he waved his hands as if brushing the topic away.

'I wonder if Aurion has to deal with this stupid line of thinking?'

'I think we are seeing his answer right now.'

'I am more surprised it took him this long to do this; the bet Ratatosk and I made is still in place by the way.'

Tenebrae snorted. 'I am aware. But I do agree with you, it is weird it had taken him so long to react in this way. Do you think it's related to the reason he didn't decide to engage during your encounter with him a few days ago?'

Adam mentally nodded. Drake had every single advantage in that scenario; One of his Guardians was with him, and he had no interest in the well-being of the Loki Familia on the floor. The only reason he could think of was the green themed elf that was also there.

'She did come down from the Thirty-Seventh Floor before Drake did.'

Adam groaned. 'It's good he found someone important enough for him to restrain himself… but I can't help but ask myself what kind of person she is.' he mentally gave a blank stare.

'… I can't deny I am curious as well.' Tenebrae started to contemplate the thought, seeing as there was a fact about the old enemy almost everyone could agree upon.

And that was that at least the seventy percent of the people in Drake's trust circle-

'They are not normal./They are not normal.'

They finally reached Aeshma's personal chambers. His eyes narrowed at the door.

"Confirm something for me." He made a motion with his head, indicating her to move in front. "Your men have yet to check this part, right?"

Her eyes adopted the same suspicion, seeing as the door had been slightly open, and there was a presence inside.

"Let me go first." She took her lance off her back.

Adam was about to protest seeing he also had a weapon with him, but Tenebrae stopped it.

'Let her go first.' The Faunus raised an eyebrow. 'Also, leave your weapons out of sight. You will understand why in a second.'

He nodded reluctantly as Shakti carefully entered her room with her spear in hand. She had managed to give a couple of steps ahead before she suddenly extended her lance to her right, only to stop millimeters away from the intruder, who had a kodachi awfully close to Shakti's neck.

"… Please tell me you didn't go on another one of your crusades." Shakti stated in an awfully calm manner before both retreated their weapon as Adam entered the room, his weapon left resting against the wall outside.

'Ironic.' Adam couldn't help but think, seeing as the Elf they were just speaking about decided to grace them with her presence.

"It wasn't me." The Elf stated in a calm manner, her weapons back in their sheath. "This night felt rather ominous for some reason; that same feeling urged me to investigate."

'Lie' Tenebrae said.

"Understood…" Shakti sighed. "Do you have any idea who could have done this?"

The Elf shook her head without hesitation; Adam didn't need Tenebrae's statement to know that was also a lie.

"…And he is?" Ryuu asked, her senses on edge for some reason.

Adam on the other hand didn't even address her and started to look around the room, making Shakti pinch the bridge between her eyes.

"He's an ally of our Familia. His God sent him to aid us after feeling the traces of Arcanum being used."

Ryuu's eyes widened; she clearly didn't know anything about that bit of information. "But there wasn't any pillar of light going up to tenkai."

"That's just one of many things that has us on edge." Shakti looked back to Adam, who was giving her a glare behind his shaders.

She understood it immediately. "You should leave before someone else sees you."

Ryuu nodded after a moment. She opened a closed window before looking back at Shakti. "It's good to see you again, even if it wasn't in the best of circumstances."

The captain graced her with a small smile. "Likewise."

The Gale jumped off the window, leaving only the two of them in the room.

"I know you are not the easiest person to deal with, but would it hurt you to say something instead of just brooding."

He hadn't said anything, for the same reason he left his weapon outside. Adam was wearing a cloak the last time they met, so the Elf didn't know his appearance, only his voice and weapon.

"And is there really any need to divulge information regarding an investigation with someone who isn't related to it?" She flinched at his statement. "Especially with someone who clearly has a track record of doing this kind of work under their belt."

Adam might have not been during Orario's dark days, but he had read about Gale from Astrea Familia. He hadn't recognized her when they were in the Dungeon, it was only after Shakti threw that comment about 'Crusades' that he managed to put two and two together.

Both stared at each other for a moment before he continued examining the room. "Her clothes and weapons were clean-"

"I noticed. That's the only reason I didn't act."

That was a lie.

Even if it had been her, he wouldn't have done anything about it.

"Three people." Adam said suddenly, making Shakti answer him by adopting a confused look.

"There were at least three people in this room; either the assailant was one of them, or they were the fourth person in the room."

Shakti mentally sighed in exasperation. "How could you possibly know that?"

"The blood." He stated. "It's color and viscosity can be different depending on a person's nutrition."

Her eyes narrowed at the new bit of information. "One of them being most probably Aeshma, and the other one his captain, Enoch."

Adam nodded. "Most likely." He replied, his eyes glued to a hole that had been done on the wall. It had clearly been done by a blade, and there were traces of it going down the wall.


The assailant lifted the victim by the throat before running his blade through it. The victim's eyes widened before turning bloodshot, the blade remained in his throat while the tip remained impaled to the wall behind him. Leaving whoever it was dying a slow and painful death.


"This one died slowly." Adam stated before explaining his reasoning, not looking at Shakti knowing she was most likely trying to process how someone could be so cruel.

'This is nothing compared to what I have seen him do.' Adam thought, recalling the time he had managed to put Drake through a torture session for a full day, only for him to break free and return his 'well deserved' treatment he had received back, twofold.

"This one… this one doesn't make any sense." he observed the giant pool of blood on the table of the room. It almost looked like someone had been left bleeding out on it. However, there were no cracks on the table; therefore, the victim wasn't forced onto it. There was also no dispersion of blood in front, which meant the weapon remained inside the person's body.

'The weapon of use was most likely a knife or something small but sharp, seeing as the victim couldn't have fallen on the table with a sword being impaled on him; The desk would have marks on it otherwise.'

Adam mentally nodded. 'The biggest amount of blood comes from the upper part of the table, which means the wound was most likely done on the neck.' Adam narrowed his eyes as he reached a final verdict. "Suicide."


The victim grabbed a knife with one of his hands and stabbed the side of his own neck with it. He fell on the desk, while keeping pressure on the knife as long as his life force remained within them.


"That doesn't make any sense!" Shakti snapped, all while Adam finished examining the room.

"Why would someone kill themselves in such an horrific manner?" she managed to contain his voice this time, but he could still feel the disgust in her voice.

Not even Ryuu had been this cruel to her victims.

"You clearly haven't tasted what fear, what true despair feels like." Her eyes widened.

"It's intoxicating, terrifying, and so inhuman that you would rather take your own life than experience one more second of it."

Adam Taurus couldn't help but remember a familiar pair of green draconic emerald eyes with black sclera staring straight into his soul. Even though he was being tortured, the first time they had officially crossed eyes was also the first time he had been with death in the same room.

Shakti wanted to say something, but Adam instead turned around and started to walk out of the room. "There isn't anything else noteworthy in here besides the small pool of blood behind the table. Which means the assailant took Aeshma away."

Shakti scowled. "Despite all he has done, I can't help but feel sorry for him." She followed close behind. "He's at the mercy of a monster."

Adam, who was walking ahead of her; couldn't help but mentally chuckle. 'You couldn't be more right in calling him that.' He thought, even though he wanted to correct her about something.

Drake Aurion had no mercy for the people he hated.


'No, Please no. everyone but him.' Adam mentally prayed to the deity he served, even Origin himself to give him the strength to go on with the challenge ahead.

"I AM GANESHA!"

The challenge of not killing the most annoying God in Orario.

"Shakti!" The Elephant man snapped as he saw his strongest child coming out of the mansion with Adam. "And Adam! It's a surprise to see you here!" he shouted, seeing how the redhead rarely left the Dungeon.

"Anything I should be worried about?" The God asked in a low tone after getting closer to the Faunus, showing a certain face and voice of seriousness only a few really knew about.

"Just checking on the most recent act of divinity." He replied, walking past the God, who detected no lie in his words; but still couldn't help but be doubtful about him.

"What about you, my child!?" Ganesha looked at Shakti, returning to his usual loud self despite seeing her face full of concern at the knowledge Adam had thrown at her. "Why the long face!?"

"I will give you the report later in detail." Shakti muttered in a low tone before noticing Adam stopped to stare at what counted as the remains of Aeshma's Familia.

"I have already received reports from the rest!" he frowned. "Including all of Aeshma's actions."

All of Aeshma's former children flinched.

"I know all of you are completely and utterly terrified!" The Elephant God exclaimed after standing in front of the crowd. "However! I must ask you to be strong! The events that happened tonight are a crime so vile that the transgressor must be brought to light and face punishment and justice!"

Shakti noticed that Adam ran his hand through his face; and even with his shaders, she could feel the disdain in his eyes.

The Faunus on the other hand didn't need to ask Tenebrae about the mental state of the Adventurers. He could see their gazes on the ground, their gritting teeth and their clenched first.

But even so, they couldn't express themselves.

"I ask you! Do not be afraid and share with us what you know!"

Nobody said anything, at least not instantly.

"… Are…" everyone's eyes moved to the source of the voice. "… Are you…"

Ganesha stared at a purple haired woman. "Tell me child! Have no fear and tell me-"

"Are you being serious?" The moment she had been trembling from the beginning, and her glare didn't dare to stare forward as she forced herself to speak.

"You speak about Justice… for that monster. After everything he's done to us." Her eyes revealed themselves to the Gods, nothing but emptiness greeted him "What about our Justice?"

Ganesha adopted a rather serious stand, way too unbefitting of him. "The actions of Gods can only be judged by ourselves. I know how you must feel-"

The eyes of the woman became dilated as those last words came out of her mouth. She had tried to shout back at his logic, but forced herself to look down instead.

Ganesha was about to press for answers, but someone beat him to it.

"Don't bother." Adam stood next to the Elephant God. "He's never gonna be able to understand what you," he gestured to the rest. "What all of you are feeling right now. He's a God, after all."

"Adam!" Shakti's eyes widened at the blasphemy that came out of his mouth, but a simple glare from him stopped her from saying or doing anything else.

"They are incapable of truly understanding what mortal despair is like." He started to walk in front of them. "He's never gonna understand how it feels like to be raped every once in a while to bear a child that you didn't wish for, nor will he ever experience all those nine months feeding the despair of having been forced to such labor, nor will he be able to understand what it feels like to have that very same child taken away, only so you have to go through the same process again…and again. Rinse and repeat."

Adam's eyes laid solemnly on the God, waiting for him to say something to defend himself.

"What do you know? He does know when to stay quiet." Ganesha flinched, Adam no longer eyeing the God; but the former Adventurers instead.

"We know that Aeshma's still alive, all We… all I want to know is what exactly the assailant did." He looked at the purple haired woman. "Did you see anything?"

The woman gave Adam the same stare she had given Ganesha.

"… Why should we even respond?"

The Faunus forced himself not to groan. "Because better to answer now in front of a deity to confirm your words, than be dragged the whole night into a single room by the Guild. Who we all know are not the best with their people skills."

They all groaned silently; since Adam's word could be easily interpreted as 'They are dicks'.

The Purple Haired woman sighed, earning all the attention around her.

"The assailant had gathered us in the meeting hall and forced us to look on the opposite side from where he was."


"I won't harm you."

Sophia's eyes widened in recognition at the sound of a familiar voice.

"Everyone that has ever abused you in this Familia is gone." she could hear low sniffs happening in the room. And although some were out of fear, many more were out of pure relief.

"I didn't do this out of the kindness of my heart, or because it was the right thing to do." they heard something being thrown on the floor; hard. And it was a person seeing as they could hear groans behind them. "Just like what is about to happen now."

"Pl-ple-please… no more." Their eyes widened at the Familiar sound of their deity; broken, shattered, pathetic. All of those kinds of words came to mind when hearing his weak pleads.

It was so refreshing.

"From tomorrow onward, I want you to consider what you are going to do with your life from now on." The assailant got their attention again. "If you are gonna continue as Adventurers in another Familia, make sure to remember what you all went through under this bastard's blessing; hate it, loath it."

They noticed a black and green light appearing behind them.

"However," they heard as if something had penetrated flesh before their God screamed in pain. "All of your despair would be taken as my own, so live with the only burden that is your memories. And start anew."

Sophia felt as if something had been taken off her shoulder; just like it had happened earlier in the day while she spoke with him.

But there was something else that was taken away from her; something that felt almost instant the moment her body felt normal.

Her Falna was gone.


Adam narrowed his eyes behind his shaders after the statement 'He forced Aeshma to remove his blessing from them.'; saying no more after that.

'She's covering for him. Leaving the details vague but still speaking truthfully to go under Ganesha's radar.'

Adam nodded at Tenebrae words.

"I see… Thank you for your cooperation." He turned around to look at Ganesha and Shakti, the former glaring daggers at him for his previous disrespect to her deity. "Anything else you might want to add, Ganesha?"

"No… that is all." He looked at his Familia members and ordered them to escort the victims to the Guild so they could spend the night there.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Adam." Ganesha said, frowning under his mask. "However, I don't appreciate how you disregard my actions and feelings towards mortal life; I too have felt despair."

Adam tried his best to not snort, but failed in the end. "You have lost people under you," Ganesha and Shakti flinched, recalling the dark days of Orario. "But that's only one of the many shades of despair." He motioned his head in the direction all of Aeshma's victims were heading. "You barely got to see what those people had to go through for years." His eyes narrowed, his voice sharpened. "So don't you fucking come to me and question me about it."

Ganesha gritted his teeth, raising his hand to stop Shakti from interfering.

"They could have said something." He managed to keep his voice in check, even though his emotions were big. "Word would have eventually reached my Familia."

"… Do I really have to spell it for you? You are the deity here and you are telling me you don't understand how your mortals think?"

Ganesha stared at the red-haired bull for a long moment. It wasn't a provocation, at least not entirely. He started to think about it, thinking about how mortals had always looked to them for guidance, order, power, and many other such reasons came to his mind. But in the end, all mortals would always, without question, follow what the Gods said.

"… Our divine will." Ganesha concluded, to which Adam also nodded.

"The mortals in this world follow your words as if they were the holiest thing in existence. No matter how cruel you are, they would never go against it." He eyed the victims one last time. "The same applies to hate, as you just saw."

Ganesha remembered the eyes the purple haired woman had given him. Hate could start to be seen on the surface of her gaze, but quickly lowered her head to not show it.

All because they were Gods.

"But even so," Adam got his attention, his gaze focusing on Shakti this time around, however. "Let's say someone had decided to go against Aeshma's divine will and spilled everything to the Guild. They would have done nothing, something you made perfectly clear when we spoke earlier."

Shakti's eyes widened in realization as to why Adam had been asking her about the subject.

Aeshma never actually did anything to harm Orario in any way; so all the problems that existed mattered solemnly inside his Familia, seeing as the Guild didn't have any jurisdiction in the internal matters of a Familia.

"The cries of Aeshma's Adventurers would have gone through deaf ears." Adam said. "Had this whole thing never happened tonight, this would have kept on going for years and years." He took a step forward to close the proximity between them, his blue orbs noticeably glowing under his shaders. "So don't you fucking dare to say people can't take justice in their own hands when no one is willing to help, not to me." Shakti stared back, her fist trembling for not having been able to say anything back to refute his words.

His early day in the White Fang came to mind, fighting for a right cause for his kind before rage consumed him.

"… I will be taking my leave." He turned around and walked away, taking a device out of his pockets in the process.

"Adam," Ganesha got his attention. "…Ouranos will be calling a meeting soon regarding the recent developments in the Dungeon, be ready."

The God bit his tongue. He wanted to question Adam about how he knew so much about despair, but decided to go against it knowing it could really backfire against him.

Adam simply waved his hand as a reply before disappearing into a corner. He looked at his plate-like device before connecting a conference call with Lett and his Lord.

"… Funny you just called." Lett said. "Our VIPs are going southeast to Babel. They also seem to be carrying a deity if my senses are right."

Ratatosk and Adam started to ponder, their visits to the surface were really limited; however, they knew all the places of importance. One of such places was the graveyard, which just so happened to be on the southeast part of the city.

"He's gonna bury him alive./ He's gonna bury him alive." Both Ratatosk and Adam said simultaneously, making Lett doubt a little.

"For all you have told me about the guy… that seems rather tame."

Both reluctantly agreed.

"I will share the details of what I found. But I can confirm he took the despair of a large number of people, and used his divinity to apparently force a God to take away the Falna of all of his Children."

The tone of voice Adam used told Ratatosk that what Drake did was justified. "I think I know what he's gonna do to that God." Ratatosk sighed. "Return already, let's not risk being found by either Drake or Zelos."

Adam was about to reply in agreement, but Lett stopped him.

"Actually… There's another thing I wanted to report. The other person with him is not that annoying redhead."

Adam and Ratatosk tensed. The latter was about to ask if they had a number on the back of their right hand and which one was it, but Lett was too far to ask about it.

"Think you can describe him?"

"Her."

Adam raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"The other person with him it's a woman. Her body it's covered by a dark purple outfit with a mid-thigh tunic with side buttons and a pair of tight pants of similar color. A purple scarf covered half of her face, and a cloak starting from the lower back of the tunic covered the sides of her legs. but her complexion is definitely feminine. Also, she has black long hai-"

Both Great Spirit and Faunus started to laugh, interrupting the Goblin in the process.

"Wh-What?" the Goblin couldn't help but ask.

Adam forced himself to stop his laughter. "… there are no women within the ranks of the Guardians." He replied, making the Goblin enter into a state of confusion as Ratatosk spoke.

"Yuri 'Fucking' Lowell. The bloodiest of all the Guardians." Ratatosk thought out loud, making Adam sigh as the crime scene made more sense now.

"Does the F in his name actually stand for that?" The goblin's question was ignored.

"We are so fucked."


A certain deity opened his eyes.

His eyes were covered by something.

Everything in his body hurt, even the simple act of breathing brought him nothing but pain.

But even so, he could tell he was laying on the ground.

He tried to remember what had happened, but something else caught his attention.

A sneeze.

"Origin damn it." The deity's eyes widened as he heard a familiar voice that managed to send a chill down his spine. "Someone must be talking shit about me."

The God kept quiet as he heard another voice humming some kind of song.

"Storm of blood, Born from blood, Of our fallen brothers, Born upon our hands, Cradled in our arms. Swelling in our hearts, Raise your weary head, Heed the call to arms, Ringing in your heart"

There was a moment of silence, until the first voice spoke.

"Finish the damn chorus."

"Not feeling like it, never liked the last part… so damn patriotic." The God caught the sound of digging. "Why don't you help me out instead?"

The first voice snorted. "Sure thing, sing me the highest note of Dream on without being drunk and I will help you."

"Eat shit, Yuri." He replied before the God heard footsteps approaching him, his body instinctively started to tremble.

"Looks like our VIP is finally up." The first voice said before taking off whatever it was covering his face.

The God opened his eyes slowly to see a long black-haired man on one knee, giving him a cooly smile. And the second one was someone Aeshma knew pretty well.

"You." He growled in a low voice as Drake stared back at him with a cold stare and a shovel resting on his shoulder.


They had come out of nowhere.

Aeshma and the executives of his Familia were in the middle of a meeting when various shouts started to be heard in the mansion.

The deity became tense as the shouts didn't just stop, but also became even closer.

"Enoch."

The Captain of his Familia gave a step forward, while Gregory simply moved to the side of the room.

"Arise, hero of old!" his body started to glow. "Hoplizon Teleios!"

Enoch's fortifying magic came into effect before he raised his palm aiming at the door; the assailant was apparently just outside the door seeing as blood came out from below the other side.

"Explode, Waves of the heaven" Magical energy started to gather on his palm. "Ekrixi Teleios!"

The energy was shot the moment Enoch saw the door knob starting to move.

However, there wasn't an explosion, not anything of that sort. But even so, everyone related to Aeshma looked on with widened eyes as the energy attack was being held by the blonde the God had tried to recruit a month prior; surrounded by black energy running through all of his body.

The Aura around the blonde started to corrupt the energy he held in his palm. Changing its color before it started to crack as if it was glass.

Enoch gritted his teeth at the sight of the person that burned his face. He raised his palm once more. "Explode, Waves of the-" his eyes didn't even have a moment to register what happened next, as Drake had moved too fast for his brain to register the movements.

What he did know was that he had received a certain impact to the throat while conjuring his spell, and now he was on the ground.

"Now, I wonder; how many times did you rape her?" Drake asked before easily lifting him up after grabbing his throat. His Aura started to become a little erratic, as if it were an actual reply to his inquiry. "Too many times apparently." His eyes and sclera started to turn black, his Aura slowly starting to crawl onto Enoch.

"Here, have a taste of what she went through because of you…" Enoch soon started to scream as the energy surrounded his whole body, enveloping as if it were a blanket. "Ten times over."

Enoch's scream managed to send a chill to Aeshma and Gregory; the latter had managed to crawl his way to the door as Enoch screamed, only to be stopped when someone stepped on his right hand, crushing it in the process.

"Hey little piggy," Gregory forced himself not to shout, looking up to see a black haired man with a bloodied blade just entering the room. "Where do you think you are going, hmm?"

"I-"

The newcomer kicked the Adventurer to the side of the head, sending him crashing into a wall.

"Ple-Please." Gregory tried to speak as he stood up. "I did- I didn't want to- Argh!" his words were interrupted by the assailant, who had grabbed him by the collar of his shirt before lifting him against the wall.

"Let me guess," Yuri Lowell looked at him with a look that could only be interpreted as boredom. "Aeshma forced you, you never wanted any of this, I am a victim like all the others, yadayadayada." Gregory was in so much panic that he couldn't detect the indifference in Yuri's tone, and just nodded erratically in response to the man's words. "And you have a lot of things you can offer me a lot of riches, lands, and yadayadayada." The Adventurer nodded again, making Yuri sigh before looking at Drake.

"It's official, we are too old for this bullshit." He said boringly.

"Neither of us is even twenty, and you are bitching about being old, really?" Drake replied back, still holding a screaming Enoch by the throat.

"Hey, you are not the one hearing the same stereotypical B-rated pre-death villain rant bullshit for the thirtieth time." Yuri rubbed the back of his head while still holding his blade with the same hand.

"Plea-Please let me go." Gregory managed to mutter, earning Yuri's attention.

"…Ok." He replied nonchalantly with a shrug, making the eyes of the Adventurer be filled with a glimpse of hope.

"Re-Really?"

Yuri nodded, his eyes not showing any animosity at all. "Sure."

The Adventurer was about to say something as Yuri released his grasp on Gregory.

"-!" The eyes of the Adventurer widened as he felt something going through his throat with ease. His eyes moved down and noticed that the blade the assailant had been holding was now piercing his very throat and being impaled to the was in the process.

'How?' He couldn't help but ask himself; since not even a full second had passed the moment the black haired man let him go, and he hadn't even been able to land on the floor.

It all happened in a single instance.

"Are you gonna take any longer?" Yuri let go of his blade, leaving Gregory in place as blood started to pour out of his eyes as he extended his hand in Yuri's direction, only to be completely ignored as his vision faded to black.

"Let me remind you we are on a schedule tonight." Drake sighed at Yuri's reminder. He dropped the Adventurer as his Aura died down, his hair and eyes returning to normal.

"Enoch!" Ashema shouted from behind his desk. "Stand up and do something!"

Yuri sighed as he prepared to deal with the Adventurer, but Drake put his hand in Yuri's way.

"Give it a moment." The blonde replied as Enoch managed to stand up by using the desk as a support. The Adventurer quickly went for a letter opener that was close by, making Aeshma grin thinking his child still had a chance.

"That's it, Enoch! As I say, Deal with these vermin!" The God never managed to see the eyes or face of his child, he would have figured out what Enoch was about to do otherwise.

Because behind his mask, there was an expression that could only be interpreted as complete and utter mental suffering. Without a single hint of hesitation, the Adventurer ran the letter opener on the side of his neck with both hands, shocking the deity as his Child fell on the desk, still holding the weapon in place.

"… I am curious." Yuri said. "How many times did her rape her?"

Drake started to walk around the table. "Twelve times since she joined."

Yuri whistled after doing the math; it means that Enoch had experienced Sofia Flores's despair one-hundred and twenty times.

"He took the easy way out," Drake replied, before grabbing Aeshma by the back of his head to slam him against the wall. "You are not going to be so lucky."

"Do you have any idea who I am-"

"A piece of shit." Both Guardians said in unison.

"I am a God!"

"A Godly piece of shit, then." Both replied in the same manner before Drake kicked both of his legs; breaking them in the process.

The God screamed in pain, unable to keep himself from crying. "Do- do you really think you are gonna be able to get away with this!?"

"Obviously." Again, both replied at the same time before Drake made a motion with his hand, making the body of both dead Adventurers to be swallowed by the shadows, along with the blade Yuri had been using.

"Now, let's get moving." Drake stated, dragging the God by the hair as they walked out of the room.


The God's eyes widened as Drake moved his hand to grab Aeshma by the lower part of his face before slamming him on the ground.

Aeshma could only look with panicked eyes as the blonde moved his free hand to show his index finger.

"I wonder what had been going through your head before descending into the mortal world." Drake spoke in a boring tone. "Did you always have that stupid notion of creating the perfect Adventurer? Did you think of using the mortal's devotions as you saw fit and do whatever you wanted?… I thanked you after our last meeting, remember?" Aeshma did remember, he had been laid unconscious for almost a week after being hit by the flick of the blonde's finger.

His eyes widened in realization as he looked at Drake's index finger as if it was dead himself.

"Nope. I am not gonna flick my fingers at you nor cause any other kind of physical harm as of now." Aeshma internally sighed, only to then notice that the blonde's eyes and hair changed color again. "Because that's not gonna be able to calm me down at all."

His Aura started to embrace him, all of it flowing into his fingertip. "That time, I thanked you and Freya for reminding me your kind could be quite the handful. And this right here," the energy on his fingers started to shape itself into a sphere. "Is only one of the many things I am gonna do to every single little shit like you."

Aeshma's eyes widened; not because of the terror he was feeling. But rather from the faint sensation of divinity that was coming from the now black haired man. The God now recalled how his aggressor had managed to use him as a medium to sever his connection to his Children.

The person in front of him had divinity; it was faint, but there was no doubt about it. And yet, here he was, on the mortal plain; not being sent straight to Tenkai.

'Just what kind of monster appeared in Orario!?' The God couldn't help but ask of himself as the sphere became stable.

"I made your captain experience ten times the abuse one of your Adventurers experienced. Now, imagine going through the same; but not just Sophia's, but all of the women that had to go through your depravity." Aeshma's eyes widened as he recalled how Enoch had decided to take his own life after experiencing that.

Drake narrowed his eyes, ignoring the despair going through him. He hadn't taken Sophia's despair to make her aggressors experience her despair; but also to be used so he wouldn't be a bigger mess when he took all of the despair of Aeshma's victims. A sort of preparation on his part. "Now the question is, how many times am I going to intensify it? Ten times?" the sphere's radius increased. "A hundredth?" and again. "A thousandth?" and so on he moved it closer to Aeshma's forehead.

"But unlike Enoch, I am not gonna let you kill yourself." Tears started to form in the God's eyes as it got closer and closer. "I am gonna make sure you-"

"Wah!" Yuri's sudden shout of surprise made Drake push the sphere into Aeshma, losing control of how much he intensified the despair in it thanks to his friend.

Both stared as they watched Aeshma's face; his eyes were completely empty, as was his expression seeing as it looked stone cold. The only thing that seemed to be moving were the tears coming out of his eyes.

"… great." Yuri took a step back. "You broke him."

Drake's eye twitched as he returned to normal. "Because you fucking surprised me!"

The Third Guardian simply waved his hand, dismissing his brother's outburst as it was nothing.

The blonde sighed, rubbing the bridge between his eyes as he stared at Aeshma. Maybe it was the despair in him, but he could now see and hear his screams and feelings thanks to the Darkness. A thousand words popped above him; he was suffering, a lot.

"Beggars can't be choosers." He muttered before kicking the now broken God into the hole he had made while the deity was unconscious. He fell into a wooden coffin that Tsubaki had been kind enough to make in a rush.

He dropped the top to cover it, and then proceeded to bury it alone. Or so he thought as he noticed a second shovel throwing earth into the hole.

"Oh, and I didn't even have to… sing." His words died down as he looked to the side, and noticed it wasn't Yuri helping him, but Lloyd.

The brunette just kept moving his shovel, a neutral expression on his face.

The blonde sighed. "I guess it's time we continue that conversation."

Hopefully, they wouldn't choke each other to death this time around.

"… I am just gonna take another note from your book and say 'I am not gonna say sorry'"

The blonde forced himself not to groan seeing as he felt as if his brother had slapped him with his own words.

"I deserved that." Drake started to move his shovel again as his brother continued.

"And I am gonna reiterate again; none of us wants to see you suffer." The blonde was about to say something, but Lloyd didn't let him. "Nor hear you say stuff like 'it's ok if I die.' again"

His eyes narrowed as he stopped completely. He hadn't said those words to Lloyd, ever; but he had told them to Yuri when the blonde knew he himself could become a threat to the others.

"I realize our ideals; MY ideals were the foundation to the person you are today." Lloyd finished covering the pit and stabbed the shovel in the ground. "And now I know more than ever what those very ideals have done to you."

Drake clenched the shovel in his hands.

"… Do you remember the first days after you found me in that alley?"

His brother nodded.

"Do you remember how I used to be?"

Lloyd frowned, he did remember.

A lost child with an empty gaze. That's how Lloyd would describe the image of his brother during that time. It wasn't because he had been alone for a week on the streets, or because the Spirit of Darkness was haunting him at the time, or because he didn't have any memories of his life before that; years later they would figure out he had been born that way.

He knew the love of a parent and reciprocated that back, but that was it. it wasn't until he spent days with Lloyd that Drake started to change little by little, then came Zelos, Colette and subsequently the others.

He learned from them and changed without realizing; they were his pillars of support in more ways than one, the people he admired the most, learning each of their bigger traits and craving them into himself… they made him human.

That's why even if he says he would do something out of rage or to calm himself, even because he felt like doing something; it's because of the very principles he got from them, that's why all of his deflections to the real reason were true.

And it was for that bond he had forged with them, that he decided to take their burdens. Because deep down, he still knew he was different; even Yuri was more human than him.

"… Are you really willing to go against your beliefs just for me?"

"Yes. It isn't even my life on the line to begin with." Lloyd replied without hesitation.

Drake snorted. "Selfishness doesn't suit you." Lloyd understood the message under those words, seeing as he was putting his brother before his ideals.

Lloyd snorted. "I am human; being selfish it's a trait by default." The blonde flinched seeing another of his phrases was one again used against him.

"I think we are never gonna reach a middle ground with this." Drake muttered, both had a frown on their faces.

"We are all doing this because we care."

Drake gave an honest smile. "That's all I need to hear…" he sighed. "Don't ever keep quiet again, if you notice something I didn't. I will just end up acting like today when I find out."

Lloyd sighed, as did the rest of his brothers in his mind.

"And help me out would ya? At least you all will be able to make sure things are easier that way. For all of us."

Lloyd's eye twitched; not at his brother's words, but the smile that remained on his face.

It was really unfitting for someone who scowled and sighed most of the days.

"Blondes and their fucking smiles." Lloyd muttered under his breath before Drake lifted his fist towards him.

The older Aurion stared at him, sighed in resignation before fish bumping with Drake; pretty much agreeing to do things under his terms.

Lloyd returned the smile after a moment, leaving all the previous aggression back in the past. However, the moment had been interrupted when they both heard a sniff.

"…ok, who the fuck is crying?" Lloyd asked, the sound increasing by the second.

"My money is on one of the red heads; always fucking emotional about everything."

'Fuck you!' Luke screamed, his voice sounding a little broken.

"I rest my case, your honor."

'I am not the only one crying! Come and look at the faces you bastards!'

Both Aurions sighed; knowing full well Yuri was most likely the one that was shedding tears.

'I hope I don't need to remind you we still have to deal with another deity.'

Their eyes narrowed as they looked at the center of the city; or more specifically, the top of Babel.

"Right." Both replied, walking away and completely forgetting the deity they had buried alive.


"There are pretty good shovels…"

"Yes. Yes, they are." Drake replied.

Both were currently stretching with the digging items at the top of a building, staring right at the top of Babel; pretty much giving a glare at the Deity staring at both of them at the moment.

"I wonder, what exactly does she see while looking at me?" Lloyd asked. "I mean, it's not technically me, and I am using your shadow as a medium, so…"

His brother shrugged before both stopped stretching.

"Ok… how do you wanna do this?" Lloyd asked.

"Honestly, I think the order of who goes first hardly matters in this situation."

Lloyd shook his head, an evil grin forming on his face. "The first one is the one everyone expects. The second one is the one that nobody sees coming."

"Huh…" Drake saw the logic behind that. "So… the usual then?"

"Oh! Absolutely."

Both put their fists under their free palms; Their eyes narrowed at each other, the tension raised between them.

"RO-SHAM-BO!"


Anxious.

That's how the Goddess of Love felt at the moment.

Freya had felt that very same feeling the first time her eyes and his had crossed the moment he first stepped out of the Dungeon and into the city.

And she felt that again the moment she realized her charm didn't work on him. If anything, it only made him angry at her. But his rejection, the humiliation of how he rejected her, had been the straw that broke the camel's back.

But even so, she remained calm. thought on the spot on that very day that she needed to measure just what exactly he was capable of; especially after seeing what he was willing to do to another deity with the flick of her finger.

'Drake certainly isn't your standard Adventurer.' That was the thought she had that day, just before her eyes laid on the purple haired Adventurer. The signs of abuse were just there for the Goddess to notice, and fully take advantage of her.

The blonde had always avoided Syr as if she was a plague for some reason. His latest response to her was rather interesting, almost as if he could know Syr wasn't just one person. But that wasn't what was important at the moment.

During the time she had been watching him, she could tell that despite his attitude towards everyone, and despite his actions, he did care for people in his own way… everyone but Syr at least. In all honesty, the Goddess started to feel emotionally bullied at some point. Saying she started to doubt her womanly charms was an understatement.

So, having that in mind…Freya had ordered the abduction of Sophia Flores, charmed her into thinking of all her time as part of Aeshma Familia, and left her in that state for a couple of days until she made Sophia walk into the Hostess for Drake to see her. Her charm disappeared almost instantly, with all her memories of the previous days gone as well.

Suffice to say, Freya knew Drake's observation abilities were good; she didn't expect him to figure out the reason for Sophia's distress, nor did she expect him to notice Sophia being under the effect of her charm. Something she would surely be forced to deal with eventually.

However, the present was now.

The Goddess knew he was going to do something, but what? She hadn't known at the moment. Although, she had to admit it was surprising to see him acting so soon seeing as he always looked like the strategical type.

Freya felt annoyed, seeing as she pretty much missed most of what had occurred tonight. Had it not been for the Arcanum she had felt earlier, she would have woken up the next morning just knowing the Aeshma Familia was no more. As a matter of fact, the only reason she knew the blonde had a hand in all of this was because she took notice that the source of it was from Aeshma's mansion.

Many questions were raised, especially since it looked like there had not been a pillar of light going into the sky according to her children, which meant that Aeshma was still in the mortal realm. She had sent her children to investigate, but they couldn't get into the mansion at the moment seeing as Ganesha and his children were 'investigating' the area.

One thing was sure though, Drake was long gone from the scene now. Ottarl had insisted for her to go and rest, seeing as it was already past midnight and whatever Drake had done was already over. It was impossible however, mainly because she knew for a fact that Aeshma was still alive.

So, she started to walk around her floor on the Babel, a perfect view of the city from every angle for her to see. She had walked around it at least twice, until her eyes had finally spotted him: but this time he wasn't alone.

'How… beautiful' she thought mesmerizingly. Freya entered a trance as she got closer to the window, placing her hand on it as if it were the object of her attention.

There was another person next to Drake. One whose soul, despite being outlined by the same color as Drake's, had such a wonderful white color. So pure, so uncontaminated, so bright and without a doubt: so incorruptible.

Did it manage to surpass her first impression of Drake when their eyes first met? No. However, it was definitely the more beautiful one of the two.

"Yes… more… show me more!" a blush invaded her face as both of the white souls started to glow even brighter and brighter… too bad her delight wouldn't last too long.

"Lady Freya!"

She didn't register her Children's shout; what she did notice was how Ottarl had pretty much pushed her back before standing in front of her, showing her his back as he stood firm with crossed arms.

The Goddess was about to ask why the sudden harsh behavior. She never got the chance, all of her thoughts turned blank as the glass shattered in an instant, just as Ottarl was suddenly pushed back a few feet. It had barely been a second, and her brain had already started thinking about what had just happened. She thought back to a few seconds back, her eyes widened in terror as she recalled the faint image of Drake's soul acting in the samw way as the other one's.

She had tried to warn Ottarl just as he was lowering his guard. But it was already too late, the second attack had come; her eyes widened as she saw her child flying over her head and into the wall.

"…" The Goddess stared speechless. Not at her children being pushed back against the wall, but at what was used as projectiles.

'…Shovels…' she thought, staring at the first one laying on the floor behind them, and the one that had pushed Ottarl back. 'They threw shovels at us.' Her eyes focused on the digging equipment, both of them disintegrating before her very own eyes.

"Lady Freya." Her children called out to her, and she paid attention this time. Her eyes showed a little worry seeing as Ottarl's eyes were wide open, looking at her in complete shock.

She wondered why, and was just about to ask.

Only to stop when she felt something soft and warm run down her forehead. Her hand moved slowly to touch her face, and look with an emotionless expression at her palm; fresh blood on it, straight from her face.


A loud roar could be heard from the top of the tower.

"Porky clearly didn't like our appreciation gift'" Lloyd stated, both walking back to the Hostess.

"Does it look like I care?" Drake pointed at himself, a very blank and tired expression on his face.

"Yeah… let's just call it a day already. It has been rather stressful to be fair, for us as well." Lloyd replied, stretching his arms in the air while Drake growled. "What?"

"Just remembered I have to deal with the aftermath of this in a couple of hours." Drake stated with a scowl, making Lloyd snort.

"Like?"

The blonde sighed. "Mainly women complaining at me."

Lloyd and the rest laughed out loud into the night. "That certainty never happened in Remnant."


"I know we said you needed to keep a low profile," Hephaestus slammed a small glass on the counter inside of the Hostess Of Fertility. "But that doesn't mean you can go on a spree killing Gods in the middle of the night!"

'I am sorry, did I say 'complain' yesterday?' Drake thought. "I meant bitching."

Zelos snorted. 'Women, am I right?'

It was around noon. And instead of him going to Hephaestus to come clean about last night's events, she had decided to drop by instead.

"You know, I woke up in the middle of the night when I felt a sudden spike of divinity." She kept her voice low, even though the alcohol was already getting to her if her slightly reddened cheeks were anything to take into account. "And I told myself, it couldn't be him. He's responsible, bah!" She moved her arm back in a judgmental manner. "Had it not been because of this one, I would have been left in the dark." She pointed at Tsubaki next to her, the Adventurer focus was solemnly on the book he had given her the previous day.

'Gotta admire that dedication.' Guy stated, taking notice of the bags under her eyes.

Tsubaki clearly had pulled an all nighter to study. Apparently, she had been so focused that she didn't even open shop today, so her Goddess had to check on her. It was then that the Half-Dwarf had let out the little tidbit about 'Grumpy going on a crusade late at night.'

It took Hephaestus a minute to put everything together, especially having to take into account the rumors she had been hearing about Aeshma. She knew why he did it, but it still didn't make it any easier for her seeing how she was pretty much covering for him in a sense.

"Please," Hephaestus suddenly said after taking another shot. "Please tell me you didn't do something that might come to bite us back in the ass."

'Huh.' Jude stated. 'It only took her seven shots before she lost her professional composure.'

Drake sighed before staring Hephaestus straight in the eye. "I didn't kill a single person yesterday."

The Goddess sighed, only to suddenly freeze in place after his words finally sunk in. People had certainly died yesterday, of that, she was absolutely sure. Apparently, there were no bodies, but she could explain that due to the use of his shadows. But the no killing part?

'… Does that also mean that Aeshma is actually still alive?' Hephaestus asked herself, not knowing of Drake's full capabilities as a Divine being. She bit her lips, not daring to ask about it.

"Did you finally end your chat?" Mia Grande asked, having been on the back of the counter with Drake. However, the former Adventurer had filled her ears with cotton; preferring to keep saying she didn't know or hear anything, even though it was obvious who the sole responsible individual for Orario's most recent uproar was.

Drake nodded, seeing as Hephaestus was pretty much done with her line of questioning.

Mia sighed, removing the cotton from her ears before scowling at the blonde. "I know the reason as to why you decided to go for a walk last night-"

The Former Noble gave her a look, one that she understood instantly.

"- At least I think I do." She recalled that he hadn't been in a good state after talking with that purple woman yesterday, so she knew it was better not to assume anything. "But to go against a full Familia?" she murmured.

"I would really appreciate it if you didn't go around pulling some avenging crap like someone we know." Both of them, plus Hephaestus, moved their heads to the side to glance at a certain Elf nearby. Her eye twitched, pretty much having heard the whole conversation until now.

"She can't even pretend not to be eavesdropping." Mama Mia stated, causing the Elf to almost lose her composure. "Well," she sighed. "at least you covered your tracks, unlike her." they stared at the Elf again. Ryuu Lyon tried her best not to whine due to the verbal bullying she was feeling.

"That still doesn't make it easier for others, Mia." Hephaestus decided to enter the conversation again, her eighth shot already meeting its end. "Going against a God, slaughtering a full Familia, doing whatever he cares." To her credit; even if she was drunk, she was at least keeping a low tone at her ranting. "Without having taken into account how it might affect others." She pointed at him, fully drunk at this point. "So selfish!"

Mia nodded solemnly, making him sigh seeing as he pretty much brought this upon himself for doing what the people of this world considered a taboo.

"Excuse me." Ryuu approached them, her stoic face in place as always. He was expecting her to come and berate him as well seeing how he had acted alone, despite the Elf's offer of help.

But somehow, she looked rather glad. Ryuu looked back at the entrance, making the three do the same to see Sophia Flores in the middle of the street. The Former Aeshma Familia Adventurer simply smiled in his direction while carrying a child in her arms that couldn't have been older than a year.

She gave him a slight bow before delivering a happy and honest smile. Both Goddess and Pub owner just stared at the sight with neutral faces.

"I assume she was one of his Children?" Hephaestus asked, getting a 'Um-hum' from Mia as the girl continued her way. The Goddess frowned, completely overlooking the fact that people had actually gone through a horrible experience due to Aeshma. The pub owner on the other hand had a feeling of mild disbelief, seeing as she never thought the purple haired Adventurer could smile like that after seeing her blank face the day before.

"You know what," Mia sighed walked to the kitchen. "Let's just drop the whole subject."

"Yeah, mind giving me some water as well?" The Goddess asked, no longer in the mood of being drunk. "Might as well eat something while in here."

"Any preferences?" the blonde asked, as if nothing had happened.

"The bookworm next to me," Tsubaki didn't react. "Has spoken wonders about your cooking. So," despite having been scowling since she arrived, the Goddess had managed to give him an honest smile. "Surprise me."

He chucked before looking at Tsubaki. "What about you? Are you gonna order something, and take a break? Or keep your pride in not asking for help and admitting you are having a problem understanding?"

Tsubaki closed the book, releasing a deep sigh in the process. "Fuck you."

He smiled, walking to the kitchen, leaving the two blacksmiths by themselves.

"Why don't you let me take a look?" Hephaestus moved her hand closer to the book, intrigued by the knowledge Drake had entrusted to Tsubaki. "Maybe I can-" the Goddess didn't get to finish her sentence, nor was she able to touch the book as Tsubaki had simply slapped her hand away.

"This is for my eye only. Go and ask Welf to teach you something if you want to learn so much." Tsubaki stated with a deadly glare. Hephaestus on the other hand closed her eye and smiled kindly.

"Oh. Aren't you a little too old to be in your rebellious phase?"

Tsubaki adopted the same expression.

"Says the woman who has waited her whole immortality for a man to hit on her," their eyes opened, a certain edge could be seen in them. "How's that going by the way?"

Drake sighed, as did May seeing as all of their rambling could be heard from the kitchen.

"Let's hope this calm environment sticks around for a bit nya~" the head chef stated, her knife moving with precision as she spoke.

"Don't tempt fate, that bitch is really spiteful." He stated, pretty much doing the same action with his knife. "Speaking of that, where's Syr? Haven't seen her the whole morning."

May snorted, detecting the clear insult in the process. "She had an incident with the window at her place nya~. Her face got a little scratch from it, at least that's what I heard nya~." The cat person stated, knowing full well the girl just got a small cut on her face at best; and was making a big deal about it.

"Let's enjoy our peace then." He stated, before slashing their knives at the ingredients in the kitchen.


AN: Next chapter is an interlude, marking the conclusion of what I consider is first volume of this story.