Hey, been a while, huh? A little more than half a year to be specific.

Where have I been? What have I been doing? Why haven't I updated? All great questions. And only one answer.

Life.

Life came along, took a few things from me, gave me some more, and is going to take them again soon. It's a lot, it's been a lot, and it will be a lot. But it's what I've got.

But I've been writing this in the meantime. Keeping my mind off things, like the ever approaching end of life (I'm not dying, my new puppy is. Has a deformity with his heart.), my university work, actual work, as well as working in a firm for the job I want one day for work experience.

I kept writing, but I could never find it in me to post an update, so I just kept writing, and editing, and re-writing.

Until I finished all of Arc 3.

And so, I will be releasing it all at once, each individual chapter, the four remaining, over 20,000 words worth of chapters. I hope you all enjoy them, and forgive me for the wait, but onto the story!

Lili hated adventurers.

They were greedy, selfish, horrible people who constantly put her under the worst conditions in order to exploit her for dirt cheap. They would beat her, steal from her, deny her food and water, anything they could to make themselves feel better or laugh at her expense. Thats just the way things were, adventurers were shit, and she was treated as such.

But...

"Lili, do you need some water? You look thirsty." said Akihide, holding out his water bottle to the pallum child.

"Lili is fine, Master Akihide." responded the child with her practiced smile. "You keep a hold onto your water, you need it more."

Akihide sighed at the girl's response. "Lili, please just drink. You need to keep up your energy and fluids." said the young boy, shaking his held out bottle.

Lili smiled and took the bottle. "Thank you, Master Akihide. Lili will be sure to repay your generosity."

Akihide smiled and rubbed the top of her head. "You're doing plenty already Lili, so don't overwork yourself. Just keep doing what you're doing." said the boy, as he left the girl to her drink and checked on Airmid.

All adventurers were shit, as far as Lili was concerned.

All but these four.

Four months, and not once had they done anything untoward to her. They never belittled her, never stole from her, they treated her with kindness and were just friendly in general. They were the complete opposite to any of the other adventurers that Lili had met.

And she didn't know how to feel about that.

She had been stealing from them ever since she joined the party, taking home between 2,000 to 7,000 valis a day from her stolen magic stones alone. Not to mention the cut she was receiving from the overall party earnings, 20% of it all, she was going great for her monetary situation.

After four months, of the 10 million needed to leave the Soma Familia, she had around 6 down already.

She could taste how close she was. Less than half a year and she would be free. Zanis wouldn't be able to get to her anymore, she would be free of the shitty god Soma, and she could find another Familia.

'Maybe... maybe I could join one of their Familias.'

It made sense, seeing as she was already in a party with them, they could get her into the Familia quite easily. Loki, Astraea, Ganesha or Dian Cecht. Four of the most powerful Familias in Orario at the moment, either economically, by numbers or by levels, and Lili was connected to all four of them.

By the time she left the Soma Familia, she was sure at least one of her friends would offer her a place in their Familia.

Friends...

A foreign concept to Lili. Even before Zanis took over, she never had any friends. The only people in her life were her foolish parents, who went and got themselves killed in the Dungeon trying to make money for Soma's Wine. After that, there were only members of Lili's Familia who exploited and abused her, causing her hatred for adventurers, both in and out of her Familia.

These adventurers were different.

These adventurers were kind, smart, strong and friendly. Lili considered these four to be one of the greatest things to ever happen to her, especially since she was receiving training from Nine Hells on the Dungeon as well as members of the Loki Familia who used spears.

For finding Akihide all those months ago, Lili truly believed she was blessed by the god of luck that day.

Even if she continued to steal from them, Lili made it her mission to repay every valis she took from them to make things right after she left:

"Lili! Are you good to keep going? We're set." said Ryuu, looking back at the girl.

"Yes, Miss Ryuu." responded Lili, putting the magic stone into the party's bag and going over. "We're still pretty deep in Floor 17, are we making a trip to Rivira?" she asked the elf of the group.

Ryuu shook her head. "No, we're simply ensuring we've killed all the monsters we can on this floor before we return to the surface." said the girl, smiling at Lili. "Goliath is going to spawn later today, so we won't be going near Rivira again until that thing is taken care of."

Lili nodded, as she gave Akihide his water bottle back, and Airmid began double checking her for injuries. Once satisfied that Lili wasn't hiding any cuts or serious bruises, the group began making their way back up and out of the Dungeon.

It had been a productive day for them. The monsters on Floor 17 were plentiful, and the other adventurer parties had been kind and friendly, as opposed to some of the others that could sometimes get confrontational and belligerent due to their age. But today was great, with plenty of monster drops as well as magic stones. Kiddy Party was expecting a fat paycheque for all their materials.

Akihide smiled at the girls. "We know what Riveria's like when we're late, so let's get a wriggle on." said the boy, as they ascended from Floor 16 to Floor 15.

"No one needs a reminder of that hell..." muttered Airmid, shaking in her boots slightly. "How can someone so kind and gently be so terrifying?"

The group nodded in agreement of the healer's assessment. Riveria could be a kind and gentle woman, or she could be the devil, depending on her mood. One time, they had personally experienced hell when they returned from the Dungeon at 9pm, which had horrified Riveria, as well as everyone else that something had happened. Riveria had mobilised a tracking force to try and recover them, just as they returned, noting how late it was as they had lost track of time.

The five of them had seen hell that day, and Riveria ensured that they would not soon forget it.

Akihide sighed, muttering under his breath something about scary mothers and his ability to seemingly manifest them, before a scream pierced through Floor 15. All members of Kiddy Party were on high alert, but no one had a chance to discuss anything before Akihide went sprinting off towards the scream at full speed. The rest of Kiddy Party wasn't far behind, running with the boy whilst making sure Lili was protected and keeping up, seeing as she was only a level 1.

Akihide was the first on the scene, looking at a group of around 6 adventurers surrounded on all sides by Hellhounds, Al Mi Raj, Crystal Mantis and other monsters. He gripped his katana's hilt, drawing out the blade and slicing through a pair of Hellhounds in one swing. His new katana, Bishamon's Fortune, was different from his previous one, but very similar. Inverted were the colours of the sheath and hilt, a black hilt with a red and grey sheath, but the blade was pure red, made from a Valgang Dragon Fang, and was by far one of the strongest weapons in Orario. Nevermind the fact that it was in the hands of a level 2 adventurer not even 9 years old yet.

And the best part? Akihide didn't have to pay a single Valis for it! Ais was footing the bill, or at least part of it, and that was going to keep her in debt for quite a while, whilst the Loki Familia itself was compensating the rest of the money. Riveria told him to expect this to be the entirety of his next birthday party this year, but he was fine with it.

Bishamon's fortune was on a whole other level than Breath of Hachiman. Tsubaki told him to expect to wield this weapon for years and years, as it was made to be able to handle the monsters down to around Floor 62 as Alfia put it. This might be the only sword Akihide had for the rest of his career.

It was both a beautiful sword and a powerful weapon, one Akihide was very grateful for having. Slicing through the monsters on the Upper Floors of the Dungeon as if it was slicing through butter. Not even the toughest Minotaur or Liger Fang hide was able to prevent the blade from slicing them clean in half with minimal resistance.

The members of the Loki Familia as well as the Guild had concerns over Akihide possessing such a powerful weapon, but at the end of the day, it was a weapon gifted to him by a darling teacher, who simply was 'investing in the future of Orario's heroes'.

Ais was, of course, kicking up a major fuss over the weapon, not only having to pay for part of it, but also her own weapon being not of the same calibre of his. Her new sword, Sword Ale, was a great sword that Gareth had commissioned for her from the Goibniu Familia, since Tsubaki had taken one look at the remnants of Breath of Hachiman and started spewing so many curses and threats that Ais had to be escorted out of the Hephaestus Familia Forge before Tsubaki tried to kill her. But Sword Ale paled in comparison to Bishamon's Fortune, so she was upset again.

There was no helping that girl.

But that was enough of that, Akihide had a party to protect.

After the two Hellhounds fell to the ground, the other monsters noticed his appearance on the battlefield, but it was all for naught. As Akihide finished with the Hellhounds, the remnants of Kiddy Party arrived to join the battle, as the young boy began slicing through the monsters. The original party that was in trouble suddenly felt invigorated at the arrival of Akihide and the rest of Kiddy Party, and begun their attack on the monsters anew. And with a pincer attack from both sides, it didn't take long for all the monsters to be taken care of.

The party they had saved bowed to the children, "Thank you for saving us, we owe you our lives."

Akihide shook his head. "We all need to watch out for each other in the Dungeon." said the young boy, smiling at them. "So don't worry about it, and pay it forward one day. That's all I can ask of you."

The party leader nodded, before gasping. "Oh, where are my manners. My name is Luan, member of the Caishen familia, level two, and also known as 'Cash Money' by the gods." said the man, smiling at his companions. "These are all members of my Familia as well. Most are level one, and they're exploring Floor 15 for the first time today, but we were the victims of a pass parade, and almost lost our lives."

Akihide, Airmid and Ardee narrowed their eyes, remembering their first trip together in the Dungeon where they, themselves, were the victims of a pass parade, and only made it out due to luck. The mention of a pass parade was still a touchy subject for them, but hearing that another group of adventurers had done this only pissed them off even more.

"Evilus, perhaps?" asked Ryuu, looking amongst her party and the one they saved. "I heard that some of the members like to pass parade adventurers in an attempt to kill them. Disgusting stuff."

"It wasn't." said one of the other members in the back, a woman into her twenties with blonde hair. "These guys wore brown cloaks, and we could see that one of them had a Familia Emblem. We didn't see which one, but there was one there."

"That meant they either were caught off guard, or they didn't expect you to survive." said Ardee, taking a sombre look at the ground. "So either we're looking at a deliberate attack with the intent to kill you, or a moment of weakness and a dire situation that called for no alternatives. Either way, there are no excuses for doing that to you. There will be consequences when we discover who is responsible for this."

The other party nodded in thanks, no doubt pissed off that they were almost killed by a group of strangers. Akihide stepped up. "Well, now that we're all here, we should all make our way back up to the surface. We all had a long day, and best to stick in groups on the Middle Floors. How about we all go home together?"

The party seemed to be all for that idea, as the eleven adventurers began their ascent through the Dungeon once more.

On Floor 12, once the group knew they were safe, Airmid and Akihide began to look over the six members of the Caishen Familia for injuries they might not have noticed. Airmid found a few cuts that she healed up, but other than a few nasty bruises, Akihide found nothing that required his healing. All in all, everyone was fine, if a little tired after their eventful day in the Dungeon.

"I need a rest after this..." muttered Ardee, rubbing her shoulder. "And maybe a warm meal at Mama Mia's. She always puts a smile on my face with her cooking."

"Yeah~" muttered Airmid, sighing. "I'm just going to sleep when I get home. I'm exhausted..."

"Same..." muttered Luan, looking down at his chipped sword. "Not to mention the maintenance that our equipment's going to need... I need a whole new Jian as well." he whined.

Akihide smiled. "Yeah... I am so done with today. All in favour of a day off tomorrow?" he asked Kiddy Party, getting an unanimous agreement that tomorrow, the Dungeon wasn't in the cards for them. "So shall it be done. Let's keep going." he said, and took a step forward.

Only to be met with an extremely sweet smell.

One that was completely out of place, and one he didn't recognise.

One of the members of the Caishen Familia did though. "Monster Lures?! Why are they here?!" he asked, looking as another three landed near them. "We need to-"

He was cut off by the roar of monsters, looking around to notice the group was completely surrounded by a collection of monsters. Lili looked around, calling out. "Imps, Ogres, Bad Bats, Hard Armoured, Silverbacks! Unknown numbers, but must be well over 35, maybe 45 to 50!"

The group was fucked. The problem with the Middle Floors was that there were a bunch of monsters that were weaker than some of the monsters on Floor 12, but attacked more as large groups or packs, such as the Al Mi-Raj or Crystal Mantis. Other than that, stronger monsters only really appeared in groups of three to six.

A bunch of monsters just below that level had joined up with them, making an insane monster Party of 50 monsters. He could see off the top of his head at least three Silverbacks, as well as six Hard Armours. "Everyone circle up! Keep close and protect the mages! We can do this!"

The group quickly got into position, placing their backs against each other. Lili had dumped her bag and held onto her spear tightly. She technically wasn't strong enough to take on the monsters of Floor 12, maybe an Imp or two at most, but they needed all the fighters they could muster to win. As monsters began to charge, the battle began.

Including the Caishen Familia, there were a total of six level 2 adventurers fighting, one of which being Airmid, preparing to unleash her attack spell. The group clashed with the stronger monsters, taking on the Ogres, Hard Armours and Silverbacks. "Level 1 adventurers, take on the Imps and Bad Bats, leave the big guys to us!" yelled Luan, swinging his sword at an Ogre, cutting it's stomach.

Akihide drew his sword, swinging it clean through a Hard Armour, even slicing through said armour. "Keep the pressure on them, and this shouldn't be too hard of a battle!" he yelled out, looking at the group of monsters and picking out his next target. "Leave the Hard Armours to me! My sword can slice through them!"

"Don't have to tell us twice!" yelled out Ardee, jumping back to avoid a Silverback's fist. "We go this! Let's get them!"

And so they fought with all their might. Beating back monsters one by one. However, as they killed one monster, two more took it's place, lured by the Monster Lures to the group's location. As more monsters joined their brothers and sisters in trying to kill the adventurers, much like they were treating the monsters.

However, the most shocking development was that Lili was having a much easier time than she assumed with killing the Imps with her spear. Much to the shock of her and the others, she was capable enough to slaughter the smaller monsters like they were mere livestock. It was so easy for her, and no one, not even herself, expected it.

'I must be getting stronger than I thought when training with these guys...' thought Lili as she slammed the blade of her spear through the face of an Imp, forcing it to go limp and die. 'I feel like I can take a hundred of these guys by myself. Probably not an Orc or something bigger though, just a bunch of little guys.'

And she was right.

Lili had become specialised in taking on monsters closer to her size, despite her larger than herself weapon. She had an easier time against Goblins than Kobolds when she first started, same with Needle Rabbits as opposed to something like Frog Shooters or War Shadows. Lili mastered the art of striking quickly and efficiently on creatures her own size, and whilst not a good thing necessarily, as she would have to face taller creatures eventually, she had a way to get stronger.

And it was working.

Her status had shot up in the last six months, to something she could never had imagined when she first started out, having her strength in C Rank due to her constantly carrying around the large sack filled with heavy spare equipment, monster drops and magic stones. But that wasn't even her best stats. Her magic was high C Rank, as she constantly used it to cash in her stolen items from the Dungeon Crawls, as well as dropping them off at the Gnome's Shop for the crystals. Her agility was actually at B Rank, having practiced under both Riveria and the absolute Demon known as Alfia how to effectively run all the way from Floor 1 to Floor 7 without needing a break.

But her dexterity...

The first stat she had that broke into S Rank.

It was at 901, so it only just made it, but it was there. She had an S Rank stat, which is more than what Zanis could claim, having only had a strength stat as high as B before he reached level 2. But he was still stronger than Lili, so he could still potentially force her into staying.

She couldn't have that, so she needed to get stronger.

However, she was broken out of her thoughts as the sound of shattering metal, looking to see tha Jian that Luan was wielding broke. "Shit!" he called out, jumping back to avoid a swing from a Silverback. "Do we have a spare sword I can use?!"

"In the bag! I got it!" called out Lili, rushing to the bag in the middle of the group, and throwing the lid open. "It's ri-" she called out, before a hand was pushing against her mouth, preventing her from talking, as her eyes went wide. She screamed into the hand, grabbing the attention of a few of the group, as they saw her getting dragged under a dark black cloak, as she screamed in terror. The cloaked figure ran into the monsters, but for some reason, didn't draw their attention at all.

"LILI!" called out Akihide in concern, as the other members of Kiddy Party looked at the sight before them. Akihide went to give chase, but was stopped as a tail swung out and smacked him into one of the trees, toppling it over. Akihide groaned and looked up, before laying eyes on his attacker. "OH FOR FUCK SAKE?! AN INFANT DRAGON ENHANCED SPECIES?! REALLY?!"

There, standing over the group, was a dragon around ten meters tall, with glowing red scales, and smoke coming from it's mouth. It glared down at the group, and roared.

Akihide looked back at where Lili was being taken off too, but noticed that the kidnappers had disappeared into the mist of the Dungeon. He punched the tree in anger, before turning back to the dragon.

His anger began flowing out of him, as his two tails of energy appeared along with his original, and his hair started turning red. However, unlike the times where he had done this before...

He spoke.

"You're in my way." he said coldly, glaring at the monster in front of him. "Get the fuck out of my way."

The Infant Dragon roared, and charged at the boy, who simply yelled back, and returned the charge in kind. The two clashed as the rest of the group tried desperately to survive.

The dust had finally settled about an hour later, with everyone in the group absolutely exhausted. Luan had been injured pretty badly, but Airmid was tirelessly working through her exhaustion to heal him enough for them to make their move to the surface.

But for the four remaining members of Kiddy Party, that was the last of their concerns.

"Evilus... has to be..." muttered Ryuu, looking down at the ground in a furious anger. "Who else would take Lili like that?"

"The problem is we don't know." calmly said Ardee, but one could tell she was talking through seething teeth, angry at the kidnappers beyond measure, something most unusual for her. "It might have been a personal grudge, and everyone was simply caught in the crossfire."

Akihide just looked down in horror at his inability to do anything. He was meant to be the strongest there, the fastest adventurer in the world even, but he could do nothing for Lili, and now she was gone.

"I'm sorry Lili... I failed you..." he said with shame, looking down at his feet.

However, just as he said that, a member of Luan's group came over to them. "Sorry to bother you guys, but did you drop this by any chance?" he said, holding out a medallion.

Ardee looked at it. "Soma Familia... must've been Lili's." said the girl, looking down at it sadly.

However, this caught Ryuu's attention. "No..." she said, suddenly piecing together the mystery. "Lili never had a Familia medallion, she was just a supporter, and they don't receive one."

"So it's not hers..." muttered Ardee, before her brain snapped into place. "So then it must have belonged to the kidnapper!"

"Soma Familia kidnapping their own member?" muttered Akihide, looking at the medallion. "That makes no sense. It makes more sense to just take her when she gets home then risk it in the Dungeon where they can be caught."

"Akihide, they bought a Familia Medallion to a kidnapping. This guy is obviously an idiot." deadpanned Ryuu.

"I guess that makes sense..." muttered the boy, before standing up. "Fine then, looks like it's time for a rescue mission."'

"And how do you plan on pulling that off?" asked Airmid, looking over at him, expectantly, waiting for him to say something.

"We're grabbing Alise and the rest of Ryuu's Familia, telling Alise what happened, and letting the Incarnation of Justice help us deal with this." he responded.

The others looked between themselves and nodded, agreeing to the plan.

They didn't have a lot of time to waste, and had a supporter to save.

Hope you guys enjoyed that. Sorry again for the horrible wait, but I hope it's worth it. No omake for this chapter, but there will be one for the other three. Look forward to it, and this is Striker777, over and out.