Disclaimer: I do not own Danmachi or anything created by the author Fujino Omori; all rights go to him. I only own my original characters Sleipnir, Ikuchi, Sylphie, and all the others.

Speech: "So about the first few chapters of Fox Descending?" Shimizu debates with himself.

Thoughts: 'What about them?'

Screaming/Demonic Voice: "Aren't they a little bland by now?"

Magic: "I have to agree on that. Be it character development or even the action, all is slightly off. - Thinking Writer!

Runes: So when will I return, and fix it! - Fuin!"

Writing: Shimizu writes in contemplation. 'Well I already have some ideas, but I'll leave the story as is on fanfiction and AO3. I'll finish Act 2 here, and then while writing Act 3 finish the rewrite to upload both under a new name.'

Chapter 24 Kitsune tries Reconciliation?

Next day, Quintillis (August) - Martial Dojo - Chigusa POV

Hitachi Chigusa Alias: ? Race: Human

Level 1

Strength: A 864 - S 930

Endurance: D 526 - C 620

Dexterity: S 921 -S 953

Agility: B 778 - A 856

Magic: C 636 - B 731

Magic:

1. Jian Yajirushi: A spell following the idea of pars like the mythical Jian bird that can only fly in pairs. Changes arrows into Jian arrows that can hone in on their target and separate with a mental command from the caster, thereby losing their honing ability.

Twin birds hear my call, enchant my pull, guide my path - JIAN YAJIRUSHI

Skills:

1. Martial Artist: Increases the effect of weapons the user has trained to use and increases the power of techniques. (Warbow, Longbow, Shortbow, Tower Shield)

Techniques:

Piasu Isshi: A charged bow attack able to pierce through armour. - Upgrade with sniper arrow possible

Ribaundo Isshi: A special technique to fire an arrow that can rebound from one surface while continuing at the same velocity

Doubleshot: The User has trained extensively and is capable of firing two arrows at the same time.

Chigusa woke up bright and early with the sun. She did her usual routine with a small smile as she thought about finally getting some answers out of her brother. Given his secretive nature, today would be the day since it would be just the three of them in the Dungeon! Not even Sly's absence for the first hour of training could decrease her mood. However, the large bags under Sly's eyes may have dampened it a little. Despite this Sly pushed through the training surprisingly well in contrast to his tiredness.

Once they were done it was close to ten am. Promptly their team began gearing up for the Dungeon but Take caught them as they finished their preparations. "Be careful my students. The others have already gone on their errands and today you'll be the only ones in the Dungeon. Protect each other, I feel trouble approaching. Remember the greatest victory for any adventurer is returning to fight another day." She might have imagined it, but Take's gaze lingered on Sly a little longer.

Sly answered instantly, "Of course, Takemikazuchi-sama!" with Welf and Chigusa giving their own acknowledgements.

Take accepted their words. "If anything happens, I am at the orphanage. Mikoto and Asuka are in the Blue Pharmacy and Ouka has gone to train with Bedrin."

Sly cocked his head slightly. 'So, he'll learn from the Ganesha executive. What a great opportunity for him, and I finally get more time with my party!'

With a small fist-to-palm bow they gave to Take, the God went on his way. 'Now to figure out what all these rumours are about…'

As Take left, they returned their focus to Sly. Welf sighed and gave him an annoyed look. "Dude, you really need to sleep more. Practising magic is no excuse even if you had to help me in my smithy the last two days."

Chigusa then piped up, "You heard him Sly! You must stop skipping sleep, it's unhealthy to rely on potions! Please promise to sleep more!"

Sly gives Welf a weak glare but silently agrees with a nod and a tail visiting her seeking forgiveness. "Give me a minute. I prepared some magic lavender tea spiked with stamina potion to keep me awake enough for more practice. I still want to go over what you two achieved with the cantrips Acatl taught you."

Chigusa felt her irritation at Sly returning with a frown as he went off to get his tea. "So Welf, what have you forged yesterday?"

Welf warmly smiled. "Nothing much just made 3 more sniper arrows for you. This time with a special metal. It's called Astrum and needed a lot of mana to forge, but don't tell Sly I already gave them to you, it was supposed to be a secret."

She raises her brow. "And why would that be?"

Welf smiles it off. "You know him a lot better than I do Chigusa-chan. You tell me."

She sighs and quietly says. "Sometimes, I wonder if I do…"

Just at the door Sly frowned and halted his steps for a moment at her words, but continued forward to meet them. "So, what have you two been practising? Acatl hasn't told me anything about the cantrips she showed you. Chigusa, you agreed to accompany me to the School District next week, I hope you are ready."

She confidently took out a small vial from one of her pouches with a fitting set of paper and a fine brush. "I hope you took your practice seriously Sly-kun. I am already at the beginner level for the wind cantrip."

She quickly demonstrated her skill. She took great care to carefully draw the Core Rune on the paper, perfectly surrounded by three Auxiliary Runes. 'Condense the air and rebuff the invaders!' "Ventus Falcem!"

Her cantrip created a strong gust of wind that pushed Sly and Welf a few meters back. Welf laughed loudly. "Well done Chigusa! Didn't think cantrips had that much power. How much mana did that take?"

Her cheeks were a little red. "Around 1/10. I have prepared the same cantrip on my bows but could only draw the runes once on each. It still takes almost a minute to draw them on my bows, the curve makes drawing runes tricky and any more than one spell per bow makes the runes unstable. Plus, I need to touch them to activate them which means I'll only have two uses of the cantrip. I could draw more on paper, but the runes get damaged if I'm not careful."

Sly beamed at her. "Incredible Chigusa-chan! That's really good! My runes aren't even combat-ready yet. Here, watch." He took a step away from them, before casting 3 cantrips one after the other. He first drew the runes before calling out only the cantrip names. "Attraction Fortis", with which he attracted a boulder near the pond, likely weighing at least 300 kg. Then he continued with a green spell circle, casting "Ventus Valcem", but his cast was far more unstable. Instead of releasing an equal gust in all directions, his varied in strength greatly, as she was barely pushed away while Welf was thrown back as if hit by an orc's club.

They quickly helped Welf back up. "My apologies for that Welf, my control over my cantrips is much worse than Chigusa. Any small error while drawing them on a magic circle changes their effects greatly. It's also much harder than drawing them on paper. Please step back for the last cantrip."

He then summoned a blue magic circle. Before taking even greater care while writing his runes with one finger. The magic circle shuddered a few times, but after a minute it was finished. 'Call forth a drop and release its flow!' - "Aqua Spherae!"

With his chant, a tiny drop of water accumulated in front of him till it had a diameter of 0.3m and hovered there for a second before blasting towards the previous boulder. The resulting crash created a 10-centimetre-deep crater and threw magic water in all directions around the boulder's face.

"As you can see. I have practised three cantrips, but none are combat-ready yet. Attractio Fortis is the closest, but before I am fast enough to draw them in less than a second, using my foxfire and illusions is more efficient. I know how to draw all 8 basic cantrips, but the mana cost is dramatic without a magic circle, so I'll keep to what I know for now. As for Cantrips on magic circles, I can cast up to 50 of them."

Welf shook his head at both of them, and she couldn't help but smile. This was the Sly she missed. The one who just enjoyed talking and showcasing his magic and helping them along the way. It also helped that she managed to beat Sly in the application of rune magic without a magic circle.

Now it was Welf's turn. "I only got one. I haven't even gotten any good at it to be honest. I have an idea what I can do with it, but I don't think I'll manage it anytime soon." Welf took out another brush, a little thicker than theirs and a single metallic vial. He then drew the rough runes for his own cantrip. Taking great care to draw all four runes without error took him around 2 minutes.

He then touched his hand to the paper and chanted. 'Condense the sparks!' - "Favilla!" Embers gathered around his hand, shining brightly and creating many shadows. Welf performed a few punches and even drew his greatsword to showcase how they did not affect his gear. "I plan to find a way to reinforce my hammer swings with this while smithing to increase the temperature, but for now I don't know how to do that. I barely even qualify as a beginner rune mage."

Now that she had seen all their runes, Chigusa was very excited. Sly's runes had more strength behind them with his higher magic, but he lacked her fine brushstrokes, which often resulted in varying strength. On one side his spell might be strong enough to push back a mid-level two adventurer, while on the other side, it might even be weaker than hers. 'Sly's wind isn't even consistent enough to stop my arrows. Finally, I beat him at a spell!'

What Chigusa did not consider, was that her own affinity for wind was likely much higher than Sly's who never before practised wind magic in any way. After all, even her Jian Yajirushi was a combination of wind and another magic affinity not even Sly knew.

With all the experiments done, they went towards the dungeon, following Sly, who took a detour around the Daedalus District.

Dungeon - Welf POV

With Sly wishing to avoid the Daedalus district for personal reasons, Welf happily led them to his workshop. He had left another set of kunai for Sly and arrows for Chigusa there anyway. It also gave him the chance to explain the upgrades he made to his armour. He still wore the salamander wool cloak Sly gifted him, but he also made himself a sturdy backscabbard for his greatsword to carry over the cloak. He also changed the metal of his plated armour out to the same mix of high silver and hellhound bones.

The red plates were connected by a gambeson, which he had in the works since their first hellhound battle. Gathering enough fur to make it fire-resistant was tough, but now he was fittingly clad for a High-Class Adventurer.

Now that they were fighting in the Dungeon he made good use of it. The Upper Floors were hardly a challenge anymore, but they made for good practice.

A thing he did more now than when he was still a level 1, was blocking attacks with his greatsword Suiraisu. He always preferred dodging, but Take had handily shown him how that was a mistake. He often lost momentum in a battle because he focused too much on dodging, even with his adventurer strength and speed, he was far better suited to take a little punishment and dash out counters.

The greatest benefit to this was that Suiraisu although not the toughest blade, still had a little fight left in her. With her he could focus on blocking anything below level two with ease, and only against level two opponents would he have to watch out. He planned to make the most of it. He would use Suiraisu to seek out improvements for his next greatsword.

While he was busy blocking war shadows, before countering with pommel strikes to their heads, only to follow it up with another strike while they were recovering. Chigusa used the same floors to practice her technique Twin Shot, to harass multiple monsters at once. She took only a second to aim at her targets, closely packed together, before releasing two arrows at once. The farther apart her targets were the worse her aim grew, but against level-one monsters, any hit was enough to end a life.

Sly took a similar approach to Welf, but instead of blocking he focused on dodging, or stopping monsters from moving too close, sometimes even using his tails to trip monsters. By now his speed had increased with Kogitsune-Maru, almost back to the speed he had with his previous naginata.

They continued with the same strategy for the entire delve through the Upper Floors without any breaks. Welf occasionally exchanged glances with Sly, he could see how Chigusa was growing impatient with him. On the tenth floor, Welf also had enough of their silence and gestured at Sly while Chigusa was firing one of her prototype golden arrows to defeat an orc with a headshot.

However, as soon as Sly heard another horde of monsters approaching, he rushed to meet them a good deal faster than needed. Shaking his head, Welf met Chigusa's eyes. "You know this would go faster if you told him you miss him. I saw how happy you were when we exchanged notes on cantrips."

Her retort was just as fast. "And let him off the hook that easily? Not a chance! He has grown more confident but still shirks some things if he thinks he can get away with it."

Welf braced himself against Suirasu. "Was that why you begged Acatl for a lesson in rune magic? You know, the one that we all got roped in on?"

She looks away and huffs, while hiding her face behind her black hair. "That wasn't the plan…"

"What a pain. Just tell him you want to understand more about what he's doing and he'll tell ya. Certain people and most certainly Sly just need a good shove. Tell your brother you miss spending more time with him. No, need to go to the School District just for him." Welf sheathes his greatsword and begins walking back towards Sly.

Chigusa stands a moment longer before following and murmuring to herself. "I will. With the School District, I'll finally get to spend more time with him. However, it's not only for him; I also like rune magic. It is, in a way, relaxing and precise just like painting."

With Chigusa reassured they finished the Upper Floors in another 30 minutes. Right before the Cave Labyrinth, Chigusa exchanged a glance with Welf and stopped.

Sly continued another step, before stopping as well. As he turned to them, he saw the serious expression Chigusa wore which only provoked his fight or flight instincts as his tails froze before slowly and tentatively swaying behind him.

…

Before their eyes his expression changed constantly until, 10 seconds later, he made up his mind. "So be it. Chigusa have you ever wondered why I grew a second tail?"

Chigusa seemed surprised at his words but quickly schooled her expression. "From what you told us it represents your mana capacity. Despite your words, I always found it strange… I used to play with a renard girl before I met you, but everyone in her family only had a single tail and there were adventurers in that family."

Something was changing in the air. With every moment Welf felt something beyond his recognition moving like some sort of mounting tension. Chigusa's words spurred Sly on. "I know. This is why I need to ask, 'what are your thoughts about our traditions, our rituals, without taking into account the kami?'"

Chigusa kept her calm gaze and stared into Sly's eyes. "My village never paid much respect to rituals. The kami are incorporeal and have little effect on reality. I always respected them, but more so because it is part of our culture. Even with Take around I remain sceptical. If the spirits left, why perform rituals? Are they for something else and if so, what is their purpose?"

Sly was frowning, seemingly unsure how to answer this conundrum. Until Welf mouthed "spirit" in his direction. "Fine. There is no reason to delay this further. Chigusa-chan. The reason rituals are still performed to this day is because there are still spirits around. Few interact with Genkai, or more accurately the first layer of Genkai, as they reside in the second layer. Acatl-hakase has been teaching me about spirits in my lessons…"

Welf quickly supplements, "Don't forget the part with the special bloodline."

Chigusa also seemed to pick up on the direction this was going. "The one Take mentioned on our second evening?"

Sly swished his tails at them playfully. "Yes, that one, could you please let me finish? My bloodline is that of a spirit. A kitsune to be exact. It allows me to grow more tails the higher my mana capacity rises and even exceed the normal magic limit. Due to this bloodline, I became a half-spirit when I levelled up. Something that is between a mortal and a spirit."

Now both Welf and Sly watched her reaction. At first, she stayed quiet. Then she sighed loudly and shook her head, sending her hair flying. "Dear Kami, why would I care about that? From all the secrecy I thought you found a secret order spanning the entire world secretly vying for total world control in the dungeon! You could have told me this weeks ago! I'd have helped you! This secrecy was driving me crazy!"

She stepped up to Sly until she had to look up at his face. With a large frown she berated, "Next time tell me! No more hiding silly things from me! Even if you think I'll dislike what you did! I will always stand beside my silly brother."

Welf quickly stepped away and gave them their moment, only barely hearing their words together with Akiri and Sylphie. "I will try, but as a spirit of mystery, I carry a heavy burden. I know more I'd like to tell you but can't and this likely will continue to be the case."

"Never keep me in the dark if you can help it. I hate nothing more than fearing I was losing you. Keep me and Welf updated if you can, and we'll help you. You don't need to carry such burdens alone." Chigusa said with a voice laden with emotion.

Welf took this as his cue to join, placing a hand on both their shoulders. "You are stuck with us Sly, through good and bad."

They stayed like that for a few seconds, savouring the moment until a high-pitched scream of, "Group hug!" When a small fairy clung to Sly's neck and three black tails of a meter-high fox joined the giant embrace.

It took Welf a few minutes to escape from the surprisingly strong black tails and another minute for Chigusa and Sly to escape. Now, Sly explained the new faces to Chigusa.

She thrust her fist in the air and exclaimed, "I knew it! Take was behaving suspiciously and covering for you! Sly you better get enough sleep from now on! Both of us now know about your nightly excursions with spirits, but if you don't sleep, I'll lock you inside your room!"

Sly smiled brightly at all of them. "I'll do my best. Now, as I told you Akiri is a tier 3 spirit and Sylphie is a tier 2 spirit. This means their peak strength is very similar to the strength of an adventurer at the same level, but on the first layer of Genkai they weaken by around 1 level, which means, while Akiri is here, he is only as strong as a peak level 2 adventurer despite being tier 3. Do you understand Chigusa-chan? Welf?"

Welf nods his head once. "See them in action once, and you'll doubt that approximation. But coming from you, and compared to you, I can see it."

Chigusa gives her own nod, before pouting. "Wait, does that mean I am the weakest between all of us?! Even Sylphie should be stronger than me if what Welf said is true! Sylphie, we aren't to be taken lightly right?"

Sylphie flies next to her. "Of course not! I got Sly out of trouble many times, a little respect would be deserved!"

Chigusa shows a very sharp grin, the smile of a hunter smelling prey. "Sylphie, we'll prove that we aren't any weaker than them. Come on we can beat more monsters than my trickster brother, a smith with a heavy stick and an old fox!"

With a loud "Yeah!" Chigusa rushed to the 13th floor with Sylphie hot on her heels preparing their arrows and magic respectively. Welf sees this before Sly hears Akiri's telepathy. 'Will you let your sister and the little pipsqueak beat you, Shin?'

Just like that the messenger rushes forwards as well leaving the two of them. Sly curses as he rushes after them with a laughing Welf. "That was my nickname! No way I'll let you beat me invisible-jiji!"

Cave Labyrinth - Sly POV

Sly wasn't far behind the others and saw how they were already fighting with ferocity. Chigusa nocked arrow after arrow from an elevated crystal. She wasn't stopping and was quickly taking out even hellhounds with the heavier arrows in her arsenal. "10, 11, …" Each arrow raised her kill count.

This left Sylphie with returning the arrows to her with two of her wind wires, while also maintaining 4 more for a defensive formation. They struck out like flexible whips at any almiraj and bad bats who dared to approach and killed the weaker monsters on the floor if they weren't careful.

Akiri also used the opening to dance in between a small pack of hellhounds at blindingly fast speed, brushing against them with his tails, and breaking up their formation for Chigusa to shoot.

Sly wouldn't let them beat him, he instantly rushed into battle cutting down one monster after the other with his naginata, while keeping his senses on his party.

Welf wasn't holding back either, the two of them were about even in the number of monsters they slew. Both were already counting 20 kills on floor 14. What he gained in speed, Welf made up for in strength and skill. There were many times his greatsword absorbed an attack, only for a decisive counter to follow, where he would have had to dodge.

There was one close call, when Sylphie and Chigusa got ambushed by a swath of almiraj from a side corridor, but a timely shout of. "Ventus Falcem!" From Chigusa pushed them far enough for him to help out.

As they entered floor 14 he started adding foxfire to the mix, to reduce the pressure on the others, while keeping their fast pace. There was no reason to explore above floor 15, he had mapped all of it and the secret passages were cleared a few days ago. Only the 15th had paths left to explore.

Their formation grew closer on the staircase to floor 15. Even taking a break for Chigusa and Sylphie, who drank a stamina potion after 2 hours of continuous fighting. This didn't stop Chigusa from laughing. "Boys that's how it's done. I killed 69 monsters, 14 hellhounds among them."

Sylphie cheered beside her. "Yes, and I got 47. I showed those bad bats and almiraj who's boss!"

Welf added. "59, 22 hellhounds. A good test for my gambeson."

Akiri shrugged and enveloped them in his illusion domain. He hadn't bothered to kill monsters. They turned their attention to him. "70. Mostly almiraj and around 10 crystal mantises. Welf hoarded all the hellhounds."

Chigusa was still beaming. "I almost beat you Sly. Who's telling us we are the weakest now? Better watch out, when I get to level two I'll leave you in the dust."

He scoffed and wagged one of his tails like one would a finger. "I'd like to see you try. I barely used any magic and still had to save you once. Better start training harder or I'll make a habit of saving you Chigusa-hime?"

The silly banter quickly dissolved into laughter after that one. Welf only regained his breath after a good minute of laughing. "Didn't take you to be a jokester Sly, where did that one come from?"

"You know I can be funny if I try. You just rarely get it." Sly replied in a miffed tone.

…

On floor 15 they sobered up and stepped up their game. No more trace of their banter, instead they got serious. With a strong formation of him and Welf in the vanguard, Chigusa in the back, Sylphie as a scout and Akiri in the middle they were ready.

Ligerfangs were avoided, they'd be too fast for the others to fight efficiently. They instead took down hordes of hellhounds wherever possible. Even fighting a large pack of 12 once.

The first ice wyvern they found was surprised from the depth of Akiri's three layered illusion, with one of Chigusa's sniper arrows together with her Piassu Isshi technique for maximum penetration.

It pierced the wyverns jaw, only barely missing its brain and making it furious. It roared at them, spraying blood around it mid-flight, before dive-bombing at them while charging it's breath attack.

However, what it did not anticipate was for Welf to step up and chant. "Burn, dark magics - Will-o-Wisp" Deftly causing an Ignis Fatuus, which added internal injuries to its punctured jaw. Before they dodged its crash and he cut one of its fangs and quickly dunked it in his water flask. As Welf used a nearby crystal to vault above it and penetrated its head with Suiraisu. Ending the fight as the monster decayed. Only leaving the fang he focused on.

The last challenge for the day was fighting a minotaur armed with a black landform greatsword blocking their path to the surface. They spotted it in advance and prepared for a challenging battle. "Watch out for its tough skin and insane strength almost equaling high level 2. Its greatest flaw is its relatively slow speed."

With those words, they prepared. Sly added his own illusion domain to the spells cast. Chigusa meanwhile launched a Jian arrow with her own spell, before firing her third golden arrow boosted with Piasu Isshi, but this monster was too tough. The arrow hit and stuck into its head, but didn't manage to pierce through its thick skull.

It bellowed in fury and began a charge at them, building up speed over the distance of 50 meters between them, until it was almost as fast as Sly!

Fortunately, Sylphie had used her wires to carry Chigusa to a high crystal formation leaving only him and Welf facing the monster as it continued charging in their direction. 'It can't see past our illusions!'

With added confidence, he avoided its first charge to punish it with a strong slash at its torso but left behind little but a small line for his effort. Welf did the same on the other side and managed a thin cut.

The monster responded with a violent spin with its sword that Welf barely managed to block but he was thrown back several meters. The minotaur took a deep breath, ignored Sly and Chigusa's attack and charged after Welf. Unable to avoid the charge this time, Welf blocked and was pushed further back.

Meanwhile Sly breathed deeply and focused on the spell focus in his naginata. 'Its hide is too tough! If we take too long the sound of our battle could draw other monsters. Worst case another minotaur or a ligerfang! Better to try this now than when other monsters show up!' He pushed a rush of mana into it, and instead of conjuring fire in the air, he pushed it to Kogitsune-Maru's tip. "Foxfire!"

The word and a good fifth of his mana left his reserve and the staff lit alight from the focus out, going through the Astrum metal lines and into the blade. Turning the blade and astrum into foxfire with a very light blue tint contrasting the remaining crimson alloy, while also starting to burn through the hellhound leather tied around it.

'Oh no, at the pace this is going I have less than 5 minutes before the leather is burnt through, and my hands touch the metal! I might be immune to my foxfire, but foxfire is exothermic; if I touch the metal once it starts heating up nothing will protect my hands from it besides my gauntlets which are fingerless!'

With a new sense of urgency and looming time limit, Sly rushed after the minotaur at his maximum speed. Welf blocked a third strike, only being pushed back a meter this time, before countering with a strike to an open cut on the injured monster.

As the minotaur roared in pain Welf disengaged with a quick spring back and a piercing arrow lodged into the same wound, sinking a finger width in. The minotaur pulls the offending protrusion with a warcry swearing vengeance as Sly catches up. At this point, they have left Akiri's illusion range by now and only Sly's own invisibility remains.

At least until the minotaur turns around and lashes out at Sly with heavy horizontal slash. The attack comes so unexpectedly that he can barely block it with his naginata before sailing 15 meters back and almost loses his concentration.

Welf rushes back in, using the minotaur's distraction to deepen its injury. With a bellowing roar the minotaur refocuses on Welf frothing at the mouth from the pain the party has inflicted upon the same wound over and over. Welf quickly leaps back with wide eyes as the landform greatsword smashes into the ground where he was and leaves a large gash in the dungeon floor. Another wild slash tears through the air at Welf's torso and forces him to block instead of dodge. A crater forms beneath Welf's feet as his hands have started trembling from the strain rather than fear.

Breaking this tense contest of strength are Chigusa's arrows , that continue to hit its injury and , distracting it continuously. Sly narrows his eyes at the minotaur as he considers an alternative strategy. 'It sees through my illusion. Let's see if it can also see past my Jūfuku technique boosted not once but twice by my falna!'

Steeling himself he charges back at it. This time Sly drops his invisibility and uses Jūfuku to display without invisibility but instead with 5 different slashes using Kogitsune-Maru honing onto various vital spots of the minotaur.

With a confused "Moou?!" the minotaur stops its assault on Welf to block Sly's attacks with a wide horizontal slash.

It strikes an illusion of his blade, as Sly ducks below it and delivers a devastating cut deepening the same leaking injury. This burned a good 10 cm deeper, revealing the glimmer of a magic stone in the middle.

The minotaur screams in pain and begins slashing wildly around it, forcing both him and Welf to retreat before it lands a blind strike on them. The minotaur goes on all fours and prepares a last charge only for a single Jian arrow strike from behind that homes onto the barely visible magic stone.

With the battle over he extinguishes his fire , before sticking Kogitsune-Maru into the floor. Beating the minotaur had taken a couple minutes, and his hands had suffered blisters all over from the heat. Sly then applied a healing potion over the burns to reduce the severity significantly and heal the blisters, but this still left him with a minor burn on his palms. He wouldn't be using that move again if he could help it.

The reward for their perseverance was a large magic stone a good 5 cm long. "Minotaurs and ligerfangs are the kings of these floors alright. Both have one stat far surpassing those of monsters on the same floor. It also saw through my illusio, no monster has managed that since the infant dragon." 'If you do not count Ikuchi.'

After that battle, they return to the surface by nightfall. However, as they are about to walk around the Daedalus Street, frantic stomping becomes audible nearby. Sly is the first of the mortals to feel it as his ears twitch, but then a disturbed, frantic mana presence washes over their surroundings.

The stomping increases in frequency triggering the party to draw their weapons until they see the cause. A pair of robust brown leather boots stops in front of them but continues to stomp back and forth as if conveying a message in some indecipherable language.

Sylphie behind him mutters. "So, it was a Beto Beto!"

However, before he could ask more Akiri appears beside them in a puff of smoke with urgency. 'It's saying something terrible is happening at Maria's Orphanage. The war god is furious and is calling on you to assemble!'

Their concern only grows, and they follow after the spirit, not bothering to make a detour around the Daedalus District in their hurry, at least they entered with a valid cause. The orphanage is at the border of the Daedalus District after all.

Dungeon Archive

Journal 2, Entry 3

Monsters:

Minotaur: A three meter high humanoid bull monster with vicious horns it uses to bulrush opponents. They share the place of the strongest monster in the Cave Labyrinth with ligerfangs due to their high strength and very tough skin. It takes great force to pierce their skin, but once past it their defence falls significantly. They sometimes carry landform weapons made out of black dungeon iron.

Weak points: Agility. Fast level two adventurers can repeatedly strike the same point to whittle down its defence.

Drop Items: Leather, horn

Value: 50'000 Valis

Top Floor of Babel - Freya POV

Being at the top can be… boring. Imagine working amongst your many diverse peers; you struggle, you learn, you expand your familia. Over many years you develop rivals, acquaintances, and experience in the world about you. Each challenge brings a spice of life: strife. You overcome, you dominate, and you consume said spice and gain a taste… No, a hunger for it.

A deep sigh echoes in a chamber that circles the topmost floor of Babel. A deity sits on a luxurious, black chair with silver filigree lining the frame of the arms and back of the throne while she swirls wine in a glass rest in her palm. 'And that hunger was not even close to being sated 12 years ago. Those years of wandering Genkai, searching for beloved children to join my familia, and building ourselves up in Orario… It was all to topple that stuck-up bitch from her throne!

And what happened? An anticlimactic ending where the only child she had remaining was so sick that she couldn't fight! Even that pervert had lost Maxim and Gluttony razed all their libraries!' A slight frown marred her normally alluring expression. 'What an unsatisfying way to become the top familia!'

She sighed and then took a sip from her glass of wine, but then her brow twitched. 'Wait…' The goddess of beauty immediately gazed across Orario as she sensed something was off in her city.

With her Discerning Eye, she looked into the mortal souls of her domain, intent on finding the cause of the disturbance in her domain. The energy of the city, the way they moved, it all gave her insight into the feelings of her subjects. Many were returning from the dungeon tired, but not more than usual. She tapped a finger on her chin in contemplation. 'It couldn't hurt to be sure.' "Ottar. Have there been any strange events in the dungeon?"

Like a silent shadow, her devout captain emerged by her throne ready; his steady, brown soul brimming with devotion. "The Dungeon has been more active recently. The number of enhanced monsters in the Middle Floors has increased, but nothing beyond its natural development according to our predecessors."

"Hmm…" She let her gaze glide further across the horizon. 'If it wasn't the Dungeon, then something is happening on the surface?' Next, her gaze moved over the deities, taking a moment to watch their pure golden souls, brimming with their domains.

Her eyes were soon drawn to Marie's Orphanage, where a tightly controlled gold very similar to her own resided. It was the newcomer; a male god who repeatedly resisted her charms on Tenkai. 'Takemikazuchi, you have escaped my grasp many times, you are worthy of the title of God of War. A real challenge, in mind and body.' But then Freya's brows twitched again.

His golden soul wasn't as controlled as she was used to. It was steadily pulsing, pushing against a disgusting wiggling purple soul. A soul brimming with… THE INTENT TO HURT HER CHILDREN!? Her eyes widened in fury with her temper instantly flaring. The wine glass in her hand shattered as she stood. Ottar's eyes could only widen as he looked at her, the fur on his ears and tail floofing up.

"You DARE? You lay a finger on my sweet gentle Roux?!"

Her wrath was tempered the next moment. An almost chilling shiver travelled down her spine as she felt Takemikazuchi summon his divine blade. A whimsical grin grew across her face as she felt this, the spirit had to be strong to push her fellow God of War so far! With a last glance, she confirmed the safety of her children and stood up. Such things in her domain could not be left without her gracious supervision! 'To think, a malicious spirit eluded my eyes!'

"Ahh… It's no use! I planned to let things play for Take-kun without interference… But…" A grin curled across her lips; the urge to fight spurred it so!

Walking around her throne, Freya approached a very special compartment. "Ottar, my child, we must oversee the extermination of a malicious spirit. Would be so good as to help me? It's time Orario remembered why I am called the Queen of Valkyries."

Right at this time a voice resounded in the divine tongue. "Ouranos a malicious spirit has made its territory in Orario! I request to pursue it to the Second Layer!"

The old steward of Orario, Ouranos, answered with a rumble. "Request granted!" Informing all the gods in Orario of this event.

The next moment she felt a pulse of arcanum, and Take's golden soul left the First Layer. A shot of… Jealousy? Filled her being as her son helped her adorn her battle armour. A glance at her son's greatsword revealed her intentions before his voice brought her back to focus asking, "Of course, Freya-sama. Shall I bring you your spear?"

"Yes, Gungnir shall see action once more," her steps were heavy with purpose as they began their descent down Babel.

Author's Note

Sorry for the late chapter. The original plan was for 24 to be named "The Two Faces of Spirits" and contain most of the stuff chapter 25 will now contain. Anyway you know the drill, it just kept growing so we split it in two and here is the first half. The second half comes in a week.

At the very least it grew into a very unexpected direction. I hope you enjoyed the last scene, as the additional week allowed us to add it. I'll see you again next week.