Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka Gaiden – Sword Oratoria - Volume 12 - Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 RABBIT ORACLE 

“I can’t find it!” 
In the center of a spacious library, Tiona cried out in frustration, surrounded by a mountain of books that had been removed from the shelves. 
“Are you stupid, Tiona? Don’t make a scene! This isn’t our home library!” 
“You too, Tione. Please keep your voice down…” Aiz whispered, begging Tione, who had snapped loudly at her sister. 
Her efforts were in vain as daggers of annoyed glances were shot toward them. 
The Great Library of the Gnomes. 
An institution in the east of the Labyrinth City run by gnomes living in Orario, like the Gnome Vaults. 
Of all the spirits, gnomes had the most dexterous fingers, which allowed them to easily integrate into human society. Among them were particularly skilled gnomes who managed various establishments, including the safe points where valuables could be deposited. These gnomes were called landlords. Using jewels they mined themselves as starting capital, they created services that put even the gods and greatest merchants to shame. The Great Library and the Gnome Vaults were examples of their skill at business. Incidentally, the Great Library had an entry fee with a not-insignificant price—as gnomes considered knowledge a treasure—meaning the average city resident and lower-level factions tended not to visit very often. 
There were many people from familias in the spacious open-access area with high ceilings, researching things. When Tiona and Tione raised their voices in the center of the building, they drew glares of annoyance. “ Loki Familia again…?” they seemed to want to say. 
Unable to endure the glares, Aiz shrank back, trying to avoid their eyes. 
“A dragon called Nidhogg isn’t showing up in aaany of the books!” Tiona lay flat on the desk, not noticing how people were reacting around them. 
They had come to research the mural of the evil dragon and the six maidens. As Finn had the familia members prepare for the battle, some received instructions to gather information about Nidhogg. Since the library in the manor had already been searched to no avail, their search brought them to the Great Library of the Gnomes, which claimed to have the most books in the city. 
They had heard that Finn had already attempted to find it in ancient literature, so Aiz and the sisters were investigating Tiona’s beloved heroic epics, but…they had not stumbled across any clues at all. 
“Hey, Mr. Librarian. Do you recognize this mural?” 
Raising her head from the desk, Tiona caught a librarian trotting by. She must have forgotten that it was supposed to be secret, because she showed him the sketch of the mural without hesitation. Shorter than a prum and wearing an expensive-looking uniform like a banker, the elderly gnome quietly shook his head, his beard swaying back and forth. 
Tiona’s face smashed back down to the tabletop again. 
“Did any of you find anything, Narfi?” 
“Sorry, Miss Aiz. We couldn’t find anything, either…” 
“I mean, the Great Library is huge, but our study has a bunch of books, too. If we couldn’t find anything in either of these places…Plus, we’ve checked a ton, too,” she responded. Narfi was looking exhausted as she tried to balance a tower of books. 
Tione tore at her bangs, trying to contain a headache. She was not used to dealing with books. 
Currently, other than Bete and Anakity and those who had been explicitly given other jobs, every member of Loki Familia was at the Great Library seeking leads. 
“Nidhogg is probably some really old fairy tale. Back when monsters were coming out of the big hole, back in the earliest days.” 
Tiona slowly raised her head, throwing herself into the search again as she cracked open one of the books carelessly sprawled across the table and glared at it. 
“That’s why the information is so fuzzy…Like in this book, it’s not a dragon; it’s a snake. And its name is ‘the world devourer’ or ‘the one who dwells in burning rage.’” 
“‘The world devourer’…” 
“When I first heard the name Nidhogg, I didn’t recognize it at all,” Tiona added. 
From when Tiona was young, she had always loved reading the epics. If she did not know anything about it at all, Nidhogg must have really been a faceless monster. Aiz started to think back on the faceless mastermind, subconsciously superimposing Enyo over the evil dragon. 
“What hero defeated your version of Nidhogg, Tiona?” Aiz asked. 
“Ummm, there wasn’t a hero in the story about the world devourer.” 
“Then who defeated it?” Tione responded with another question. 
“I dunno.” 
“Huh?” 
“Everything is vague, like ‘it was erased by a great god’ or ‘it was purified by the heavens,’” Tiona responded with a sullen look. “Plus, I don’t know anything about the six maidens…” 
As Tiona compared the sketch of the mural to the book, Aiz and Tione glanced at each other. They wanted to know more, but even if they tried to research it, there just wasn’t enough information to go on. They weren’t making any progress. 
“At this rate, we should just try going to the Guild! We can get them to let us check out the books in their archive!” Tiona’s brow was furrowed as she stood up all of a sudden. 
“Investigate the books that the Guild keeps…?” Aiz tilted her head. 
“The captain must have already asked the Guild to gather information. And their material is mostly about the Dungeon and Orario…” Tione looked at her sister, frowning. 
“But Nidhogg was born in the Dungeon, wasn’t it? Then they might know something about it! If the Guild is no good, we can try asking some other gods or goddesses about it!” 
It was not particularly promising, but she had a point. Tiona’s argument that they should do everything in their power had Narfi and the others nodding along, especially while the enemy was maintaining its unsettling silence. 
“…Let’s split up into different squads: some people stay at this library, others go to the Guild, and in the meanwhile, a group will ask around. As my idiot sister said, we’ll go through the whole city with a fine-tooth comb.” Tione made a decision. 
She had been left in charge of the group there by Finn and her sister had set her into motion once again. With this, Loki Familia scattered throughout the city. 
 
“Hurry up, Aiz! Tione!” 
“Don’t rush me. Sheesh…” 
Beneath a wide blue sky, the streets of Orario were filled with a morass of demi-humans. Tione grew exasperated as Tiona weaved through the crowds in the middle of the packed street like a monkey and kept impatiently waving at them to follow. Aiz and the sisters were in the northwest section of the city, proceeding toward Guild Headquarters. 
…But the odds of finding what we are looking for are…quite low. 
Like Tione had said, Finn must have already asked the Guild for information, and there had not been any response from them, meaning that the Guild had not found anything notable. 
Contrary to Tiona’s expectations, Aiz secretly believed it would be better to not anticipate too much from their efforts here. 
Their current mission was the equivalent of trying to find a specific flake of gold that may or may not even exist in a giant desert. That was what Aiz thought, at least. 
…Lefiya… 
As she found her list of problems growing longer, Aiz started wondering about the elf girl. Of course, she wanted to ask her about everything she had learned about Nidhogg from Thanatos, but more importantly, she was concerned about the girl herself. Tiona and Tione were probably thinking the same thing, too. They didn’t say anything aloud, but the way their faces suddenly clouded over told the tale. The obviously missing member of their four-person party left a feeling of loneliness hanging over them. 
Would she be able to stand back up? Would that smile ever bloom across her face again? Aiz silently looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful, clear azure blue and totally oblivious to what was happening. 
“Come on—Miss Amid told you not to exert yourself. You can’t go out walking all the time! I understand how you feel but you have to keep it under control!” 
“Ah-ha-ha…Sorry, Lilly.” 
At that time, they heard a pair of voices amid the clamor of the street. 
 That’s… 
Looking back down at the street, she saw his silhouette. White hair and rubellite red eyes. Aiz was shocked to see the boy approaching them from the crowd. 
“Oh?! It’s Argonaut!” Tiona cried out. 
The pair noticed Aiz and the two sisters. 
“Miss Tiona, Miss Tione? And Miss Aiz…” 
Bell Cranell was as surprised as they were that he had run into them on the street corner, and it showed on his face. 
“What a coincidence! What are you up to, Argonaut?” 
“Ummm…I was finally able to walk again after coming back from the Dungeon, so I was taking a little stroll…” 
Bell seemed a bit dazed as he responded to Tiona. She considered herself a fan of Argonaut, who was as close to a character out of one of the old epics as she could get. 
The boy was dressed the same as usual except for an odd piece of armor on his left arm. The elbow, arm, and finger joints were all covered with metal plating. The collection of parts looked almost like a gauntlet missing a piece of armor or an incomplete artificial hand. The surface was silver with a mysterious blue tint. It was enough for them to infer it was a magic item. It must have been a support for his injured arm. Based on the polished construction, it had almost certainly been made by Amid. Next to Bell was a prum girl escorting him. She was watching them dubiously after Tiona had called out, obviously not enjoying this situation. 
“…” 
“…” 
Suddenly, Bell glanced at Aiz after responding to Tiona. They looked at each other. 
“…Back from your expedition?” 
It had been the talk of the town that Hestia Familia had gone out on their first expedition after receiving a mission from the Guild, even getting picked up in one of the news publications. The Little Rookie—or rather, the newly minted Level-4 Rabbit Foot—was the center of the town’s attention because of it. The fact that he was standing there in front of Aiz meant that he had overcome another adventure. 
“…Yes.” Bell nodded quietly in response. 

Slowly, a small smile spread across her lips. The last time they had met had been almost four weeks ago. She felt like she barely recognized him. 
 Miss Aiz. 
 I want to become stronger. 
Just like he had said that morning on the city walls, he was moving forward. And Aiz started to smile when she recognized that fact. 
There was something she had wanted to say, but for the moment, she was overcome with jealousy and happiness. 
“Oh yeah! Argonaut! Do you know anything about this picture?!” Tiona spoke up all of a sudden. As Bell tilted his head in confusion, she thrust the sketch of the mural in front of his face. 
“Hey, idiot!” Tione shouted at her sister, but her younger sister showed no hesitation asking questions involving confidential information. 
“We want to know about this picture! You know a ton about the heroic epics, right? This is Nidhogg. Do you know anything about it?” Tiona paid no heed to her older sister as she approached Bell. 
Bell started to sweat as the Amazon pounced on him like a large dog, but he scrutinized the sketch of the mural, the evil black dragon and the surrounding six maidens. 
“This picture…” 
“Tiona, I told you to quit randomly showing that to people! There’s no way Rabbit Foot knows—” 
“Oh yes, I recognize this.” The boy nodded. 
“—What?” Tione fell silent, and Aiz froze. Tiona was also wide-eyed. Even she had not expected that answer. 
“I read about it in one of the old stories my grandpa showed me. Wow, that brings back memories.” 
The boy acted as if it was nothing at all. There was no way he could guess how they were feeling. His eyes slowly closed, and he sank into his memories. 
Then, with a smile, he said, “This is the spirits’ six-ring that destroyed the evil dragon Nidhogg, right?” 
 
As the sun went down, twilight darkness began to crawl across a sky on the cusp of sunset and the coming night. A weighty comment from Finn stirred the air in the office in Loki Familia ’s home. 
“So that’s what it is…” 
A large gathering filled the room: the leaders Finn, Riveria, and Gareth; Aiz and the other first-tier adventurers of the main fighting force; Raul and Anakity and those who were the bridge to the lower-level familia members; and Loki, who had just returned to the manor. Urgency hung over them. 
A giant sketch of the floor plan of Knossos was spread across the multiple desks pushed together in the center of the room. While Bete and the rest crowded around the map, Finn glanced at Aiz. 
“The spirits’ six-ring…Are you sure that’s what Bell Cranell said?” 
“Yes…Nidhogg was defeated using the power of those spirits.” 
Aiz nodded as he gazed at her. They had asked Bell for everything he knew regarding Nidhogg. 
“There isn’t a hero in the story of Nidhogg.” 
“Instead, six great spirits appear at the behest of a deity.” 
“And they sacrificed their lives to defeat Nidhogg.” 
What were the looks on their faces when he had first explained it to them? What clamor had resounded in their chests? 
“They sealed the dragon in a powerful barrier and sang a song…Chanting a spell if I had to guess.” 
“Finally, they activated their ultimate attack and defeated the fiendish dragon.” 
“That’s what was written in the tale I read.” 
After listening to his story, Aiz’s voice had trembled as she asked her next question. 
“So the maidens in this picture aren’t sacrifices or saints—?” 
And the boy had answered without any hesitation. 
“No. I believe those are the six great spirits of the Ancient Times who created the spell rings and vanquished Nidhogg.” 
Six spirits from Ancient Times. The encircling spell. In other words— 
“—The ancient ultimate spell that destroyed Nidhogg will be resurrected in Orario?” Finn concluded, his cold, sharp voice resounding around the room. 
Riveria pursed her lips and leaned forward, drawing six circles on the map of Knossos in red ink. One in the north, one in the northeast, one in the southeast, one in the south, one in the southwest, and one in the northwest. They were centered on the large halls on Knossos’s tenth floor where they expected the demi-spirits were being concealed. When she connected the six points, it created a perfect circle, completing the ring. 
“…These six chambers—this ring…Just how much of Orario does it cover?” Gareth asked. 
“The center of Orario—no, the central area surrounding the Dungeon’s entrance. That would make it a little bigger than Central Park,” Finn responded. 
Anakity placed a map of Orario with a similar scale atop the blueprint of Knossos. Just like Finn had said, it overlapped with the area at the center of the city. No one needed further elaboration to understand what the enemy wanted—what Enyo, the city destroyer, was trying to do. 
“Blowing away Orario…Using crazy magic that destroyed a crazy-strong monster in Ancient Times…?” Raul looked pale as his voice filled the room. 
The enemy had incomparably powerful demi-spirits at their command. But Enyo was not planning to simply set them loose, instead attempting to turn them into a magic reactor core to wreak mass destruction… 
“…I saw seven flasks when I was inside Knossos.” 
When they had invaded Knossos the very first time, Aiz had encountered Levis in a chamber equipped with several flasks for nurturing crystal orb fetuses. Gareth picked up on Aiz’s apprehension as she remembered the scene. 
“If you discount the bull-type demi-spirit we defeated…then the numbers match.” 
Given what they knew, they could anticipate six demi-spirits. The number of flasks tied it all together. 
“So then…what? You’re saying the enemy isn’t holing up to weather a siege but that they’re biding their time to set off a giant bomb…?!” Tione said, vocalizing the current situation. 
As silence filled the room, Loki finally opened her mouth. 
“I already checked with Ouranos about whether the demi-spirits would be able to perform the ritual and activate the spell if the corrupted spirit’s main body had consumed any of the ancient great spirits—” 
Loki borrowed the blood feather from Riveria as she spoke and drew more crimson lines on the map. Inside the ring created by connecting the six circles, she drew simplified figures. It was a giant magic circle formed using the six cores as origin points, maintaining the circle shape. 
“—The answer is almost certainly yes.” 
The ultimate spell. The spirits’ six rings. The extermination ritual that once destroyed the evil dragon. 
It had to be the greatest destructive miracle in the mortal realm, one that approached the power of Arcanum. 
“This ceremony is known as Heaven’s Gate . Placing the spirits around the massive magic circle and using the spirits themselves as mediums, it summons the power of the heavens, creating a pillar that approaches the power of the gods. A spell that brings death but one that could only be performed once multiple great spirits had already gathered together and joined their power…It’s almost too powerful.” 
Raul was not the only one at a loss for words. Everyone was silent in shock. 
A power close to that of the gods. A special loophole that had been allowed to occur when the mortal realm was being overrun by monsters. 
The brain could not comprehend its scale. 
“And its destructive power?” Bete followed up. 
“Powerful enough to blow away all of Orario and the surrounding area .” 
Everyone but Finn froze at her response. That was why Tiona’s team had not been able to find anything about Nidhogg in the books. It was not that the ancient people had not left behind any records of it. It was that all the people who had observed the ceremony had disappeared in a sea of light. 
“This isn’t just something like bringing the city into ruin…The enemy is trying to literally erase Orario,” Finn concluded solemnly. 
At that time, the provocative words of a certain man echoed in Bete’s head. It was what Vendetta—the creature Olivas Act—had said when they crossed paths at the pantry on the twenty-fourth floor. 
“I will destroy Orario.” 
That had not been an exaggeration, a threat, or a joke. They actually intended to have the six spirits resonate, amplify, and annihilate everything aboveground in a massive ritual. Once Babel and Orario, the lid on the Dungeon, were removed, the giant hole that gave birth to monsters would be exposed again, spewing forth renewed horrors. That was the scenario that Enyo and the underground forces had in mind. 
Outside the window, night had fallen, and darkness had settled in the city. With night as his backdrop, Finn announced, “This is an emergency. There’s no time left to spare.” 
 
That day, certain people in the city felt something. 
“…Do I hear a song?” 
Reverberating from belowground, singing in unison, six voices were overlapping, serene and repulsive. 
The curtain of night drew on Orario. As the moon looked down on the city, the prelude to destruction began quietly.