Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka Gaiden – Sword Oratoria - Volume 4 - Chapter Ep

EPILOGUE SCENARIO GONE WILD 

The battle on the fifty-ninth floor concluded, Loki Familia quickly began readying themselves for departure under Finn’s command. 
Scraping together what items they could, they somehow managed to get everyone healed—at least enough that they could walk—before the lot of them began making their way back to the fiftieth floor where their base camp awaited. 
Knowing they needed to move quickly if they hoped to avoid the next wave of monsters on the fifty-eighth floor, they dashed their way up and through the Dragon’s Urn. 
“So…does this mean we can think of that creature as part of the advance guard, too?” Riveria asked Finn next to her. They were around the vicinity of the fifty-first floor as the party continued their full-steam sprint toward the camp. 
“I would say so, yes.” Finn nodded in response as Tiona and the others took out any spawned monsters they encountered along the way with a vocal passion that fully demonstrated the wondrous power of healing items. “There’s no doubt about it. Both Aiz and Lefiya already witnessed that crystal orb leeching a monster and transforming into that feminine creature, did they not?” 
“Aye, I’ve heard that, too. Still…” Gareth piped up with a wheezy voice from Riveria’s other side, saying nothing about the heavy wounds inflicting his body as he ran. 
Neither he nor Riveria could hide their disquietude at the prum leader’s inquiry as they continued their exhausting advance. 
“Then that would mean…” 
“Indeed—” 
“—The main body of that creature lies elsewhere,” uttered the voice in the Chamber of Prayers beneath Guild Headquarters, the torchlights flickering. 
Ouranos and Fels had witnessed the entire battle unfold thanks to the magic crystal attached to Aiz’s loin guard. 
“Then that means whatever it was that birthed that crystal orb fetus…the true form of that corrupted spirit…lies somewhere much farther down. Past the sixtieth floor and beyond…” Ouranos hypothesized, his voice low. 
It almost seemed as though the spirit’s scream after her defense was shattered by Riveria’s spell had actually been a cry for help. 
And the wall of tentacles that had risen up to protect her was, in fact, from a floor much farther below. 
“Taking into account the way the terrain, environment, and ecosystem of the fifty-ninth floor was also completely transformed, I believe it’s safe to say the true form of this enemy dwells much deeper within the Dungeon,” Ouranos continued. 
Fels listened in silence to the venerable god before responding with a sigh, his black robes shuddering. “This situation is even more unthinkable than we could have imagined.” 
“Then those hybrid creatures. They’re a result of this corrupted spirit, too…To think that one of the spirits of old, sent to save humanity, would end up being the cause of everything threatening Orario now…” 
“A bit ironic, isn’t it?” Fels murmured languidly. “There have been signs of this abnormality for many years now, but we’ve not been able to perceive its existence until now…Is it just as we thought, then? Could its recent increase in activity be due to Aiz Wallenstein?” 
“We can only assume,” Ouranos replied with a nod, his brine-colored eyes narrowing. “There are, of course, a number of things we’ll need to determine regarding this corrupted spirit’s true form; however, that is—” 
“—A problem for a later time,” Finn asserted as the party hurried its way through the Dungeon’s labyrinthine passageways. “What Aiz and the others witnessed up on the twenty-fourth floor…the crystal-orb fetus? Starved for meat and feeding off other monsters? It began consuming magic stones from monsters like those violas and evolved into a woman-like creature just like we saw below—or, should I say, a demi-spirit.” 
“You don’t mean…” Gareth responded somewhat fearfully. 
“I do.” Finn nodded. “Our enemy is using those portable crystal orbs, growing them using magic, and sending them to the surface…almost as though they’re hoping to summon a fully mature spirit aboveground.” 
Even Loki Familia, the strongest familia in Orario, had barely been able to eke out a victory against the demi-spirit on the fifty-ninth floor. 
If one of those things were to make its way to the surface—or even worse, if there were multiple crystal orbs already making their way to the surface… 
The city would be destroyed. It would never last against one of those feminine creatures, let alone an army. 
Riveria’s and Gareth’s faces hardened at the news. 
“It wouldn’t be hyperbole to say Orario would be doomed.” Finn smiled bitterly as he licked his thumb. It wasn’t too difficult at this point to read into just what Levis and the remnants of the Evils were plotting. Riveria and Gareth, too, began to realize the gravity of their situation. 

“We need to get this info to Loki. As soon as we’re ready, we’ll head back to the surface.” 
“Right.” 
“Understood.” 
There were no objections as the adventurers headed for the exit. 
 
“Soooo…what exactly’s goin’ on here, huh?” Loki eyed the other gods sitting with her at the circular table. She appeared decidedly miffed. 
They were at their usual high-end establishment, three of them in total gathered in one of its soundproof rooms. 
Across from her sat Dionysus, with his eyes closed, and Hermes, a delicate smile coloring his face. 
“We’re all victims of the same crime, are we not? So we’re all in the same boat. Wouldn’t it make sense to share whatever information we can?” 
“Enough of the Mister Nice Guy act.” Loki didn’t even hide her dubious expression as she studied the sweetly smiling Hermes. 
Bodyguards for the three gods waited a short distance away from the table against the wall, standing with their eyes closed as they monitored the proceedings in silence. Dionysus had brought Filvis, Hermes had brought Asfi, and Loki had brought one of the lower members of her familia. 
“You’ll tell me what this is all about, won’t you, Dionysuuuuuuuuus?” Loki pouted. 
“I apologize, Loki, but you’ll simply have to trust us. I’m afraid I’m as unwilling a participant as you are,” Dionysus replied equally as despondently, his eyes closed. Finally, he let out a sigh. “For the time being, shall we return to the conversation at hand?” 
Reluctant as she was, Loki began relaying to them what information she knew. 
She explained the series of events that had taken place in the mere three days Aiz and the others had been gone on their expedition. 
“Even if remnants of those Evils have infiltrated Orario, those creatures and their friends probably reside deep, deep within that Dungeon…Alas, people like me have no way of searching for them! But no! The more I learn, the more serious this situation becomes! So I thought to myself—maybe I shouldn’t poke my nose in after all?” 
“Oh, please, Hermes. We’re beyond your ‘explanations’ at this point.” Dionysus continued, “And yet…this being who’d dare take the name of ‘Enyo’…? It’s almost like a declaration of war aimed directly at the gods of Orario.” 
“Could also be a warning to the Guild. At any rate, right now we pretty much just hafta wait fer Finn and the others to return with more info.” Loki added her own musings to the pile as the three gods spoke one by one. Their guards continued to stand in silence, simply listening to the discussion unfold. 
When it seemed they’d covered most everything, the gods took the conversation up a notch, approaching the main issue at hand— 
—What exactly they needed to focus on right now. 
“Those black cages the Evils were trying to cart around on the twenty-fourth floor…with the violas inside them…” Hermes pondered. 
“I think it’s safe to say they were attempting to bring them to the surface via the Babel tunnel,” Dionysus replied. 
“Yeah, but even if the Guild turned a blind eye to ’em, there’s no way they’d be able to haul those giant things out without gettin’ seen…yeah?” Loki said. 
The three of them exchanged glances. 
“Which means…” 
“I’d say so.” Loki nodded toward Dionysus before continuing. “Babel’s not the only one. There’s another one—at least one more.” Her red eyes opened from a pair of thin slits as she got to the core of the matter. “One more entrance.” 
That one and only giant tunnel leading into the Dungeon might not actually be as “one and only” as they thought. 
Almost as though confirming her suspicions, a tiny throb began pulsing, on-off, in the back of her mind. Her godly intuition was never wrong.