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Volume 12 Edit

Prologue Edit

As she died, Filvis saw the "crown of light" phenomenon that Lefiya had talked about, but quickly realized that it was an illusion since they'd made a promise to go see it after the battle. She felt guilty for causing Lefiya to cry, and admitted that she still wanted to be with her, but there was nothing she could do. As the scene around her began to fade, she wished to the heavens that in exchange for her atonement, she'd be able to watch over Lefiya.

Chapter 1 Edit

In her room, Lefiya sat there, wondering why Filvis had to die, her mind completely blank from the shock of seeing it happen. As she reflected over their memories, tears continued to fall down her face, and in her current state she felt that someone was in front of her but her broken heart prevented her from recognizing anyone. The person in question, Ais, repeated Lefiya's name a couple of times, nonetheless, no response came. Elfy was also in the room, her face stained with tears and her voice hoarse from trying to get Lefiya to respond, though she hadn't been successful either. Ever since they came back, Lefiya had been unresponsive to anyone including Riveria, Tione, Tiona, and while she was worried about her, Ais decided that Lefiya wouldn't be able to recover as an adventurer, unwilling to cause the girl to have a black flame just like her.

At the Twilight Manor cafeteria, Raul, Aki, and the other Loki Familia members were reflecting over the recent events. Not only had their victories so far been entirely overturned, they also abandoned the entire Dionysus Familia, condemning them to their deaths. As Raul wondered what to say to the others, Bete appeared, asking if they were still rotting away. A timid Raul tried to ask if he wasn't bothered, prompting Bete to tell him to speak clearly instead of being uncertain, telling everyone to keep on rotting if they hadn't rotted enough. To his surprise, Raul noticed that Bete didn't seem to be mocking them, instead feeling like he let them go. As Raul wondered if there was something wrong, Bete told him to cry until "that time" came, and that he himself needed some time to calm down. He told them to cry all they wanted until "that time" came, which he explained was when Finn and his group would act because the others were too busy crying.

At Finn's office, he, Riveria, and Gareth were going over the information they had. They noted that the familia members were feeling down and that the Ganesha Familia wasn't having much luck with getting rid of the green flesh as it attacked them as if it had a will of its own. When they began discussing Enyo, Riveria noted that based on its actions, it was most likely a God, and Finn remarked that he couldn't see Enyo's expression, or rather their goal. The three wondered why Enyo's forces weren't attacking, as they instead kept to Knossos, causing them to wonder what it was planning. Moving on, Finn pulled out a piece of parchment that depicted part of the Nidhogg mural that Lefiya drew. They knew it was the Nidhogg based on what Lefiya said, though they didn't find much information about it. They'd asked Loki about it, nevertheless, she told him that she didn't know much about it since she'd been busy trying to kill other Gods back in heaven, though she did tell them she heard that some God got involved and got rid of it. Finn thought about the information they had, noting that the women in the mural also numbered six like the Demi Spirits, and noted that Loki still wasn't back.

In Hermes' room at the Hermes Familia home, Loki, along with Soma, told him of their conclusion based on what they'd found at the Dionysus Familia wine cellar. Hermes was initially hesitant, nonetheless, he agreed to their conclusion, and quickly ordered his familia to raid the Demeter Familia home based on Loki's request. The Hermes Familia found the Demeter Familia home to be completely empty. In the basement, Lulune and Falgar noted the smell of blood, and the two along with Asfi saw a message from Enyo written in blood on the wall, stating "Become extinct, Orario. I'll open the path to the underworld".

Chapter 2 Edit

In an unknown place, Enyo reflected over their desires, waiting for the moment when they could remove their mask, laugh, and release their evil. They didn't like how the city was so peaceful and wished to spit at the people and the other Gods, pretending to act like a benevolent God in the meantime, all the while thinking of others as trash. Enyo wished to open the underworld, which involved bringing the monsters back to the surface because they couldn't love the world, they weren't fulfilled by the world, and they thought the current world was wrong. Enyo knew that some were beginning to figure out Enyo's identity, but knew that they were too late even with the hints and chances to stop the plan they'd given them and laughed.

At the room of prayer, Fels couldn't believe that Demeter was Enyo, refusing to believe it as she'd been supporting Orario with her produce. Fels continued to argue against Demeter being Enyo, nevertheless Ouranos calmly pointed out that Enyo's message was in the Demeter Familia home, the Goddess was allowed to freely enter and leave the city, and that she was able to obtain the special grapes required for the wine which intoxicated Dionysus. When Fels asked what he thought, Ouranos stated that they needed to find Demeter if things were going to end up the way he was thinking. With that done, Fels informed Ouranos that the people were suspicious that nothing had been explained despite seeing two Gods being sent back, to which Ouranos simply told him that he'd let Royman take care of that. Fels was satisfied by his answer but warned him that the people weren't ignorant and that they knew something was going to happen.

Just as Fels said, people across Orario were talking about the recent events, wondering why the Guild wasn't really explaining what'd happened other than claiming that a minor clash between two familia occurred. Elsewhere, people were noting that the Ganesha and Loki Familias seemed to be busy with something. Down in the dungeon, from the 9th Floor, Dormul, Luvis, and their group were busy fighting the green flesh, all the while insulting each other. Dormul complained that they'd just came back from the lower floors and the Guild was already giving them a mission, which they also gave to certain other familia.

Elsewhere, back in the city, the people Dionysus regularly interacted with wondered where he was. Due to work being done on Daedalus Street, the people that lived in the slums were put in temporary housing, and Hestia visited Rye, Fina, and Roux there, bringing them Jagamarukun. Hestia had discussed the orphanage with Bell and the Hestia Familia was contributing a small amount from time to time, which led to the Goddess getting to know the children. She asked them if anything had changed recently, prompting them to tell her that Loki had been at the temporary housing asking about someone, causing Hestia to have a bad feeling.

At the Loki Familia home, Tione was talking with Ray, who'd been living in the room at the top floor of the northwestern tower ever since the first attack on Knossos due to being separated from the other Xenos. Ray's existence had been kept secret so the lower ranking members had no idea she was there. Alicia was also there as Tione had tagged along when she was bringing food, but she was unable to make eye contact with Ray and didn't know what to say. Seeing this, Tione walked over to Ray and thanked her for saving Finn, though she warned the Siren that she'd destroy her if she fell in love with the captain or tried to ogle him. Tione was worried that Ray would use her looks to seduce Finn, though Ray told her that she was already interested in someone else, praising Bell and mentioning his name, but because she became embarrassed at the end, she failed to say his name properly and the two women had no idea who she was talking about. Tione admitted that she didn't really care much about the Xenos, however, she still wanted to talk with Ray, though before they could do that they needed to clear out Knossos. Alicia asked Ray for her help and the latter agreed.

Back in the dungeon, Lyd, Gros, and Wiene's group was doing the same thing Dormul and Luvis' group was doing. Wiene was worried about Ray, causing the former to assure her that the Siren was safe with the Loki Familia. They'd been ordered to try to make their way to the enemy, and compared to when they started, the green flesh wasn't attacking them as much as they made their way through. As they continued, they found some deceased bodies of members of the Dionysus Familia, which were either dried out or completely unrecognizable, and it was impossible to read their falna to know who they were. Gros noted that the green flesh used the adventurers as nutrients like Fels had mentioned, though they didn't know why. Lyd contemplated the drop in attacks, wondering if it had something to do with how the nutrients were used when he suddenly stopped. He then put his hand on the wall, causing the others to ask what he was doing, to which he answered that something was echoing.

Chapter 3 Edit

Later on, Ais, Tione, Tiona, and other Loki Familia members were searching for information on the Nidhogg in the Gnome's Great Library located in eastern Orario. However, despite their efforts, they couldn't find anything about the said dragon in the books they looked through. Tiona even asked the librarian Gnome but he didn't know either. The girls eventually decided to try the Guild's resource room to see if they had any information about it. On their way there, they encountered Bell who was on a walk with Lili, and Tiona decided to ask him about the Nidhogg. To their surprise, Bell knew about it and told them everything he knew about it.

At dusk, Loki, the first class adventurers, Raul, and Aki gathered to discuss the information they received from Bell. According to Bell, six Great Spirits had given their lives to kill the Nidhogg, which involved trapping it in a strong barrier and casting a "secret art" that destroyed it. With that information, they realized that Enyo was going to use that same "secret art" to blast Orario off of the map. Loki explained that the "secret art" was also known as Door of Heaven, which involved placing Spirits along a large magic circle, and, using them as a circuit, summon a heavenly pillar that is almost as strong as arcanum, and would definitely completely destroy Orario and the surrounding area. Realizing the imminent danger, everyone agreed to act as soon as possible.

Chapter 4 Edit

The next morning, Lefiya still hadn't recovered from the shock of seeing Filvis die. Regardless, Loki entered her room, then told her that she wanted to talk about the Masked Creature, causing Lefiya's hand to bunch up into a fist. As Ais and the others waited outside the door, they heard several shouts, then Loki and Lefiya came out a short while later. Lefiya had resolved herself to fight, with Ais noting that Loki had most likely egged her on using feelings of revenge, worried that Lefiya would also be consumed by the black flame like she was. However, she couldn't bring herself to say anything as Lefiya walked past her, prompting Tiona to ask if it was okay to let her go.

At the Denatus room in Babel's 30th Floor, Finn, Fels, Shakti, and Tsubaki were gathered to discuss the information the Loki Familia had gathered. Finn announced that they'd go and attack the six Demi Spirits, stating that the Loki, Ganesha, and Hephaestus Familias would attack from the surface and the dungeon in five groups; the first and main group would be commanded by Finn, the second by Riveria and Ais, the third by Gareth, the fourth by Tione and Tiona, and the fifth by Bete. As they discussed the groups, Shakti noted that they were missing a group, causing Fels to mention that the Xenos would be the sixth group. Finn continued, stating that Fels would be in a group unaffiliated with the other six groups and that Raul and others would be a part of support groups.

When Tsubaki asked about the Hermes Familia, Finn answered that they were busy trying to confirm something. As they wrapped up, Fels mentioned that based on how far the chant had gotten, their time limit would be nighttime of the current day. Following this, they agreed to pretend that nothing was wrong to prevent the citizens from panicking, and Finn announced that he'd leave Shakti in charge as there was something he needed to do. When Shakti asked him about it, he looked up at the ceiling, stating that an important job that could decide the outcome of the battle.

In an alleyway, Asfi reported to Hermes about the plan, adding that they'd also found a Demeter Familia hideout in the Beol Mountains to the north. Hermes stated that he'd go with them to the hideout, and gave her several scrolls to deliver, also ordering her to open the gates to the city. Once she left, Hermes made his way to the Dian Cecht Familia home in order to talk to Airmid. He then asked her about "that matter", to which she told him that she did the best she could with the materials he provided, and told him that things were going well. Airmid realized what he was planning to do and protested, nevertheless Hermes was adamant in playing his "trump card".

At Loki's room, Lefiya updated her status, ranking up to Level 4 and gaining a new skill called Double Canon. That night, the three familia plus the Dian Cecht Familia gathered in their respective groups for the attack. Groups 1-3 would attack from the surface while 4-6 would do the same from the dungeon. Ten minutes before the attack, Finn gave a rousing speech to everyone, stating that like Dungeon Oratoria 1000 years ago, they would be the foundation of peace in the lower world, and told them to create a new Oratoria. Following his speech, the groups charged into Knossos.

Chapter 5 Edit

As the groups spread throughout Knossos to the location of the six Demi Spirits, Bete's group passed through the place where Filvis had died, causing Lefiya to momentarily stop, though she only found the Elf's sword and wand instead. Irritated by her stopping, Bete yelled at her to hurry up before they left her there, and she obeyed his orders while taking the two items with her. Elsewhere, as Riveria's group stepped into the 10th Floor of Knossos, they noticed that it was much cleaner despite being covered in the green flesh, the change in scenery reminding them of the dungeon. Looking down at the ground, they noticed a large number of lines of light running along the ground, which Riveria identified as a magic circle, noting that all of the green flesh covering Knossos was one giant magic circle. Soon after, the group began to hear a song coming from ahead of them.

Elsewhere, the Xenos had also reached the 10th Floor, and they also heard the song of the Demi Spirits. Knowing that they needed to act fast, they ran in the direction of the song, though only Wiene realized that they were about to be attacked with magic. Elsewhere, Tione and Tiona's group were also attacked, with Tione noting that the green flesh covered dungeon was attacking them using various sorts of magic from all sides. In response, Finn ordered everyone to use the Spirit Flags, which were items that were blessed by the Spirits like Salamander Wool attached to a pole. Just as they expected, the Salamander Wool Flag successfully dispersed a fire magic that was launched. Each of the flags were created from multiple of the same item and were all created by the Hephaestus Familia. The items included Salamander Wool, Undine Cloth, Gnome Toga, Tonitrus Mohair, etc. Thanks to the Spirit Flags, they were able to deal with the attack much more efficiently, and since damaging the walls caused the flesh to repair itself instead of attack, they quickly made their way through to the Demi Spirit Rooms.

Once Finn's group arrived at the Demi Spirit room, they were shocked at what they saw. Each of the Demi Spirits could be described as irregular and huge pillars of green flesh, stretching all the way to the 50+ meter tall ceiling, and the imposing figure was greater than Monster Rexes. The pillars were writhing and had large flowers and tentacles, and near the base were three huge faces depicting a smiling face, an angry face, and a sorrowful face respectively. The faces' lips were deep crimson, their large teeth white, and their mouths were large enough to swallow a large monster whole. The groups quickly realized that the Demi Spirits had parasitized a Grand Treant, a huge tree monster with a face. While the Demi Spirits continued to sing, the faces near the base began chanting to attack the intruders, with each face using a different magic.

Faced with the magic attacks, Finn ordered the groups to split into parties of five to better avoid the attacks, and realized that the faces were controlling the magic across Knossos, but then also realized that the faces were able to use their magic from all sides just like what they'd encountered in the hallways, naming the faces "Spirit Altar". Elsewhere, Bete's group were almost to the room with their Demi Spirit when they were attacked by Ein, who ordered the green flesh in the area to retreat in order to activate a pitfall trap using the Daedalus Orb. Ein succeeded in dropping the front half of the group along with Bete and Lefiya, and jumped down after them. Aki tried to go after them but the pitfall closed itself and the green flesh covered it once again, resuming its omnidirectional attacks. She asked for Finn's advice, who ordered her to go ahead and attack the Demi Spirit with a reserve group when he found out it was impossible for her to find the others.

Somewhere else, Ais felt the intense pressure, knowing full well that Revis was heading in their direction. Revis appeared from a passageway that appeared from the green flesh, challenging her to a fight. Unbeknownst to Revis, despite losing her emotions over the very long while she'd been a Creature, her recent battles against Ais had caused her lost emotions to come back again. Revis didn't think she'd lose, nevertheless Ais took Ottar's advice to heart and viewed her as a monster, and activated Ariel along with Avenger to create black wind. At the same time, each of the six Demi Spirit screamed when they felt Ais' wind, all the while stopping their chants and clutching their heads with the hands. Fearful of the black wind, the green flesh aimed 100 magic circles at her, but Ais instantly rushed right up to Revis, the aftermath of her acceleration destroying the magic circles. Revis couldn't fight against Ais properly and Ais' attack was strong enough to destroy the adamantite floor. The force created a hole in the floor, causing Revis to fall through it, and Ais followed after her.

There was nothing Revis could do as Ais one sidedly began attacking her, dropping the both of them down to the 12th Floor. Ais had cut off Revis' right arm, disfigured her left leg, and her body was covered in cuts, however, Revis regenerated her injuries and lost right arm. When Revis demanded to know why she hadn't used her black wind before, Ais explained that Ottar helped her realize that she needed to give her all to defeat Revis. In response, Revis stated that she'd become interested in her for the first time, adding that she probably felt joy in fighting her. Revis then plunged her right arm into the green flesh, which began to cover her body, turning crimson in the process. The crimson flesh became like an armor and had a large eye on her right shoulder. She also pulled out a Corrupted Spirit Sword, though the overwhelming amount of magic power started to damage Revis' own body, which was the same for Ais and her black wind. Both Ais and Revis readied themselves and began their battle.

Chapter 6 Edit

At the Demeter Familia hideout in the Beol Mountains, Hermes and his familia entered to confront Demeter, though his familia stayed hidden as he walked up to her alone. In Orario, unbeknownst to the others, Loki had Ray carry her down to the 9th Floor of Knossos, referring to her as Ray-tan. After she told Ray to join the fight, Loki followed the path Dionysus had taken before his death, arriving in an open room with an old chair, rope, mirror, and smell of wine.

At the hideout, Demeter acted as the Hermes Familia had never seen before, and her demeanor frightened them. She told him that he probably knew she didn't like the current state of the lower world, but before she could continue, Hermes interrupted her, telling her to stop with her act. In Knossos, Loki looked around and found a switch that unlocked a hidden passageway Enyo used to escape after killing Dionysus. Taking the path down, she ended up in a cylindrical room with walls covered with murals and Enyo standing in the center. Back at the hideout, Hermes told Demeter that he didn't want to see her become a fool, adding that it wasn't like her to take a direct approach, coming to the conclusion that she wasn't Enyo.

Somewhere else, Bete, Lefiya, and the group members that had fallen landed in the 12th Floor. The members were wary of Ein, nevertheless, they were surprised when it just stood there instead of attacking. As they watched, Lefiya confronted Ein, stating that Ein always seemed to appear in front of her. Above, Loki began telling Enyo her deduction, stating that Enyo's plan to destroy Orario solidified because of the Nightmare on the 27th Floor. The Corrupted Spirit had sense Ais use Ariel 3 years before that, causing it to search for Aria, which led to it being at the scene of the massacre. On the 12th Floor, Lefiya stated that she was the only one who felt magic power back when she and Bete were heading to the pantry, and Ein had pretended to not notice her when it led her to the exit when she was stuck with Filvis. She concluded by stating that it was weird that she and her companions were able to survive when Ein killed Filvis, coming to the conclusion that Ein had herded the Loki Familia to the exit. Finally, she addressed Ein directly as Filvis.

In response, Ein removed its mask, revealing Filvis Challia behind it, who asked Lefiya when she realized it. Lefiya answered that Loki had told her that Ein was most likely Filvis, which she refused to believe at first but slowly began to think was true. After she left her room with Loki, the two met with Finn, Riveria, and Gareth who gave her information on Ein to compare with Filvis. However, Bete wasn't convinced by her evidence, pointing out that Ein and Filvis had existed at the same time, not to mention the latter had died in front. At that moment, another Ein appeared, revealing itself to be another Filvis. The two Filvis were nearly identical except that one had darker eyes. As Bete watched, Lefiya continued her deduction, bringing up the possibility of Filvis having a third magic, which was duplication magic.

At the hideout, Demeter desperately tried to pretend she was Enyo, though Hermes still refused to listen to her, asking her if she was being threatened. Seeing that it wasn't going to work, Demeter admitted she was being threatened by Enyo, who'd told her to keep quiet or else he'd continue to kill off her familia members, having already killed a couple to convince her. At that point, Hermes mentioned that Takemikazuchi had been concerned about her around the time of the Rakia invasion. Demeter and Loki both mentioned Enyo's true identity at the same time, which was Dionysus. Upon hearing this, Enyo removed his cloak, revealing himself to indeed be Dionysus. When she saw that he wasn't drunk at all, she became enraged, realizing that he'd really intentionally become drunk to make himself believe that he was a righteous God.

Dionysus was interested in how she'd realized that he was Enyo, to which Loki pointed out that Demeter probably didn't know how to make wine, and that she'd asked the Daedalus Street orphans about missing people and they had told her that Penia had gone missing. She continued by mentioning that he'd used the wine to manipulate both Penia and his former familia members into converting to the Penia Familia, all the while pretending that they were still members of the Dionysus Familia. The "Dionysus Familia members" that had been killed earlier were those that realized they weren't members of the Dionysus Familia anymore and had to be silenced. Loki also mentioned that she'd seen Penia holding the same bottle she found in Dionysus' wine cellar back when she first met her in Daedalus Street. Hearing this, Dionysus asked her what actually made her believe he was Enyo, pointing out that what she mentioned wasn't definite, to which Loki told him that Hestia had mentioned he was scary and not acting strangely. Satisfied with her answer, Dionysus revealed his true personality, complaining that Hestia always got in his way.

Down below, Filvis confirmed Lefiya's deduction, prompting the duplicate Filvis to insult her for allowing the Loki Familia to figure it out. Bete asked her if she was a Creature like Revis, which she confirmed, however, she hesitated to talk about the Nightmare on the 27th Floor, causing the duplicate Filvis to mock her for it, telling her to confess to Lefiya and have her console her. The duplicate Filvis offered to explain, though the real Filvis decided to do it instead. Filvis explained that they'd encountered the Corrupted Spirit's tentacles on the 27th Floor, which killed all of her companions. Bete interrupted her, pointing out that she'd run from her companions, to which the duplicate Filvis revealed that she'd actually fought the tentacles and died. The tentacles had inserted the magic stones into all of the dead Dionysus Familia members but only Filvis managed to become a Creature. Filvis revealed that her being in Rivira was her despairing over becoming a Creature and that she'd tried to kill herself through various methods, but the regeneration wouldn't let her, and she began hearing the voice of the Corrupted Spirit asking her to help her see the sky again.

Upon hearing what happened to her, Dionysus took advantage of it, telling Filvis that he loved her even in her current state and that if she couldn't forgive herself, they'd simply change everyone else to be like her. Loki told Dionysus that he was scum, though Dionysus simply claimed that he tried to save an already broken Filvis. When Loki asked why he was doing this, he began a speech about how people shone better during ancient times, nevertheless Loki told him that he was lying and that he simply wanted to see people despair. Seeing that she knew his true intentions, he gleefully confirmed her accusation and went on about how wonderful it was watching people despair. However, Ouranos had made a secret promise and sealed the land, bringing an end to the previous age and causing Dionysus to hate him. He could've taken the more direct approach and "accidentally" destroyed Orario using his arcanum, nonetheless the other Gods would simply reverse what he did, forcing him to take a more roundabout method. Finally, Loki asked him about his apology he'd given in front of the graves of his children, to which he answered that he'd apologized for letting them die before he could sacrifice them along with Aura and the others, and stated that he loved his children just like Loki but in his own way.

Back on the 12th Floor, Filvis revealed that Dionysus hadn't told her about Olivas, wondering if he tried to prevent her from betraying him, adding that it was at that time that she'd met Lefiya, who refused to believe that she was corrupted. Meeting Lefiya brought light to her heart, making her not want Lefiya to die and doing whatever it took to protect her, even if it meant pretending to die in order to keep her away. Hearing this, Lefiya tried to convince Filvis to betray Dionysus, however, she refused despite knowing that Dionysus was using her. She then ripped her body open to show everyone the magic stone inside of her body, asking Lefiya is she still considered her to be beautiful even now. Lefiya couldn't bring herself to say anything and Filvis took that as a no, though before they canceled the duplication magic, the duplicate Filvis told Lefiya that she wondered what would've happened if she'd met Lefiya before Dionysus. Once she and the duplicate canceled the duplication magic, Filvis' body transformed into her Creature self.

Lefiya was reluctant to fight, nevertheless, Bete told her that Filvis was an enemy. He tried attacking Filvis, but to his surprise the Creature easily caught his punch, telling him that he'd never abandoned her despite looking down on her, calling him kind. However, she admitted that she herself had always looked down on him and laughed at him from within her heart. She slammed Bete down on the ground, then kicked him, sending him flying across the room, and easily defeated all of the others except for Lefiya. She revealed that her status was halved while she used her duplication magic, and stated that she was stronger than Revis, then asked her why she came to Knossos even though she tried so hard to protect her. She punches Lefiya, sending her flying into a wall, and announced that she'd kill everyone for Dionysus' sake.

In the six Demi Spirit Rooms, the groups were struggling to fight the Spirit Altars, as it overwhelmed them with its constant omnidirectional magic attacks which began breaking through defensive lines and hitting the healers. The groups managed to kill two of the faces but the third was now extra cautious, making it nearly impossible to kill. Finn quickly thought about what to do and ordered them to focus on attacking, as attacks to their rearguard would free up the vanguard to attack. On the surface, Hestia, on her way back from work, wondered what the crimson particles of light coming from the ground were. She also heard the Demi Spirit's voices, which she quickly realized was a chant, and felt that they were in danger. In the Room of Prayer, Royman complained to Ouranos that they wouldn't be able to hide it any longer, though Ouranos himself didn't say anything. At the hideout, Demeter believed Orario to be finished due to her own actions, nevertheless Hermes rejected her claim.

In Knossos, Fels had finished planting eight bombs along the magic circulation route at the heart of the "altar" and detonated them, reporting to Finn that he'd finished his job. The flesh tried to regenerate itself but couldn't circulate the magic properly, forcing the flesh to put more effort into repairing itself than attacking the intruders, which gave the groups some leeway and also allowed for reinforcements to arrive unimpeded. Hearing Fels' report, Ouranos ordered Royman to have all groups attack, and Freya ordered her familia to join the battle, all the while recalling how Finn had come to her alone to ask her for help, noting that he'd changed. She agreed to help for his sake and not for Loki's. Elsewhere, Kali was gleeful due to hearing the battle cries of the strong and ordered her familia to help. The Kali Familia had received a scroll from Hermes and entered the city through the conveniently opened gate of the city. Aisha, Lena, and the former Ishtar Familia Amazonesses also joined the reinforcements, as did the Hermes Familia, Ryuu, and the Hestia Familia.

Chapter 7 Edit

At the same time the reinforcements headed into Knossos, Violas began appearing on the surface, causing the citizens to panic. The remaining members of the Ganesha Familia were unable to deal with all of the Violas on their own, though fortunately the Njord Familia, the Goibniu Familias, the remaining members of the Hephaestus Familia, and Bors and the Rivira adventurers came to assist them. At the Guild, the Guild employees were doing whatever they could to help, with Royman ordering Eina to have the surfaces forces cooperate while Misha would go to the Hostess of Fertility to get help from the waitresses there. He order the remaining employees to enlist the help of other familia including the Takemikazuchi, Miach, and Dellingr Familias.

The reinforcements quickly spread to the Demi Spirit rooms thanks to Fels telling them where to go. Hedin and Hogni joined Riveria's group, the Gulliver Brothers joined Gareth's group, Allen went to Finn's group, and Ottar arrived to help the remaining members of Bete's group. Most of the Freya Familia executives had a group of familia members with them except for Allen, who'd left them behind, and Ottar, who came by himself. The Kali Familia arrived to help Tione's group, though Argana angered Tione when she asked her where Finn was, especially when Argana announced that whoever killed the enemy first would be able to monopolize him.

Lyd asked Fels if they were getting any reinforcements, becoming annoyed when Fels told him that they didn't need any, though the Xenos were quickly relieved when Asterius showed up along with Gros, who'd gone to fetch him. While they were on the 37th Floor to save Bell and Ryuu, Helga and Arles had gone even lower to search for him, eventually managing to find him. Asterius immediately charged at the remaining Spirit Altar, which attacked him with six different elements of magic, nevertheless, it did nothing to stop his charge. Asterius' attack completely destroyed the remaining face and caused the pillar to snap and fall down to the ground, and he began attacking the Demi Spirit on his own.

Elsewhere, the Hestia Familia members were lost in Knossos, with the members asking for "Commander" Lili's orders. Fels found them and informed them of the situation, surprising them when he told them that Finn was busy commanding six different battles. At that moment, Finn contacted Fels, asking him to send reinforcements to the second and third groups, prompting Bell to mention that he wanted to help. However, Lili didn't want to send Bell to a dangerous location, causing her to attempt to negotiate with Finn to allow her to command two of the six battles. To everyone's surprise, Finn agreed to her request, asking her to take over command of the two groups he mentioned earlier. Also, in order to prevent confusion and the groups from ignoring her, she used Cinder Ella to transform herself into Finn.

Upon relaying her orders, Riveria and Gareth noticed that Lili wasn't Finn, nonetheless, they still obeyed her orders. Lili ordered Gareth and Tsubaki to get ready to move forward, sending a level boosted Mikoto to their battle to use her Futsunomitama to stop the Demi Spirit's magic. Mikoto's magic allowed the vanguard to move in on the Demi Spirit and the vanguard to hide behind it. Like Mikoto, a level boosted Welf arrived to help Riveria's group, and Lili ordered her to help him, but everyone wondered what Welf could do with his incredibly powerful yet fragile magic swords. While Ilta and several others prevented the tentacles from reaching him, Welf moved close enough to the Demi Spirit, then used Will-o-Wisp to force the Demi Spirit to have an Ignis Fatuus across all of the magic circles it currently had ready, dealing massive damage to it. To follow up, Welf began continuously attacking the Demi spirit with Kazuki, and, combined with his Will-o-Wisp, it allowed the others to more easily fight.

Somewhere else, Raul's own and other support groups were busy traveling through Knossos in search of the Demeter Familia hostages. Elfy's group returned to where she saw an eye look back at her during their first attack, and behind the wall, they found Persephone and some other Demeter Familia members. Alicia's group had Ray help them find hostages using echolocation. Cruz' group were attacked by monsters that the green flesh had apparently spit back out, though fortunately they were saved by Bell. To their surprise, he easily dealt with a group of Violas and Valg, his fighting style reminding them of Ais for some reason. After the battle was over, he told Cruz's group that he'd deal with the monsters, and asked Narvi for a greatsword, as the Hestia Knife wasn't suited for combat against the Violas. His attitude again reminded them of Ais. As Cruz's group left with the hostages, Bell continued to fight against the monsters.

Back at the battles, Lili was commanding, things were going smoothly, though she herself was going over capacity with the effort she was putting in commanding two battles for the first time. Fortunately, both Riveria and Gareth helped Lili manage to keep going by improving some of her orders. Nearby, Haruhime was frustrated with how powerless she was as she wasn't allowed to leave due to the danger of dying, when Lena contacted Asfi's occulus, demanding to know where Bete was. Finn ordered Aisha's reinforcements to help Bete's group fight Filvis, and Aisha asked Haruhime if she wanted to come with them.

On the 12th Floor, Bete was the only one left of his group that was still able to fight against Filvis, nevertheless the latter easily dealt with him. Although Bete was still slightly better at fighting, Filvis herself had experienced around the same amount of battles as first-class adventurers due to her duplication magic, making her a strong opponent. She stole his Dual Rolan, stabbed his thighs with them, and sent him flying with a roundhouse kick to the head. Lefiya tried using Arcs Ray with a large amount of mind but Filvis easily deflected it with her hand. Filvis turned her attention to Lefiya, attacking her with a wave of green flesh caused by her punching the ground, and Lefiya failed to dodge it. At that moment, several fatally wounded Ganesha Familia members tried to suicide attack her but they were also destroyed by Dio Thyrsos, now black colored instead of white.

Filvis then began talking to herself, concerned about Lefiya yet annoyed that she came, but came up with the idea of turning her into a Creature as well, admitting that she always felt irritated by Lefiya's innocent attitude. However, she quickly rejected her own idea, not wanting to corrupt her, and came to the conclusion that she had to kill her. As she watched, Lefiya saw that Filvis was both laughing and crying, realizing that Filvis had been splitting her negative emotions with her duplication magic in order to keep herself sane. Lefiya began to cry for Filvis, which the latter noticed, wondering why she was crying and assured her that she'd kill her instantly so she wouldn't feel any pain.

Realizing that there wasn't any convenient way out of this, and feeling anger toward the Gods for the first time, Lefiya told Filvis that she'd defeat her, pulling out Filvis' Tear Pain sword and Guardian's White Torch wand as Filvis had destroyed her staff. Filvis told her that she wouldn't be able to win, nevertheless, at that moment the reinforcements arrived, including Lena, Aisha, Asfi, Lulune, Ryuu, and Haruhime. When Asfi told Ryuu that Bell was here, Ryuu tripped over nothing, prompting her to ask the former to not mention his name. Filvis wasn't concerned about more Level 4s joining the battle, but Haruhime finished her chant, casting Uchide no Kozuchi on Aisha, Ryuu, Asfi, and Lefiya. Lulune stayed with the Berberas to protect Haruhime while Lena woke Bete. Aisha, Ryuu, and Asfi were protecting Lefiya, who took over command of the battle. Filvis was still unconcerned about the reinforcements and stated that she'd destroy them all.

Chapter 8 Edit

Throughout Knossos, the battles continued at the Demi Spirit Rooms, the room Filvis was in, and the area where Ais and Revis were fighting. The two stopped for a moment after another round of fighting, noticing the sounds of the adventurers turning the tide of the battle above. Commenting that Orario was Orario no matter what age it was, Revis told Ais that it was the end, adding that Ais was lucky to have fallen down to where they currently were. In the cylindrical room, just as Loki was about to tell Dionysus that it was over, he began laughing. At group one's battle, Finn began wondering if there was anything left, which shifted to thinking about the Demi Spirit on the 59th Floor, wondering why it was there. After thinking about it for a short while, he realized that his thoughts had been manipulated and that Enyo's goal wasn't the destruction of the city but rather something else.

On the 11th Floor, Raul and the remainder of the party continued to look for hostage when they heard an eerie sound, causing them to check the map again to make sure there wasn't a secret room with a Demi Spirit. He decided to head in the direction the sound was coming from and they eventually found the source. At each of the Demi Spirit battles, the Demi Spirits began changing, steam coming from them in the process. The Demi Spirits expanded, turned black, and cracks appeared along its body, causing crimson light to shine out from within. Although there wasn't a huge room listed on the map for the 11th Floor in the surrounding area, that was because the room the thing was in was newly created; the room had been created by removing the walls from several hallways and rooms. In the room they found, Raul's group saw a jet black dragon with crimson lines running across its body. Like the Demi Spirits, the dragon was connected to the green flesh, and in its chest area was a Demi Spirit, though it seemed to have been absorbed by the dragon rather than the opposite.

In the cylindrical room, Dionysus gleefully explained that the intruders had all blindly acted as he wanted them to, revealing that his true goal was to create the Nidhogg rather than using the Demi Spirits to use the Door of Heaven, prompting Loki to recall Thanatos wondering if Enyo wanted to become the dragon in the mural. Dionysus realized that the Loki Familia had misunderstood that there were only six Demi Spirits left due to Ishtar using one for the Gugalanna, and informed Loki that the one he gave to her was inferior. Using the new information, Loki realized that Dionysus' goal wasn't to destroy Orario but rather use the dragon to kill off the adventurers, which he confirmed, stating that as long as the adventurers lived, they'd just create another lid on the dungeon. He explained that the seventh Demi Spirit was named Nidhogg, created from a young "Nameless Dragon" that Revis and the others had captured in the deep floors, and that said dragon had the same origins as the Black Dragon. The Nidhogg would absorb the magic power of the six other Demi Spirits and destroy everything above it, making the 12th Floor a safe zone, which was why Revis had told Ais that she was lucky, and why Dionysus would survive the attack.

Dionysus revealed that he'd been planning to destroy Orario ever since Zeus and Hera lost power 15 years ago, but his plan only solidified six years ago after the Nightmare on the 27th Floor. Since then, he'd been thinking of how to deal with the Loki, Freya, Ganesha, Hephaestus, and Ishtar Familias, along with Ouranos' forces. Even if the Loki Familia dealt with the Nidhogg, they'd still get hit by the Door of Heaven, and vice versa. Dionysus laughed, declaring that he'd won. On the 10th Floor, Finn had also realized Dionysus' plan, and quickly asked everyone if they had any forces to spare, however all of their forces were busy fighting the transformed Demi Spirits. On the 12th Floor, Ais and Revis continued to fight. Revis' flesh armor gave her incredible defense and a large increase in power, and although Ais had managed to destroy it a couple of times, Revis recreated it along with her sword every time. Ais felt like she was fighting against the dungeon itself, causing herself to depend more and more on Avenger, and her sword eventually couldn't handle the output and began to crack, though Ais herself didn't notice it.

Realizing that everyone was busy fighting, Finn decided to leave command to Shakti and head to the 11th floor himself, taking Cynthia with him. While he ran, he kept thinking of what he could do to deal with the situation, but couldn't think of anything. However, he then figured out what he needed to do and summoned Ray through the occulus he had. On the 12th Floor, Ryuu, Aisha, Asfi started their attack, the first two keeping Filvis busy while Asfi used talaria to pick up fallen weapons and throw them at her, creating a whole area of weapons stuck in the ground around the Creature in a 10-meter radius. Ryuu then attacked Filvis, though the latter easily destroyed her weapon, nevertheless Ryuu immediately ran past her and grabbed a weapon stuck in the ground and continued fighting. No matter how many times Filvis destroyed Ryuu's weapon, she continued to grab a new one from the circle around them, and Ryuu's attack power kept rising due to her skill. Ryuu and Aisha's attacks pressured Filvis, causing her to punch Aisha, though fortunately Lefiya used Veil Breath on her, herself, Ryuu, and Asfi, allowing Aisha to survive the attack with just a cracked bone, and the crack itself began healing because of the magic.

After Aisha returned to the battle, Lefiya chanted for Arcs Ray, then using her new skill, kept the magic circle and began chanting another magic. Seeing that Ryuu was in trouble, she kept her new magic ready, used Arcs Ray to distract Filvis, and healed Ryuu using Luna Aldis. Double Canon allowed Lefiya to keep the magic circle of a magic she'd finished chanting for as a ring on her left arm, allowing her to use it whenever she wanted. However, she was only able to keep one magic, and using the skill cost mind. Lefiya felt overwhelmed with having to read and predict the battle to make sure she used the right magic at the right time, nonetheless she continued to make the correct decisions every time. Ryuu and Aisha both began concurrent chanting, forcing Filvis to choose which to attack first, choosing Aisha, though she failed to realize that she'd been tricked. As Aisha moved out of the way, Asfi threw a burst oil at the fire magic sword next to her, causing it to explode, and Ryuu and Lefiya used Luminous Wind and Fusillade Fallarica on top of that, both magic hitting Filvis directly.

Despite their combined attack, Filvis survived and used Dio Thyrsos while changing its trajectory with her arm. The attack spread across the whole battlefield, destroying the weapons surrounding Filvis and heavily wounding Asfi, Ryuu, and Aisha. Commenting that they would've won if she wasn't corrupted, Filvis began one-sidedly attacking Ryuu and Aisha, and prevented Lefiya from chanting by slamming her leg down on the ground, sending children's head sized rocks at her which hit her in four places. When Filvis began attacking Aisha, the Berberas became enraged, though the Creature easily dealt with them. Just as everyone was about to give up, they saw Bete, who'd finally woken up after being defeated the first time, and was level boosted by Haruhime.

Having defeated Aisha, Filvis was about to use Dio Thyrsos on her while holding her by the neck, when she heard Bete's roar. Bete ran up to her in an instant and began continuously attacking her, causing her to aim her magic at him, but he simply deflected her hand up in the air and began rushing her, forcing her to let go of Aisha and try to block his attacks. Bete's attacks began to overpower her, and Filvis herself was shocked that he was still able to fight, to which he told her that he'd look bad in front of the weaklings if he didn't kill her. Filvis counterattacked, however, Bete continued to fight back, forcing her to go on the defensive for the first time. As she watched, Lefiya forced herself to chant again, but at that moment she heard a certain sound.

In the cylindrical room, Dionysus told Loki that it was over since the Nidhogg would soon activate, however, the sound of a bell interrupted him, causing both Gods to wonder what it was. Across the battlefields, everyone else also heard the sound of the bell. At the Nidhogg's room, Ray arrived while carrying Bell, and the latter asked Raul's group to protect him while he charged Argonaut on the greatsword he received earlier, thinking of the Loki Familia executives as the trigger. Seeing Argonaut gather around the greatsword, Raul immediately ordered everyone to protect him. The bell began as a chime but quickly turned into the sound of a grand bell. On their respective battlefields, the members of the Hestia Familia and Wiene realized that it was Bell, causing Lili and Welf to rally the groups they were with, and Finn ordered everyone to have the bell lead their way. On the 12th Floor, Lefiya also recognized the bell sound as Bell fighting, and vowed to not lose to him while getting back up. In addition, the bell prompted Bete, Asfi, Ryuu, and Aisha to continue fighting as well.

Across the battlefields, each of the groups had their morale strengthened by the sound of the grand bell and proceeded to kill their respective Demi Spirit opponent. However, unlike the others, the Xenos were busy trying to keep Asterius in the room in addition to fighting their Demi Spirit. The Xenos succeeded in convincing him to kill the Demi Spirit first, prompting Asterius to vow to get stronger for their final battle. Letting his fighting instincts take over again, Asterius proceeded to destroy the Demi Spirit they were fighting. At the first group, contrary to the others, Allen was irritated by Bell's growth but was also irritated by the fact that he was irritated with Bell, and proceeded to finish off the Demi Spirit himself with his speed. At Aki's group, Ottar mentioned that Freya's insight was correct, as a new hero was starting its fetal movements. Walking over to the already defeated and dying Demi Spirit, he was pleased that the battle gave birth to a new hero, and finished off the Demi Spirit. Finally, at the Nidhogg Demi Spirit's room, Bell unleashed a full 4 minutes charge Grand Bell Argonaut, killing it in one hit.

Ais and Revis continued to fight each other, with the former continuing to use the power of Avenger, trying to justify it to herself by thinking that her father and mother must've felt the same way that day. The young Ais inside of her protested and tried to tell her something, but the noise in her head drowned out the rest of her words. Ais thought to herself that she didn't want to become a hero, nor save the world; all she wanted to do was take back something, but to do that she needed to become as strong as possible. She saw herself in Revis' eyes, and viewed herself as an ugly being like her, and thought of letting the black flame inside of her take over when she heard the sound of the bell. As both Ais recognized the source of the sound as Bell, the sound began to push back the black flames, and she began recalling her memories with Bell. As Ais and Revis clashed again, Ais let the wind around her and her sword burst, then canceled Avenger, causing Revis' attack to pass by her. Once they passed each other, both of them recovered for one final clash; although Revis succeeded in dealing damage to Ais, Ais' attack had hit Revis' magic stone, cutting it in half. Having lost her magic stone, Revis began turning into ash, though she shouted at Ais one last time before she completely died.

At the Nidhogg's room, Raul confirmed the death of the Nidhogg Demi Spirit, and everyone there celebrated with Bell. Rakta, overcome by her emotions, hugged Ray, surprising the latter. Elsewhere, upon hearing Raul's cheers, Finn praised both him and Bell, then ordered the others to group together and deal with the remaining forces while he would take Alicia's group to Loki's location. In the cylindrical room, Dionysus was shocked that his plan had been thwarted, and when Loki explained to him why he lost, he tried to kill her with the shortsword he previously used to kill Penia. Fortunately, Loki had picked up some ash from a dead monster on the way there, and used it to blind and trip him, then moved behind and kicked his crotch without restraint. She then began mercilessly kicking his body over and over again. Dionysus pleaded for her to stop, nevertheless, she refused, also revealing her true nature as a God just like him, telling him that she'd continue until he paid for everything he'd done. He desperately swung at her, which she easily dodged, and he got up, shouting for the Creatures and Thanatos to help him, not realizing that there weren't any Creatures nearby and that he'd gotten rid of Thanatos and Evilus.

On the 12th Floor, Bete and Filvis continued to fight, and the latter couldn't understand why the former wouldn't stay down despite being hit by her attacks. In addition, Asfi, Ryuu, and Aisha helped him, making Filvis wonder why they wouldn't give up. Partway through the battle, she sensed that the Nidhogg had been killed, causing her to lose focus for a moment and allowing Bete to land a kick in. As Filvis went flying, Bete lept back, beginning his chant for Hati. Filvis attempted to stop him with Dio Thyrsos, though she was stopped by Asfi who threw a freeze oil at her, freezing both the right side of her body and the magic circle in a prison of ice. Nonetheless, Filvis finished her chant despite the recoil, casting her magic straight at Bete. The magic breaking the ice caused a part of it to hit Asfi, making her unable to fight, while the rest headed toward its target. Fortunately, Ryuu, Aisha, and Lefiya used Luminous Wind, Hell Kaios, and Arcs Ray respectively to try to buy him time to finish Hati's chant. Although they struggled against the weakened Dio Thyrsos, Lefiya put all of her magic power and feelings into her magic and the three of them succeeded in stopping it, and Bete finished his chant soon after.

Despite Bete's ferocious attack, Filvis knew she'd survive it, however, she froze when she realized that Lefiya was casting in their direction, using Fusillade Fallarica to boost Bete's Hati. The large amount of fire in the area caused a massive explosion, damaging both Bete and Filvis, and though the latter was still standing, the explosion dealt massive damage to her body, making her unable to move due to using all of her energy to regenerate. Filvis, seeing that Lefiya was using Elf Ring, decided to put an end to it using Dio Thyrsos, however, her thoughts were affected when she saw that Lefiya was using Dio Grail, disrupting control of her magic and casting it with weaker power. The two magic canceled each other out, and as Filvis fell back from the force of the clash, she saw Lefiya running at her with her Tear Pain shortsword, which she proceeded to stab into Filvis' magic stone. Realizing that she only had a few more minutes to live, Filvis split herself with her duplication magic again, with the real Filvis collapsing while the duplicate ran out of the room to find Dionysus.

As Finn's group arrived at the cylindrical room, they saw Dionysus screaming for Filvis to save him, and soon after duplicate Filvis appeared from a hallway opposite from where Finn's group had come from. Her appearance caused some of the Loki Familia members to ready an attack, nevertheless Loki and Finn stopped them, as they could see that Filvis was beginning to disappear. Upon seeing her condition, Dionysus realized that he'd been checkmated, then began insulting her for her uselessness, telling her that he was thoroughly disappointed in her for being unable to help in this situation. However, Dionysus then told her that she was lovely, adding that seeing her cry and scream because of his actions felt pleasant, and blamed himself for allowing to be free to do what she wanted, which he believed was what led to this. Finally, he told her that his heart was hers and told her to stay with him in heaven, holding her close to him. After he patted Filvis' head, Dionysus admitted that he'd lost, congratulating them on their victory, but told Loki that the dungeon was at its limit. He continued, telling her that despite them stopping his plans, fate wouldn't stop and that the lower world would turn into the underworld before the "promised time". Holding the disappearing Filvis with his right arm, he pulled out his shortsword with the other and stabbed himself, promising to watch them from heaven. After both Dionysus and Filvis disappeared, Loki looked up toward the heavens and told Line and the other deceased Loki Familia members that they'd won.

Epilogue Edit

After her battle with Revis, Ais was walking along the hallways, and when she turned a corner, she saw that Raul's group had set up a temporary camp. Those that were unable to move had been ordered to group together until they could be rescued, with Ray flying around telling people where the nearest groups were, and the Xenos had told her that Raul's camp was nearby and that she'd find who she was looking for there. She found Bell sleeping against a wall and sat down next to him. She noted that he'd helped them, thanking him for his help in defeating Revis, and told him that she heard his voice. At that point, Bell's head fell onto her shoulder, and Ais herself leaned back on him. Ais thanked Bell and fell asleep.

Furthermore, Lefiya was on her knees, crying while she supported Filvis' dying body which was turning into ash. Lefiya admitted that she didn't know which Filvis was real and what would've been the best for them, to which Filvis told her that both her and the duplicate Filvis were real. Filvis admitted that her heart had been in pieces and didn't know what to do, adding that she wasn't strong or beautiful like Lefiya claimed she was. Nevertheless, while admitting that she and Filvis were both weak Elves that need to depend on someone else, Lefiya told Filvis that she was far more beautiful than anyone, all the while recalling the memories they shared. Smiling, Filvis whispered something into Lefiya's ear, telling her to remember it whenever she in trouble, and thanked her for being able to know her, telling her that they'd be together forever. As Filvis died, her ashes rose, and as the light reflected off of it, it looked similar to the "crown of light" phenomenon from Lefiya's home forest that they'd promised to see together, causing Lefiya to cry. The shards of light broke apart and fell back down on her, making it seem like a rain of light.