Chương 202: Ouranos' will
Before we start, I was rereading the most recent chapters for obvious reasons as I'm posting chapters now on Scribble and I have realized a small problem that could be considered a plot hole.
There are several inconsistencies in the story it happens, I'm not perfect, but I like to address the mistakes whenever they do come to my attention.
Some I can fix, others I cannot.
So, regarding Evilus, the big baddie that exists.
So far, the Guild has no idea of who is behind them, that is a fact.
However, that do know people who should be connected to them, and I just forgot to address this more clearly.
Way in the past, during the time Silver was Level 2, he gave the Hermes Familia Frederic's diary, it contained many things that happened within the Dyonisus Familia and it made Hermes suspect them of being Orario's traitors.
He was unsure who amidst them was the traitor, but it seemed unlikely it was any of the children after extensive investigations.
This treason stems from the Prometheus Arc where the forces of Aetos the Elf infiltrated Orario causing quite a bit of trouble.
The Guild was unsure of how they did it, but in the end, they thought they had help, hence a traitor was necessary.
So, as of now, he should be keeping tabs on them despite having no clue about their overall actions, but without a doubt, they should be connected somewhat.
This was something that deserved a chap on its own and it should've been released in the past to clear it out and leave it in the background for when it was necessary to bring it up again, which is about now.
If you wish to get an overall idea of what was happening, I would be glad to discuss it later, for now, go enjoy the chapter, peace!
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'While the Denatus was underway, Silver made his way back home.'
'Not through teleportation, not through fast running like a ninja on the ceiling of the houses, but just like he did in the not-so-long past…'
'Walking down the streets like a completely normal person.'
'To not attract attention, he changed his looks… Into how he truly looked.'
'A blind man with no arms, but with a slight change.'
'He covered his eyes with a bandana, as if he were to walk around with no arms, he would attract more attention than with them.'
'And so he could pass on as a blind man, he left his right arm intact to hold a long wooden rod.'
'This way, no one bothered to look at him, and even if they did, they could barely even recognize him.'
'With his eyes covered, there was little people could do to identify him unless they knew him personally.'
'His current battered state was too much from his previous glorious display.'
/Sniff…/
"The smell of early morning bread just out of the oven, how lovely." Silver mumbled as he walked around slowly
Orario is truly the center of culture, if you look closely you can see dishes from all over the continent.
Though some are rarer than others.
"Hm?"
'His focus changed to an alley on the side, in there, he saw a few children crouching on the ground, staring at the streets, hungry.'
"..."
Even this close to the center of the city, you'll see people struggling with things they should have a right to have.
It may seem idealistic, but Orario is supposed to be the center of hope in the world.
The world wishes and expects the city to deal with the Three Great Questions, the Dungeon, and whatever came out of it.
As such, everyone within the city was supposed to have some rights, and it's the reason many try to enter it… Seeking better life.
But that truth only extends so far.
Just like how being an adventurer isn't as pretty and heroic as most children believe.
'He felt many emotions, pity was one such emotion, though he wondered if those kids would appreciate it.'
'Not everyone wishes to receive help, not everyone expects unpaid kindness.'
'What sort of kids were they?... Honestly, he didn't care.'
...
"That'll be 148 Valis sir, make it 160 and I'll add one of these fresh round melon bread hoho!" The baker said with a smile as he calculated Silver's order
"Alright, here it is." Silver replied as he took a few coins from his pouch
'The baker was surprised to see Silver being so nimble despite being blind, but he attributed this to the fact he might've been an adventurer in the past, despite looking young.'
'It isn't uncommon for high-level adventurers to retire due to injuries, or to look younger than they should, yet still retain some sort of ability from their glory days.'
'Though that wasn't common to see anymore due to the fact over 90% of all old veteran adventurers sacrificed themselves for the sake of the future 5 years ago…'
'How many still remember their glory? How many still worship their efforts?'
…
'Under the confused and surprised gaze of the 7 children, Silver stopped next to them and…'
"Oh no!" He exclaimed dramatically
/Poof…/
'His large bag full of bread fell right by their feet.'
"My bread… What a bummer…"
'Yet…'
/Grab…/
'One of the children grabbed his large bag of bread, carefully dusting it, it was fresh and it smelled good, its heat radiated onto their faces…'
/Grumble…/
'Their belies grumbled their mouths salivated, their urges flared…'
'But they weren't thieves.'
"H-Here you go sir…"
'One of them, a small plum child handed him his bag meekly and weekly, almost trembling.'
'Silver could tell by the raspiness of her voice she might've not eaten anything for at least 2-3 days.'
"Oh? Thank you, little girl." He replied with a gentle smile
"But I only need this, I kind of overdid it you see." He said as he grabbed a small piece of white bread
"Would you all kindly help me finish this all?"
/Silence.../
'The kids looked at him with a mix of expressions, some almost cried, but they seemed genuinely happy and hopeful.'
'It seemed their faith in others hadn't been fully destroyed yet for them to watch him with suspicion, which made Silver glad.'
'Children were supposed to smile and not care, run around with everything they had, and hit their faces in a glass door because they can't process there is a door there…'
'And not stay in the dark, silent, slowly dying of thirst and hunger.'
…
'In the next few minutes, Silver watched them eat and talk in silence, asking them some questions from time to time, such as who was their guardian.'
'It wasn't like he was going to do anything, but he wanted to understand this side of the city.'
'He wasn't surprised to hear they were from Daedalus street and from an orphanage, that much he had figured out.'
'What he was surprised to hear, however, was the fact they weren't being given proper food in there, and even if they were poor to the utmost degree, at the very least, they should've had something.'
'After all, even the Astrea Familia of the past was once poor, legends say Astrea herself had been fed with grass soup by her children…'
'If a Goddess can survive like that, then…'
…
""Goodbye!""
'The children cheerfully waved their tiny hands at him as they disappeared into the darkness, leaving Silver with a bitter feeling.'
I wanted them to laugh, but why do I feel worse now?
'It was because he learned a little bit of the dark truth surrounding the people no one cares about.'
Even in such low places, scum will gather.
To think there would be thieves willing to steal from orphanages with barely even enough to feed 20 little kids…
"Even with Ganesha trying his hardest to work as a police force, he can't fill the Void Astrea left in this city."
The Astrea Familia might've been small, but even though they vanished 5 years ago, many still remember their feats, perhaps even more than Zeus' and Heras'.
Because one was close, fighting on the streets for them, the other was outside, fighting things they couldn't even begin to comprehend.
It's been 12 to 13 years since they vanished after all, while it's been 5 since Astrea left the city.
"I do have some time, and I did plan on being a bit more… Charitable." Silver whispered to himself
Why not pay a visit to Daedalus street?
I used to avoid it for many reasons, Evilus being the biggest…
But, do I even need to fear them now?
"Speaking of them… You're here." Silver said as he looked at the dark alley
'People who look at him might just think he was a strange blind man staring at an alley, but that was exactly how he looked.'
/Fwoosh…/
'The wind flowed as if pointing somewhere.'
"..."
'And with it, Silver moved.'
…
/Inside another alley…/
"You're here." The darkness whispered to him
'From the dark corners between the tightly built houses, a caped being stopped from within.'
"You told me you were hurt, but I didn't expect this level of injury…" Fels pointed out with great concern
"Thank you for caring, but be assured, this is only temporary." Silver replied, confidant
"Temporary? Are you planning on…"
'Fels assumed the most obvious.'
"No, I don't have any intention of buying any sort of prosthetics, I'll instead regrow my limbs." Silver said bluntly
'While others may take this with extreme confusion, there was no need to be subtle with the being in front of him…'
'Though even then…'
"Regrow?... That is an impossible feat as far as I'm aware."
'There seemed to be some melancholy in her tone.'
"It may be for others, yet I can assure you that it's possible for me, that doesn't mean it'll be easy... Or pleasant."
"I may not be efficient or comparable when treating others as other healers, but when the focus is myself, I'm the best healer… If we don't bring people like the Dea Saint into the picture."
Even then, there are things the Dea Saint can't do that I can.
If someone's heart stops beating, there is little the Dea Saint can do, perhaps if she uses all of her healing ability, she can jolt someone awake, but I can easily make someone's heart beat again.
The problem is the Soul, in which moment does the Soul departs the body, making its way to Heaven?
Immediately after? After a few seconds?...
No matter how much I try to mend someone's body back together if their Soul has already left, then there's little I can do.
"... Then I shall put my faith in you as I did before."
'Fels thought for some time, while Silver said:'
"How did the Guild take my actions now that everything is over?"
"Nothing much changed from what we discussed last time."
'During the night on the day he blasted Ishtar's home away, Fels made an uninvited appearance in his room.'
'The motive for that was obvious, not only her, but Ouranos wanted to hear the true reason behind his actions.'
'Albeit he was tired and worn out, he made some time to answer her questions until she was satisfied.'
'From there, they met one more time before now, on the day after the previous Denatus was held, to discuss the impact of his actions.'
'This was important due to the information Silver gave the Guild, especially Ouranos.'
'By investigating the burnt bodies of the deceased members of the Ikelos Familia, Silver dug up the truth about their disappearance and what was lurking in the shadows.'
'This allowed both Fels and Ouranos to start understanding the scope of the problem and also to connect many dots that were left unanswered from the past...'
'The slight chaos of the past that was dealt by the Loki Familia, the traitor that was never uncovered...'
'The existence of Knossos beneath Orario, Daedalus' most prized construction and a long lost dream.'
'Something that was fated to never be completed, not because it was impossible, but because the Guild couldn't afford it to exist.'
'Managing one entrance is already a great bother, and with the other one being sealed, how could they manage an extra one? Much less an entire extra Dungeon.'
'Even if impressive on its own, Ouranos has to make the final choice and choose the greater good… It's complete annihilation.'
'Especially when it was being used as a base of operation by their enemies.'
"Ouranos has decided to go with your approach." Fels stated
"I see."
'Silver's approach was pretty simple, it involved nothing else but… Patience.'
'His argument was simple, yet convincing…'
'From what they uncovered from the corpses, there was no way the Guild could face them alone.'
'Even if they add the Ganesha Familia, nothing would change, they might lose their biggest ally due to their recklessness.'
'That wasn't something Ouranos was willing to bet on.'
'So what should they do when their enemy keeps growing their forces, plotting some vile thing in the dark?'
'Well, Silver might know what they were after, but they didn't, as even after using his abilities on the grunts from the Ikelos Familia, their bodies were either too damaged to share anything conclusive, or they didn't know the full scope of it all.'
'That's obviously because, in every villain plot, you never let your underlings know every single step of the process, just like in a pyramid scheme.'
'Everything they had was pieced together through multiple uses of his ability until he got tired and stopped.'
'Even then, it gave Fels enough information to work for months.'
'Below them existed an extensive array of tunnels that connected with the Dungeon, that was Knossos, and it was being used as a base for the remnants of Evilus they never managed to track.'
'The pieces of this long ongoing puzzle were starting to fit together.'
"But for how long is he willing to wait?"
"Ouranos understands your worries and points, we can't lose our warriors by sending them into a deathtrap, especially now that they vanished."
"Well… We barely even knew they existed until you showed me they were the same people going after the Xenos." Fels said in disappointment
Who would think that the Ikelos Familia that mysteriously vanished many years ago was now working for Orario's greatest enemy in some sort of man-made Dungeon beneath Orario?
And it hasn't been for little, but in fact, they had been together for a very long time.
It's no wonder God Ikelos vanished as well, he may be detained somewhere beneath us to prevent information from leaking.
Hermes has been working hard to uncover all traces of their movements in the surface, but...
"It has been difficult trying to track all of their movements, but I have set several pins across all of their possible contact points."
'Those that live beneath the city need to have a way to transfer resources in and out of Babel.'
'Fels might know there is something in Daedalus street and in the Dungeon, but she also knows they had to have something extra to make due to all of their preparations.'
'A way to make a lot of money…'
'She investigated for many days straight, weeks, months, and she finally got a lead… Outside.'
"Is it Melen?" Silver asked
"I… I shouldn't even be surprised."
"That's correct, Melen is the only possible place they could be making use of to move illegal materials and money."
"I was also made aware of the corruption within, everything fits."
I didn't explore much into Knossos, but from the little I did, I came to realize its immense architectural expenses.
It was clear that the Ikelos Familia was the main source of money for them given their abilities, they captured monsters and the "Exotic Monsters", selling them outside for great profit, utilizing passages I can't even pinpoint correctly.
Some of those monsters are reared into war weapons by their Tamers, and that was what hit Orario during the Great Feud, causing the death of many...
It's clear there are underground passages connecting the inside and outside of Orario, and they're likely impossible to track, not without alerting the enemy, the only way to properly scout the area would be by biding our time.
And that in itself explains a lot… About the past as well…
If only we knew of this sooner… But the past can't be changed.
And now that they are gone, its a wait a see game…
Who will make the first move?
"I expect Ouranos is weighing if he should attack all of the enemy's supply lines and strand them, or not push them much." Silver said with a pensive expression
"Correct, Lord Ouranos is trying to balance our current two choices…"
"We can attack now and try to wipe them out… But we could end up bringing forth a great backlash, one that if we can't control, chaos may be brought back to the city, something we cannot tolerate… Not after everything it was done to attain it."
"Or we could wait and strengthen our forces and seek more information, though this would also give them more time to prepare."
"And after thinking about this…"
"Ouranos has decided to seek my own opinion? I'm flattered." Silver joked in a light tone
"Please, take this seriously, the city…"
"I am."
"..."
"To wait or to move..."
"But I think we should wait."
"And the reason?"
"Just as they need time, we also need it."
If we go like this, many will die...
There is a way for all to live, and that is by having the Loki and Freya Familias cooperate, but such a thing is impossible.
Ottar alone can't deal with this either, he'll likely die before reaching halfway through the Knossos.
A massive War party must be assembled to succeed.
"We need to prepare..."
"Time to involve others in this, time to sort out our own problems."
"The enemies hid in their shells, but it wasn't out of fear, it was to make us confused."
"We have no one on their sides, but we also don't know how many they have on ours."
"! You think there are moles?"
"I think so, everywhere… Especially at the Guild."
It may be hard to fool a God... But mortals?
"..."
'Fels knew this was a great possibility, she started to doubt things too.'
'To enter the Guild, you just had to pass through the eyes of mortals, so they could be easily fooled.'
'It may be simple to say the big Familias are safe, but what about the smaller Familias that rose in the last 5 years?'
'They thought they had won and wiped them all out, and even if some remnants were left, were they of any threat?'
'Who could prove all of those recent Familias were on their side?...'
'Everything pointed at…'
"A cleanup, an investigation, preparations, contacts… There is a lot to do." Fels counted as looked at him
"Indeed there is… If you all want to win without spreading chaos." Silver said as he tapped his wood rod on the ground
"But who could it be?" Fels suddenly asked
"..."
"The Demon Lord… God Erebus was defeated, he was the one that led Evilus wasn't he?"
"He was already sent to heaven, and multiple Familias from Evilus were sent back to heaven either by their own hands or through the adventurers."
"Who is left to lead them? What do they wish to achieve by remaining in the dark? And how?"
"..."
'Silver was completely silent.'
'The existence of Thanatos had yet to be disclosed, and all other allies of Evilus had also been kept in the dark.'
'The only ones they knew for sure were Ikelos, and possibly Dyonisus, but did that change anything?...'
'And from Silver's reports yesterday, there was the chance that Ishtar also had contacted them...'
"A lot is missing, and it gives me a bad feeling."
"I'll relay your response to Lord Ouranos, he'll likely agree with your approach."
"In the meantime, I beseech you to be careful, the enemy can seemingly come and go from the Dungeon at any time."
"In your state, after everything you did to them…"
"That I'm fully aware." Silver replied without a single shred of hesitation
"If that's all, I have a few more things to do, you know where to meet me."
"Also, send Hermes my regards." He said cheekily
"Adventurer Silver!..."
/Fwoosh…/
'And Silver vanished.'
"... Sigh."
He's harder to talk to then even Gros sometimes.
'Fels didn't linger for much longer, making her way to the darkness of the alley once more.'
'And like that, their meeting was over.'
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Notes
I think I did a decent job at conveying things, regardless, I'll go back to what I was doing before.
Send me your questions and options in the comments.
See you all later!
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