Kaguya's words broke Jaro's composure, and he immediately began cursing. Though he had spent nearly all these years hiding in the Artificial Labyrinth out of fear of Ryu's pursuit, he still felt somewhat proud whenever he recalled how he had nearly wiped out the Justice Goddess Familia back then—despite the fact that it had ultimately created the Killing God Gale.
Jaro's scheme to nearly annihilate the Justice Goddess Familia had originally earned him great admiration within the Dark Faction. But after Ryu went on her killing spree and sent the Dark Faction's Four Pillar Gods packing, people in the Dark Faction began blaming Jaro instead. Their current situation was even worse than when the Justice Goddess Familia had still been intact.
When Alishe and the others were still around, they had to follow certain rules in their actions. Most of the time, they would not kill. Back then, the Dark Faction still possessed considerable strength and could contend with Orario's adventurers. Alishe and the others had gone to the twenty-seventh floor precisely to fight the Dark Faction.
But Ryu's killing spree taught the Dark Faction something: how terrifying it was when their opponents abandoned all rules just as they did. Poisoning, Fire Stones—Ryu had spent less than two months turning the Dark Faction, which had continued resisting Orario's adventurers for two years after the Seven Days of Death, into cowards who no longer dared show their faces.
The destruction of numerous merchant guilds, in particular, had dealt the Dark Faction a severe blow. The Dark Faction needed to eat too, not to mention that merchant guilds were involved in the construction of the Artificial Labyrinth. The Artificial Labyrinth had been built entirely on mountains of wealth. Ryu was also one reason the Dark Faction later cooperated with Ishtar, since the