Knossos

Tonight, Orario is destined to be sleepless.

The city was thrown into brief chaos by the excessively bright Return Pillar.

Countless citizens left their homes and lingered on the streets, talking and inquiring about what had happened to cause a deity to be suddenly sent away.

Countless gods and their kin rushed toward Daedalus Street, the "crime scene," causing scouts and agents from various factions to appear there one after another.

Finally, even the guild was alarmed and sent many staff members to investigate Daedalus Street. Almost the entire Ganesha Familia, who were city guards, were mobilized and rushed to Daedalus Street. After a hard night's work, they sealed off Daedalus Street and no longer allowed anyone to enter this labyrinthine street.

All sorts of rumors and even misinformation began to circulate in the city, causing widespread anxiety.

"Gods are sending us back—how long has it been since something like this happened?"

"The last time was probably five years ago, right?"

"Those being repatriated at that time were the Chief God the Evilus had been in the shadows for ten years during the Dark Period of CD City. Those self-proclaimed evil gods were driven into a corner by the Chief God of the clan who joined forces to destroy the Evilus, and in the end, they were all sent back to the Heaven."

"Yes, I still remember the situation at that time. One after another, beams of Return Pillar appeared, and the scene was quite spectacular."

"Five years later, another Celestial has been repatriated from Orario!"

"I really don't know who it is----"

As people discussed it, the topic instantly became the hottest topic, and the original discussion about the great achievements of the Loki Familia was suppressed and no one mentioned it anymore.

Meanwhile, Loki Familia had already withdrawn from Daedalus Street and returned to their base.

The Twilight Manor was brightly lit tonight, and countless members were constantly going in and out of the main entrance, running back and forth with anxious expressions; it was clear that something had happened.

"Quick! Go to the nearest herbalist shop and buy all the supplies!"

"We don't have enough high-grade elixirs and Elixir to treat injuries!"

"Go and invite [the Saintess of the Battlefield] over!"

"Treat the seriously injured first; treat the lightly injured temporarily!"

Similar sounds kept appearing in the Twilight Manor, plunging the entire Long Mansion into a restless atmosphere.

At this moment, Finn's office was also brightly lit.

Finn, Riveria Ljos Alf, Gareth, Ais, Bete Loga, Tiona, Tione, and finally Leo —the entire Familia's leadership was gathered here once again, along with Loki, who had his arms crossed, making the air in the office feel somewhat oppressive.

Everyone's positions were similar to those at the last meeting. Finn was still sitting behind his desk with Riveria Ljos Alf standing next to him, Gareth was sitting to the side, Bete Loga was leaning against the wall, and Leo and Ais were sitting side by side. Only Tione was no longer clinging to Finn, but was standing with Tiona.

And then there's Loki. She's no longer sitting at the table; instead, she's standing right in front of everyone, her face unusually devoid of smiles and playfulness.

Tell me about it.

Loki addressed Finn and the others.

"What exactly happened?"

The oppressive atmosphere in the office immediately intensified.

Leaving aside Leo and Riveria Ljos Alf, who were not involved in the operation, everyone who was involved, including Finn, Gareth, and Ais, looked particularly somber.

That's the expression that appears only after witnessing something unimaginably extraordinary.

"----Then let me briefly summarize it."

Finally, Finn broke the silence and began to tell the story.

It tells the story of what happened in the Artificial Labyrinth called "Knossos".

"Knossos?"

Loki naturally noticed the name.

"That's what the enemy told us."

Finn continued his narration clearly and distinctly, without being interrupted by Loki.

He began by recounting what happened after entering the Orichalcum Gate.

"The enemy's secret bases are basically modeled after Dungeon, hence the name 'Artificial Labyrinth.'"

"Although there was only one one-way path when we first entered, the terrain quickly transformed into a complex maze as the group ventured deeper."

"The road will eventually split in two, sometimes even forming a crossroads, but more often it will become a fork in the road, and the number of branching paths will increase significantly, forcing us to choose one or split into several groups."

Trapped in this underground labyrinth, whose complexity rivals that of Daedalus Street, Finn was initially able to choose his way by sending out scouts to explore and eliminate dead ends, selecting passable paths. However, as more and more forks appeared, Finn and his companions, without a map, had no choice but to split into two groups.

"We considered damaging the passageway, but there were doors made of Orichalcum (the hardest metal) at intervals, and the passageway itself was made of Adamantite (an ultra-hard metal) covered with stone slabs."

Upon hearing this, Loki and Riveria Ljos Alf.

"The entire maze's passageways—are they all made of Adamantite?"

Riveria Ljos Alf looked completely taken aback.

"Hey, is this for real?"

Even Loki was unsettled.

That's an extremely hard metal, Adamantite. Although it's not as hard as Orichalcum, the hardest metal, it's still an extremely rare and refined metal, and its price is incredibly high.

Tiona's great twin blades Ullr, were made of an ultra-hard metal and ultimately sold for 120 million Valis. It's conceivable that even just considering the materials, the Adamantite on these twin blades alone would be worth at least tens of millions of Valis.

Such a precious material, which would be too extravagant to even use for forging a single weapon, is now being used by someone to build an extremely complex maze?

Even with a lot of money, you can't just burn it like that, right?

However, it must be said that this Artificial Labyrinth, constructed entirely of Adamantite, is undoubtedly top-notch in terms of durability and defense.

If the thickness is not high, it's fine, but if the thickness is too high, even Gareth, this dwarf warrior with an exceptionally high "strength" parameter, probably won't be able to destroy it.

In this situation, Finn and his companions had no way to create a passage by destruction; even if they could, it would waste a considerable amount of time.

They certainly can't afford to waste time.

Later, the group discovered that the walls contained body stones from Obsidian Soldier —materials dropped from the Obsidian Soldier with magic-weakening bodies that appeared on the 37th Floor of the Dungeon. These materials also had magic-weakening effects, so even if magic was used to bombard them, the passage wouldn't collapse. As a result, Finn and the others had no choice but to follow the route set up by the enemy.

"From that moment on, we understood that we had entered a fortress that was extremely difficult to escape from or invade, and was easy to defend but difficult to attack."

Then----

"We've encountered remnants of the Evilus."

Finn told everyone that their first opponent was an old rival from the past.

The Evilus, which had been wiped out and left only as remnants of these terrorists, has reappeared in droves this time. Unlike the fanatical believers that Leo and Ais encountered in the food warehouse on the 24th Floor, who were only capable of taking others down with them, these are a small number of elites who survived the Dark Period five years ago. Among them are even leaders or high-ranking officers who have directly fought against Finn and others.

They lost their powers after their Chief God was banished, and they had to hide in the darkness all day long until they encountered the last surviving evil god and regained their power by joining his clan.

Of course, if they were no match for Finn and his group five years ago, they are even less likely to be a match for Finn now.

After all, Finn and the others have undoubtedly become much stronger than they were five years ago, unlike the remnants of those Evilus, whose highest level is only Lv.5.

Five years ago, Ais and other members of the Loki Familia weren't even Level 5 yet, but now they've all reached Level 6. Finn and Gareth are just one step away from Level 7. The Familia members have also grown significantly; even Raul, who joined only seven or eight years ago, is now Level 4. How can the remnants of the Evilus, who are at most only Level 5, possibly compete with the current Loki Familia?

However, Finn and his companions ultimately found themselves in grave danger when faced with the remnants of this Evilus.

"First, the Orichalcum 'door' was lowered, blocking the road. We had nowhere to retreat and were forced to fight. The battlefield was full of Vertical Shaft, with bottomless pits underneath. These randomly opened traps forced us to watch our step at all times, which was quite restrictive."

"Then came those colorful monsters, especially the Man-Eating Flower. There were so many of them that they all crowded into one battlefield and besieged us. There were even new species that we had never encountered before."

"Finally, and most fatally—"

Finn spoke as if he weren't recounting his own experience, but rather with the detached calmness of an observer, recounting what they had encountered.

""Curse"."

A curse, in this context, refers to a supernatural power distinct from magic.

As its name suggests, it is a power used to curse its target.

The initiator needs to pay a certain price first, such as permanently reducing some of their own ability values. However, in return, it can exert effects that magic cannot, and even developmental abilities like "Abnormal Resistance" cannot resist it, and can only be defended against or removed by limited methods.

In the original work, Ais encountered a curse with a "seal" effect. This curse could seal the magic of the cursed person, preventing Ais from using [Ariel] while the curse was in effect.

This curse is a complete bane of Mage. If the cursed person is a pure Mage like Riveria Ljos Alf or Lefiya Viridis, or someone with magical abilities exceeding the norm like Leo, the effect would be fatal.

What Finn and his companions encountered in the Artificial Labyrinth of Knossos was even more deadly: a curse with an "incurable" effect. Once afflicted, the cursed cannot be healed by healing magic or potions and can only watch helplessly as they bleed to death. It was an extremely vicious curse.

Ironically, the remnants of those Evilus acquired a large number of special weapons imbued with this curse, also known as cursed artifacts. These are weapons created by sorcerers with "mysterious" development abilities and are considered taboo. Due to their unique nature, they are extremely rare even among special weapons, yet they were abused by the remnants of the Evilus.

"As a result, members of the team were gradually injured by the cursed tools, afflicted with an incurable curse, and rendered unable to fight due to excessive bleeding."

"We first-level adventurers barely managed to hold on, but the enemy's officers used a curse that weakens us, making us more and more restricted and weaker the more we move."

"The worst part is that, in this situation, those weirdos also appeared."

Upon hearing this, Ais, who was sitting next to Leo, lowered her eyes.

Upon seeing this, Leo knew that the strange person Finn mentioned was undoubtedly Revis.

"----She became very strong."

When Ais saw Leo looking over, she clenched her fist and said something with mixed emotions.

"Even stronger than I am now."

Upon hearing this, Leo narrowed his eyes.

He knew that Revis would become stronger.

These strange beings are a fusion of humans and monsters, possessing monstrous characteristics and, naturally, monstrous abilities to devour Magic Stone.

Monsters can transform into more powerful beings— Enhanced Species —by consuming Magic Stone.

The same goes for the strange creatures; they can become stronger by consuming Magic Stone.

Last time, being unilaterally suppressed by Ais on the 24th Floor undoubtedly greatly hurt Revis's pride.

Once she gets back, she will do everything she can to become stronger, consuming as many Magic Stone as possible to make herself more and more powerful, so that she can take revenge when she faces Ais again. This is something Leo had already foreseen.

In the original story, Revis also consumed the Magic Stone of the white-haired man on the 24th Floor. When she reappeared in the Artificial Labyrinth of Knossos, she already possessed the power to defeat Finn in a few moves, leaving Ais completely powerless.

At this point, Revis was already recognized as possessing strength equivalent to Lv.7.

Now, Revis failed to consume the white-haired man's Magic Stone, which was destroyed by Leo in the food warehouse on the 24th Floor. Therefore, she may not be as powerful as in the original story, but she still seems to be stronger than Ais now.

This only proves one thing.

That is, Revis's potential ability may very well have reached Lv.7.

Otherwise, Ais, who possesses the overpowered [Ariel] spell, would never claim that her opponent is stronger than her.

Therefore, after Revis appeared, the situation began to deteriorate rapidly, and Loki Familia fell into a real crisis.

"At the last moment, it was Leo's Star Beast that stepped in and helped us break the deadlock."

At this point, everyone present immediately turned to look at Leo.

Facing the gazes of the crowd, Leo calmly said something.

"Was it Virgo Star's influence?"

Clearly, Leo had anticipated something.

This is only natural.

Whether the enemy uses curses, whether Revis becomes stronger, or what arrangements and capabilities the remnants of the Evilus have, Leo knows all of this from the original work.

Therefore, he specifically summoned the Virgo Star to accompany him, making this light-attribute Star Beast.

"The power of Virgo Star is indeed key."

Finn said with a smile.

She helped us purify the curse.