But merchants didn't care about any of that. All they knew was that the Guild monopolized the magic stone trade and hindered the continued growth of their wealth.
So after the Zeus Familia and Hera Familia were defeated and the Guild's power declined, the merchants began putting their own plans into motion.
As for the fact that destroying the city's Guild would let Dungeon monsters break free of Babel's restraints, or even bring about the One-Eyed Black Dragon's return in the future and plunge the world back into the age of monsters from thousands of years ago—that had nothing to do with them.
After seven years of clashes with the Dark Faction, surely someone in the Orario Guild had already figured this out.
But this kid had only been in the city for a few days, and he'd already seen that far ahead?
Amazing! With this kid as a teammate, why would I ever need to worry about being outmaneuvered by that conniving little Finn?
At the thought, Valletta's mood grew ever brighter. She even wanted to throw her head back and laugh!
Valletta: I finally fell for someone, and this is how it ends
"The way you plan to attack Orario isn't hard to guess, either. You're always scurrying around like rats, hiding from one place to another, so there's almost no chance you could defeat the Guild and the other Familias head-on. But this city does have its weaknesses—apart from relying entirely on the outside world for food, there's the Dungeon!"
Under Valletta's intrigued gaze, Noah lifted a foot and tapped the flagstone.
"The endless treasure trove that created the prosperity of this Labyrinth City is also a massive bomb. All you have to do is set it off, and Orario will be destroyed naturally. And the spark that'll set it off is the Arcanum that caused the Dungeon riot a few days ago, right?"
When he finished, silence fell over the alley. Only the gentle whisper of the breeze mingled with the clamor of citizens in the distance.
After a long while, Valletta finally applauded slowly, admiration in her eyes.
"Not bad, not bad. You've only been here a few days, yet you can already see the situation so clearly. It's been ages since Orario last saw a clever young man as brilliant as you."
In truth, what Noah had said wasn't some earth-shattering secret.
On the contrary, given enough time, a fair number of people could see the state of affairs in Orario and understand what mattered.
After all, there weren't many clever people in this world, but there were always some.
When someone thought they'd come up with a brilliant idea that nobody else in the world had ever considered, there were absolutely more than ten—perhaps even hundreds—who'd had the same thought before.
If the idea hadn't been put into action, there was always a reason of its own.
The plan to destroy Orario by setting off the Dungeon had been underway since the Dark Faction first emerged several hundred years ago.
The problem was, how could they do it?
With all those people guarding the city from the Zeus Familia and Hera Familia, each more monstrous than the monsters themselves, they'd have to stir up a calamity deep below the seventieth floor of the Dungeon to have any chance of breaking through. Otherwise, they'd be destroyed halfway there.
If the Dark Faction could make it below the Dungeon's seventieth floor, they wouldn't need to go to so much trouble.
Even today, with Orario fallen so far that it had only one level-six adventurer and fewer than ten level-fives, they'd still need to stir up monsters from the fiftieth or sixtieth floors to be safe.
But that was still harder than climbing to the heavens for the Dark Faction. Even if they gathered all their forces, they could go no deeper than around the fortieth floor.
Breaking through Babel wasn't difficult. The key was how to keep Orario's adventurers from stopping them in the process.
So, in the end, every problem came back to the same thing: power.
There weren't that many master strategists in the world.
The outcome of any matter, and even the fate of the world, was always determined by the balance of power between the two sides.
But that certainly didn't mean the silver-haired boy before her wasn't brilliant.
After all, someone who saw the essence of things at a glance was bound to have a completely different fate from someone who took decades to understand it—or never understood it at all.
For example, even now, countless low-ranking members of the Dark Faction still believed that defeating Freya and the Loki Familia would be enough to destroy Orario.
That was probably why they'd been on the bottom rung of Orario's society before joining the Dark Faction, and why they could only serve as cannon fodder now.
"My name is Valletta Grade. What's yours?"
After searching his memory for the name, Noah recalled seeing her portrait on a Guild notice board in front of the Gnome Grand Library.
But he'd only caught a fleeting glimpse as he passed by, and the portrait had long since faded from years of exposure to the elements. That was why he hadn't recognized her at first.
Level five. She seemed dangerous. I wonder if I can beat her.
Still, that's all the better. It'll give me a clearer idea of where my strength stands in this world.
Besides, if I took Valletta's head, I'd definitely get Orario's gods to take notice.
By then, instead of me looking for a top-tier Familia to join, the major Familias would be lining up for me to choose from.
All that time spent acting while hungry hadn't been for nothing.
"Noah. Noah Sifir."
"Noah, we have the same goal and the same enemies. Let's work together!"
Valletta reached out her hand to Noah.
If anyone else had seen this, they would've been stunned.
The Killing Emperor, who'd slaughtered countless people, was actually getting ready to shake someone's hand.
"Together, let's utterly destroy Orario in the darkness!"
Facing Valletta's outstretched hand, Noah didn't even shift his feet. Instead, he lifted his chin contemptuously.
"You? A bunch of worms the Guild has driven into hiding? You think you're worthy of working with me?"
Valletta grinned at Noah's scornful gaze, completely unfazed.
She'd been prepared for this. The more capable someone was, the worse their temper tended to be.
After all, both the Dark Faction and Orario were full of people with no ability and bad tempers.
She wanted a highly intelligent teammate—a second brain she could rely on—so she could escape the daily grind of thinking and happily kill, kill, kill. Valletta felt she could put up with a little temper.
"Noah, you didn't come to Orario just to mock us, or to sightsee, did you? Let me guess. You want to—or rather, your mission is to—destroy Orario too, right?"
As if she'd hit a nerve, Noah's expression turned even colder. He fixed Valletta with a knife-sharp stare.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
Certain she'd struck a nerve, Valletta's smile widened as she slowly approached him.
"I'm just saying, if your main god found out that you could destroy Orario faster by working with us, but wasted the opportunity out of personal anger—and even let these people in Orario cling to life longer—what would he think?"
Standing before Noah, whose brows were furrowed as though he were struggling with the decision, Valletta tilted her head and spoke softly.
"Hey, Noah. You don't want to disappoint your main god, do you?"
Noah abruptly raised his head and glared at Valletta through clenched teeth.
"You're threatening me?! You think I'll submit to a heretic like you?"
Valletta raised a finger and slowly wagged it before Noah.
"No, no, I'd never threaten you. And I don't want you to submit. I'm just stating a fact. Working with us to destroy Orario doesn't conflict with your goal of eliminating heretics. After all, what's better than standing behind someone when you want to stab them in the back?"
Valletta held out her hand to Noah again.
"What better way is there to eliminate us heretics than to make us perish alongside Orario? Your main god will definitely see you in a new light!"
Valletta didn't need a teammate she could trust with her life or share an unbreakable bond with. As long as she could destroy Orario and kill that despicable Finn, she didn't care if she died.
The people of the Dark Faction were a bunch of lunatics. Noah was reminded of that once more.
People were always shackled by their desires. The more they desired, the more powerless they became.
Conversely, the less they wanted, the stronger they were.
Even an utterly ordinary mortal could unleash astonishing power by casting aside everything, even their life.
Noah couldn't say whether the others in the Dark Faction were like that, but Valletta certainly was.
Fortunately, he, Noah, was the same.
So, with a look of reluctance, he held out both hands.
"Hmph! If that's the case, then you'd better just wait—"
Valletta smiled as she took his hand, but the next moment, the sound of a blade being drawn echoed through the alley.
The moment she heard the metallic scrape of a blade being drawn, Valletta's cheerful expression changed dramatically.
But her right hand was clasped in Noah's, and she couldn't pull it free in time. She could only thrust out her left hand with lightning speed!
Valletta slowly lowered her head. In Noah's other hand was a dagger, its point pressed against her abdomen.
It was only a hair's breadth away from cutting through her clothes and piercing a vital spot.
If she hadn't grabbed his arm, there'd definitely have been blood spilled today.
"What are you trying to do?"
Valletta raised her eyes coldly to meet Noah's deep gaze.
He hadn't said a word, but his icy stare had made everything almost perfectly clear.
Then, in just a second, Valletta understood it all. Her eyes widened in disbelief.
"You were never one of us!"
Why?
Why had it turned out like this?
For the first time, she'd found a teammate with brains. For the first time, she wouldn't have to keep suffering over useless teammates.
Those two wonderful things had come together. She should've been able to set down her burdens and enjoy the pleasure of killing to her heart's content!
So why had it turned out like this!?
I finally fell for someone!
And you made me lose so completely!
Damn it!
Remembering her sincere invitation just now, Valletta laughed in fury at being deceived.
The Loki Familia's banner shouldn't have anything else hanging from it. It should have me on it, and that was all!
In full color, too!
To reclaim a little of the humiliation of being played for a fool, Valletta curved her lips into a smile—one that bared her fangs, bloodthirsty and vicious.
"What a shame. You've underestimated a level-five adventurer's strength!"
As if he couldn't feel the intense killing intent radiating from Valletta, Noah nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, a level-five adventurer is stronger than I'd imagined. If I didn't go all out, I'm afraid I really wouldn't be your match... Good thing I held something back."
Hm?
Noah sighed calmly, with a hint of ease in his voice. An inexplicable unease welled up in Valletta's heart.
"Held something back? What?"
"Of course—this hand!"
Before Valletta's widening eyes, a third hand appeared in the tiny gap between her and Noah. It even waved at her in greeting!
How was that possible?!
Valletta could clearly feel her right hand gripping Noah's right hand, while her left pinned his left arm!
Could it be?!
Valletta put a little more strength into her right hand. The "right hand" in her grip immediately crumbled into fluttering scraps of cotton.
Before you continue