The tall, thin subordinate beside him saw that the atmosphere had eased a little, swallowed, and cautiously edged closer to ask.
"Are we really just letting this go? They were all top-quality merchandise that could have fetched astronomical prices!"
"Let it go, my ass!"
Dix backhanded the subordinate across the head, making him stagger. He irritably raked his fingers through his black hair and gritted his back teeth.
"Since Ikelos has gone that far, we'll swallow this loss for now."
"Just consider those monsters he took away to have temporarily found a new master."
"But!"
"The Dungeon is huge! There are plenty of labyrinths below the eighteenth floor!"
"Tell all the boys to bring Daedalus's orbs, send in more men, and descend through the Knossos passages!"
"We'll steer clear of that god's monsters. As for every other monster in the Dungeon, don't let a single one slip away!"
"Catch more! Catch every last one you can!"
160, Hestia, the lecherous Al-Miraj rabbit!
The long whip in Dix's hand slammed into the stone tiles with an explosive crack. Flying fragments grazed the faces of several nearby Ikelos Familia members, instantly drawing thin lines of blood. No one dared make a sound or wipe it away.
Torches flickered in the basement, stretching the shadows on the walls into twisted shapes. Dix's chest heaved, his eyes behind his goggles fixed on the stairs leading aboveground. Sitting on those stairs, Ikelos was still biting his thumbnail, a few muffled laughs squeezing out of his throat.
"What are you laughing at?"
Dix whipped his head around.
"The fact that you aren't a complete idiot yet."
Ikelos tilted his head and wiped his bitten, broken-skinned finger on his black tracksuit.
"If you really took people to storm that fellow's yard, I'd have to go to the