The clash of weapons against weapons, the furious roars of the Xenos, and the arrogant laughter of the Ikeros Familia members.
Chaos and cruelty intertwined, composing a symphony of battle and blood.
Ever since Fron and the others entered the hall, the battle had raged for half an hour, yet there was still no sign of it coming to an end.
During this time, the group had stayed concealed along the edges, carefully mapping out almost the entire layout and structure of the hall.
Aside from the entrance they had come through, Asfi had also managed to precisely locate the stone mechanism that opened the secret gate the Evilus used to smuggle monsters out of the Dungeon and onto the surface outside Orario.
"So this is it," Asfi muttered from the third stairway landing, running his hand along the nearly invisible seam in the wall.
"No wonder they call the pinnacle of craftsmen. Daedalus truly deserves to be called great."Aisha had barely finished speaking when she noticed Asfi shaking her head.
"No. This construction wasn't done by Daedalus. Judging by the degree of erosion on these walls, this place was built no more than twenty years ago."
"Twenty years…" The others fell silent, while Fron sank into thought.
If it had only been twenty years, then the builder was obvious, Barca Perdix.
A follower of Thanatos, god of death. An executive within the Evilus, and the one mass-producing cursed weapons.
Of course, Fron knew the man's true identity: a descendant of Daedalus himself, the same bloodline as Dix Perdix.
Unlike Dix, who was driven mad by the bloodline curse, tormenting monsters and soothing himself through their screams, turning into a raving lunatic, Barca Perdix was the true inheritor of Daedalus.
Not only did he inherit the blood, he also inherited the genius of Daedalus. More importantly, he carried his ancestor's spirit and obsession. Like the generations before him, he strove to build a miracle rivaling the Dungeon itself.
They needed nothing else, cared neither for good nor evil. Their only obsession was constructing their labyrinth.
But construction was always a massive expenditure. So Barca Perdix cooperated with the Evilus.
The Evilus funded him so the construction of the Man-made Dungeon could continue, and in return, Barca let them use it.
That was how remnants of the Evilus managed to survive the war seven years ago, clinging to life within the artificial Dungeon.
"By relying on poaching, smuggling, and the support of collaborators like Ishtar, they've managed to keep going all this time." Fron pieced together the chain of events and drew in a sharp breath.
If, if all of this had been orchestrated by Barca Perdix, then this man was truly terrifying.
Don't forget what happened in the port town of Melen.
The Njord Familia released Violas, supplied by Barca, into the sea and escorted their fishery with magic stone powder.
In exchange, they secured a private smuggling route, a shortcut bypassing Orario, running straight from the Dungeon to the outside world.
With that route in hand, the Evilus could hardly fail to grow rich. It was like ripping a chunk of flesh straight out of Orario's profits.
Just as Fron finished tracing the connections between the Evilus and their collaborators, the battle suddenly shifted into a one-sided slaughter.
"Dix's curse… has failed?"
Dix Perdix, despite being Level 5, didn't wield his trump card to strengthen himself. Rather, it was a weapon of tactical significance in group battles.
"Curses, rarer than magic itself. Dix's curse, once cast successfully, it drives people insane and forces them to fight each other."
"It can affect multiple targets at once, and when focused on a single person, it lets him dictate the hallucinations they see. The price is his own strength, his stats fall, lowering him from Level 5 to Level 4."
Fron calmly explained the intel he had gathered, and the others instantly understood.
"No wonder Bell Cranel could just barely hold his own against him. With that guy's exceptional stats, facing Dix while weakened and distracted by the curse… it makes sense."
"I thought the Xenos were tearing each other apart because they lacked reason. But so it was the curse after all… so every monster these people captured was this kind of special monster?"
Even as he spoke, Fron's eyes never left Dix. When he saw the man's eyes glimmer once again with the cursed light of the Daedalus bloodline, he quickly warned the group.
"Clear the passage, he wants to release that maddened Vouivre to the surface!"
No sooner had he said this than events unfolded exactly as he predicted.
The frenzied Vouivre's figure vanished into the passage, Bell Cranel shouting as he gave chase.
The group exchanged quick glances and dropped their concealment.
Fron and his companions appeared beside the wounded Dix, freezing the hall and halting the battle entirely.
Especially Fron, just his presence pressed down on everyone there.
Dix ground his teeth, despair flooding his heart as he glared at the man before him.
"Night Weaver! You bastard, why are you here!!!!!"
According to his information, wasn't the Loki Familia still being run in circles by Barca's schemes up on the surface? How could they have invaded from below? The entrance to the Dungeon's middle levels was never exposed, so how!?
For a moment, Dix couldn't comprehend it.
"What's wrong? Me showing up here wasn't in your plan? You really thought I was just spinning in circles up on Daedalus Street, chasing the bait you threw out?"
Fron sneered, shattering the man's last hopes.
"If your Ikeros Familia hadn't gone this far, we never would have caught your tail."
With that, Fron leveled his staff-spear at him, ready to strike.
"Wait, Fron Argon! Don't kill him, leave him alive. The Guild will handle this!" Fels's urgent cry echoed through the hall.
"We can negotiate later, about concealing information on these monsters, and about compensation for the losses our Familia suffered."
"…As you wish."
-----------------
T/N: I know I'm ranting, but damn, I just had speak this out. You can skip this if you want.
Couldn't Fron at least help with Wiene, stop Dix from removing her magic stone.
Instead, he just stood by and watched everything, and even asked the others to stand aside and watch the fight. Couldn't he come out and defeat Dix earlier, why come out after everything is over; isn't he a Level 6 who can fight above his levels.
Just because you don't want to change the Storyline does not mean you can't intervene in some events. Just see maybe in the next few chaps, he'll tell Bell, see told you being a hero is not easy.
And he'll definitely involve himself in the fight with Asterius; he won't stand aside there.
Not joining in some events and acting in some others, even when he is strong enough is just bullshit.
Who else is there in the Evilus that he is scared of, he could just go and defeat the Demi-spirits now to stop the ritual.
He is strong enough to do that; even solo them alone. And about Ein, he can also handle her easily, as he is stronger than Ottar.