Chapter 107: Shirou Becomes the Acting Captain of the Loki Familia?!
The news Loki brought left Shirou in deep silence.
Although he had already guessed in advance that the Loki Familia would most likely be unable to capture the Dark Faction's stronghold, when it actually happened, he was still struck by how far beyond imagination the Dark Faction's strength truly was.
After all, the Loki Familia was one of the strongest Familias in Orario.
In terms of overall strength, it absolutely ranked alongside the Freya Familia at the very top of Orario's power structure.
Yet even such a powerful Familia, launching an all-out surprise assault on the Dark Faction's base, not only failed to decisively defeat their enemies in one blow but instead suffered heavy losses.
Some members were even trapped in the underground dungeon.
This outcome was genuinely shocking.
From Loki's deeply distressed appearance, it was clear that the Familia had suffered massive losses in this reckless operation—there might even have been deaths among its members.
Precisely because of this, the mighty trickster goddess Loki had cast aside all pride and come to ask Shirou for help, seeking his aid with absolute urgency.
"I understand, Loki." Shirou looked at Loki, who had bowed her head deeply. "You don't need to beg me like this. I've received your help more times than I can count.
Consider this a repayment of past favors. I will absolutely help the Loki Familia this time."
"But... those brats in my Familia treated you like that before, even excluding you from the raid team…"
Loki clearly cared a lot about this matter.
It was precisely because of how her Familia members had treated Shirou before that she felt so guilty now, which explained her uncharacteristically humble attitude.
"That was the fault of your Familia's members, not yours personally." Shirou was clear-headed and drew a clear line. "I'm not helping for their sake. I simply want to help you—and Lefiya, who's trapped in the dungeon."
"Pfft…"
Hearing Shirou's words, Loki couldn't help but show a moved expression.
She wiped the redness from her eyes and smiled bitterly. "You're too dependable, you know. I might end up falling in love with you."
"Let's not go there. Haven't we always been bros?" Shirou patted her on the shoulder. "No need to fuss over stuff like this between brothers."
"Yeah… you're right."
Loki nodded, her expression gradually relaxing.
Seeing Loki in such an uncharacteristically flustered and helpless state made Shirou feel a sense of caution regarding the Dark Faction's actions this time.
After all, as the god of trickery, Loki rarely made mistakes—let alone one so grave it nearly wiped out her entire Familia.
That she ended up in this situation must mean something completely unexpected occurred in the dungeon, something that threw off all her calculations.
Even Shirou could hardly imagine what the Dark Faction had done to pull one over on the infamous trickster goddess, reducing her to powerlessness.
With this, Shirou quickly informed the others in the Hestia Familia that he would be going out and might not return for a while.
Hestia, Bell, and Lili were already used to Shirou's sudden disappearances and weren't surprised at all.
However, Wiene was visibly upset when she heard Shirou was leaving.
"Don't… don't go… Papa… stay with Wiene, okay…?"
Though she appeared to be seven or eight years old, Wiene's mental age was more like that of a newborn infant.
As an Xenos, she had a superhuman ability to absorb knowledge, which made her seem composed. But when someone like Shirou suddenly disappeared, she would instantly fall into panic and anxiety, becoming emotionally unstable.
"…"
Shirou, of course, did not waver at her plea.
He gently patted the little girl's head, let go of her hand, and said, "I'm sorry, but I need to leave for a while. Wait for me to come back."
With that, despite the tears welling in Wiene's eyes, he forcibly left her behind and departed the Familia's base alone.
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.
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After meeting up with Loki, Shirou headed toward the Loki Familia's stronghold.
Before arriving, Loki wanted to give Shirou a basic rundown of the current situation, so he could be mentally prepared.
Before Loki could speak, Shirou suddenly asked, "Loki, have you ever heard of talking monsters in the dungeon?"
"Talking monsters? What are you saying all of a sudden?"
Loki looked at Shirou in confusion—her face clearly showing that she knew nothing of the Xenos' existence.
"Never mind, forget I said anything."
Since even Loki didn't know about the Xenos, Shirou became certain that the gods—especially Ouranos—had sealed all information regarding them.
To avoid implicating Loki, Shirou chose to drop the subject.
"You say weird things sometimes, Shirou," Loki glanced at him and laughed casually. "Are you nervous about this grim mission like me?"
"Probably. After all, even the mighty Loki Familia nearly got wiped out. I'd be lying if I said I was confident going in alone."
Shirou naturally steered the conversation back.
"Strongest in Orario... I used to think so too," Loki said with an uncharacteristically fragile and serious expression. "But now… I'm not so sure. This city hides too many secrets, too many shadows in the darkness. It's not just my Familia—even Freya's might not be able to handle all of it.
I even envy Freya a little… living in Genkai purely for pleasure. Even if rats and cockroaches gather at her feet, she ignores them and just enjoys the moment."
To these words—spoken as if Loki's spirit had been shattered—Shirou didn't respond.
After all, he still remembered what the goddess of beauty, Ishtar, had once told him.
She believed Freya didn't simply ignore the Dark Faction, but was involved with them from the beginning—perhaps even secretly collaborating with them.
Otherwise, such behavior wouldn't match Freya's obsessively clean nature.
Shirou didn't know if Ishtar had spoken the truth or just tried to manipulate him into opposing Freya, but based on his own instincts, he felt that Freya was not some clueless goddess unaware of the city's dark side.
She, who ruled the pinnacle of Orario, likely held more intelligence than anyone and understood the city's underbelly deeply.
Of course, all of this remained speculation.
Right now, without the power to stand against the Freya Familia, there was no way to confront Freya or force out the truth.
While Shirou was lost in thought, Loki, having gone through her breakdown, gradually returned to her usual rational self.
At the very least, she could now clearly explain what happened during the Loki Familia's recent raid.
Their attack on the Dark Faction was a sudden strike with no rehearsals or preparation.
They split into three squads: one led by Captain Finn, another by Vice-Captain Riveria, and the third by the Sword Princess Ais.
Each squad infiltrated the sewers beneath Daedalus Street from a different direction, aiming for the Dark Faction's stronghold.
At first, everything went smoothly.
Because the Loki Familia's ambush was so sudden, the Dark Faction was caught completely off guard.
The Familia broke through the defenses and charged into the heart of the stronghold—deep within the underground labyrinth.
However, once they entered the dungeon, things quickly became abnormal.
They encountered large numbers of monsters—some they had never seen before.
Even so, with their overwhelming strength, the Loki Familia managed to force their way through the outer perimeter and advanced deeper.
But once they reached the second layer of the dungeon, they truly understood the absurdity of this place.
It wasn't just a normal base—it was a full recreation of the dungeon itself.
Each floor was completely different, mimicking the structure of the Orario Dungeon. Even a version of the Floor Boss had been custom-made and placed inside.
Rather than infiltrating a hideout, it felt like they were exploring a second, artificial dungeon equal in scope to Orario's.
Furthermore, this dungeon was filled with the same mutated plants and twisted monsters Shirou had seen before.
These creatures were everywhere and displayed abnormally aggressive behavior, greatly complicating the expedition.
Of course, ordinary monsters wouldn't have posed a problem for a Familia that had conquered the 59th floor of the dungeon.
The real trouble began around the 10th floor—when they encountered members of the Dark Faction, particularly high-ranking officers.
Because the three teams had taken different routes, they each met different opponents.
Finn, for instance, encountered Valletta, a Level 6 member of Thanatos' Familia—someone who was supposed to have died years ago.
She and the rest of the Thanatos Familia had supposedly returned to Tenkai long ago.
Finn himself had personally led the operation that wiped them out—and personally killed Valetta.
And yet, there she was again, alive and well, telling Finn she had come to take revenge.
As fellow Level 6s, Finn was one of the strongest even among elites.
He immediately attacked Valetta without hesitation—but didn't land a hit.
Because beside Valetta were strange monsters—twisted eyeballs that writhed like black jewels.
These eyes had bizarre properties. If Finn's group stopped looking at them, the eyes would disappear and launch sudden attacks.
Only by maintaining constant eye contact could they reveal themselves and cease attacking.
But even then, the eyes were unkillable.
Attacking them only caused them to split and multiply rapidly, their assault frequency increasing exponentially.
Facing such an utterly unreasonable monster, Finn had no choice but to decisively retreat, forcibly escaping from the deeper levels of the man-made labyrinth.
Aside from Finn's team managing to escape, Ais's team also made it out of the artificial dungeon.
However, Ais did not encounter any members of Thanatos's Familia, nor did she encounter those bizarre eyeball monsters.
Instead, she faced a red-haired female monster named Revis.
Though Revis was human, she possessed the same traits as mutated plants—she could even recover her damaged body by gnawing on the mutated plants.
More importantly, the monster-like Revis had combat abilities close to level 7.
Even Ais, who was level 6, couldn't match her.
Fortunately, Ais's team included the Amazonian warriors Tione and Tiona, both level 5.
The three of them together managed to block Revis's assault and successfully retreat from that floor.
But unlike those two teams, the third team—led by the elven royal Riveria—was unable to escape from the artificial dungeon.
Riveria herself, along with the Loki Familia members she led—including the elf Lefiya—were all trapped deep within the artificial labyrinth.
Since they had split into three groups, no one knew what exact threat Riveria and Lefiya's team had encountered.
But considering the danger level of the man-made dungeon and the twisted tactics of the Evilus faction, they had undoubtedly encountered a threat equal to or even more terrifying than those faced by Finn and Ais.
"This is... even more troublesome than I imagined."
Upon hearing Loki's description of the underground man-made labyrinth, even Shirou couldn't help showing a troubled expression.
Be it the special eyeball monster with infinite growth potential, or the monster-like Revis who could devour monsters to gain energy and whose level neared 7—none of it was anything simple.
Add in the unknown third threat that Riveria's team might have encountered, and it was no wonder that even the cunning god Loki felt so deflated.
All three separate units had suffered defeat—no one in the Loki Familia could have expected such a disastrous outcome.
As a result, the Loki Familia's confidence was utterly shattered.
"That the Evilus faction was able to build such a massive base right under our noses... No one could have imagined something like that," Loki sighed.
"Just what the hell has Ouranos been doing all this time? Has his divine Eye of Heaven gone blind?"
"..."
Faced with Loki's complaints, Shirou couldn't help showing a subtle expression.
After all, he knew that Ouranos himself wasn't exactly innocent—he had some secret involvement with the Xenos, those abnormal beings.
Of course, now wasn't the time to talk about that.
The current priority was figuring out how to conquer the artificial labyrinth beneath Daedalus Street and rescue Riveria, Lefiya, and the others, whose situation was growing increasingly critical.
"But before we enter the man-made labyrinth, the first thing we need to deal with... is that group of beaten-down soldiers under Loki's Familia."
Shirou muttered under his breath, as though he could already foresee the trouble that would arise once he arrived at the Loki Familia's stronghold.
Loki herself showed a slightly embarrassed and conflicted expression:
"Sorry. Although I called you here to help rescue Riveria, the truth is... only I know about this. The rest of my Familia doesn't. If they find out, they'll probably be very upset."
"Upset...?" Shirou chuckled.
"Who really has the right to be upset? If they can't even understand that, they might as well stay here while I go rescue them myself."
"..."
Hearing Shirou's words, Loki was at a loss for words.
She had an ominous feeling—that Shirou might actually do exactly that. If they refused to cooperate, he would simply storm the labyrinth alone to save Riveria.
But this was something even Loki found hard to believe. Who could imagine one person taking on the entire Evilus faction alone?
That was why Loki made a silent vow in her heart—she would not let Shirou fight alone.
As their god, she would also give her all to save Riveria and the others.
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Shirou and Loki soon arrived at the Loki Familia's base.
As expected, the Familia was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere akin to a mourning ceremony.
Every member looked despondent, their expressions bitter from the unprecedented defeat.
Because of that, even when Shirou entered the base, no one noticed his arrival at first.
"Lady Loki… and... Emiya?"
The first to notice was Finn, the captain of the Loki Familia.
He looked in surprise at Loki and Shirou, wanting to step forward to greet them, but suddenly coughed several times and had to be helped up by his companions.
One glance at Finn told Shirou how bad his condition was—his body was covered in wounds, and there was a gaping hole in his abdomen that wouldn't close.
Though it had been roughly treated with bandages and potions, the injury was far too severe to heal quickly. A long period of rest was necessary for any hope of recovery.
With the dignified captain in such a state, it was no wonder the entire Familia was like a dying beast.
When the spiritual core of a group collapses, it's only natural for the entire unit's morale to collapse too.
As Loki reacted, the other members of the Familia finally noticed Shirou's presence and began showing confused and uneasy expressions.
Ais, in particular, seemed shocked to see Shirou, clearly not understanding why he had come.
"Why the hell are you here?!"
The werewolf Bete openly showed hostility toward Shirou.
As someone who had once been humiliated by Shirou in a restaurant, his grudge was especially deep. If Loki weren't standing beside Shirou, Bete probably would've attacked him immediately.
As for Bete and the other confused Loki Familia members, Loki soon declared firmly:
"I was the one who called Emiya here. It's so we can quickly rescue Riveria and the others!"
"Are you kidding?! If we're going to rescue them, we should do it! Why bring him into this?!"
Bete's angry roar reflected the sentiments of most of the Familia.
They were both wary and hostile toward Shirou. There was simply no way they could get along with someone from the Hestia Familia.
But a few people—like Ais—did not show hostility. Instead, they were simply confused, not understanding why Loki would call Shirou in at such a time.
"I know you're all confused, but this is my decision," Loki said resolutely, unwilling to budge.
"I suggested back then that Emiya join our team to explore the dungeon. But because of your resistance, I gave up—and that led to today's tragedy.
So now, I won't let you make the decisions anymore. Today, all of you will follow Emiya's command. He will lead the rescue mission for Riveria and the others."
"Lady Loki?!"
"This matter is not open for discussion. If anyone wants to go against my decision, I have only one thing to say: Leave the Loki Familia and get the hell out!
Because if you can't even protect your comrades, if you prioritize jealousy and competitiveness over your teammates' lives, then you don't deserve to be part of my Familia!"
Loki's merciless words completely silenced everyone.
Even someone as hot-headed as Bete had no response.
His tail drooped completely—he had no fight left in him.
Of course, that was likely because Loki had hit them where it hurt most—she had exposed the jealousy in their hearts.
When you weigh your pride and competitiveness against the lives of your teammates, no one could reasonably choose pride.
Seeing the Loki Familia members fall into silence, Loki pressed the advantage:
"Then I hereby appoint Emiya as the temporary commander of this rescue operation.
Finn's condition makes him unfit for battle, and he must undergo treatment.
So, from now on, you will regard Emiya as Finn's replacement—treat him as the acting captain of the Loki Familia!"
"What?!"
Loki's words left everyone completely dumbfounded.
When they heard Shirou would join the mission, they were already conflicted and reluctantly accepted it.
But they never imagined that not only would Shirou join, he would replace Finn and act as the temporary commander.
Even Shirou himself was stunned—he hadn't expected Loki to go this far.
But in that moment, he also felt the deep care Loki held for her Familia.
For the sake of Riveria and the others, this goddess—like a mother—was willing to risk everything.