CHAPTER 198: CHAPTER 198: THE DEMON KING’S WORRY

When Shakti learned of this matter, she almost sent God Ganesha directly back to the heavens.

Ryuu looked at the entrance at the base of the building and couldn’t help but once again show a complicated expression. The main door was directly beneath the statue, meaning that every time adventurers entered the headquarters of the Ganesha Familia, they had to walk in through the crotch of the statue.

However, fortunately today, Ryuu and Shirou didn’t need to enter this building.

Bypassing the huge statue of the Ganesha Familia’s station, the two arrived at the open area behind it.

The Ganesha Familia, being the faction with the largest number of adventurers in the city, had always stood at the forefront during the dark era, confronting the enemy head-on, thus suffering countless sacrifices.

After the war, the Guild specially granted a plot of land behind their station to the Ganesha Familia. To commemorate those brave adventurers who sacrificed themselves, they established a memorial hall here.

Ryuu came here to visit a friend who had long since passed away, her relics were still kept in this memorial hall.

Ryuu stopped in front of a glass display case, took out a bouquet of white flowers, and quietly placed it in front of the case. Inside the glass case was a silver-blue longsword.

"Adi."

Ryuu bowed her head and softly said, "Thanks to Shirou and the Loki Familia’s efforts, two more remnants of the Evilus have been eliminated. The will of justice will continue to flow, never ceasing."

[Adi Varma/Title: Vyasa] a member of the Ganesha Familia, younger sister of Shakti, and Ryuu Lion’s close friend.

She was a senior adventurer of Lv.3 with a strong sense of justice. Compared to her elder sister, Adi was more cheerful and straightforward, always wearing a lively and vibrant smile.

In the battle against the Evilus, Adi was sacrificed in a "human bomb" attack carried out by children who had been bewitched by evil gods.

At this moment, light footsteps came from behind.

"Gale, this is your first time here, isn’t it?"

Ryuu turned around and saw a familiar figure.

Shakti walked over slowly, her gaze resting on the weapon in the glass case. The eyes that were usually calm and resolute now appeared slightly dazed.

[Shakti/Title: Elephant God’s Staff]

She had short hair like the starry night sky, a stern and neatly arranged face, and a tall, slender figure. Wearing a martial artist’s uniform, her presence was imposing and commanded respect.

Standing in front of Adi’s relic, she got to the point, "We found a door made of adamantite similar to the ones in the underground waterway, located on the eighteenth floor of the dungeon."

"In addition to this door, we also seized a ’key,’" Shakti’s gaze still rested on the sword as she softly spoke.

"A key?", Shirou looked toward Shakti.

Shakti nodded slightly, "Yes, an item that can open that door. It’s a metallic sphere. We currently speculate it is a product of Mystery, and [The Omnipotent] is studying it to see if it can be replicated."

She turned her head to look at Shirou, "There is some intel I need to share with you alone."

Shirou paused, then said, "Ryuu can be trusted."

However, Ryuu shook her head, "Since it’s classified intel, I’ll excuse myself."

Shakti nodded slightly. She led Shirou out of the memorial hall, leaving Ryuu alone inside, silently gazing at Adi’s relic.

The two exited the memorial hall and stood on the open space where the breeze gently blew.

Shakti slightly tilted her head, looked at Shirou, and lowered her voice, "This intel and the key were provided by the Xenos, those monsters possessing reason and intelligence."

Shirou was slightly surprised, but quickly understood, thinking, ’So that’s how it is, is Wiene called a Xenos?’

’The Xenos... So Wiene isn’t the only unique monster with intellect.’

He nodded, indicating he understood.

"Previously, I only knew of Wiene... She was the first intelligent monster I encountered."

Shirou thought aloud, then said, "Sounds like the Ganesha Familia has long been aware of the Xenos’ existence."

Shakti shook her head, "Only God Ganesha knew. I’ve only recently found out."

Ganesha was one of the few gods aware of the Xenos’ existence. The Monsterphilia festival he hosted wasn’t just to stop people from fearing monsters, but also to gradually encourage acceptance and understanding of intelligent monsters.

These truths were only recently revealed to Shakti as well.

Shirou asked, "You don’t mind cooperating with monsters?"

"I don’t. Honestly, I’ve never really hated monsters," Shakti spoke frankly.

"Even those that kill by instinct merely exist as the enemies of the human race. There’s nothing particularly ’hateful’ about them. All we need to do is fight them."

She looked toward the memorial hall behind them and sighed lightly, "By comparison, what I hate more... are evil humans."

Shirou looked at her profile. At this moment, what he sensed in this solemn warrior wasn’t anger, but disappointment and sorrow.

"Besides, these Xenos have helped quite a lot."

Shakti continued, "Especially that dragon girl you raised."

Shirou blinked in confusion, thinking, "What do you mean ’I raised’?"

"She’s the one who grabbed the ’key,’ that metallic sphere."

Before Shirou could ask more, Shakti continued, "The potential of a dragon species, combined with the sword techniques you taught her... That child is terrifyingly strong."

Shakti slightly narrowed her eyes, recalling her conversation with Wiene.

At that time, her instincts told her. If Wiene so desired, she could kill her in an instant.

Terrifyingly strong, that dragon girl’s potential was Lv.6, possibly even higher.

Shakti went on, "Oh right, Dix Perdix was also killed by that dragon girl, her name’s Wiene, right?"

"Dix Perdix? Who is that?", Shirou hadn’t heard the name before.

"Hazer, Dix. Our Ganesha Familia had been hunting him for a long time, a first-tier Lv.5 adventurer, and also a poacher. He targeted Wiene but misjudged her power and got slain by her in one strike," Shakti explained.

"That ’key’ was obtained from Dix."

Shirou had actually fought Dix in Daedalus Street when he was still Lv.3.

At that time, Dix unleashed a curse that could induce madness. Though he succeeded in driving Tiona berserk, the curse backfired on himself, drastically weakening his stats.

As a result, he nearly got killed by Shirou in that battle.

Now, Shirou could hardly associate that name with the man in black from back then.

To him, this piece of intel wasn’t worth paying too much attention to. After all, the other party was merely a Lv.5 poacher.

However, Shirou’s overly calm attitude actually made Shakti a bit uneasy.

She turned slightly, her sharp gaze falling on Shirou, as if trying to see right through him.

In the underground world, the Saber also bore another title, Demon King of the Sword.

When Shakti first heard this title, Shirou was still just a Lv.2 rookie. She had dismissed it as nonsense, even thinking that people who give such titles to young adventurers were just bored.

But now, barely half a year had passed, and everything had completely changed.

As long as this man desired it, he could truly become a Demon King that makes the entire city tremble.

It seemed like a pointless worry, but it was indeed Shakti’s genuine feeling.

Amazon’s Owner, this nickname had already become reality. If he wished, more than half the Amazons in the city would follow him.

What was even more unsettling was that he had quietly and effortlessly raised a dragon girl suspected to be Lv.7.

’No doubt, the current Saber stands on the side of justice and is our ally,’ Shakti thought to herself, ’But toward this man, I must remain vigilant.’

The girl looked at him and seriously said, "Saber, I will keep watching you."

Shirou, completely confused, replied blankly, "Uh... okay, then, thanks for your effort."

———

A god and his follower walked down a stone-paved path. The surroundings were silent.

It was a handsome male god with dazzling blond hair, followed by an elf girl with jet-black hair and crimson eyes.

The god held a few bundles of white flowers, their petals swaying gently in the breeze.

At the end of the distant road, a figure stood waiting quietly.

"Loki?", Dionysus murmured.

Hearing Dionysus’s murmur, Loki, who had brought Finn as a guard, responded and raised a hand.

"You come here often?", Loki asked, looking at Dionysus’s back as he offered flowers.

The two gods and their followers arrived at the city’s southeastern "First Cemetery", commonly called the Adventurers’ Cemetery.

This place was a burial ground for fallen adventurers, filled with white tombstones stretching beyond sight.

Loki and Finn came here to report to the companions who had died years ago during the dark era: Finn and Riveria had defeated Killer Empress Valletta and White-Haired Demon Olivas, two Lv.5 remnants of the Evilus.

In front of different gravestones, Finn offered white lilies and whispered prayers.

As a god, Loki knew that flower offerings at graves had no real meaning.

The children’s souls had already returned to the heavens. What lay buried under the tombstones was only flesh, there were no grudges to appease, no regrets to redeem.

However, as a child of the lower world, Finn emotionally chose to believe that their fallen comrades watched over them from the heavens.

As for Dionysus, his actions were merely imitation of lower-world customs.

But at this moment, Loki didn’t find it meaningless.

"To not forget this feeling, I often find time to come here," Dionysus said softly.

He slowly stood up. Before him were rows of gravestones. Buried beneath them were the remains of his followers.

Several months ago during the Enhanced Species Incident, a few of Dionysus’s followers had died at the hands of blood-red mantises. Then, during the Monsterphilia Incident, more of his children were cruelly devoured by man-eating flowers.

To avenge his followers, he had joined forces with Loki and others to track down the mastermind.

"What do you say to them?", Loki asked calmly.

"An apology. It’s all I can say," Dionysus stared at the gravestone, silent for a long time, then spoke in a low voice, as if making a vow from deep within his heart.

"Loki, let me guess what you’re thinking. You believe my followers will drag you down, and you don’t plan to let us participate in the upcoming artificial dungeon operation, nor accept our help," Dionysus turned around, his gaze resolute.

Loki said nothing.

"But I still must say, please let us participate in this operation."

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