In this DanMachi world, there exist the world-famous "Three Great Adventurer Commissions."
A thousand years ago, before the gods descended to the lower world, powerful monsters would frequently emerge from the Dungeon entrance and wreak havoc across the world.
Among all those monsters that escaped, three of them were on a completely different level from ordinary monsters, like the gap between heaven and earth. The Three Great Adventurer Commissions refer to the quests to defeat them.
These three monsters, which brought countless disasters upon the surface world, were:
Leviathan, the tyrant of the seas
Behemoth, the king of the land
And lastly, Black Dragon, the overlord of the skies
After the gods descended to the mortal world, they brought with them Blessings (Falna), creating the profession known as Adventurers.
As those whose duty was to fight monsters, Adventurers both had the qualification and the responsibility to defeat the strongest monsters of all.
Fifteen years ago, the Zeus Familia and Hera Familia joined forces and successively defeated Leviathan and Behemoth.
But in the end, they suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Black Dragon.
Their entire army was annihilated.
That's right.
No one had expected that these two Familias, fresh off completing two of the Three Great Adventurer Commissions and at the peak of their momentum, would so abruptly be destroyed by the Black Dragon.
The vast majority of both Familias' fighting power was wiped out. Their upper ranks, Lv.9, Lv.8, Lv.7, and other elites, were all killed, leaving behind only a few weaker members who had stayed behind in the Familia bases.
At the time, Freya and Loki, whose relationships with them had been extremely poor, joined forces and drove Zeus and Hera out of Orario.
From then on, the Freya Familia and Loki Familia inherited the title of strongest.
"But the process of inheriting that position was far from smooth. No matter where you go in this world, darkness and filth exist, and in Orario, the center of the world, that darkness gathered even more frenziedly…"
Not all gods are benevolent.
There are kind gods who dote on the children of the lower world, neutral gods indifferent to everything, and naturally, evil gods who delight in destruction and death.
Around these evil gods gathered countless wicked people. Taking the destruction of Orario as their goal and the slaughter of surface dwellers as their entertainment, they became terrorist-like Familias in the purest sense.
They were Orario's dark side.
The Zeus Familia and Hera Familia once possessed overwhelming authority, so while they ruled Orario, even these Evil God Familias did not dare act recklessly.
But after the two great Familias were destroyed by the Black Dragon and then expelled from Orario…
Darkness raised its head.
Pitch-black malice descended upon Orario.
Under the leadership of the evil gods, darkness surfaced and launched attacks against Orario.
The Evil God Familias began large-scale hunts of Adventurers. Methods such as monster baiting, ambushes, assassinations, and sabotage became commonplace. Even ordinary civilians caught up in the chaos were slaughtered indiscriminately, while ambitious individuals plotted to overthrow Orario entirely and return the world to chaos.
These Familias, led by various evil gods and united by the goal of destroying Orario, became collectively known as Evilus.
"That dark period lasted for a full ten years. Every day saw massive casualties. Evilus agents could be seen everywhere, and everyone's faces were filled with gloom…"
Finn closed his eyes, as though returning to that era, his face tinged with melancholy.
The age of unrest lasted for ten years.
During those ten years, the major Familias of Orario, led by Freya, Loki, Ganesha, Astraea, and others, waged a prolonged war against Evilus.
In the end, the "Nightmare of the 27th Floor" incident five years ago became the turning point. Evilus was finally eradicated, and many of its Executives perished in that decisive battle.
Finn had been one of the direct participants back then, indeed, as the leader who commanded all of Orario's Adventurers.
That's right.
During the ten-year campaign to exterminate Evilus, Finn had been one of its central leaders.
After that, Evilus finally disappeared, vanishing completely from Orario, and the days of constant fear seemed to be over forever.
…That was impossible.
"A few days ago, remnants of Evilus appeared at the food storage area on the 24th Floor. And it wasn't just anyone, it was one of their former Executives, the White-Haired Ghost. Together with the red-haired woman Revis, who previously appeared on the 18th Floor, they've already begun plotting another conspiracy."
Revis.
The red-haired woman who had appeared on the 18th Floor, controlling a vividly colored man-eating flower monster as a Beast Tamer and attacking Rivera District, Ryoji remembered her clearly.
She possessed strength at the peak of Lv.5, even slightly surpassing Ais. It had taken both Ais and the others working together just to force her back.
But at the time, she escaped amid the chaos, and there had been no trace of her ever since.
Because no such person could be found anywhere among registered Adventurers, the Loki Familia had been unable to gather any further information.
Unexpectedly, only a few days later, she had teamed up with a former Evilus Executive to cause another major incident on the 24th Floor.
"The White-Haired Ghost is already dead, but the real issue is that red-haired woman."
Ais joined the conversation, speaking in a low voice.
"Her strength improved a lot compared to when she appeared on the 18th Floor. She's probably already comparable to Lv.6 now."
Ais had personally dealt with that incident.
Since Ryoji hadn't been present, he could only listen as she explained.
"And she's very strange. She can eat Magic Stones. After consuming them, not only does her strength increase, but her body's injuries also heal. She's practically just like… a monster."
Ais's expression grew puzzled.
Among the monsters in the Dungeon, there exists a special type of monster that not only attacks Adventurers, but also hunts monsters of its own kind, devours their Magic Stones, and grows stronger as a result.
These monsters are called Reinforced Species, meaning they can strengthen themselves.
The way the red-haired woman, Revis, behaved was exactly like one of those monsters.
In other words… She was a "creature in human form."
"If you want to uncover the truth, then come to the 59th Floor. That's where you'll find the clues you seek."
Those were the words the red-haired woman left behind for Ais when she retreated from the 24th Floor, before disappearing once again.
"This is obviously a trap, isn't it?"
Ryoji didn't even need to think hard to know something shady was definitely waiting there.
"Very likely."
Finn nodded in agreement.
Anyone could tell as much.
"But we have no reason to retreat. The glory we seek lies there. As long as we reach that place, we'll break the farthest-depth record left behind by the great Familias, and our names will spread throughout the entire world!"
For the Loki Familia, this expedition was inevitable.
Perhaps there really was a trap waiting for them there.
But even so, they had no choice except to keep moving forward.
"And besides, we can't just turn a blind eye to the remnants of Evilus and these creatures in human form."
Finn paused before continuing.
"You've been so focused on leveling up that you probably don't know this, but during the last Monster Festival, several man-eating flower monsters appeared on the surface."
"Hm?"
Ryoji suddenly realized something.
"You mean…?"
"That's right. Evilus has already returned, and now they've gotten involved with these creatures capable of taming new-species monsters. Their objective has always been only one thing: destroy Orario. If we ignore them, it'll be far too dangerous. That's why we have to uncover their conspiracy!"
Finn's expression was extremely serious.
(End of Chapter)
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