"Is it true, Isagi? You encountered Alfia?!"
On the way back to the city.
After Isagi told the girls everything he had seen while flying up alone earlier, everyone let out sounds of disbelief... except for the idiot Tiona.
She and her sister only came to Orario last year and hadn't experienced the city's [Great Feud] at all. Although they had heard of it, they didn't know much about the details.
But everyone else.
Including Lefiya, was quite shocked!
The Elf girl had studied in the [School District] before, but she also knew the [Great Feud] very well. That was the "darkest" seven days in the city's history. Tens of thousands of adventurers and citizens lost their lives; it was the moment Orario came closest to destruction.
Among them, Ais, Ryuu-senpai, and Heith were all witnesses at the time.
And Alfia.
In a sense, she was one of the main culprits who caused the [Great Feud].
Just as Isagi had said before, if the gods of the Dark Familia were the initiators of "evil deeds," then the ones who supported them in turning "imagination" into "reality" were the powerful adventurers.
Undoubtedly, they complemented each other.
Without the help of Alfia and Zard, these two Level 7 adventurers, the [Great Feud] wouldn't have turned out the way it did back then, and the Dark Familia wouldn't have been able to cause such exaggerated destruction.
[Level 7]...
That is the level possessed by the strongest adventurers in the world today.
Not only that, even among Level 7s, Alfia was an extremely powerful existence. It is rumored that she was qualified to fight the strongest Level 9 [Empress] of the Hera Familia.
And.
Using magic strong enough to be called taboo, she killed the [Ruler of the Sea · Leviathan]. She is an adventurer who completed the "Three Great Quests" in the truest sense.
Undoubtedly, the opponent was an existence strong to a ridiculous degree.
As for whether that "Alfia" encountered just now was that strong, Isagi didn't know at all, because he was instant-killed as soon as he entered combat.
Actually, it's quite reasonable.
The level difference between Level 4 and Level 7 is too big, let alone judging from the opponent's name, she seemed to have mixed with other powers.
[Greatest Evil · "Silence" Alfia]
The first half of its name refers to the black monsters born from the Dungeon after the gods of the Dark Familia allowed five gods to be devoured during the [Great Feud].
Its main body's strength is estimated to be equivalent to a Deep Floor Monster Rex, at least Level 6 or above.
So the Dungeon "merged" them?
Or is it...
Along the way, Isagi obtained a lot of intelligence about the [Greatest Evil] and Alfia, and it was accurate.
The reason was simple.
During the [Great Feud], the ones who fought the [Greatest Evil] were Ais and her "mother" Riveria, as well as the Dwarf uncle Gareth; while the one who fought Alfia was the Astrea Familia of that time, so Ryuu-senpai was naturally present.
"It was right there in the [Under Resort] on the 18th Floor."
Ryuu spoke, recalling the past that was clearly only a few years ago but felt quite distant.
Theoretically speaking, the Astrea Familia, who were all Level 3 or even Level 2 at the time, couldn't possibly be opponents for Alfia. The level gap was too large. Even if the opponent at that time was already nearing death and her strength was greatly weakened, it was still the same.
That wasn't a battle, but more like "teaching," or even "lecturing" these juniors. In the end, she wasn't defeated but walked toward death alone.
Ryuu shook her head.
In reality, she also didn't know at all what Alfia's full strength should look like.
"Isagi, do you think she will be an enemy?"
"I don't know..."
According to the girls, if a Level 7-based adventurer was placed in the Middle Floors as a final BOSS like the [Pale King], it would be somewhat understandable.
In that case.
I would need to upgrade to at least Level 6 to be qualified to challenge the opponent, right?
What exactly is the Dungeon thinking, pulling out dead adventurers to serve as BOSSes? Or is it not that simple, and the opponent is actually an NPC?
If that's the case, then...
Isagi looked at Ryuu-senpai, who was silent on the side. Obviously, he knew what the Elf girl was thinking.
More importantly.
After choosing the "Golden Age" Character Card and obtaining the "Spirit Ash" ability, he had actually thought about this matter.
Are the souls of the Familia seniors who died in the Dungeon in the past still inside the Dungeon and will they turn into Spirit Ashes?
Or perhaps, there is another way—
"It really came out..."
Isagi looked at the blue liquid in the small glass bottle in his hand, feeling somewhat incredulous.
This is [Ego-Essence].
Through the "Puppet Kingdom" Character Card, after leveling up, he obtained the ability to convert Magic Stones into [Ego-Essence] via the "Ego-Essence Extraction Device."
This is the crystallization of the soul, or the "Soul" itself.
Thinking about it, as he continues to level up, he will likely obtain the ability to craft puppets.
In that case.
If he remembers correctly, Ego-Essence plus a puppet, in a sense, can allow a person to "resurrect."
The puppet is the body, the Ego-Essence is the soul—and, maybe another type of soul can be used, like "Spirit Ash"—this confirms the new ability brought to him by the "Puppet Kingdom" Character Card after upgrading to Level 4.
[Creator's Path]...
*
Snow was fluttering outside the window.
After returning to the city from the Dungeon and parting ways with Heith and Ais at Central Park, Isagi finally returned to the Astrea Familia's station, [Stellar Garden], with the girls of the same Familia.
The weather here was okay. It was a somewhat gloomy afternoon.
During the ten-plus days he and the others stayed in the Dungeon, it had also snowed for over ten days in the city. Large patches of silver-white covered the buildings, tiles, and bustling long streets, even giving a certain illusion of being "unfamiliar."
Ryuu-senpai, Lefiya, and the others ran to take a bath immediately after returning, then went back to their rooms to sleep.
Isagi, on the contrary, wasn't very sleepy. After trying to convert a few Magic Stones into "Ego-Essence," he left his room. As a result, in the living room, or rather the lounge, on the second floor with the floor-to-ceiling window...
He saw Goddess Astrea wearing winter clothes, staring at the Spirit Ash "Big Big Mushroom" he brought back, engaging in a staring contest.
The silver-gray mushroom monster was treated completely like a pet by the girls.
Isagi had forgotten when he summoned it. Regarding this, the Goddess of Justice was quite curious because this was the soul of a monster.
"Is it strange?"
"Mn—you know, Isagi," the Goddess said softly.
"In this world, many people don't even treat monsters as beasts, but as a type of disaster."
"Mm..."
"Of course, the souls of ordinary monsters... well, how should I put it, are indeed not quite the same as people or beasts..."
Astrea seemed to not know how to express it either.
"In short, Isagi, I heard that you always encounter talking monsters in the Dungeon?"
"That's right, there were some."
It's not even rare at all. After all, isn't it normal for NPCs to talk?
Although...
Theoretically speaking, monsters being able to talk is simply incredible to the extreme.
"There are probably many differences between monsters and monsters. The Dungeon indeed has the ability to bestow souls upon monsters."
This wasn't the Goddess's guess, but a fact.
It's just that Astrea didn't know that inside the Dungeon right now, a group of talking monsters possessing wisdom had long existed.
"By the way, Isagi!"
Giving up the staring contest with the Big Big Mushroom, the Goddess seemed to have thought of something. She beckoned the boy to sit beside her with an amused look in her eyes.
"Ryuu said you were thinking about opening a restaurant after retiring from being an adventurer?"
"It's a hamburger shop, Goddess-sama."
"Wu! Alright, it's a hamburger shop..."
The Goddess of Justice shook her head, finding it incredible that the boy was already thinking about retirement when he was so young.
However, this guy Isagi has always been a bit mature, even giving the feeling of being overly mature!
"Demeter said she can fund you to open the shop. It can be done recently. I thought about it and felt it's not bad. Why not open the shop first?"
"That also works."
Isagi had absolutely no thoughts of objecting.
Because right now, when he rested, he would go sell potato snacks anyway, treating it as relaxation. So there was no problem opening the shop first. Moreover, maybe it could be done as a "Familia Business."
In the future.
Even if the Astrea Familia stops being an exploration Familia, they can still be in the city...
No, they will sell his "Old Isagi's Little Burgers" to the whole world and become a world-famous commercial Familia.
And regarding this.
Astrea certainly didn't think that far!
On the contrary, what the Goddess of Justice sensed was the "conspiracy" from Demeter, that matronly Goddess!!
Astrea, who had discovered something earlier, realized it.
This is Demeter's "scheme"!
By funding the boy to open a hamburger shop, she would fully utilize her advantage—as the city's largest agricultural Familia, the beautiful matron Goddess naturally had endless Valis to spend.
When the time comes... no...
[Isagi, is there a problem with the shop's business? Did you lose money? It doesn't matter, Mama still has a lot of Valis here, as long as...]
"!!!"
Astrea hurriedly shook her head, wondering why such a strange little theater would pop up in her brain?!
Too scary!
But...
Thinking about it carefully, it felt like something that fellow Demeter could actually do!
Being a god as well, she knew her "ridiculousness" level particularly well.
Astrea realized she must take action! That fellow Loki used the children of her Familia to attempt to abduct her family's Isagi, so naturally, there were children to resist!
But facing the offensive of a Goddess, indeed, only she herself could come forward!!
____
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