The Absolute Godspeed of Infinite Worlds

The chalk-white tower loomed like a colossal lid over the entrance to the Dungeon, its peak piercing the clouds and nearly vanishing from sight.

Even from the highest floor hundreds of meters above ground, the goddess could still see that soul—dark yet shimmering with myriad colors.

"He's grown even more dazzling..."

The bewitching silver-haired goddess gazed down at the base of the tower.

Her eyes gleamed with obsession, her face betraying a covetous desire to possess it.

A goddess's desires were terrifying in their directness.

And she was the Goddess of Beauty, with allure enough to enchant all living beings, capable of demanding anything from the world with the utmost caprice.

Yet, alas.

That boy alone refused to indulge her whims.

"Ottar."

Standing before the glass, the goddess called out a name.

"Yes."

A towering boar-man, over two meters tall, appeared at the chamber's entrance, bowing his proud head to the goddess.

"If I ordered you to wage war against Loki Familia now, could you win?"

From her lips spilled words that would strike terror into the hearts of all who dwelled aboveground.

Should the two strongest factions in Orario truly clash, it would spell disaster and upheaval for the labyrinthine city—perhaps even the entire world.

"If victory is the sole requirement, then with adequate preparation, yes. But the aftermath would be the true challenge."

Ottar, the boar-man, pondered briefly, offering no inquiry into her reasons, only a measured response.

As Freya's sword, he had no need to question divine will—only to obey her heart.

"So the retaliation would be troublesome, is that it?"

Freya let out a soundless sigh.

Given Loki Familia's scale, eradicating them entirely was impossible. Any who struck against them would have to consider whether they could endure the inevitable reprisal.

Freya possessed charm, but Eiji wielded it as well.

In such a scenario, her advantage as the Goddess of Beauty was nearly nullified.

In other words, if she truly sought to wage war against Loki Familia for Eiji alone, she would gain nothing in the end—only his hatred.

If offering up her entire Familia could sway his heart, she would not hesitate to act.

But if such actions only invited the opposite effect, then maintaining the status quo was preferable. At least he still harbored some fascination for her body, and they could occasionally be together.

For the sake of a single man, she had become this indecisive.

She hardly recognized herself anymore.

"What of the Evilus's movements?"

Setting aside those maddening thoughts, Freya shifted the topic.

The Evilus.

Merely uttering those words could drain the color from the faces of veteran adventurers.

In Orario, the term held such dreadful power that it could silence even the loudest cries.

"We have little intelligence on them. Currently, we've only heard rumors of possible leads on the 59th floor of the Dungeon."

Ottar replied in his usual somber tone.

"I see... Keep a close watch on Ishtar."

"Yes."

Only after that dark yet radiant soul vanished into the Dungeon did Freya lift her gaze, turning it toward the southeastern quarter of the city.

From this height, one could perfectly overlook the massive palace—the Temple of the Sacred Prostitute.

That was the shrine of Ishtar, another goddess of beauty in Orario, and the headquarters of her Familia.

The discovery of the Evils' movements had been entirely accidental.

Because Eiji had previously assassinated Phryne, Ishtar had been giving her trouble lately. She had been engaging in their usual back-and-forth when, unexpectedly, she stumbled upon a surprising revelation.

"Reporting this to the Guild would surely make Ishtar pay dearly, but where's the fun in that?"

Freya gazed down at the temple, her eyes gleaming with the peculiar delight of a god.

...

"Evilus?"

Eiji voiced his confusion.

This was the southern forest of the 18th Floor, the temporary resting camp of the First Army.

As usual, the expedition was divided into two forces. The vanguard, consisting of a select few elites like Finn, Riveria, Ais, Eiji, and the Amazon sisters, had set out first to clear all the monsters above the 18th Floor, including the Floor Boss Goliath.

Then, the Second Army, led by Gareth and Bete, would follow with the main force. The two groups would reunite on the 18th Floor before pushing straight into the 50th Floor.

Considering the recent clash between Eiji and Bete, Finn had deliberately separated them.

While resting on the 18th Floor, Eiji heard this unfamiliar term from Finn and the others.

This expedition, it seemed, was also connected to the Evilus.

More precisely, they were to enter the 59th Floor to investigate intelligence related to the Evilus.

"You know about the failed expedition against the Black Dragon by the Zeus and Hera Familias fifteen years ago, right?"

Finn stroked his chin and posed the question to Eiji.

"Actually, no!"

Eiji shook his head honestly.

"Alright, guess we'll have to start from the beginning then."

Finn sighed in resignation.

"We'll listen too!"

With nothing else to do, the gathered executives chimed in, eager to hear Finn's tale.

A thousand years had passed since the gods descended to the mortal realm.

Though the strongest Familias in Orario today were the Freya Familia and the Loki Familia, they had only risen to prominence in the last decade or so.

For the past millennium, the true powerhouses of this labyrinthine city had always been the Zeus and Hera Familias.

In their heyday, these two Familias were unrivaled, each boasting a considerable number of Level 7 and Level 8 adventurers. They had held the title of Orario's strongest Familias for nearly a thousand years.

There were even rumors that the Hera Familia had once possessed an unprecedented Level 9 adventurer!

"Level 9? How long did that take to achieve?"

Eiji was stunned.

Orario had such a glorious past?

"At least several centuries. After all, the 'Empress' lived for nearly a thousand years."

Recalling the splendor of that era, Finn and Riveria wore nostalgic expressions.

The higher an adventurer's level, the closer they approached divinity.

This was indeed a common rumor, but it wasn't entirely baseless.

Among the many races of the surface world, even the long-lived elves typically only lived for three to four hundred years. For royal elves like Riveria, five hundred years was the limit.

Yet the legendary adventurer of the Hera Familia—the "Empress"—had lived for a millennium.

After accumulating a thousand years of cultivation, she finally became a Level 9 adventurer.

Thus, it has been proven that the higher an adventurer's level, the longer their lifespan.

In that era, there was one supremely powerful and sole Level 9, along with several Level 8s and a great number of Level 7s. It could be said that it was the most formidable age since the gods descended to the mortal realm.

Yet even such a mighty era was brought to ruin by a single monster.

That monster was known as the Black Dragon, also called the "One-Eyed Black Dragon." To this day, it still roams the earth like a specter of fear incarnate.

***

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