Chapter 86: Flames, On the Verge of Eruption (Patreon)

The column of smoke rising from the northwest district hadn't yet cleared before the same thunderous roar echoed from two other areas of Orario.

One came from the old theater in the Third District.

Another came from the abandoned trading house in the Sixth District.

Three plumes of black smoke burst through rooftops one after another, as if someone had used the explosions as a battle horn, tearing open the curtain of war in different corners of the city all at once.

Adi stood by the fountain, one hand pressed against the signal tube at her waist. In the bag, Artorias poked half his rabbit face out, his long ears flattened back by the blast wind.

"That's wrong," Artorias said, staring toward the northwest.

"The magic composition of the explosions is different. The first one carried the scent of a curse. The other two feel more like plain attack magic."

Before Adi could respond, the communication magic stone at her waist flared red.

Shakti's voice came through it, urgent and clear.

"All Ganesha Familia members, execute the established plan. Evilus strongholds have been confirmed at the abandoned trading house in the Sixth District, the old theater in the Third District, and the warehouse district in the northwest. Evacuate all non-combat personnel immediately. Patrol squads, seal the streets. Main forces, begin the breach!"

Adi's eyes hardened.

Artorias went quiet too.

The intelligence they'd handed over yesterday, the secret meetings between Astrea and the other Familias' gods, the patrol routes Shakti had quietly adjusted — it had all converged into action, right here, right now.

Evilus had been preparing for their so-called 'Opening.'

But Orario's heroes had drawn their swords first, striking before the enemy could raise the curtain.

"Mr. Artorias."

Adi pulled the bag's flap lower, leaving only a narrow gap for him to watch the outside world.

"Our assignment's changed. The nearby patrol squads will seal off the northwest warehouse district first. I'm taking you to support the Sixth District."

"That's where Miss Shakti is."

"My sister will lead the main force in the assault. Miss Ryuu and Miss Alise are there too."

Adi tightened her grip on Sacred Oath.

"You stay by my side. Don't come out on your own."

"Understood."

"Say it again."

A muffled voice came from inside the bag.

"I won't come out on my own."

Only then did Adi start walking.

The surrounding streets had already fallen into chaos. Ordinary residents evacuated quickly toward safe zones under the direction of Ganesha Familia members, vendors hurriedly packed up their stalls, and carriage drivers reined in their spooked horses. The chaos didn't spread further, because well-prepared security squads had already taken position at every intersection.

Artorias watched the crowd through the gap.

His hearing caught something off — discordant movement.

Some people were fleeing.

But others were pushing against the flow, moving toward the explosion.

"Adi, second floor of the tavern on the right — three people."

Adi didn't stop.

"Details."

"Heavy footsteps, metal on them. Someone's set a crossbow by the window."

Adi raised a hand and signaled to a nearby Ganesha Familia member.

Two cloaked adventurers immediately changed course, circling around through the tavern's back alley. Adi didn't join the encirclement, continuing on toward the Sixth District with Artorias instead.

This part of the city already had plenty of abandoned shops and warehouses.

The old trading house sat at the end of the street, its outer walls weathered, a few broken carts piled up at the entrance. Normally only scavengers and stray cats came near, but today it was surrounded by fully armed adventurers.

The heavily bolted door flew inward with the blast.

Before the flames had even died down, the Ganesha Familia's squad had already stormed across the shattered boards straight into the building.

"Enemy attack!"

"Adventurers are breaking in!"

Panicked shouts erupted from deep within the trading house.

"Advance!"

Shakti, gripping her massive spear, was the first through the breach. She gave the enemy no time to regroup — a sweeping strike of her spear sent two Evilus members trying to block the entrance flying.

The Ganesha Familia members behind her advanced in tight formation.

Their boots pounded the floor, the heavy tramp merging into one continuous roar through the abandoned trading house.

At the same time, Ryuu, Kaguya, Alise, and the other Astraea Familia members cut through the formation like blades of sharp light, driving swiftly into the enemy's disordered ranks.

"Hah!"

Ryuu's wooden sword caught a beastman under the jaw.

He'd only just raised his axe when the blow sent him flying backward, his back slamming into a stack of crates against the wall. The crates split open, scattering shortswords and potion vials across the floor.

On the other side, Kaguya's longsword carved a cold, sharp arc through the air.

An enemy soldier raised his shield, but when the blade came down, shield, vambrace, and weapon all split apart together. Before he could even scream, Kaguya had already spun to face the next opponent.

"Anyone in my way falls."

Her voice wasn't loud.

But that flash of her blade carried more weight than any command.

By the time Adi reached the entrance, the fighting ahead had already begun. Rather than rushing to join the front line, she first swung Artorias's bag around to her front.

"Stay here."

"I can see."

"Only see."

Adi checked that the bag's flap wouldn't be knocked open by the fighting's aftershocks, then drew Sacred Oath and entered the building alongside several Ganesha Familia members.

The inside of the trading house looked nothing like its exterior.

The hall that once stored goods had been converted into a makeshift armory. The walls had been deliberately broken through, revealing a wide passage leading underground. Rusted iron racks were piled with swords, crossbow bolts, and shields, and the floor was littered with crates bearing no trade guild markings at all.

One corner of a crate bore the mark of a black moon pierced by a long spike.

The Evilus emblem.

"So this really is a stronghold."

Adi kept her voice low.

From inside the bag, Artorias caught a familiar scent.

The lingering trace of a curse, like rotting flowers.

Rust and strong liquor.

And something else — an unpleasant, scorched smell, like something had been burned by fire.

"Adi, watch above!"

Artorias's warning came sharp and sudden.

Almost the same instant, the second-floor railings on either side of the passage shattered.

Several Evilus members leapt down from above, hatchets and grappling claws in hand, diving straight at the middle of the formation. They'd clearly prepared this ambush in advance — their target wasn't high-level adventurers like Shakti, but the members at the rear handling prisoners and supplies.

Adi stepped forward.

Sacred Oath cut a diagonal arc through the air.

A flash of silver blade caught the first attacker square in the chest, sending him crashing to the ground off balance. Another landed to Adi's right, his grappling claw swinging for her neck.

Adi didn't meet the attack head-on.

She sidestepped the claw, tapping the tip of her blade against the inside of his wrist. The stab of pain made him drop his weapon, and Adi followed through by ramming her sword's hilt into his stomach, driving him back.

"Everyone behind, fall back to the wall!"

She called out to her comrades.

A third enemy leapt down from atop the crates, gripping a heavy hammer with both hands, and swung it straight for Adi's head.

Artorias's ears shot up instantly.

"Left!"

Adi raised her blade to block.

When the hammer came down, the force through her arms was enough to dent the stone slab beneath her feet. He was a dwarf, his strength far exceeding the previous two. Adi didn't try to hold her ground — riding the momentum of his downward strike, she stepped back, her blade sliding along the hammer's shaft and slashing at the back of his knee.

The dwarf dropped to his knees in pain.

Adi kicked the hammer away, then struck the back of his neck with the flat of her blade.

"He's down. Tie him up!"

A Ganesha Familia member stepped forward at once, pulling out rope to restrain the enemy.

Inside the bag, Artorias let out a quiet breath.

Adi had grown faster than he'd expected.

She still refused to take a life carelessly, but her blade no longer hesitated. Against true villains, she could disarm and disable them in the shortest time possible, all while guarding her comrades' backs.

Alise's voice rang out ahead.

"Neze, Maryuu, take some people and check the rooms on the east and west sides! Everyone else, stick with the main force — don't let the enemy officers slip away!"

"Copy!"

The high-level Ganesha Familia adventurers and Astraea Familia members split off quickly. Some pushed forward through the side passages, others tallied the seized supplies, and still others dragged prisoners toward the entrance.

Shakti didn't stop moving.

"Keep formation in the passage ahead! There may be traps!"

Everyone pressed on deeper into the trading house.

The passage widened, but the walls grew rougher. This had originally just been the trading house's storage area — Evilus had forcibly torn down multiple partition walls to make hauling weapons easier. Gray-black building material lay exposed, and the floor bore heavy drag marks from moved cargo.

Adi walked near the back of the group.

She kept one eye on the ground and the other on the movement inside her bag.

"Mr. Artorias, are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

"Do your wounds hurt?"

"There was a jolt just now. A little."

"Where?"

"My right shoulder."

Adi's pace slowed at once.

She reached to pull out a potion, but Artorias nudged the small vial inside the bag with his forepaw.

"It hasn't been half an hour yet."

"No need to wait at a time like this."

Adi took out the potion, and during a brief pause in the group's advance, dripped two drops into Artorias's mouth.

The potion was shockingly bitter.

The white rabbit's face scrunched up.

Adi quickly pulled a small piece of dried apple from her pocket.

"Eat this."

Artorias bit into the dried apple, chewing quietly.

"When did you bring this?"

"I prepared it before we left."

"Does Miss Naaza know?"

"She told me to bring carrots and dried apple, said that way you'd at least not fight taking your medicine."

Artorias lifted his head.

"She understands rabbits better than the rest of you."

Adi's lips curved slightly.

"She meant you."

The group pressed on.

Before long, the passage came to an end.

Ahead lay an unusually vast space, more than ten meters high. Dozens of cargo containers were stacked into a chaotic wall, with planks, chains, and broken lifting equipment scattered everywhere.

It looked like an abandoned cargo port.

It also looked like a great maw waiting for prey to step inside.

"We've reached the deepest point."

Adi tightened her grip on her sword hilt.

Artorias sensed something was wrong too.

It was too quiet.

They'd fought their way into the stronghold, and the resistance hadn't been weak, but Evilus hadn't committed enough high-level combat strength. The members they'd captured seemed more like they'd been stalling for time — quite a few had even shown signs of hesitation before engaging at all.

It didn't match the discipline the Dis Sisters had shown.

"There are a lot of people here."

Artorias kept his voice low.

"They're hiding behind the containers. At least fifty of them."

Adi nodded without any outward change of expression.

She was about to relay the news to Shakti when a woman's voice, laced with amusement, suddenly rang out from above.

"Oh my, you're finally here."

Everyone looked up at once.

A red-haired woman stood atop the containers.

She wore dark leather armor, a crimson longsword resting on her shoulder, her expression as relaxed as someone waiting for a late guest. Her gaze swept over the crowd, and when she failed to spot the person she'd expected, a flicker of undisguised annoyance crossed her face.

"Finn didn't come?"

She clicked her tongue.

"That useless informant couldn't even get that right."

Lyra's eyes sharpened at once.

"Valletta Grede."

The name dropped like a heavy stone.

An Evilus officer — the Slaughter Emperor. Level 5.

She had taken part in numerous large-scale assaults against Orario, and the blood on her hands was enough to make countless adventurers grind their teeth in fury.

Valletta looked down at them from above, the corner of her mouth curling up.

"You got here fast. Do you 'justice buddies' have nothing better to do all day? I'd just gotten the tea ready, and here you all come storming in with a whole crowd."

Shakti stepped forward, her spear leveled upward.

"Valletta! We've already secured this facility, and the perimeter's sealed. Drop your weapon and submit to Guild judgment!"

"Ahahaha!"

Valletta doubled over, clutching her stomach with laughter.

"That's a good line. Every time I hear it, it makes me wonder how Orario's adventurers can be so adorable."

She raised her arm and swept it downward.

"Come on out, children."

From behind the containers, in the shadows of the lifting racks, from among the stacked crates, dozens of Evilus members stepped out at once.

They all wore matching cream-colored robes.

There were beastmen, dwarves, humans among them. Unlike the hastily recruited soldiers from before, this group moved with disciplined steps, their hands steady on their weapons without the slightest tremor.

Worse still, they'd spread out into position, subtly encircling the adventurer party in the middle.

"Ambush!"

Adi warned the members behind her.

Shakti raised her spear at once.

"Everyone, tighten formation! Priority is protecting the wounded and rear guard!"

The enemy gave them no more time to adjust.

Valletta leapt down from atop the containers, her crimson longsword carving a blood-red arc through the air.

"Kill them all!"

War cries instantly filled the warehouse.

Evilus members charged in from every direction. Kaguya was the first to meet them, her longsword splitting an oncoming battleaxe without her stride even faltering — her second strike had already cut into an enemy's shoulder armor.

Ryuu followed close behind.

The wooden sword in her hands blurred into afterimages, striking two beastmen in the ribs and temple in quick succession. Before they'd even hit the ground, another dwarf closed in swinging a war hammer. Ryuu raised her wooden sword to block, then used the momentum to spin and drive her knee into his chest.

Alise and Shakti met Valletta head-on.

The red-haired girl's sword and Shakti's spear wove together into a crossing assault, pressing the Level 5 female officer from left and right at once. Valletta laughed as she swung her blade, her crimson edge knocking each attack aside, but her feet were forced steadily backward.

Her raw strength exceeded either of theirs.

But Alise and Shakti's coordination kept her from breaking through either of them cleanly.

"Hah! Not bad, Ganesha's guard dog, and the little red-haired brat!"

Valletta raised her sword and cut down.

Shakti blocked with her spear held crosswise, the shaft bowing visibly under the force. Alise seized the opening, thrusting her blade at Valletta's side. Valletta twisted her waist to dodge, then swept her sword back to drive Alise off — the grin on her face only growing more excited.

"Come on, get serious!"

Elsewhere, Adi held the middle of the formation.

She wasn't trying to take down the most enemies, only to stop anyone attempting to slip past the front line. Inside the bag, Artorias kept calling out positions, letting her anticipate the direction of each attack before it came.

"Two on the right, with crossbows."

Adi immediately pulled a nearby comrade behind a crate for cover.

Crossbow bolts thudded into the spot they'd just left.

"Left! Someone's about to throw a bottle from behind the containers!"

Adi cut through a hanging chain, and a heavy iron hook crashed down, landing right in front of the enemy. The bottle slipped from his hand and burst on the ground in a cloud of acrid smoke.

"It's poison!"

Artorias caught the scent of the chemical.

Adi took out purifying powder and dusted it over her nose and mouth, while signaling the members behind her to skirt the smoke. Rather than getting dragged along by the chaos the enemy had created, she seized the moment of obscured visibility to circle around behind the two crossbowmen.

The hilt of Sacred Oath struck one man's jaw first.

The other tried to retreat, but Adi had already pinned his crossbow down with the flat of her blade, kicking his knee to drop him to the ground.

"Drop your weapon!"

He still tried to resist.

Adi pressed her blade to his shoulder, her voice turning cold for the first time.

"I don't want to hurt you, but you can't hurt anyone else."

The man looked into her eyes and finally let go of his crossbow.

Adi didn't linger, turning quickly toward the next skirmish.

"Adi, behind you!"

Artorias's warning came faster than any sound.

A dagger lunged out from the shadow of a crate.

Adi sidestepped and flicked her blade up in reply. It struck the attacker's wrist, sending the dagger spinning into the air. She was about to press the advantage when she got a clear look at who it was — and froze.

It was a girl.

She wore the same cream-colored robe as the other Evilus members, standing barely as tall as Adi's chest. Her face still held a child's softness, but the hands gripping the dagger had been shaking badly.

The girl hadn't been looking for a chance to strike.

She looked like she'd been forced to stand there.

"Ah…"

The dagger clattered to the floor.

The girl's eyes reddened as she shrank backward. The clash of weapons and battle cries around her only deepened her terror, tears streaming down her cheeks.

The tip of Adi's blade slowly dropped.

She thought of the children on the street who cried in fear when separated from their families, and pictured Evilus placing a weapon in this girl's hands.

Fury churned in her chest.

This wasn't a fight.

It was shoving a child who should have been protected out in front of a blade.

"Don't be afraid."

Adi drew Sacred Oath back to her side.

She approached step by step, her voice gentled.

"Drop the weapon. You don't have to obey those adults' orders, and you don't have to stay here."

The girl lifted her tear-streaked face.

Adi held out her hand.

"I won't hurt you. Come here, to me."

Inside the bag, Artorias suddenly felt a chill run through him.

It wasn't killing intent.

Nor was it the rotting-flower scent of Vena's curse.

It was something far more hollow.

He stared at the girl's left hand, clutched tight at the fabric over her chest, and his ears shot straight up.

"Adi, don't go near her!"

The words had barely left him when Valletta, standing far off, narrowed her eyes and let out a pleased snicker.

"What a good person."

She knocked Alise's sword aside and turned, smiling, toward where Adi stood.

"Trying to save someone even at a time like this. I'm truly touched."

The girl's body trembled.

She didn't look at Adi's outstretched hand.

Her lightless eyes drifted past the chaotic battlefield, up toward the darkness at the top of the warehouse.

"Lord God…"

Her voice, faintly trembling, came out low.

"Please let me see Mom and Dad."

The color drained from Adi's face at once.

The girl's hand, clenched tight over her chest, let go.

Beneath the cream-colored robe, a black magic stone embedded in her chest flared with a crimson glow.