In this chaotic world, it all started when they found an elf girl

Page 81

　Although Daphne and Cassandra are only fourteen years old, they are beautiful girls with their own unique charm.

　As the group walked down the street, they attracted almost 100% attention, not only because of the Astrea Familia's reputation, but also because of the large group of beautiful girls. It was a feast for the eyes.

　Almost all the male adventurers stared at Roy, the only male in the group, with eyes reddened with jealousy and envy, wishing they could take his place. The female adventurers' gazes were also fixed on Roy, their eyes seemingly sparkling with hearts.

　Orario is never short of fun.

　Some busybodies have created quite a few lists behind the scenes.

　Thanks to his record-breaking leveling speed, Roy ranked first on the "Most Promising Adventurer" list. If he doesn't die, he'll dominate the list from now on.

　Having subdued the Soma Familia and amassed a fortune, he ranks ninth on Orario's "Strongest, Richest, and Most Handsome Man" list and seventh on the "Most Desired Man for Women to Marry" list.

　Those who could rank ahead of Roy were only veteran adventurers like Finn, Ota, and Leon Wadenberg, as well as certain gods. After defeating three Familias in succession, the Astrea Familia's reputation soared, rivaling its peak, naturally attracting many to try and join. Without exception, they were all turned away.

　The Astrea Familia's recruitment criteria are not exactly strict; anyone with a sense of justice can join. However, finding such a person in the chaotic world of Orario is no less difficult than awakening a rare skill.

　Therefore, there were only eleven people at the peak, and Goddess Astraea's principle was to have fewer but better ones.

　Unfortunately, she is the kind of person who goes with the flow and doesn't actively seek out new members, which has resulted in the clan not having any new members for a long time.

　Although the goddess Astraea cannot see the color of the soul, she can sense it to some extent.

　Those who want to join them are undoubtedly after profit and fame.

　Otherwise, why didn't they come to join us when the Astrea Familia was wiped out?

　The pinnacle is met with false support...

　As the saying goes, "If you don't stand by a tiger when it's fallen, who will you be when it rises again?" Astraea has not forgotten that when the Familia was in its most difficult time, only Roy helped them.

　For Roy, this is a good thing.

　With so many members of his clan, his secrets were bound to be exposed. If that happened, he would have no choice but to leave the Star Court in a semi-retired manner. Goddess Astraea laughed and said, "How strange, this is one of our few team-building activities."

　Since the clan's revival, the only time they'd gathered was at the tavern to celebrate the successful completion of the expedition, which was then interrupted by Riveria and Ais. Daphne and Cassandra were both amused and exasperated; this "team building" might be a little dangerous!

　"I'm so sorry, Lady Astrea." Liu Xiao's face showed apology. She felt really bad for involving the goddess in such a dangerous matter.

　"it's okay no problem."

　Astraea smiled and comforted Ryu, saying that as a goddess, how could she stand behind her beloved child?

Chapter 157 Dialogue with the Gods

　The group walked through the long streets and arrived at the venue for the Monster Festival in the southeastern district of Orario.

　Upon arriving in this area, it became noticeably more lively, with crowds of people everywhere, and the streets lined with all sorts of vendors offering food, drinks, entertainment, and everything in between.

　Its prosperity is comparable to the international metropolis of Roy's previous life. After all, it is known as the "center of the world". Orario's prosperity is second to none in this world.

　The Monster Festival is hosted by the Ganesha Familia.

　Bring the monsters out of the dungeon and into the arena, which holds tens of thousands of people, and have the beast tamers tame them. Of course, it's impossible for the monsters to be completely obedient; they can only be made to feel fear.

　This process can boost people's confidence.

　For three thousand years, the people of this land have been suffering from the disasters brought by monsters.

　The Monster Festival, by its very nature, tells people that monsters are not invincible, indirectly encouraging them to become adventurers and explore dungeons. That's the official explanation...

　Roy did know some inside information: the Monster Festival was also subtly reducing people's fear and dread of monsters. Uranus and Ganesha wanted people to accept the intelligent heretics.

　His gaze swept across the crowded streets.

　Every year, they go to such great lengths and make such a big show of it. It's hard to say that the great god Uranus just sympathizes with those heretics... Could it be that he really wants to create a world where humans, gods, and monsters can coexist peacefully?

　Roy shook his head inwardly; even he could not fully fathom the thoughts of the gods.

　The only clue is to explore the deeper parts of the underground city, which may have some connection to those heretics.

　Daphne rarely saw such a lively event. She looked around curiously. If she didn't know there was a special operation going on, she would definitely have gone all out to have fun. The lively atmosphere dispelled the gloom in Cassandra's heart, and her complexion improved slightly.

　Roy, being understanding, said, "It's okay, go have fun, just don't go too far away."

　Upon hearing this, Daphne excitedly pulled Cassandra along, and they went to browse through every stall.

　It must be said that the Monster Festival is a mixed bag, making it one of the best opportunities to plot against people.

　The Ganesha Familia was busy preparing for the festival and couldn't spare any manpower to maintain order. In the original timeline, Freya also took this opportunity to rigorously train the red-eyed rabbit.

　But Roy dared to let them go out to play because he had a plan; he had arranged everything in this area perfectly.

　The members of the Soma Kinka disguised themselves as merchants, tourists, and pedestrians, moving around this area. Due to the previous large-scale layoffs, nobody knew them at all.

　The more famous members of the Loki Familia hid in nearby houses; Roy had booked seven or eight buildings and was pouring money into them. Under Roy's personal command, there was no chance of any secret conversations or other unusual activities.

　Everyone's expression was natural, no different from that of ordinary people.

　Roy even provided them with a set of code words to use when they detected anything unusual.

　Roy approached Liu and asked in a low voice, "Have you noticed anything unusual?"

　Liu gently shook her head.

　Even with his LV.5 sharp eyesight, Roy couldn't detect anything unusual. He frowned, finding it all very strange.

　If he weren't certain that Cassandra's "prophetic dream" would come true 100%, he would have doubted that it was a fake. Now, he could only take it one step at a time.

　Do your best, listen to destiny.

　After wandering around outside for two hours, Roy and his group bought admission tickets.

　Enter the arena and take a stroll around.

　This place wasn't unfamiliar to them; it was the arena where the Astrea Familia and Apollo Familia held their war games, where they would duel one-on-one. At that moment, a beast taming competition was taking place inside the arena.

　The adventurer, a level 3 member of the Ganesha Familia, wields a long whip, striking the ground around him and occasionally hitting the silverback apes, causing them pain but not posing a fatal threat.

　Seeing the monster show fear in the face of its tamer, the crowd cheered enthusiastically, immersed in the joy of humanity's victory over the monster. For Roy and his group, however, this held little appeal; it was a performance primarily intended for the general public.

　Fighting monsters to the death in the dungeon is much more exciting than this.

　The tamed silverback ape was only LV.1, which was far too weak. Cassandra in the team could easily defeat it. Roy and the others might be more interested in taming a LV.3 or even LV.4 monster.

　At that moment, sensing the divine power permeating the air, Roy, Ryu, and Astrea abruptly turned their heads and saw a male god in the crowd. This male god had an effeminate appearance, dead fish eyes, and an amused and indifferent smile on his face.

　"Ikelos, the god..."

　Roy and Astraea recognized him.

　finally come!

　Roy, Liu, Astraea, and Daphne felt a jolt of excitement; if the other party didn't show up soon, their day would end in idle strolling and playing. Cassandra's face was pale, and her lips trembled.

　Ikeros swaggered up to them. "Asteria, it's been a long time."

　Knowing that the other party had come with malicious intent, Astraea nodded slightly in response out of politeness.

　Ikeros wore a pained expression. "Asteria, your family's retinue, Roy's brother, is in the dungeon, and they've caused us heavy losses." "What do you mean?"

　Astraea frowned.

　Ikeros counted on his fingers and said, "About twenty people died, and we also lost a monster worth over a hundred million." There was no trace of lying.

　This is what Astraea sensed: "And then? What exactly are you trying to say?"

　Ikeros laughed and said, "Of course it's compensation. You used the divine wine of the Soma Familia to make 300 million Fali. Give us that money, and have Roy apologize at the graves of those children and cut off his own arm. That would be enough. Is that too much to ask?"

　Upon hearing this, Ryu, Daphne, and Cassandra all turned cold as they looked at Ikeros.

　"impossible!"

　The goddess Astraea was even more resolute, her blue eyes coldly fixed on Ikeros.

　For children in the lower realm, external factors such as talent, resources, and connections are not necessary. What is needed is an unwavering belief, and the rest can be left to grace.

　Losing money is a minor matter; an apology and losing an arm are out of the question, otherwise Roy's entire life would be ruined.

　Ikeros wasn't surprised by Astraea's rejection. Instead, he looked at Roy and asked, "The sprout of justice, so what do you choose?" Roy's response was even simpler: "Do you own the dungeon?"

　"Hahaha!"

　Ikeros was taken aback, then couldn't help but laugh out loud.

　That's spot on! Don't let his high-sounding words fool you; the Icarus Familia have their share of stealing other players' prey and materials in the dungeons. Roy's meaning is clear: you can't just stand up for justice when you're the one having your monsters stolen.

The first half of Chapter 158, the prophecy

　The Astrea Familia's tough stance was somewhat expected, or rather, this was the development he had hoped for. Ikeros smiled slightly; something interesting was about to begin.

　Ikeros chuckled, "Let's go somewhere else. We don't want to make a big scene, after all, we'll be running into each other all the time in Orario." As he spoke, Ikeros's gaze swept across the arena. Tens of thousands of people were gathered there; a slight accident could easily result in the deaths of thousands. Sensing the threat in Ikeros's words, Astraea and Ryu's expressions changed. They scrutinized this god-like figure, as if only now seeing his true colors. On the surface, the Ikeros Familia was still a normal Familia…

　Only Roy remained calm.

　Both the Ikeros Familia and the Thanatos Familia are located within the man-made labyrinth; Roy would never believe they are completely unrelated. Given the resources and capabilities of these two Familias, it would be incredibly easy for them to pull off some underhanded tricks in the arena without being detected. Such disgusting methods are only suitable for dealing with the Astrea Familia.

　Other clans would be thrilled if the Ikelos Familia caused trouble, ideally with thousands dying to escalate the situation, incite the wrath of everyone in Orario, and then unite all the other clans to wipe out the Ikelos Familia in one fell swoop...

　This is the way to maximize profits.

　But it is neither humane nor just, and it has no faith, so Astraea and Ryu would not accept it.

　Roy silently dismissed the idea. He believed that with the preparations he had made over the past two days, he could also wipe out the Ikeros Familia. The longer it dragged on, the more likely things would go wrong, and he didn't want to do that.

　“Ikelos, tell me your thoughts.” Astraea’s tone was no longer friendly.

　"Don't stare at me like that, Astraea."

　Ikeros laughed and said, "It's like a private war game, best two out of three. If we lose, this matter ends here, and we'll leave each other alone from now on. If we win, according to the conditions I just proposed, we'll pay 300 million falies in compensation, Roy's brother will apologize to the dead, and he'll commit suicide." "Of course, considering Astraea's situation, the rule that everyone fighting in each round must be of the same rank is very advantageous to you, isn't it?"

　"How about it?"

　Ikeros looked at Roy and Astrea, a faint smile playing on his lips.

　Roy, Ryu, and Astrea exchanged glances, each seeing caution in the other's eyes.

　Roy is hailed as the strongest LV.3 adventurer; no one of his level can rival him. The Ikeros Familia is essentially handing him a free win. Or are you simply very confident about the other two matches?

　Is there really such a good thing in the world?

　A weasel is wishing a chicken a Happy New Year!

　Anyone could see that Astraea looked at Roy and respected his opinion.

　Roy lowered his head in thought, and finally nodded.

　Roy felt he had lost a fortune if he didn't bleed a little dry today, having already spent over a hundred million in Fargo.

　The group left the bustling area.

　Roy seized an opportunity, avoiding Ikeros's gaze, tossing the equipment from his spatial ring to Ryu, Daphne, and Cassandra. Fully armed!

　Their luxurious equipment was the envy of even LV4 and LV5 adventurers.

　Following Ikeros, the group crossed the street and entered the city's underground drainage system.

　It was dark and without light.

　They each needed to carry a magic stone lamp to barely see their surroundings.

　The water only reaches the ankles and does not affect movement.

　Continue along the passage.

　Ikeros was very familiar with the place, and Roy and his group followed behind him.

　Roy narrowed his eyes. He remembered that the artificial maze had several entrances and exits, distributed in different locations in Orario: Daedalus Street, the church, the drainage system...

　Arriving at a spacious open space, the magic stone lamps were mounted on nearby stone pillars, illuminating the dim cave.

　Ikeros called out into the darkness, “Dix, I’ve brought them here.”

　"Looks like you're still somewhat useful as a deity!"

　The man who emerged from the darkness was tall and imposing, dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, wearing goggles, and wielding a blood-red spear, exuding an ominous aura. Behind him followed a dozen unruly youths, their faces bearing ferocious grins.

　"That's outrageous. Show some respect for your own god," Ikeros grumbled, but without a hint of anger, as he was used to such things. Roy and Ryu stared at the man, recalling information about him in their minds.

　Dix Perdix, known as "The Savage," was already a Level 4 adventurer about seven or eight years ago. He hadn't updated his adventurer profile in the guild for many years, so no one knew his exact strength.

　But according to the bet proposed by Ikeros.

　It must be a duel between adventurers of the same level, which reveals this person's strength; he is the same LV.5 as Ryu.