Danmaku, my skills refresh weekly.

It's not that he's not composed enough, it's just...

I really couldn't hold it back.

The newly emerged dark force, powerful and imposing, exuded an overwhelming sense of oppression. Even with everyone on high alert, they were suddenly met with the statement: "The fault isn't mine! It's the world's!"

The children underground might not understand, or even think it's cool.

But the gods on earth have long since carried forward this culture and skillfully discarded it as a dark chapter in history.

Uranus had a thick stack of uniform design proposals, and his feelings were complicated.

If I had to describe how I feel right now, it would be:

Rikka waved her hand, seemingly opening the train door in mid-air, and then swaggered onto the train. Yuuta, witnessing everything, probably felt something like that.

Looking back at the realm of the gods, Astraea once dressed in flamboyant attire and proclaimed, "I will punish you in the name of the stars!"

He once dressed all in black, exuding a ghostly aura, and laughed wildly as he punished the mischievous evil gods.

In Astraea's words, it was all too boring back then, a way to practice a different kind of justice. But that history was an unforgettable source of amusement for the gods in their otherwise dull lives.

It's hard to imagine that Astraea, now hailed as "number one in people who want to be patted on the head on their lap," would have gone through that period.

“Uranus?” Fels’ voice interrupted the old god’s recollection.

"Ah... well, let's just do as he says with that kind of tape."

"But……"

"We should seize any opportunity to achieve our long-cherished wish before the agreed date."

"Yes."

Chapter 164 Finn's Open Scheme

In the following days, without Jester's direct restraint, the Dark Faction gradually gathered its forces and launched a counterattack.

Ciel himself occasionally appears in the city riding Pochi, promoting his monster cuisine. Sometimes he transforms into a Jester to rescue residents in distress.

But he spent most of his time on the great undertaking of readjusting the "Fairy Soldiers".

What gives Ciel a real headache is Vina, the dark-skinned sister of the Dis sisters. She's currently in a state that's practically half-monster, and Ciel happens to have a colored magic stone in his possession.

He was considering whether to implant the magic stone into Vina's body, turning her into a monster and making her cannon fodder in the great struggle.

However, this method could easily be seized by the Fallen Fairy and form tentacles, so in the end, Sharl gave up on it.

When one door closes, another opens. After Rimuru devoured the magic stone of the Cannon Dragon and completed his rank evolution, he unexpectedly brought a special surprise to Ciel.

She possessed a degree of mimicry, like a chameleon, able to blend into her surroundings by altering her skin pigmentation. Furthermore, her physical size, essential to her life, also increased.

Although it looks like a small pillow, when it opens up it is big enough to swallow a person whole.

Ciel attempted to make Rimuru become the core, drill into her body, and manipulate Vina's body by simulating muscle fibers on the surface.

Finally, with the help of a water-attribute fairy, it was successfully completed.

"You've finally become somewhat useful, Rimuru. A world where everyone is happy has been achieved." Ciel kneaded the two mounds of Rimuru hanging on Vina's chest and nodded with satisfaction.

'Finally, I don't have to get eaten anymore. OTZ'

However, when Tina saw Vina stand up again, her face instantly puffed up. She stared at the Rimuru on Vina's chest and sneered, "Bad woman."

Alpha pinched Tina's cheek, striking a bossy pose: "No arguing allowed."

……

Time passed day by day, and the atmosphere in the city became increasingly serious.

To prevent Finn from having time to continue his attack on Knossos, the Dark Faction maintained a small, menacing force. Meanwhile, in the city, they continued to investigate and raid "illegal trade" and "warehouses," seizing many "Great Sage Branches."

Slightly different from the original trajectory, the attacks on the magic stone factory completely ceased, and were replaced by attacks on the workshops of Chanis.

Vareta had no idea what Chanis was producing. Thinking, "Since the defenses are so tight, it must be Finn's trump card!" she decided to test the waters, but it was like stirring up a hornet's nest, as Chanis organized attack after attack.

As a result, it was unsuccessful even once.

Ciel also took the opportunity to have a chat with his 'big brother'.

But Chanis was already hopelessly immersed in the sea of ​​Fali, unable to extricate himself. In the ten days since he last saw him, his dark circles had deepened, and his cheeks had shrunk. As he knocked on the door, even more women could be seen through the crack.

"My older brother seems to be living a pretty comfortable life."

"What? Brother Charles, are you envious? I can share some with you. Hahahaha!" After laughing, Chanis looked at Charles with regret: "Unfortunately, we received a notification from the Hero that we need to go to the guild building. Since you're back, come with me."

"doing what?"

"Let's have a war meeting."

……

The Adventurers' Guild headquarters is located on the main northwestern street of the city.

"Is all the representatives of the various clans present? Then, let's begin the routine meeting on countermeasures against the underworld factions—"

Deep within the guild headquarters, in a large conference room that could accommodate hundreds of people, many adventurers sat around a round table.

They were all leaders, deputy leaders, or cadres of various clans.

Before these battle-hardened adventurers, a fat, bald elf—Guild Master Royman Mardir—widened his eyes and roared:

"What are you doing? Look at this mess! You've been attacked by large-scale raids one after another!"

The cat-man youth, Allen, filled with murderous intent, roared, "If you want to get rid of the pests quickly, don't make us advance into the underground city and hunt down the Dark Faction at the same time, you stupid fat pig."

Royman's momentum faltered, and he clicked his tongue, saying, "There's nothing we can do about it! With Zeus and Hera's Familia gone, spreading Orario's power outside the city is our top priority. Otherwise... new dark factions will emerge one after another."

Allen retorted, "Why don't you just say you don't want to give up your current position?"

Finn interrupted, "That's enough, Allen. The meeting can't continue like this."

Allen's sharp tongue wouldn't stop: "Don't call my name with that mouth of yours, Palum. It's disgusting."

“Your inability to communicate only makes people doubt the character of the goddess Freya.” Riveria closed her eyes and revealed the hostility between the clans.

"Do you want to die, you bedbug?"

A dangerous atmosphere permeated the air, and only a few people were accustomed to it and remained calm.

Asphi, who was being sent to such an important meeting for the first time, clutched her head and said, "Ah... I want to go back already. Why did I have to come to this newly appointed vice-captain's meeting? I really want to beat up that captain and the main god."

"Yes, yes. It seems those two families have been at odds for a long time. Well, anyway, it's none of our business as a small clan like ours. Let's just watch the show." Charles elegantly picked up his teacup, took a sip, and casually pulled a handful of melon seeds from his pocket, scattering them on Asphie's table.

"Want some? Sunflower seeds, they're surprisingly good after being roasted."

"You're really quite carefree. Is this really your first time attending a meeting like this?" Asifi imitated Charles, cracking sunflower seeds, her eyes lighting up: "Hmm, surprisingly good."

Across from them, a woman in a red kimono, feigning innocence, squinted and remarked, "I really didn't expect Brother Ciel to be here too."

It was Kaguya who spoke.

Charles shrugged: "If you can come, why can't I? After all, our clan is considered the number one target of Orario's dark faction."

“That’s what’s really giving me a headache. I have a bad feeling about this… I heard that a crucial part of the plan is that you’re all in charge of it. Ciel, you’re not going to suddenly turn your so-called trump card against us, are you?” Kaguya covered her chin with her long sleeve.

“How could that be? If that were the case, Mr. Finn wouldn’t have invited us to the meeting.”

……

During a brief pause in their conversation, an argument broke out in the main hall on the other side.

"Explosives? So, the previous attack was also predicted?" The adventurer looked surprised.

"So, we're the ones being sacrificed again?"

In the previous raid on the artificial maze, in order to lure the Dark Faction into launching an attack, Finn relaxed his guard on some areas and took advantage of the Jester's mobility to achieve considerable success.

On the surface, it seemed that Finn had fallen for the empty city ploy, but it was actually a feint attack.

If the maze has a large force, then break through head-on in one fell swoop. If the enemy shifts their target and attacks the ground, then the Jesters should go and directly attack headquarters.

Of course, the "self-destructing followers" that Finn had envisioned did not appear.

Therefore, it shouldn't be long before they are used as the trump card of the secret faction, and a countermeasure will be developed.

of course……

These things cannot be said here. Finn also learned from the information Belle revealed that there was an enemy spy among the guild staff!

“Sacrifice is unavoidable. I’m often forced to make choices, and I’ve grown to hate myself more and more.” Finn looked around, observing everyone’s expressions, and sighed.

"But... the intelligence before me forces me to further weaken the enemy's strength. Because... their forces may have opponents above level 6..."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the adventurers fell silent...

Arguments, blame-shifting, and mutual accusations all became duds in the face of this intelligence. Everyone stared at Finn with their mouths agape in disbelief.

"You mean... Level 7? Stronger than the strongest Otto?"

“lv7…”

This news caught most of the adventurers present off guard.

"Ah...and it's not just any ordinary level 7. To be able to destroy half of the workshop area single-handedly, that level of power is close to level 8." Finn poured cold water on the idea.

"Therefore, in order to free up enough combat power to join forces against him, we must first defeat the other miscellaneous soldiers of the Dark Faction before the final battle."

Chapter 165 Can't beat them, absolutely can't beat them.

Heavy discussions took place around the round table.

They speculated that it might be a remnant of the Osiris Familia, after all, it was one of the only factions in the Dark faction to have had both level 7 and multiple level 6 members.

Although they were defeated by Zeus and Hera's Familia, some level 6 members still survived, and it is not impossible for them to be won over again.

Finn clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention back. He looked at Asphie: "We have a general understanding of the enemy's overall strength. Now, let's talk about the new intelligence we have."

Asifi stood up and briefly described, "We have found three new strongholds of the Dark Faction, all located in abandoned workshops and warehouse areas. Judging from the number of sentinels disguised as ordinary people, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them headquarters."

"Therefore, we must strike first and launch surprise attacks on all three strongholds simultaneously," Finn said calmly.

"Avoid the enemy's aces while weakening their wings."

“One of them will be handled by us.” Alexandra raised her hand and analyzed, “The two major factions in the city are acting separately, so the remaining one should naturally be left to us.”