Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

In the blink of an eye, countless "stove fires" were lit up in the city.

*

“Hmm…!?”

"Abnormalities" were found throughout the city.

This is the "prayer hall" located underground at the guild headquarters.

Fels' legs buckled on the stone altar, and he braced himself against the ground with one hand.

"Even though there are no flames, it feels so hot...!! It's like my whole body is on fire...!"

He held his head with one hand, his voice hoarse as if he were on fire.

Uranus, whose eyes were still closed, sensed the magician's unusual behavior and whispered quietly:

"The power of the Sacred Flame has been activated."

"The sacred flame...? What does that mean!?"

Fels instinctively sensed the danger of the situation, and a spark of silver light flashed from inside his black hood.

This statement violates one of Freya's rules, namely, "words or actions that lead to the collapse of the closed world." Fels, already captivated by the "charm," raises his right hand and aims the magic cannon (magical artifact) at the throne.

"It's no use, Fels, it's too late. Even if the masses become puppets of 'Enchantment,' it won't stop the raging flames."

Uranus, however, remained unmoved.

He seemed to look down upon the world from the heavens, calmly "revealing the answer".

"Those who are 'charmed' will react to specific words, actions, and signs, thereby eliminating all dangerous factors... In this way, it is only necessary to include a meaning in the message that only we can understand."

"What……!?"

"It's a very subtle 'code.' A code that even beings from the same celestial realm would find difficult to detect, let alone children."

The "plan" was already complete when Hestia arrived at the altar.

The two gods were conversing with Fels listening in.

Uranus once said, "There is nothing you can do now."

It means there's nothing you can do right now until the time is right.

"During that conversation, I learned that Hermes had entrusted a note he left behind to Hestia. Since there were limited options, I decided to take a gamble... which is why I gave the 'firewood' to Hermes and the others."

"Firewood...!? What good is firewood alone!?"

The guild prepared and delivered ordinary firewood to the Hermes Familia. The firewood itself did not possess any special power, and Fels, bound by the rules, naturally could not detect it.

Uranus—no, it was Hestia who later "tampered" with those firewood.

It is all thanks to the goddess's decisive action after receiving guidance from Hermes, her correct reception of the old god's will, and her unyielding efforts that led to this result.

"The firewood distributed to the citizens—all of it is imbued with Hestia's 'divine blood'."

"This operation...was incredibly dangerous!"

Under the frigid sky, where the temperature was so low that even snowfall would not be surprising, Hermes leaned weakly against the wall, muttering to himself.

Looking around, the streets were filled with citizens squatting on the ground with their heads in their hands.

Gods and adventurers alike were no exception. They leaned against the wall like Hermes, clutching their heads as if suffering from a splitting headache.

The houses on both sides of the road had firelight shining from their windows, which could be seen coming from the stoves.

"Emptying my mind to 'build a stove'... I guess I've put in a pretty good amount of effort...?"

Hermes received two notes from Hestia.

One of them is a quote he wrote himself: "Turn Orario into a [stove]".

The other image contains the description of "the location where the goddess (Hestia)'s blood is stored".

Compared to Hestia, who was constantly being monitored and unable to move, it is highly likely that Asphie used her "invisibility" to transport the container (magical item) containing divine blood to a small underground bar that the chief god (Hermes) frequented, and hid the item under a round table in the bar.

Since the members of the [Family] all knew which magical items Asphi possessed, there was a high chance she would be discovered if she infiltrated the firewood storage base (headquarters) while in a "transparent" state. If the "charmed" members went to report, the entire operation would be ruined, so Hermes was ultimately tasked with cleaning up the mess.

After he collected Hestia's divine blood, he carefully sprinkled it drop by drop onto all the firewood that the guild had sent.

"Even though I had a strange feeling in my mind, I still couldn't understand the situation at all... Even though I acted according to the note written by the leader (Asufi), I never thought that doing so would destroy the 'closed world'...! So my cognition wouldn't be reset or become incorrect...!"

Hermes was sweating profusely despite looking pained, but he still managed a smile.

To prevent his "sense of unease" from escalating into "doubt," he tried desperately to suppress his thoughts.

After all, he had already confirmed that this situation would not erase the memory.

Because he has not yet grasped the rules of the "closed world" and the identity of the "mastermind"—or rather, he does not think about these issues—he is unable to recognize that the act of "building a stove" will lead to the "collapse of the closed world".

Let me use an analogy to explain.

Suppose there exists a "fire sword" in the world that can destroy the "Demon King".

However, when someone is completely unaware of the Demon King's weakness, or even his existence, they will only be confused and ask, "Why?" when ordered to "prepare the sword of fire." Before understanding the cause and effect, hearing "prepare the sword of fire" will never lead them to associate it with "destroying the Demon King."

Hermes didn't delve into the "strange feeling" and silently followed the "instructions from the outside world." He handed the firewood infused with divine blood to Lulu and the others, and ordered them to help start fires when distributing it to the people. In short, he was acting entirely according to the instructions left on the note by the leader (Asphie).

Distributing firewood is one of the guild's routine policies. When the residents of Orario, who are under the influence of "Charm," see this action, which is not out of the ordinary course of life, they do not stop it, nor do they even have any doubts.

"It means that even if you've suffered a crushing defeat... there's still a chance to turn things around..."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Luluni, Falgar, and the others who had finished their rationing work, slumping down with equally pained expressions.

Despite feeling somewhat apologetic to the clansmen who had unknowingly helped him complete his "scheme," Hermes, exhausted and drenched in sweat from his continued desperate struggle outside the game, couldn't help but smile knowingly.

"If Freya turns all the residents of Orario into obedient slaves, we are truly helpless."

The voice of Uranus echoed within the underground altar.

As long as all residents, adventurers, and gods are merely puppets obeying orders, no one can challenge Freya's victory.

The situation would then be that Hermes would become a completely obedient lackey of the Queen, showing no "sense of difference" to the current situation and losing the ability to think, while Hestia, isolated and helpless, would be unable to take any action, and Asphi would soon be arrested.

"However, Freya didn't do that. To be precise, she couldn't. Because Orario is the 'City of Heroes,' and if the city were to lose its original meaning, the Netherworld would exist in name only."

Turning all adventurers outside of the Freya Familia into puppets—is there a way to complete one of the three major adventurer quests: the extermination of the "Black Dragon"?

Is it possible to conquer the dungeon by sending out a group of slaves who only obey orders?

The answer is absolutely not.

Freya was also well aware that when all people were turned into puppets and the whole world was transformed into the "closed world" she desired, the "heroes" sought by the gods could not be born.

She is not an "evil god," but rather one of the gods who deeply loves the mortal realm.

To avoid the end of the world, she failed to completely distort it.

"Besides, destroying the lower realm... is tantamount to losing Bell Crane, whom we finally managed to acquire. Rather, Freya, who wants this boy to become a 'hero,' has no choice but to ensure that the 'City of Heroes' can continue to exist."

The distorted Orario we see now is Freya's conclusion.

People continue to live under limited freedom.

This "distortion" is the only breakthrough point that Uranus and his allies have a way to turn the tide of the battle.

"What exactly do you mean by that, Uranus?!"

The "bewitching" power had not completely dissipated, and Fels struggled painfully beneath the altar.

Even though he had lived for eight hundred years and was once a wise and exceptionally intelligent man, he was still powerless in the face of the "unknown" that he could not understand, and even now he could not comprehend Uranus's explanations and divine will.

As if a curse was in conflict with his soul, the hand he raised trembled incessantly.

"What do you want to do next!?"

Faced with this question, the old man gave an answer with great authority.

"Next, a goddess will reappear in her 'temple' in the heavens. She will increase her divine power enough to cover the entire land of Orario and destroy all evil."

"...!?"

"Her name is Hestia, and her power is the 'Eternal Sacred Flame,' also known as the 'Guardian Flame'—"

—Also, he is the god of the "altar" where flames are offered.

The old god, who had been keeping his eyes tightly closed, slowly opened them.

"She will turn Orario into a 'hearth'—transforming it into her 'altar'."

The "silence" agreed upon with the goddess has now come to an end.

He revealed divine eyes as vast as the heavens, and gently raised the corners of his mouth.

"It's time for your 'willfulness' to end, Freya."

Completely bewildered and powerless to change the situation, the black-clad magician was utterly stunned.

He gazed up at the deity before him, as if for the first time in eight hundred years, and whispered with such emotion:

"This is the first time I've ever seen you smile... Uranus."

*

"I'm freezing! Aa ...

We are in mid-air.

It is about three kilometers above the ground.

Hestia is located high in the sky, far from the ground, and is thus exposed to strong winds.

"Please don't move! Goddess Hestia!! I've only flown this high a few times so far!"

"Even if you say that! It's cold, it's cold!! It's almost winter, the season when everyone turns on their heaters! Look! I'm so cold my lips and teeth are chattering!! See!?"

"If that's the case, why did you still come dressed in your usual light clothing?!"

"That's not important! Just think how rare it is for me to be partners with you like this!"

"This kind of thing really isn't important at all, is it!?"

Amidst the commotion, Asphie, carrying Hestia, began to descend.

They were in the sky, where they could observe the floating clouds up close, for two reasons.

First, just in case.

The members of the surveillance team (Freya's Familia) must be in complete chaos now that their target (Hestia) has suddenly disappeared.

Even if they escaped to the skies unnoticed, the upgraded high-level adventurers still possessed enough vision to pose a threat. Because the Black Helmet (Hades Helmet) has the effect of "making the wearer and their equipment invisible," Asphie, who only carried a single-use magic item, was unable to make Hestia "invisible" as well.

That's why they can ascend to heights that even advanced adventurers can't see, using the clouds to conceal their forms.

Unfortunately, the air here is thin and the wind is cold. In addition, the goddess (Hestia)'s long black hair (twin tails) keeps hitting Astef's glasses, causing the two of them to be very emotionally unstable.

As for the second reason, it is—

"Goddess Hestia, we are about to land at the Tower of Babel!"

The towering "Tower of God" reaches straight into the sky.

The "Flying Shoes" spread its two pairs of wings wide and flew toward the top of the "Tower of Babel" in accordance with Asifi's declaration, preparing to land.

After a strange feeling of floating, Hestia, who had been holding onto Asphie tightly with her eyes closed, slowly opened her eyelids... and a cloudless late autumn night sky came into view.

The top floor of the Tower of Babel looks simple and unadorned.

Apart from several large stone slabs paving the ground, there were no railings nearby to prevent people from falling.

To be honest, I never thought anyone would come here.

All around were the starry sky that seemed within reach, and the incredibly cold, strong wind.

"Ah~~ Even though it was my suggestion to fly here, I'm so glad we arrived safely~"

"Judging from this... the Freya Familia doesn't seem to have noticed our arrival."

Hestia kept rubbing her arms with both hands, while Asphie looked towards the only entrance on the top floor.

The room on the top floor of the Tower of Babel currently belongs to Freya, and the Freya Familia resides there. Climbing all the way from the bottom of the tower to the top would definitely be discovered, so Hestia suggested coming here from the high altitude that only Asphie can walk on.

After Hestia was put down by Asphie, she looked around to observe her surroundings.

"The scenery is beautiful... but I don't have time to talk about that now."

The tower is surrounded by stunning nighttime views of Orario.