Six days later on the 18th floor.

“… Fuck, the place was destroyed,” Cirrus said, looking at his hideout destroyed.

“I told you to keep your stuff in your shadow.” Nox said.

“Sorry I didn’t have time to work on it,” said Eupheme. “Been busy, you know.”

“Haaa… well, guess we should get to work like old times, huh Euphe, Nox.”

“Yosh!! Just like old times!"

“Let's get to it! I wanna sleep on something nice!”

While Cirrus, Eupheme, and Nox worked on the hideout, Ai was helping the Loki Familia with stuff.

By nighttime, they had finished the hideout and were sleeping comfortably until the Goliaths roared.

“…Eh…"

"Guess someone came down to the 18th floor." Eupheme said.

"Hmm... Well hope their okay."

 

The next morning.

“…”

Sitting out on a cliff-side overlooking the Loki Camp, Cirrus, Nox, and Eupheme look out over the camp.

“To think I would meet you two together… what luck that my apprentice would party with her,” said Cirrus.

“I’m amazed to, to think that kid would be in the city party up with our little Lili… are you gonna say hello?” said Nox.

“… No, I think we should wait to see if he finds me… but I guess staying here any longer would eventually expose us far too early.”

“That kid must be important for you to avoid him, Cirrus?” said Eupheme, coming to sit next to him.

“A bit… I met him when he was a boy and I promised him something should he ever find me again and, well, I rather not make it so damn easy for him.”

“Hmm… shall I go down and check him out since you can't go down and Ai doesn’t know?”

“Sure thing. I’ll get back to work.”

Nighttime, Eupheme returned as the Loki Familia was sitting around a campfire.

“Well, he’s a kind kid plus aside from your apprentice he even partied up with the unpolished gem of the Hephaestus Familia, Welf Crozzo,” Eupheme said.

“Crozzo… as in those Crozzo?”

“The very same Magic Sword Smiths of fame, but unlucky for Bell that he hates Magic Swords but ironically loves your Bio-Weapons.”

“Does he now? So I have a fan of my work, huh?”

“You have many. Every smith even me tries to aspire to reach your level, but most of them don’t realize it wasn’t just smithing that let you reach such heights…”

“Have you expanded your knowledge?”

“I have, going to The Library to read up on a wide range of crafting arts such as Alchemy and the like, but it is slow going.”

“One step at a time… and before you know it, you’ll get there.”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Goliaths roar again.

“Haa.. it needs to get killed soon.”

“Well, I’m going to go to bed. Don’t stay up too late.”

 

A bit later, in the Main Tent of the Loki Familia.

“Woooow! Imagine my surprise to find the Loki Familia to be the ones to have saved Bell, of all people!” said Hermes.

“I’ve heard of gods issuing quests to save their followers but…” said Tione.

“Never seen’em come into The Dungeon to do it themselves before…” said Gareth.

“Pardon me, Lord Hermes, while I try to wrap my head around this. You’re saying you came all the way down here to the 18th floor… to save Bell Cranel and his party?” said Finn.

“That’s exactly it, my dear Braver. As part of a request from Hestia. I have the official quest form here.”

Asfi noticed Ais’s gaze and nodded to her, and she nodded in response.

“With permission, we’d like to stay in your camp. We would also like to join you on your return to the surface, if at all possible.”

“For your safety?”

“Glad we're both on the same page! We were in such a rush we didn’t bring any camping provisions. We could always stay in the Rogue Town, Rivira I suppose…”

“Argonaut, and they would hate it there.” Said Tiona.

“Be quiet,” Tione said.

“Food-wise, we’ll figure something out for ourselves. Should our presence here cause you to incur any expenses, my Familia will foot the bill upon arrival on the surface? If you wish, I can also provide some remuneration.”

“A rather generous offer for a man who’s merely here to carry out a quest,” Gareth said.

“Hahaha… well.” His eyes grew dull and deeper. “I had Hephaestus ask me personally to look after Welf as well… you know?”

Everyone in the room went silent, as they knew he had just played them into getting what he wanted.

“I know you must all be tired after your long expedition… but I hope you’ll consider.”

“Lord Hermes, we were willing to agree to your terms with the start. There’s no need to haggle.” Finn said.

“Oh, you're too kind! You have my utmost thanks. Oh yes! A bit late on my part, but congratulations on a successful expedition. At least I assume it was one?”

“Fortunately, we didn’t suffer any casualties.”

“Most impressive! We expected no less from the Loki Familia!” suddenly his expression and tone completely shift, those once dull deep eyes now had an uncanny sharpness to them. “So discover anything on the 59th floor?”

His words silenced all of them.

“As Loki’s followers, we are not required to disclose Familia matters to gods with questionable intentions.”

Hermes glanced at Finn with a face that said he won’t say anything.

“Right you are! I do apologize. You’re simply the first Familia since Zeus to step a foot there and curiosity got the best of me! Did I forget to mention I’ve entered an alliance with Loki and Dionysus, you see? We’re all victims of the same crimes here. Those vibrantly colored monsters, Remnants of Evilus, you know.”

“I’m afraid we’ll have to confirm this with our goddess before taking you at your word… Lord Hermes.”

“But of course. In that case, feel free to ignore what I’m about to tell you right now. Braver, Finn Deimne you may have already noticed, but there is another entrance to The Dungeon besides the one we know beneath Babel. Therefore, we were hoping for you to perform a systematic search throughout Orario upon returning to the surface. Oh, by the way, we will inform Cirrus of this. After all, should you get to the group first well its best if you inform him and let him do the work. He works well alone.” He said with an even sharper glare.

“We’ll keep that in mind, Lord Hermes.”

“Well, that’s all! Come Asfi! I’m sure we can get Ai to show us to him!”

Hermes and Asfi leave the tents, the Loki Familia took a breath of relief.

“Hey captain, what does he mean by Cirrus works well alone?” asked Tione. “Isn’t he always with his wife?”

“That is not for me to answer, but given his wits, I’m sure he already knows of his Familia’s death, his words proved that much.”

“So he’s coming along when we find the enemy's base?” said Tiona.

“Yes.” said Riveria. “and hopefully we don’t see his younger years.”

 

Back at Cirrus’s hideout.

“So this is where you were, hmm! A good place to hide out! A good view that blends into the floor!” Hermes said admiring the hideout.

“Are you here to give me an update on something, Hermes?” Cirrus said, working more on his hideout.

“Why yes, I am!”

Hermes took a seat and explained to him the situation, there is another entrance to the dungeon than just Babel.

“That makes sense. It explains how Alfia managed to slip through the barrier we made around Babel.”

“Yup! So what do you plan on doing while the Loki Familia looks for it?”

“… Probably just fight monsters for now to regain my edge. It's been so long since I had to kill a monster and not another person trying to do some shady businesses.”

“Hm! It’ll be fun!” said Ai.

“By the way, why are you here? Asfi could have easily delivered me this information?”

“Well, I had other- “

“It was for Bell, wasn’t it?”

“… Quick as always. How did you know?”

“You were always Zeus’s go-to god for anything needed to be done. I’m sure you’re the sole reason Hera hasn’t tracked him down, given how fucking terrifyingly talented she is.”

“Why thank you for the compliment, but I can't deny nor confirm that, after all, you are her grandson.” He said with slightly sharp eyes.

“You know she left long ago with Aphrodite; I have all of her stuff at my house in Yamato when Poseidon came over for a visit... And then stay."

“Ah… but still! I will not say anything on that matter!”

“So what is Zeus having you do for Bell?”

“Simply watching over him, but it was a bit cruel to fake his death.”

“I see… well, I would say try not to meddle with him, but knowing you, it fell on deaf ears.”

He simply made a smile.

"So... I have some thing to inform you regarding the Dungeon."