The night in Orario returned to its original silence. Stars scattered across the pitch-black canvas of the sky, as if the universe were trying to cover the scars left by the two pillars of light. A gentle breeze blew across the city rooftops, carrying a cool air that slipped through the stone ruins.
In the Abandoned Church, Venti sat cross-legged casually. In his right hand, the Anemo Archon, now God of Wind, held a crystal glass filled with top-quality dark red wine. It was one of the "souvenirs" he ironically took from Dionysus's underground storage room before the place was raided by the Ganesha Familia.
Venti swirled his glass slowly. The red liquid inside rippled elegantly, reflecting the silver moonlight hanging in the sky. He took a small sip, letting the intoxicating warm and sweet taste flow down his throat.
"It's been a month, it seems," murmured Venti to the night wind. His voice sounded very soft, almost like a whisper, yet laden with the weight of thousands of years.
One month. Time felt like it passed in the blink of an eye since he first woke up in that damp, narrow alley, under the gray sky of Orario mourning the fall of the Zeus and Hera Familia. He still clearly remembered the dizziness and disorientation of being forcibly pulled from his peaceful hibernation in Teyvat.
And now, in this new world that defined power literally, if he looked back, the number of threads of fate he had cut, burned, and rewoven in such a short time was truly beyond reason. The Orario he lived in now was no longer the Orario written in the original history script of this world.
His gaze drifted far toward the twinkling lights of the city center, recounting every major step he had taken on the chessboard of the gods.
First, his memory returned to the moment he met Alfia and Meteria. Two sisters from the Hera Familia abandoned by fate and forgotten by the world. In the history that was supposed to unfold, Meteria was destined to die in agony after giving birth, leaving behind eternal sorrow. Meanwhile, Alfia, the Silence feared by the whole world, was supposed to drown in guilt, gnawed by the curse of her own disease until she finally chose to die as a villain to become a 'stepping stone' for a new generation of heroes.
However, Venti rejected that cheap tragedy. Utilizing the fragment of Istaroth's power crystallized into the Arcanum of Time within his soul, he forcibly reversed the damage to Meteria's organs, pulling the woman from the brink of death. Then with the strains of his song, he realigned the harmony of the magic that had been destroying Alfia's body from the inside. Now, instead of becoming a bloodthirsty tyrant, the 'Monster' who was now Level 8 was more often seen wearing a dull apron in their makeshift kitchen. Turning a god of death into a family protector figure was his first masterpiece.
Venti sipped his wine again, a faint smile etched on his lips. His memory then drifted far beyond the city walls, continuously north, toward the frozen Dragon Valley.
The mission to rescue Aria from the jaws of the One-Eyed Black Dragon was the craziest and deadliest gamble he had ever taken in this world. He clearly remembered how agonizing the process was of melting his human physical vessel to manifest back into the true Barbatos. He had to use Temporal Severance—a forbidden technique to sever the space and time of that valley from the main flow of time of this world. While time was frozen, he tore the black crystal in the dragon's chest and snatched Aria out.
He could still feel the scorching heat that erased existence from the dragon's black flames when the monster woke up prematurely. If it weren't for his wind speed and his ability to manipulate time, he couldn't have saved Aria. But the gamble paid off. He brought the Great Spirit home, gave her a new form and identity as Sylphie, and freed her from the shackles of being the eternal battery of the apocalypse.
Then, the Archon's memory flew toward the Far East, crossing bloody waters to Hjaðningavíg Island.
Through a small wisp he left as an observer, he had torn down the hierarchy of the Eternal War that had taken root for hundreds of years. Venti remembered Dina and Vena. Two poor elf girls who, in the canon of history, were supposed to be tortured mercilessly by Goddess Alecto until their sanity shattered, only to be reborn as the Dis Sisters—psychopathic executioners of Evilus.
Instead of letting their pure souls rot in despair, Venti gave them the Anemo-Calyx. The soul-protecting crystal gave them the wind element and combat power equivalent to mid-tier adventurers, letting the two girls sever their own chains of slavery and destroy the Evilus forces on the front lines.
On the same island, his intervention birthed another miracle. He had hijacked two pillars of Orario's future power: Hedin Selland, the King of the White Elves, and Hogni Ragnar, the King of the Dark Elves. In their original fate, Freya manipulated the situation by spreading false information to both sides, which triggered an all-out war until all their people perished. After fighting for three days non-stop, Freya appeared before them. They realized that Freya had destroyed their kingdoms to "free" them from the burden of being kings. Finally, both chose to follow Freya to Orario and became executives in the Freya Familia.
However, Venti's wisp arrived when their pride was most shattered. He offered the Ego-Calyx, perfect Delusion prototypes that responded to their deepest desires. Transforming into an incarnation of furious Electro for Hedin and mad Pyro-Darkness for Hogni, the two former kings leveled the entire remaining Evilus fleet, discarded their sickening royal titles, and sailed across the ocean toward Orario. Now, they stood as pillars of sword and magic under the banner of Barbatos.
And lastly, the final puzzle piece of his family... Venti looked down, staring toward one of the large tents set up in the churchyard below him.
There, a little golden-haired girl was sleeping soundly, curled up comfortably in her mother's warm embrace. Ais Wallenstein. The girl who had previously spent thousands of years frozen inside the Frozen Garden of Talia, deep within the 60th Floor of the Dungeon. Venti recalled the report: Alfia and Aria descended through the glacier hell, facing a Corrupted Spirit—a labyrinth anomaly nursed directly by the Dungeon tumor's womb—and two Level 9 Juggernauts born from the labyrinth's wrath.
Ignoring injuries and bone-chilling cold, the mage and the Great Spirit leveled the depths of that labyrinth, shattered Celdia's eternal ice, and brought Ais back to the surface. The little girl who in the future was supposed to grow into an emotionless sword doll, had now returned to feel the warmth of the sunlight and had a complete family ready to protect her from all danger.
"Saving a fallen legend, severing time to steal a great spirit from a dragon's chest, erasing the birth of Evilus's dark executioners, hijacking the followers of the Goddess of Beauty, executing Dionysus in his own room, and reuniting a little hero with her mother," Venti laughed softly, swirling his wine glass. His laugh sounded very playful, yet possessed a resonance of absolute authority, blending with the surrounding nature. "I really have made a very beautiful mess this past month."
He knew his actions executing Dionysus and Ikelos had sent a clear message of terror. Evilus would definitely retreat and force Thanatos to hide like a mole inside Knossos. He let this quiet period roll on, giving time for the storm of panic in the Guild and Orario to subside before the next symphony began.
Venti finished the rest of his wine, feeling the warmth spreading in his stomach. "But, the pause in a song shouldn't be too long, or the audience will get bored and lose the rhythm."
Venti finished the rest of his wine. As an entity now bound to a human physical vessel granted by the laws of the Gekai world, he could feel the increasingly cold night air biting his skin.
...........................................................................…..
One week passed. Time flowed like a breath of spring wind promising new life.
That morning, the yard area of the Abandoned Church was filled with construction dust and the rhythmic sound of hammers striking wood and stone. Muscular workers from the Goibniu Familia were busy erecting high scaffolding on the side of the main building that was beginning to look sturdy. The construction of the official Barbatos Familia headquarters had only been going on for one week, and the process was still long.
In the more spacious outer area free of building debris, the morning routine was taking place with a very dynamic scene.
Hogni Ragnar, the former Dark Elf King, was training little Ais with a wooden sword. Although Hogni was known to have a crazy and bloodthirsty personality on the battlefield, right now he moved with an incredibly slow and restrained rhythm. He let Ais's wooden sword clash with his, patiently correcting the girl's stance—though occasionally muttering anxiously so as not to hurt the little girl—so Ais could hone her combat instincts.
On the other side of the field, the thud of magic echoed softly. Hedin Selland, the former White Elf King, was debating magic theory and simulation with Dina and Vena. Dina and Vena were heroes who led the rebellion of their own race, and they refused to bow to Hedin's arrogance.
"Your power distribution is too slow!" criticized Hedin sharply, parrying Vena's wind blade with a small lightning shield from his fingertips. "If you let the elemental flow center in your palms instead of spreading out, the monsters in the dungeon will cut your arms off before the magic explodes!"
"We know! This is only our fifth alignment attempt this morning, Hedin!" replied Vena just as fiercely, her red eyes burning with challenge.
"The theory does sound easy coming from someone who mastered lightning magic since birth," added Dina with an elegant yet sarcastic smile. She swung her hand, creating a vortex of air that unexpectedly swept dust right into Hedin's face. "But we control the wind, an element that demands freedom, not absolute confinement like your method."
Hedin clicked his tongue in annoyance while cleaning his glasses from the dust, but the corners of his lips twitched slightly, acknowledging the two elf girls' speed of adaptation.
Meanwhile, near the makeshift stove made of a stack of bricks in the church courtyard, Alfia stood with a simple apron covering her black dress. Her hands, which usually unleashed annihilation magic, were now very fluidly and with high precision slicing vegetables and stirring a pot filled with savory chicken broth. The fragrant aroma of spices and toasted wheat bread began to fill the fresh morning air.
Meteria, whose pregnancy had now entered its sixth month and was getting bigger, was strictly forbidden by Alfia from lifting even the smallest object. The platinum-haired woman was only allowed to sit nicely in a chair, while Sylphie (Aria) set the table and arranged the cutlery. The two occasionally chuckled seeing how protective and perfectionist Alfia was, even when she measured a sprinkle of salt into the pot like concocting a high-level potion.
Venti had just pulled back the fabric of his tent door and stepped out. He yawned widely, stretching both his arms upwards until a cracking sound was heard from his joints. His teal-colored eyes looked at the scene of his busy family with a very sincere smile.
However, before the god had a chance to step further to claim his breakfast portion, the sound of steady footsteps could be heard approaching.
Hedin Selland instantly stopped his debate with Dina and Vena. He turned around, his military instincts taking over immediately. His eyes narrowed sharply looking at the figure that appeared.
Alfia, who was holding a ladle, also turned her head. The air around her suddenly became very oppressive, making the Goibniu Familia workers on the roof break out in a cold sweat.
The guest was a middle-aged human man. He wore an official dark black uniform with a special crest on his chest—the administrative uniform of the Guild Headquarters. The man looked very tense. His eyes glanced towards Alfia, then towards Hedin and Hogni standing not far from there. Facing directly with a former Hera Familia executive, plus the intimidating aura from the elves around her, made the bureaucrat's courage almost collapse.
"What do you want here?" asked Alfia coldly, her voice as flat as ice yet cutting the air.
The messenger swallowed hard. In the DanMachi world, the Guild was the absolute authority governing adventurers. Communication was usually done through an Advisor assigned to each Familia. However, sending an executive messenger directly to a Familia's headquarters was a procedure that only happened for one thing: a Mandatory Quest.
"I-I apologize for interrupting your morning, Miss Alfia, God Barbatos," said the messenger with a trembling voice, bowing deeply. He reached into his leather bag and pulled out an envelope made of the highest quality parchment. The envelope was strongly sealed with blood-red wax stamped with the crest of a key surrounded by wings or decorative patterns.
"I bring official documents from the Management Guild," continued the messenger, offering the envelope with both hands straight forward.
Venti walked casually past Alfia, taking over the situation. He accepted the letter with a cheerful smile. "Wow, the Guild is already sending love letters this early in the morning? Is this an invitation to perform at the guild?"
The messenger bowed his head even deeper, not daring to meet Venti's eyes. "T-This is an official priority-scale summons, God Barbatos. This letter is signed and issued directly by the Head of the Guild, Sir Royman Mardeel."
Alfia's eyebrows instantly knitted sharply, creating deep wrinkles on her forehead. Royman Mardeel? That greedy elf ruling the Guild bureaucracy moved personally, bypassing the standard Advisors?
"Sir Royman conveyed a verbal message," the messenger continued his report quickly, as if wanting to leave the place immediately. "That there is a very urgent 'Special Official Mission' directly related to the interests and stability of Orario post the incidents that occurred recently. He summons both of you—God Barbatos as the Main God, and Miss Alfia—to be present directly in his office at the Guild Headquarters before noon today."
A special official mission. Handed directly by the highest leadership of the Guild.
In Orario's unwritten rules, a Familia whose power anomaly began to threaten the balance of the city—or in this case, had a Level 7 adventurer on their side—would always be closely monitored by the Guild. Summoning Venti and Alfia simultaneously was proof that the Guild could no longer ignore the existence of the Barbatos Familia.
"The message has been delivered. I ask permission to excuse myself, God Barbatos, Miss Alfia!" said the messenger hurriedly. After a stiff bow, he turned and half-ran leaving the church area.
A cold silence enveloped Venti and Alfia for a few moments. Hedin, Hogni, Dina, and Vena had stopped their activities completely, gathering behind their god.
"Royman Mardeel," hissed Alfia, breaking the silence with a tone of disgust. "That greedy elf is the definition of a dirty bureaucrat. The Guild never gives high-level mandatory missions to Familias that don't yet have a history of mass exploration, let alone in a secretive manner like this. If they went as far as bypassing standard procedures, this mission must be highly classified. Perhaps not even related to the dungeon. Someone is trying to test our strength, or they have dirt they can't handle themselves, Venti."
Venti laughed softly. His laugh did not imply worry, but anticipation for an interesting game of intrigue. He broke the red wax seal with a single elegant flick of his thumb.
"Testing the depth of our waters, huh? In that case, let's see how big a bait they dare to throw into our pond," said Venti while folding the letter back and storing it inside his cloak.
The God of Wind turned around, looking at his family now standing in a vigilant formation. He clapped his hands once, dispelling the tension of that morning.
"Get ready, Alfia. Hedin, bring Your magic staff and come with us, ordinary clothes will suffice, we're not going to attend a dance party," ordered Venti with a casual smile.
Even though Venti did not radiate the stiff and authoritarian leader aura like a king at all, there was something in the absolute freedom of his tone that made everyone around him obey without argument. Behind the young man's playful face, the thousands of years of wisdom of the Wind of Freedom felt like it bound them with comfort.
"Hogni, Dina, Vena, you guys guard this place with Aria. Make sure Meteria and Ais are safe while we are gone," he continued. Venti looked toward the city center, letting the morning breeze sweep his twin-braided hair. "It seems our peaceful rest period has officially ended. Let's go meet that bureaucrat elf."
The wind suddenly blew hard, blowing construction dust and leaves into the air, becoming a natural sign that the grand stage would soon be shaken again by the breath of an unstoppable storm.
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