The night had deepened over the Labyrinth City of Orario, bringing with it a cold wind that dampened the remnants of euphoria from the Great Plains. The Orariopiad festival, which brought together two generations of heroes, had concluded peacefully, leaving tens of thousands of adventurers fast asleep in satisfying exhaustion. On the streets, only the faint sounds of the Ganesha Familia patrols maintaining the city's security could be heard.
However, behind the sturdy walls of Hearth Manor—the headquarters of the Hestia Familia—the silence of the night harbored a conversation that was far from over.
In a closed meeting room layered with Vena's soundproof wind magic, five entities from the past gathered. The light of the magic stone lamp in the center of the table glowed softly, illuminating the faces that had just carved new history in this timeline.
Zald sat leaning back in a large wooden chair, staring at the broken hilt of his sword, Grattor, with a calculating gaze. By his side, the Elf sisters, Dina and Vena, stood tall with their Level 5 auras now fully stabilized. Alfia sat with perfect, elegant posture, sipping warm jasmine tea from her porcelain cup without much expression, though her eyes stared sharply at the green-cloaked youth at the end of the table.
Venti placed his wooden lyre on the table. The casual tone that usually accompanied every pluck of its strings had vanished, replaced by a silence that made the air in the room feel a bit denser.
The Wind God rested his chin on his hand, sweeping his gaze over his four foster children.
"Since the Orariopiad stage has been officially closed," Venti opened the conversation, his voice calm yet carrying a weight that made Zald tear his gaze away from his sword hilt. "That means our vacation in this future timeline has almost reached its limit. We have to prepare to go home."
Alfia put down her teacup slowly. "The right decision. Meteria has been waiting at home for too long. Leaving her with that Elf, even though Sylphie and those bratty kids are at the base, doesn't put my mind at ease at all."
"True," Venti smiled faintly. "But, before we really pack our things and return to our Timeline, I have a very good farewell plan. And this plan... depends entirely on your decision."
Seeing their usually joking god now wearing a serious expression, the four main pillars of the Familia fell silent in confusion. Zald narrowed his eyes, while Dina and Vena exchanged glances with furrowed brows.
"What do you mean, Venti?" asked Alfia. Her tone of voice cooled, her instincts instantly detecting that this strange god was planning something incredibly reckless.
Venti leaned forward, looking straight into Alfia's eyes.
"Let's kidnap Aria from this timeline," Venti said casually, as if he had just invited them to go buy apples at the market. "Right from within the clutches of the One-Eyed Black Dragon."
Absolute silence instantly choked the room.
Dina and Vena's eyes widened so much they almost lost their breath. Zald froze in his seat, his grip on Grattor's hilt nearly crushing the wood of the chair. Alfia, who always maintained her absolute composure, now looked at Venti with unconcealed shock.
Alfia knew exactly what kind of madness Venti was talking about. In their original timeline, Venti had indeed recklessly infiltrated the Dragon Valley alone to save Aria. Even though he successfully tricked the dragon, the reckless act was extremely risky and caused their god to return home completely exhausted.
"You must be crazy," growled Zald, his voice trembling as he held back the pressure of past memories.
"If this plan goes smoothly," Venti continued, ignoring their shock, "the Orario in this timeline—Bell, Leon, Ottar, and the others—won't have to face that black-winged apocalypse in a state of despair. We will pull the core of its power from the roots." The Wind God paused, then added in a flat tone, "But if this plan fails... we will be the ones who have to face the dragon directly before it's time."
That statement was like a sledgehammer smashing their common sense.
Venti then shifted his gaze, staring intently into Alfia's heterochromatic eyes.
"Especially you, Alfia," said Venti, the corners of his lips turning up slightly. "When I saved Aria back in our timeline, weren't you furious because I went to the Dragon Valley alone without saying goodbye to you?"
Alfia's body tensed slightly. Remembering those times, when she had to wait for seven days in fear of losing the god who had given her healing and a home, made her chest feel tight.
"So, how about you come with me this time?" offered Venti. "Don't worry, I promise I won't use the reckless method that exhausted me like before. I have memorized the exact coordinates of its anatomy. If we move quietly and quickly, we can steal Aria without waking that lizard up completely."
Alfia's analytical brain spun at maximum speed. She suppressed her emotions and returned to rationality.
"That doesn't make sense," Alfia argued sharply. "That dragon uses the essence of Aria's spirit as a battery and a storm seal in its chest. If you don't use your power to hold back its chain reaction, what will happen to the wind seal in the Dragon Valley when Aria's body is pulled out? The dragon will wake up immediately and level the northern continent that very second, and the Calamity will appear in the Gekai."
Hearing that logical argument, Venti's smile only grew wider. He reached into his green cloak and placed a container engraved with ancient hieroglyphs onto the table. Inside the container, a small golden-green wind vortex swirled very calmly, radiating a highly dense resonance of pure spirit energy.
"I have already taken that into account," Venti answered casually. He tapped the container. "Before we crossed to the future Timeline and came to this future, I had a long talk with Sylphie. She explained that the seal in the Dragon Valley was created passively because the OEBD is constantly trying to swallow her main essence."
Venti pushed the container to the center of the table. "Aria has separated a bit of her pure spirit essence and gave it to me. We don't need to break the dragon's seal. We just need to swap the Aria in this timeline with this essence as a decoy bait. As long as the dragon keeps consuming this essence, it will remain asleep thinking its battery is still there, while we take the real Aria away."
That highly organized and well-planned technical explanation left Alfia speechless. This was not a suicide mission, but a high-level heist operation that made perfect sense if executed with flawless precision.
However, before Alfia could respond, Zald's heavy voice cut through the silence.
"I refuse."
All eyes turned to the Gluttony. Zald sat upright, his heavily scarred face looking incredibly stern.
"I will not go to the Dragon Valley," Zald stated firmly. He glanced at the shattered remains of his red sword. "I know my limits very well. The chasm between Level 9 and the One-Eyed Black Dragon is not something that can be bridged by spirit alone. Even the Empress of the Hera Familia, who was at the absolute peak of Level 9, died miserably from just one breath of that dragon."
Zald looked at Venti with the gaze of a veteran who deeply understood the meaning of a burden on the battlefield.
"If your heist plan goes smoothly, that's good. But if the situation worsens and the dragon wakes up... my presence there will only be a burden to you and Alfia. I will not allow myself to be the reason for your failure." Zald clenched his fists tightly. "I can feel that I am very close to the boundary wall of Level 8. During our remaining time in this future, I prefer to descend into the depths of the Dungeon alone. I will break down my level limit there."
Hearing Zald's honesty and determination, Dina and Vena exchanged glances. The Elf twins then stepped forward and bowed their heads deeply before Venti.
"We also beg your forgiveness, Lord Venti," Dina said softly yet firmly. "We both must also refuse to go to the Dragon Valley."
"Why?" asked Alfia flatly, glaring sharply at the two Elf sisters.
Vena raised her head, her eyes radiating a cold flash of hostility. "Because we have unfinished business on the surface of this city. The soul traces of our original selves in this timeline—the brainwashed Dis Sisters—keep screaming for justice. We want to find Goddess Alecto and exact revenge for what she did to us in this timeline."
Venti didn't look surprised at all. As if he had predicted their answers from the start, he only smiled understandingly and leaned his back against his chair.
"As I thought," Venti said, looking at Zald, Dina, and Vena in turn. "The three of you refuse."
Venti picked up his lyre and plucked one string, letting the note echo in the room. "I approve. Finish what you want to settle before we go home."
Venti turned to Zald. "For you, Zald. Please go down into the Dungeon and reach Level 8. Besides that, since Grattor was destroyed during the Orariopiad, I took the time to speak privately with God Goibniu. If you want to forge a new weapon, a Greatsword from dragon bone or holy metal, go see him. He is already waiting for your order."
Zald fell silent for a moment, staring intently at Venti. He always appreciated how his god meticulously planned all his combat needs. The burly man then nodded firmly. "I understand. Thank you, Venti. I will use that opportunity as best as I can."
Venti then shifted his gaze to the Elf sisters. "And for the two of you, Dina, Vena. Regarding Goddess Alecto..."
Venti rested his chin on his hand, his eyes shining with a sharp glint of intelligence. "You must be confused, right? Based on the information you asked for and extracted from Asfi and Ryuu Lion, public records state that Alecto was successfully defeated seven years ago and has been sent back to Tenkai (Heaven). That is why you cannot find her whereabouts."
Dina nodded quickly. "That's right, Lord. We have asked the people who fought our other selves in this timeline, like Ryuu Lion and Asfi. They said that Alecto has already been sent back to Tenkai. If she is in fact still here, it means someone is manipulating that information."
"Someone is indeed manipulating it," Venti confirmed casually. "Alecto was never sent back to Tenkai. That goddess of madness is still in Orario, right beneath our feet. She is being locked up and detained in the Guild's absolute isolation secret prison."
Dina and Vena's expressions hardened instantly. On the other hand, Alfia only narrowed her eyes coldly, immediately realizing that hiding information right under the nose of all of Orario required high-level authority manipulation.
"How could you get such information, Venti?" probed Alfia suspiciously. "Even though you are a god, the Guild would never open their mouths about information to outsiders."
Venti chuckled softly, his signature laugh chasing away the tension in the room.
"It's simple. I went directly to speak privately with Ganesha," Venti answered casually. "You know yourself, Ganesha is the Guild's strongest shield and the god who handles detention matters. I just explained a bit about your 'unique situation' to him and convinced him that solving the root of the Alecto problem is for the sake of your inner peace and souls. And because Ganesha is Ganesha... well, he cried tears of emotion hearing your story and immediately gave me the prison's coordinates."
Dina and Vena were left speechless. Their god truly overturned the Guild's strict rules just by chatting.
"Use your time well, Dina, Vena. Find her, and finish what you must finish," Venti commanded gently.
"Settle your own business in this timeline with your own hands."
The two Elf sisters clenched their fists in front of their chests, bowing deeply. "Thank you for this opportunity, Lord Venti."
Now, the room had divided its paths. Zald would descend into the depths of the Dungeon, while the Elf sisters would visit the Guild's holding cell.
Venti's gaze finally anchored back on the figure in the black dress across the table.
"So," Venti smiled challenging. "The division of tasks is very clear. What about you, Miss Silence? Are you ready to accompany a foolish bard sneaking into a dragon's lair?"
Alfia closed her heterochromatic eyes for a moment. Memories of the seven days of agonizing waiting in the old church flashed back. She opened her eyes, looking at Venti with an indisputable firmness.
Alfia stared at Venti intently, then nodded slowly. "I understand. I will go with you."
Venti laughed crisply, a pure and sincere laugh. He knew Alfia wasn't just making threats; the woman would truly risk her life to protect what was important to her.
"In that case, this will be a very thrilling infiltration mission," Venti replied as he stood up from his chair. He grabbed Aria's spirit essence and tucked it away into his cloak.
That night, under the deeply sleeping Orario sky post-festival, the five people had set their final goals. Three different paths lay before them, each leading to a final task before they went home.
And for Venti and Alfia, the night wind blowing from the northern mountains seemed to whisper a calling song. The One-Eyed Black Dragon slept there, awaiting the arrival of the two entities who would steal its most precious treasure. An ultimate stage awaited.
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