Immediately after Roy released the monsters, an angry voice echoed through the hall.
"Hey, hey! Look what you've done. Do you have any idea how much trouble we went through to get those here?"
Dix Perdix entered the hall with his top executives, staring coldly at the towering figure. The Man-made Labyrinth was large enough for the Icelos and Thanatos Familias to operate comfortably. This hall served as the Icelos Familia's primary storage for monsters and supplies; seeing their "goods" set free was a painful blow, especially since they hadn't been having an easy time lately.
Ever since they were caught using Spirit Soldiers, the Guild had officially designated them as part of the Dark Sect. They could no longer appear openly on the surface. Though they lived mostly in the labyrinth, being cut off from the outside world was stifling. To have someone release their cargo while they were already feeling the heat made the Icelos members' killing intent skyrocket.
From another entrance, a team from the Thanatos Familia arrived. Led by Olivas Chili—known as the "White-Haired Demon"—the group was even larger and radiated a stronger aura. They surrounded the massive intruder.
"Die!"
Dix was the first to strike. He blurred forward, his Level 5 attributes fully engaged as his blood-red spear lunged toward the intruder's head. The surrounding members wore sneering grins—monsters could always be recaptured; for now, they wanted to vent their rage. But a second later, their expressions froze.
At the critical moment, the Ottar puppet moved.
Facing Dix's fierce attack, Ottar's massive hand reached out and gripped the spear shaft just below the tip. The movement was effortless and leisurely. Dix tried to yank the spear back, pulling with all his might, but found the weapon fixed as if caught in a steel vise. Even at Level 5, he couldn't budge the man an inch.
"What is wrong with this guy?! Quit hiding and show your face!" Infuriated, Dix roared. Using the spear for leverage, he flipped his body and delivered a powerful kick toward the intruder's head.
Boom!
Ottar caught the kick with his free hand. The heavy impact created a violent gust of wind that blew back the puppet's hood, revealing a face that no one in either Familia expected to see.
When he saw that expressionless face, Dix's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets. A deathly silence fell over the room. After what felt like an eternity, someone's voice trembled:
"That's... the 'Warlord,' isn't it?"
No kidding! everyone screamed internally. In all of Orario, who wouldn't recognize that man? The question was: why was Ottar here? Wasn't the Freya Familia supposed to be on an expedition?
Boom!
Roy didn't care about their confusion. Controlling the Ottar puppet, he lunged forward, grabbed Dix by the head, and slammed him into the floor. The terrifying force sent cracks spiderwebbing through the ground for over ten meters.
Dix, who usually held his own against Ryu, couldn't even react. A black shadow flashed, and his consciousness vanished as his head was buried in the floor. A faint "crack" echoed—Ottar's grip was so strong it nearly crushed Dix's skull. The captain was instantly rendered semi-conscious.
A Level 5 adventurer killed in one move! Such was the terrifying gap between Level 5 and Level 7. In an instant, cold sweat broke out on everyone present. There was no doubt: this was Ottar, the "Warlord."
"Hoo..."
The Ottar puppet exhaled, the breath rolling out like steam. Its eyes were blood-red, and the pressure it radiated was bone-chilling. Its cold gaze swept across the crowd. That indifferent expression seemed to say: I have you hundreds of people surrounded.
"RUN! RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!!"
The members of the Thanatos and Icelos Familias turned pale. Wishing they had been born with extra legs, they fled toward the tunnels with many times the speed they had arrived. As for their nominal leader, Dix, no one cared if he lived or died.
At this stage, Level 7 Ottar was the ultimate power. Even with hundreds of adventurers, including several Level 3s, 4s, and even Level 5 leaders, no one dared face him.
The Ottar puppet lunged forward like a harvester through wheat, slaughtering the Dark Sect members. Head after head flew into the air. Before this "Strongest" being, a Level 5 was no different from a Level 1—just "small fry" to be killed in a single strike.
While it was the Thanatos Familia that plotted against Goddess Astraea, Roy's hatred for the Icelos Familia was equal. Without these bastards distracting everyone, Astraea wouldn't have fallen into the trap.
The Puppet Summoning Card generates a duplicate based on data from someone Roy has fought. Having used a Level 7 Trial Card to clash with a full-power Ottar once before, this puppet possessed Ottar's attributes, development abilities, skills, and magic from that moment. While it likely only held 70% of the original's total arsenal (since Ottar surely had unused trump cards), it was more than enough for the Dark Sect.
In the blink of an eye, over a hundred adventurers lay dead. The hall and tunnels became a slaughterhouse, floor-to-ceiling in blood and corpses. The thick scent of iron was nauseating. The Dark Sect members had no room to fight back; they could only scream and beg for mercy before being silenced.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A group of gathered mages unleashed their spells, dozens of magical strikes slamming into the Boar-man. When the smoke cleared, Ottar was unscathed! He tanked the attacks and continued the slaughter. The name "Warlord" was well-earned.
"Mercy of the silver moon, golden fields, I command my body to be the fighting boar. Carrying the divine will of the Goddess, charge forward!"
The Ottar puppet began to chant. The broadsword in its hand erupted in a brilliant, golden light that illuminated the dark hall. Feeling the terrifying aura behind them, the Dark Sect members felt their hearts sink into an abyss of despair.
"Hildis Vini!"
As the words fell, the puppet swung the massive sword. A magnificent golden crescent of energy swept through the hall like a scythe. It was unstoppable; the blade-light bisected over a hundred men at the waist. Screams were cut short as blood and limbs filled the air.
Boom!
The strike left a deep, jagged scar across the Orichalcum walls. In less than twenty minutes, the puppet had killed at least six hundred people—averaging one kill every two seconds. Given enough time, it could have wiped out the entire labyrinth.
But the summoning duration had ten seconds left. The puppet stopped; the broadsword Roy gave it had already shattered from the release of that magic. Before vanishing, it had one final task. The puppet opened the bottle of Ghost Poison, tilted it, and poured the dark purple liquid onto the floor. It evaporated instantly, colorless and odorless. Then, the puppet's body dissolved into nothingness.
Seven or eight hours later, silence reclaimed the labyrinth. The terrified survivors cautiously returned to the hall only after Barca Perdix repeatedly assured them that Ottar was gone.
"Where's the Warlord?" "I don't know!" "He must have left somehow."
As the Orichalcum gates opened, the Dark Sect members walked in with trembling legs. They saw a landscape of mangled corpses; it looked like a massacre by a high-level monster. They had lost so many people.
"Phew..."
Relieved not to see Ottar, they finally let their guard down. But before they could truly relax, a strange silence fell. People suddenly froze as if playing a game of musical statues.
"AAAAAAAAAGH!!"
A piercing scream erupted. Starting with those of the lowest level, their faces swelled, their skin turned a sickly purple-red, and their bodies bloated to several times their size. With a wet Pop!, they exploded into a pool of foul-smelling pus. No one below Level 5 could escape. The poison gas began to spread rapidly throughout the Man-made Labyrinth.
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Danmachi : Starting with an Elf (400 Chapter – Ongoing)
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