Volume 11 : PROLOGUE

Seated in an open carriage, four adventurers journeyed towards their next destination under the pleasant clear sky. All of them were busy with their own thing.

One of them, a staff-wielding mage, was reading and practicing reciting spells from a summoning spell book. Beside her, her companion meticulously adjusted the strings of a harp.

The third member, with fiery red hairs, lounged with his eyes closed, letting the cool breeze brush against his bare shoulder.

Meanwhile, the most energetic of them was the boy spreading out his arsenal of weapons on the carriage floor to check on their condition as the cart moved at its slow pace.

Then, without warning, the boy jolted upright. His eyes widened as he pointed toward the horizon.

“Look at that!” Natsu gasped, his voice barely above a whisper, yet filled with raw amazement.

From the distant edge of the world, a streak of brilliant golden light surged upward, piercing through the heavens like a celestial pillar.

It was so vast, so impossibly radiant, that it seemed to stretch beyond the sky itself. Perhaps even beyond the infinite outer space.

Though the distance must have been immense —kingdoms, and maybe even oceans apart. The sheer size of the phenomenon made it impossible for anyone not to notice it.

“What is that light? Prometheus?” Natsu asked his contracted god.

A shiver ran down Akane’s spine, as the spell book from her hand slipped without her noticing.

“Orphelia is that…” Akane asked, gripping the edge of her seat as unease crawled up her skin.

Orphelia, lost in thought, spoke softly. “Another one of us has returned.”

Akane’s and Natsu’s minds drifted back to the first occurrence of pillar of light —Aphrodite.

“And this time, it was Freya of all people.” Prometheus added.

Natsu and Akane turned to their respective contract gods, and from their solemn expressions, they knew they weren’t playing a joke.

“Did something happen to Homura?” Natsu questioned, his concern growing.

“But that would mean the class president… he’s…” Akane trailed off.

They all knew Freya was the most powerful among the reincarnated gods with the highest amount of divine powers.

And even Homura’s unique skill allowed him to put anyone under his hypnotic control.

It could be to the level where if Homura wanted he could even bend entire kingdoms to his will, should he choose. And turn all the people into fanatics to hunt his enemies like heretics.

Natsu clenched his fist. “Who could do that?” His voice was tight with frustration.

Homura may not have been his friend, but he was still his classmate. The thought of something out there powerful enough to eliminate someone like him left an unsettling weight on his chest.

“The others won’t even tell us what happened when we tried reaching out after Yumiko's disappearance.” Akane added feeling lost at the loss of another classmate.

A heavy silence settled over them. The rhythmic clatter of the carriage wheels was the only sound they heard. But it lasted only for a little while.

Natsu exhaled sharply, determination burning in his eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I won’t let anything happen to us. We’ll get stronger. We’ll become SS-rank adventurers, no matter what. That’s why we’re heading southeast —to conquer more dungeons, and to push our limits. And once we do, we’ll find out who’s behind all of this.”

Akane looked at Natsu, then at Ophelia. Her goddess met her gaze with an assuring nod.

“…Right.” Akane said, her voice steadier now.

“Sounds like a plan.” Prometheus agreed, a faint smirk rising on his lips.

He was relieved Natsu hadn’t lost focus. He was channeling his rage into something productive.

Orphelia reached for her harp. Her fingers danced over the strings, and a soft, enchanting melody filled the air. The music seeped into their minds, calming the uneasiness within their hearts.

As the melody played on, the four adventurers closed their eyes —if only for a moment allowing themselves a fleeting moment of peace before the long road ahead.

◇◇◇

A rising pillar of light filled the underground chamber, casting long shadows over the intricate web of blueprints pinned haphazardly across the stone walls. The scent of molten magetite and burning coal lingered in the air, mixing with the rhythmic hum of machinery that never stopped moving.

“So, another one of us is gone. It doesn’t matter. Soon, our project will be complete and then, the world will finally recognize our supremacy.”

A boy sat near his workstation, his sharp gaze fixed on the intricate blueprints spread across the walls—schematics of what he believed to be a true magical engineering marvel.

“You did well in concealing this dwarf kingdom from the world.” a voice praised him. “When we return, we’ll be stronger than ever and restore the dwarve’s former glory once and for all.”

Kanata Aizawa turned, his sharp eyes gleaming with unshakable conviction. And behind him, the hulking frame of Hephaestus —his contracted god, stood like a statue.

“Yes, I can’t wait for the prototype to be complete. They have no idea what’s coming for them.”

◇◇◇

“So, Freya is gone too.” Artemis said, her tone unaffected as if she were commenting on something as mundane as the weather.

Her contract human partner Hiori Takatori stood beside her without speaking a word. Her dark eyes focused on the distant pillar of radiant light, a manifestation of the departure of a god from this world.

They were right now on top of a tree hunting monsters on an unchartered island that did not exist on any map in this world and they only came to know about this by pure chance.

But the peculiar natives there simply called it ―the Star Island.

“So, the class president lost.”

“Sometimes, even hunters can become the hunted if they are not careful. Besides, he didn’t trust any of us enough to ask for help and has been acting deranged since that devil’s appearance. Wait! doesn’t that bring the count down by three.” Artemis asked as if spreading some joyous news.

“You are forgetting one.”

“Oh! So, you do remember, even if you don’t like talking about it. Athena is still in this world, but there’s been no word of her contracted human girl. Even if she isn’t dead. She might have just decided to forget everything and could be living the ignorant life of a commoner. Sometimes I even feel bad for Athena for being abandoned by her partner like this.”

“She is alive, and that is enough.” Hiori said.

“I really don’t know what’s going on between you two. You put on an act of always avoiding her. Even if she inherited Athena's unique skill, without enough divine energy, she won’t be able to use it.” Artemis scoffed.

“Let’s get back to hunting. Right now, we should focus on the task of protecting the Star Island and uncovering its secret. And soon I will be strong enough to put an arrow through the head of that devil. And all those classmates of mine who betrayed us.”

Hiroi’s grip tightened on the bow, the wood nearly cracking under the strain.

The sorrow and anger twisted inside her, remembering the past when she couldn’t do anything when she and her classmates were being attacked by the devil.

“Alright, I will get you a new bow again.” Artemis did not like to see Hiori rattled like this.

But she also couldn't suppress her amusement at seeing how focused her contracted human was on getting stronger to carry out her revenge. She eagerly looked forward to the day when Hiori could finally get the chance to hunt down her enemies.

◇◇◇

“Prince, here’s the report from the villagers who went to scout on the condition of the mines in the nearby borderlands.” Elsie said, entering Kenta’s room with a large, heavy file in her hands.

Kenta, who had been seated at his desk, looked up at her with a casual expression. He took the file from her, but the moment his fingers brushed the edge, a surge of energy pulsed through the room. His eyes instinctively shot to the window.

A massive pillar of light rose from the horizon, slicing through the sky like a blade. Its brilliance was blinding, almost overwhelming, and for a moment, Kenta could do nothing but stare at it in stunned silence.

Elsie, too, had been caught off guard. Her face paled as she followed the price’s shocked gaze. “What’s that… prince?”

Kenta didn’t answer right away. And once the light faded completely in the empty sky.

“I am not sure.” Kenta feigned ignorance, but his face twisted with barely contained anger.

The plan had always been to capture Freya, nothing more. Yet, this was far beyond his expectations.

‘Where in the hell are you Erebus?’ Kenta muttered under his breath.

◇◇◇

“…Five. Six. Seven… and ten origin stones." Erebus picked up the last piece of the crude black stone, a satisfied smile spreading across his face as he marveled at the amount he had gathered.

Though still in its raw form, the stones would require refinement, but for now, they were more than enough to serve his purpose.

His satisfaction quickly faded, as he glanced around the empty chamber in the hidden dungeon, once a prison to a goddess.

"Well, it’s a loss to lose Freya like this.” Erebus muttered, a hint of frustration creeping into his voice. “And I wasn’t even there to witness how entertaining it would have been to watch two reincarnates fighting to their deaths.”

His gaze turned back to the pile of origin stones.

“So, somehow Athena’s partner was able to defeat Freya’s contractor after returning out of nowhere. Or was it just some luck or did she get help from another power I still don’t know about? Guess I’ll just use these stones to plan my next move. Maybe something even more amusing will happen this time.”

◇◇◇

In the realm of darkness, deep within the decaying walls of a dilapidated castle hall, a pitch-black throne sat cold and empty.

“Freya and Homura are gone. How are we going to inform this to Lord Zero? No one knows where he is. Wasn’t he in charge of finding that thing.” a voice muttered, cloaked in darkness.

Another black hooded figure answered with a cold chuckle. “It has been months since I last saw him. But I am more eager to know who was strong enough to take out a god’s contractor. Was it a hero, or someone from the Magic Council, or those haughty high born ancient demons? I guess they could do it if they moved in large groups. Hehe…”

“It wasn’t any of them either.” A third voice suddenly cut through the air, as Sakamoto, stepped forward into the dim light.

“Then who?”

“Hart Kingdom.” Sakamoto replied.

For a moment, the room stood in silence as if no one believed him.

“That’s where I was able to trace back the pillar of light’s location.” Sakamoto confirmed.

“Never heard of that kingdom. Is there someone strong there?” The hooded figure asked out of curiosity.

“It’s a small kingdom in the west. But there is someone there who could be involved with the gods and us reincarnates very closely. Goddess Athena, does that ring a bell.”

At the mention of Athena, a quiet murmur ran through the room.

One of the figures let out a dismissive scoff. “The goddess who wasn’t even worthy to make it on our picklist because she didn’t have enough divine power to match our needs. What kind of god is that?”

“But is she really strong enough to take out Freya’s contractor?” the second figure questioned, clearly intrigued. “Was she hiding her powers till now? And what reason would she have to show them after staying low all this time?”

Two more hooded classmates of Sakamoto got involved in the conversation.

“If not her, then it could be her human contractor.”

“Who was her contractor, anyway?” another asked, his curiosity piqued.

“Wasn’t it that dumb looking girl with very long hairs in our class who everyone picked on?”

“Don’t lump us with the likes of bullies. But here is someone who liked doing that. Am I not right Saki.”

At this, the girl under the hood peeked out, her red blood eyes, long canines visible beneath her lips, and her pale white skin slightly visible under the garb she wore, almost like a vampire.

The mention of Sachi’s name seemed to awaken something darker in Saki. “If it’s really her… I know two people who would love to pick a bone with her anytime.”

“Are you talking about your delinquent friends?” Another hooded girl asked.

“They are no longer my friends and I am not interested in doing anything as long as it’s not an order from Zero.” Saki said sharply.

“This could complicate things.” Sakamoto frowned tugging at his lips. “If a foreign power strong enough comes into play... it’s already been difficult with those nothing good to do heroes and the Magic Council. And two of Zero’s Apostles have already been killed and we don’t know who it was. And now, there’s an additional factor—the White Queen. The one who killed all the pirates and could also be behind the annihilation of the demon army.” At that moment something sparked inside Sakamoto making him stop.

While it was an outspread rumor that the White Queen had killed the pirates in one single spell. He thought the White Queen could also be behind the annihilation of the Demon’s army because they were all killed in a similar manner.

But the close proximity to the Hart Kingdom and so many incidents cropping up at the same time in the same place could not be just a coincidence.

“That’s a fun opponent to fight… and kill her right there.” One of the hooded figures frivolously said.

Sakamoto let out a slow exhale, his face impassive. “This meeting is useless as long as Zero is not here. I don’t want any more nuisances in my plan so I better take care of all of them before they get out of hand.”

Sakamoto’s fury made everyone wary of aggravating him any further, as he was the contractor of Chronos, the god of time and eternity. Even though no one had ever witnessed it, others feared the unknown abilities of Sakamoto, which could even stop time.

“I wonder what our lost classmate has really been doing all this time. Did she only decide to come out now, or has she always been planning to wage war, and killing the class president was some kind of a message? But what was her name? Does anyone remember?” One of the hooded figures just could not let go of the topic.

“What’s the point of even remembering the name of a weakling? Besides you are delusional. We haven’t even confirmed her existence yet. There’s no way someone like her could ever hope to get in our way.”

◇◇◇

Deep beneath the surface of the earth, far beyond the reach of light. It was said that when the continents of humans and demons split apart, a chasm so deep was formed that the gods took the opportunity to seal away the most terrifying monsters with the ability to annihilate all life from the world, within it.

A labyrinth so vast and treacherous that none could find its entrance and even if they did no one was left alive to ever tell about it.

And yet, in the unfathomable depths —on the 98th level of the Tathya Labyrinth —something stirred.

White spiders from being as small as the size of a grain to being as large as giant boulders crawled across the infinite dark expanse. They were no ordinary creatures. Though fragile in appearance, and appearing extremely harmless.

They were the apex predators of their domain, inhabiting one of the lowest 98th floor of the Tathya labyrinth.

Over time, within the infinite plane of the Tathya labyrinth, they had built a giant kingdom of web, waiting patiently for the return of their true ruler.

Once, they had been mere black-shelled monsters, dwelling in shadows, preying upon anything foolish enough to stray into their domain.

But now after meeting their ruler once, they had passed through a new stage of evolution as if gaining an ego to serve their queen.

Their new forms bore white, crustaceous armor, impervious even to the light magic. Their venom had transformed into a malevolent fusion of black miasma, potent enough to even torture the divine.

And today, the silence of the abyss was broken again and their long-awaited moment had arrived.

A tremor spread across the 98th level. The spiders could feel the presence of their queen approaching the entrance.

“The Queen is here.”

The first whisper rippled through the darkness.

“The Queen is here. The Queen is here.”

“The Queen is here. The Queen is here. The Queen is here.”

The chant grew, spreading like wildfire through the labyrinth, a monstrous hymn echoing through the abyss.

The monsters were rejoiced but their carnivorous howls were only understood by the one they called out.

And then, she emerged.

Her long, pure silver hair cascaded down her back like strands of moonlight, each thread shimmering under the glow of the labyrinth’s distant magetite crystals hanging on the walls.

Crimson-red eyes burned with an eerie intensity, their glow deepening the longer one dared to meet their gaze.

Despite her human appearance, to the spider monster, her mere presence exuded an intoxicating aura of reverence.

Hundreds of thousands of spiders bowed before her, their legs folding in perfect unison. As if the moment they had long awaited to serve their sole queen had finally arrived.

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