Amidst all the chaos in the city, one particular building remained notably undamaged, even though no adventurers were guarding it.
It was known as the Hostess of Fertility, a small tavern located along the main east street. "Unruly customers, get lost," a voice bellowed from within.
"Gaaaaah!" was all those causing trouble managed to utter before dying.
The owner, a well built dwarf woman named Mia Grand, flattened the intruders with a single punch.
"Hmmmf!" she snorted at their audacity.
"What a reckless lot, running about as if they owned the place," she muttered.
Looking around, she saw that almost every corner outside her bar was ablaze, littered with bodies, rubble, and much more.
Behind her, the tavern remained relatively unscathed, while her small staff hurried to keep the fires from spreading to the establishment.
The tavern sheltered more than a dozen people who were unable to reach the evacuation points. They were all exhausted—both physically and mentally—with their bodies covered in soot.
The only thing sustaining their will was the presence of the strong adventurer Mia—although she had retired.
As a former adventurer, Mia could instinctively sense that something big was going to happen soon, and she realized that she might need to temporarily abandon the tavern.
"We're sitting ducks out here," she murmured.
Taking one last look at her tavern, Mia made up her mind.
'If any of the evilus mess up my tavern, they will pay dearly for it,' she thought.
Then, she quickly gathered everyone and headed toward the closest evacuation point.
.......
'Hahaha, what rotten luck I have in life,' a little girl mused internally.
Life had always seemed to follow a cursed path for her.
She had no parents, no friends, and no guardians.
The only person looking out for her was herself, and wherever she went, people always took advantage of her.
At that very moment, her misfortune felt clearer than ever—the chasm between those upon whom fortune smiled and her was stark.
Those blessed by fortune would stumble upon powerful adventurers or find individuals foolish enough to stand up for the weak in times of war.
That was all it took for a nobody to change their fate in these troubled times, but what about her? Why wasn't fortune smiling upon her? Countless times she had cursed her fate, her short life filled with disappointment, but with no one to rely on, she could only fend for herself.
She refused to succumb as others had, allowing the darkness to consume their weak hearts.
Howelse would one explain the fire's and death? They had let the evil darkness prey upon their frailties, but she did not want to be like them; she was not weak.
She would not heed the words of the evil gods, for she could make decisions for herself.
Besides, she had no desire to meet anyone in the afterlife—her parents were not good people; what benefit would there be in reuniting with them?
"Dieeeeee," a loud voice interrupted her musings.
"Ah…" was all that escaped her lips.
She was sure that no one would find her hiding in the gutters, but now the tip of a blood-soaked blade was inching closer to claim her life.
The only thought that crossed her mind in that moment was, 'How unlucky.'
"Gaaaaah!" was the sound she heard, the pain of death seemingly delayed.
A figure had suddenly appeared, moving so quickly that the pallum girl struggled to comprehend what had just occurred.
All she could hear was the bickering between two Chienthrope's, and then she realized that she had been saved.
"Are you okay, kid?" one of the Chienthrope's asked, stretching a hand out to her while ignoring the other.
He had wild, red hair that cascaded like a fiery mane, and in his free hand he held a grotesque-looking maul adorned with spikes, causing her to hesitate before taking his hand.
Although the boy who had just saved her appeared kind, she could not help but harbor other thoughts.
She had been deceived by such expressions and gestures so many times that it was hard to believe her luck would suddenly change.
"What's wrong? Are you perhaps hurt somewhere?" the Chienthrope asked, reaching into the gutter and pulling her out.
She wanted to resist, but the menacing glare from the other Chienthrope, who had silver hair, frightened her, so she clung tightly to her savior.
"Oi, you bastard, are you ignoring me?" the silver-haired Chienthrope complained.
"I am; what about it?" the red-haired one retorted.
"You really are pissing me off," the silver-haired one growled.
"Calm down, Bete, and you too, Nikolaos, please stop egging him on," came a third voice.
"Tsk, making us work with such an annoying guy," Bete clicked his tongue in annoyance as he kicked away the head of a fallen evilus.
"Anyway, what should we do with the kid, Selenia? One of us has to escort her back," Nikolaos asked.
He, who had initially been acting solo, was suddenly paired with Bete and Selenia—the captain and vice captain of the Vidar Familia.
For some reason, Draco had told him to stick around Bete and Selenia, who were the only two members of their familia.
Selenia was rather chill, while Bete constantly tested his patience.
"Let Selenia take the kid back," Bete suggested, oddly amicable in tone.
Nikolaos had expected Bete to recommend him, as he was essentially an outsider to their familia. 'He likely wants to send Selenia somewhere safe. Should I be happy that he is a good guy or sad that he is using me?' Nikolaos wondered.
"Alright, let's go with that," Selenia agreed, taking the pallum girl from Nikolaos.
"Are you okay? Can you stand?" Selenia asked the pallum girl, who still seemed dazed.
The girl nodded, her mind still reeling from the rapid sequence of events.
"What's your name? You look like a supporter… are you with a familia?" Selenia inquired.
"My name is Liliruca Arde, and I am from the Soma Familia," the girl softly responded.
"Lili huh, what a pretty name" Selenia muttered, causing Lili to blush.
She had hardly ever gotten compliments in her short life.
Selenia smiled upon hearing this and gently pulled Lili along toward the evacuation point.
Along the way, Lili asked various questions, eager to know more about her saviors.
Although she never planned to be ungrateful, she vowed to pay them back one day in the future. They were the first ones to break the unending chain of misfortune that had plagued her life, and perhaps now good fortune would finally bless her.
.......
"Wait! I am not an enemy; I am with the Vidar Familia! My name is Selenia, and I am bringing these civilians to safety," Selenia declared upon reaching the barricade at Central Park.
After verifying that she wasn't lying and receiving the go-ahead from upper command, the barricades opened, allowing Selenia and the civilians she escorted to enter.
After saving Lili, Selenia encountered several other civilians along the way and brought them with her to Central Park.
Little did she know that she had inadvertently led some evilus spies disguised as civilians into the camp.
By now, the area around Babel was teeming with suspicious individuals, and one evilus spy couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.
The primary objective of these spies was to assassinate Freya; the secondary was to create unrest. Initially, the secondary objective had been to sneak bombs into the camp, but with Draco's meticulous searches, that wasn't possible, so the next best plan was to create unrest to distract the adventurers.
Of course, without the help of their god, they stood little chance of harming their divine foe, but they could still inflict some damage using ordinary weapons.
However, Finn and Draco were not idle; plans had already been made to counter these sneaky foes, and a cleansing was well underway.