"Thanatos."
Just as Ishtar turned to leave, a man entered through the doorway and quietly called the God of Death's name.
He carried a hammer in his right hand and a pickaxe in his left, while his clothing made him look unmistakably like a craftsman.
Unlike the neat, rigid image usually associated with traditional craftsmen, however, the man's hair was an absolute mess, clearly untouched for a very long time. His bangs hung over one eye, while the remaining crimson eye staring at Thanatos was dull and lifeless.
Thanatos had once remarked that the man looked almost identical to the people he had seen just before they stepped into death.
Had Loki been present, she would immediately have recognized him from Njord's description.
This was the same man who had once made a deal with the sea god and secretly transported Violas into the port town of Melen.
"Barca-boy? You actually have time to come here today?"
Thanatos opened his eyes slightly wider in surprise.
"Not going to keep building your ancestor's labyrinth?"
Seeing Barca Perdix standing in the middle of the hall was genuinely unusual.
Unlike most members of Evilus, Barca was not technically one of them at all.
Thanatos, being a god, understood that perfectly.
Barca only associated with a notorious organization like Evilus because they provided the resources and environment necessary for him to accomplish his own objective.
In other words, he did not particularly care what Evilus wanted to do.
As long as they did not interfere with his work, nothing else mattered.
That was why he had appeared in this hall only a handful of times over the years.
Even Ishtar, who had already been preparing to leave, stopped and turned around to look at him with curiosity.
That alone showed just how rare Barca's presence here was.
Ignoring the way Ishtar and Thanatos stared at him like some unusual specimen, Barca wore an expression that suggested speaking itself was troublesome.
"Someone broke in."
After saying that, he slowly walked toward a pedestal in the hall.
The pedestal resembled a tree and was wrapped in layer after layer of vines, almost as though the structure had merged with the surrounding plants.
Click.
Barca pressed the red jewel embedded in the pedestal.
The jewel immediately erupted with brilliant crimson light.
Under that glow, something carved deep within his hidden left eye became visible.
A single simple symbol.
D.
As though the mark had been recognized, the pale membrane of water floating above the pedestal changed color several times before eventually forming a moving image.
The gloomy scenery and walls made of Adamantite revealed that the image came from a room much like the hall they currently occupied.
More precisely, the scene displayed on the membrane was one section of the very labyrinth surrounding them.
"Loki Familia?"
Thanatos narrowed his eyes and carefully studied the two figures on the screen.
Both wore black cloaks with their faces hidden beneath deep hoods.
"No... Loki's kids are still guarding the Dungeon to stop monsters from pouring out, aren't they? And they wouldn't normally dress like this."
Ishtar stared at the membrane.
"If they managed to find this place, that means they already know we exist."
Killing intent seeped naturally into her next words.
"Should we kill them?"
They were at a critical stage of her plan.
Ishtar had no intention of allowing anything that might interfere with it to survive.
To completely crush Freya, she was willing to violate any taboo.
Even godslaying was acceptable.
Unfortunately, none of her own children were present, so all she could do was make the suggestion to Thanatos.
"Hold on."
Thanatos turned toward Barca.
"Barca-boy, without a key or someone guiding them, how did they even get inside?"
"...They damaged our work."
Barca's voice became noticeably darker than usual.
"The door was destroyed."
"The door was destroyed?!"
Thanatos's entire face twisted.
"We spent a fortune making that thing out of Orichalcum! You're telling me they destroyed it?!"
His voice rose sharply until he was practically shrieking.
Orichalcum was an essential material for smiths attempting to forge weapons with the Durandal attribute.
Orario's blacksmiths called it the hardest refined metal in existence.
Its strength surpassed even Adamantite, the ultra-hard metal currently obtainable from the Dungeon.
Orichalcum was said to have originated in the age before the gods descended, when mortal smiths had yet to receive Development Abilities such as [Blacksmith].
Humanity had poured all its knowledge and effort into producing it.
Calling Orichalcum the crystallization of ancient craftsmen's wisdom would not have been an exaggeration.
There was another defining characteristic, however.
It was absurdly expensive.
Even a small piece of Orichalcum was worth enough to purchase several second-class weapons suitable for Level 4 adventurers.
Ais herself was practically obsessed with fighting monsters, yet when [Desperate] was forged, only a piece of Orichalcum roughly half the size of a fist had been incorporated into the blade.
Even that had completely drained the savings she had accumulated over several years.
Its value was obvious.
The massive gate Evilus had installed here had been cast almost entirely from Orichalcum.
Constructing that one door alone had cost them several tens of billions of Valis.
No wonder Thanatos looked ready to collapse upon hearing that it had been destroyed.
Barca lazily glanced at him.
Then the image on the watery membrane changed rapidly before stopping on a stone corridor.
"Isn't that the entrance from the sewer?"
Thanatos immediately recognized the location.
Precisely because he recognized it, his expression became even stranger.
There was something deeply unnatural about the scene.
At the boundary between the stone corridor and the Adamantite walls was a peculiar protrusion.
That was where the Orichalcum gate had originally stood.
But now...
There was no gate.
The so-called hardest refined metal had vanished as though erased from the world itself, leaving behind nothing but an empty doorway exposed to the cold air.
"..."
Thanatos remained silent for a long while.
Then he looked at the two cloaked intruders steadily approaching their hall through the labyrinth and finally made his decision.
"I'm going to meet them."
"At the very least, I need to find out where all that Orichalcum went."
He turned toward Barca.
"Barca-boy, I may need your help afterward."
"Mm..."
Barca gave a low, gloomy response.
"Looks like damaging the labyrinth actually made Barca-boy angry."
Thanatos then waved toward the robed figures constantly entering and leaving the hall.
One immediately stepped forward and stood behind him.
At the same time...
"I'll come too."
Ishtar's alluring voice sounded beside his ear.
Thanatos turned back toward her.
The moment he saw the bewitching smile on the goddess's face, he immediately understood what she was thinking.
A mysterious grin appeared on his own lips.
The two gods left the hall together, leaving Barca alone before the watery membrane, staring blankly at the labyrinth displayed upon it.
…