Soon the days continued passing by where the guild bulletin board was finally updated, a small folding stand was positioned out front to inform people if they needed more information they would have to go inside the guild. The reason for it, Shurry's level up notice, took up the whole board. And it rocked the whole city, for the rumor was no longer a rumor, there was indeed a brand new Level 8 in the city.
People who'd been running bets about who would level up first, Ottar to level 7, or Shurry level 8, had split opinions. The few hardliners who'd bet on Ottar, the King, were so proud, and confident… Well, they just lost so much money. Those who actually bothered to pay attention bet on Origin Wolf, and they just won a moderate sum of cash.
Oddly enough, there were some members of Evilus who'd bet on Ottar to level up first. And thus they'd actually managed to lose a huge portion of their group's funding…
With rumors now confirmed, gods all over the city scrambled their familias, and gave orders not to cause the Hathor familia even the slightest of grievances. The fear that a level 8 put in the people was nothing short of immense. It almost made Hathor wonder what it would be like if his actual complete status came out.
As the days continued passing by, Shurry spent time with Ardee, going out on dates, doubling as patrols. Until the days when Ardee's belly had swollen to the point it was more than a little noticeable. But due to her extreme fitness, she still had all the same energy she normally did, most of the time, and when she didn't Shurry would give her a massage. They were close as could be.
A few months after his level up, he got handed a summons to Ouranos' prayer chamber. Ardee went with him to see what was going, and to be the supportive heroine wife she always wanted to be.
…
"Thanks for coming, Origin Wolf." Ouranos, powerful, yet low, measured yet worried voice carried through the chamber.
"I can't ignore a summons like this, no matter how much I want to right now."
"I need you to go back down there and thin the herd a bit more again."
"Floor 68?"
"No, further."
"So it's that type… I- I- don't know, I want to be with Ardee through this whole process."
"I regret that I must ask you to do it regardless. You are the only one strong enough to handle this task. At the rate it's growing now, you'll have a harder time stopping its growth if you wait any longer."
"You're certain of this?"
"Indeed. You may yet still be unaware as to how powerful that monster is, but it's enough to end everything."
"In short, if I don't go, there won't be a world left to live in with my family is what you're saying."
"Precisely… Fels, give him the orb, so we may summon him back to the surface in the event we need to."
Fels handed Shurry a small magical item. "With this, at the expense of a small amount of Mind, you can contact us here, or we can do the same in the reverse."
Shurry, taking the orb, inspected it, and put it away. "I don't need to say what'll happen if something goes wrong, right?"
"No, I've heard your declaration several times now. From my perspective, I think you're being too unfair to them. However, on the other hand, what happened was horribly unfair to that bright young man. I'd bet Hades is currently acting as a caretaker so the fallen who shared the same goal will see the end result."
"They're watching me…" a smile took over Shurry's lips, and a tear fell. "Big brother, I'm sorry, I wasn't fast enough. But big sister is safe and living with your son. I hope this gives you some comfort, at least more than it gives me." Ardee gripped Shurry's hand tighter, to let him know she's there.
"Don't worry about me, I'm strong now too. And our little bundle of joy on the way is the child of their father, so I'm sure they're strong too. Say, you want daddy to go fight off the big scary monsters?" Ardee then gently moved her belly in an effort to make the baby speak. "Yes, daddy's the strongest! He'll beat up all the monsters! And then come back and give mommy bunches of kisses!"
"Pfft, alright Ardee, I'll go but I'm leaving the strongest wolf currently in my pack with you, and I'll have Ganesha make me a promise too…"
The pair of young lovers left the chamber to go make arrangements. And Ouranos let out a small sigh.
"Ouranos, is this wise? Evilus is likely going to see this as their opportunity to attack."
"If they attack while he's away, then that's also our best chance to apprehend them all. I'm nearly at my limit as it is right now…"
"My apologies, I have yet to locate the gods using their arcanum."
"It's not so much that I can't suppress it, but I definitely need a little relief."
"That's why you're sending Shurry down there?"
"Exactly."
…
Leaving Ardee with the Ganesha familia, Ganesha, and Shurry had a long stare in which they both did no poses, spoke no words, and yet both had an entire conversation with each other. Then he left, and a shiver went down Ganesha's spine.
"What was that about, Lord Ganesha?"
"Oh, hmm, he was just very serious about how important it was to keep her safe." I hope there's nothing else to it, please let that tingle be a false alarm.
Shurry spoke with Hathor, Bokhoir, and Nernatti. He let them all know what he had to do.
"Can you take some of us?"
"No. The floor I have to go will require me to go all out. I won't have time to babysit while there, like I did on the 67th floor. As I'll be busy fighting for my life. Though, it should be considerably easier this time around."
"Be safe my darling son."
"Yeah, and don't worry too much about up here. Even if a couple level 7s appeared to fight against us, we can handle it. It would still be hard, but there's enough to deal with them for now. A damn shame that weakling hasn't managed to pull it off yet."
"He will someday. Anyway, I'll see you later, this might take me about a month or two…" Shurry said, leaving through the front door, and made a b-line straight for the dungeon.
…
"AHAHAHAHA! He actually went into the dungeon! I knew this plan would work! FANTASTIC! It's a beautiful symphony! Now we just wait a few days, and then slowly ramp up our attacks, stop and then… Kekeke, a glorious battle, good vs evil, who will win in this tug of war?" Erebus laughed…
And sure enough… About five days later, Evilus started up their activity again.
…