The Tsugunai, having traveled quite a bit of the world already, having been exiled from Orario for nearly a year now, came across a rather odd situation in a particularly odd village at the edge of a forest. From the height at which the ship floated there was nothing but a sea of trees. Like usual a small group dropped from the Tsugunai's deck to the ground, and entered the village.
The villagers, seeing the impressive ship just floating above the ground, were in an obvious, and understandable state of shock. Though, they weren't the only ones present. A woman came out of the tavern, with several more women following suit, each a mix of different races, each making sure their weapons were ready, to include the one using a hunter's bow.
"Huh, this is a bit different, does this place already have a group of adventurers aiding them?" Finn wondered aloud. "I guess it's a good thing I'm the one who came down as the group lead this time."
"Oh shut it, and let's get this over with. I want my chance to enter that combat ritual." Van said, clicking his tongue in objective frustration.
"We will, just bear with it for now." Finn sighed, internally wishing Van would join the combat ritual on the deck so he could beat him senseless a few times with his own hands. Fixing his posture, and demeanor, he lightly cleared his throat, and spoke. "My name is Finn Demine, I am captain of Loki familia, and one of the two captains of the Tsugunai. We go around offering our services to those in need, pursuing atonement. This is our punishment for crimes against the current, and previous heroes. If there is anything you require, let it be known."
The woman at the head of what looked like a hunting formation, seemed to both relax and tense up at the same time. She was clearly anxious about this, she knew exactly what these people did to deserve the punishment they currently experience. In fact she was one of the young women who met Shurry back when he was just a very little boy, playing games in the School District.
"My name is Rethusa, captain of Artemis familia." She spoke as Artemis walked up to the front. "My goddess has deemed your words to be true, but your true intentions are still a mystery."
"Might I ask why?" Finn asked, struggling to keep his confusion secret.
"How did you know of this place's current problems?" Artemis asked, in a rather blunt fashion, but also a clear hatred for men burned in her eyes.
"We're on a journey for, atonement, or what you would call, tsugunai. I swear this to be the truth. As for finding this village, we saw it off in the distance while we were traveling our plotted course. We do not know what, if any, problems it faced, instead we came to see for ourselves if there was anything we could do." Finn explained, doing his best to be careful with his words, and straightforward at the same time.
"Good then you should dock that ship, and get settled in, you just found the fight of a lifetime." Artemis said, turning her back on Finn, then walked off, stopping at a particular building, clearly the chief's house, looked back to see if they were coming, then entered.
"Hey Finn, Artemis familia is one filled with women, and their goddess hates men with a passion greater than the sun burns hot." One of the few remaining Loki familia members explained. They were one of the members that had been a part of the event a decade ago now, so they had not received the chance to leave Loki's side.
"Then, in the event things get too awkward, I give you permission to speak instead. However, I want to find out what's going on here. I've got a feeling this is something incredibly serious. They wouldn't react to our presence this way unless it was something truly terrible." Finn said, and as they started walking towards the house that Artemis went inside, a villager came up to ask something.
"Are you guys here to help us?"
"Yes."
"Are you strong?"
"Some say we are, others say we aren't. I'm level 6."
"Oh wow, that's super strong!"
The villager ran off to tell everyone, as if it wasn't already a painful experience already, now they had to deal with filling the shoes of the strong, in a world where an honest to goddess hero lived and breathed…
"Here's hoping it won't be too difficult, but hard enough we'll improve more than in that combat ritual."
"Agreed, I'm going to earn my Lady's love!" Van declared.
None of them could know the extent of what was happening right now. As they approached the house, someone heard shouting off in the distance.
"MONSTERS! They're coming out of the forest again!"
Then, Finn's Pallum eyes spotted the figures moving through the trees, picked up a rock, and pelted it as hard as he could, nearly breaking the sound barrier. The rock went straight through the monster, and kept going.
"There's monsters in the forest, prepare emergency defensive formation, blockade function 8."
Shortly after his order came out, a horde of monsters revealed themselves, pouring out of the forest like there was no end to them.
"Scorpion type monsters?"
"Yes, but their crystals are in a different place." Lante, one of the Artemis familia members confirmed.
"Where is it located?"
"Everywhere."
"Everyone, start slicing and dicing these monsters, let's find out if there are any connections to the crystal location with any other visible factors. Do not let a single one of them through to the village."
Finn pulled out a small flare from his pouch, and fired it into the sky. The members still on the Tsugunai easily noticed the flare.
"Stop the combat ritual, heal up, and prepare for combat! We've got monsters."
The red flare could only be deployed by 6 people, and none of them would use it without reason. Once used, all focus regardless of the circumstance, must be reallocated towards the threat at hand. No more lazing around, it was time to end the enemy before they grew too large to deal with it. None of them wanted to call upon Origin Wolf to solve their problems every time. So, with the addition of many level 5s, 6s, and the lone level 7, the monster stampede was completely crushed.