"Finn, I don't think I need to say this, but I'm going to do so anyway… how was that worth a red flare?!" Allen Fromell grumbled with anger, ready to smack Finn with his spear.
"There's more to it than just this. Surely you can sense it, right? There's something off in those woods. And I think Lady Artemis knows what it is."
Ottar remained silent, as if sensing something more was going on without any need for confirmation on it. He also seemed to pick up on why Finn wanted him to come down.
"Finn, you wanted to know about those crystal locations, I could not see anything consistent with them. It's like they were created to be chaotic." He paused to let that sink in.
The weight of those words held a lot more meaning for those who'd fully understood the difference. Even if there was a huge difference in ability, all it took was one really good hit on the monster's crystal, and the fight was over, just like that. However, in the case of these monsters, it was impossible, without any noticeable way to consistently find and hit that crystal, a level 2 monster would take the full attention of a level 2 adventurer, and there'd be no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
"He's right, Braver."
"Please, call me Finn, I no longer deserve the title Braver."
"There is no consistency with these monsters. I've been dealing with them using overwhelming force, but I'm the only one who can. Well, Lady Artemis can pierce their carapace like paper, but… That's sorta her thing."
"If they really do require that kind of treatment, then I'd like to know more about what's going on before making any plans." Finn then noticed that Ottar's hairs were standing on end. "Ottar, are you alright there?"
"Finn, there's something big in that forest." Ottar warned. "I'm going to stand right here, you'd better think of a plan, and quickly."
"I will…"
Finn, Hedin, and a few others left to discuss the matter with Lady Artemis, who was found to be in the company of two other goddesses.
"Whatcha up to Finn, calling that red flare like that?" Loki asked with a drink in her hand.
"There was a wave of monsters, and I needed Ottar's level 7 senses. He can see things I can't, sadly it proved to be fruitless for that moment, but… he did say there was something strong in the forest. So he's staying put just in case."
"I guess it wasn't a total waste then. It's a shame that we have to worry about something else now. I was thinking of having a fun night with Ottar, perhaps ruining the sheets in the process. Now I have to wait."
"Can you stop with that, it's disgusting." Artemis asked with a glare.
All three of these goddesses were completely different, under any other circumstances it could have been turned into a threeway war.
"Oh don't be such a prude about it, men and women are made for each other. Though I suppose there's nothing wrong with a little woman on woman action." Freya smiled, sipping her drink.
"Something we can agree on, what a rare treat." Artemis sighed, then refocused. "Alright, so, first, those monsters…"
"Weren't created by the dungeon, nor were bred through reproduction on the surface, were they? Their makeup is too chaotic for something like that. It's as if they were tossed together out of spare parts." Finn interjected, making sure he was at least partially in control of the situation, a flaw he had yet to part ways with.
The stare he got from Artemis, and how she almost notched an arrow in his direction, all before she relaxed… had Finn nearly pissing himself.
"Yes, that's true, they were created by an ancient monster sealed away long before the Nidhogg and its two counterparts, Behemoth, and Leviathan, escaped the dungeon. His name, Antares. The sacrifices made to seal him away were not small." She answered, then began her explanation, and pointed to a place on the map circled in red. "This is the effective range he can control with his currently projected numbers. I was asked by the village to help with the monsters, but it ended up being far larger of an issue than previously thought."
"That's… the… range?" Finn almost gulped. "Perhaps we should hunt the monsters down right away. With the numbers we have now, it would be possible to cover the whole area. But it's dangerous. If we split up our forces, there's a chance that they could be overwhelmed by a concentrated force."
"That was my original plan, but now that you're here… We're going to force the monsters to concentrate on a single area, then crush them all at once. Surely a former top familia in Orario would have a way to deal with a horde of low level monsters, even if they are murderers."
"We do, have a few ways to pull that off. I just wonder, will that be enough?" Finn said, wondering aloud looking at the map. "If this is their area, then the seal must be somewhere in the middle, what's there, exactly? Knowing what we're dealing with would be helpful."
"A demon."
"A demon? So a false god, like Erebus, or something like that? If that's the case you should have called for Origin Wolf, he's the only one crazy enough to even try it."
"Not a demon god like Erebus, but a demon. Far less of a threat. But still a threat nonetheless. We have to be careful. The scouting we've done so far has revealed that Antares has achieved a power above level 5, but anything more concrete requires better eyes."
"I'll send someone to scout it out, someone who has seen Balor. Hopefully we can use that for reference. Though…" Finn thought, letting his brain work… "If Ottar says it's strong, I'm going to assume it's at least as strong as Balor, or more."
"We should do this quickly. Scout and cull at the same time." Hedin added.
"Why?"
"Because this thing went from a weak monster to something likely level 8, in how long?"
"Probably a year or so."
"Then if we don't want to beg Origin Wolf for help this time, we should finish this before it reaches level 9."
"Good point."