“Everyone, chaaaaarge!” Shakti bellowed.
Immediately, battle cries erupted as the warriors of the Ganesha familia abandoned their hiding places and surged toward the church.
Adi was the first to reach the door.
With one powerful blow, she brought it crashing down, allowing the others to follow her inside. Standing at the threshold, she announced authoritatively, “This is the city watch. We have surrounded this entire place. Drop your weapons and surrender peacefully!” Yet, her command proved unnecessary; she quickly realized that every person within the church lay incapacitated.
Soft, ragged whispers escaped the lips of the fallen as they murmured, “…Ah…ugh…monster.” Scattered around were humans, dwarves, and beast people—men and women alike—broken and sprawled across cracked tiles, as if crushed by a force beyond measure.
Miraculously, there was no bloodshed, and while they still drew occasional labored breaths, it was clear that their bones had been twisted and contorted in unnatural directions—a mystery of how they clung to a semblance of life.
Amid the chaos, Adi’s mind raced. ‘Merchants and Evilus members are intermixed here. What on earth is happening?’ she wondered.
At that moment, Shakti emerged from a side room, her expression clouded with uncertainty after having scoured the adjoining halls.
“They have all been wiped out,” Shakti muttered under her breath.
“I wonder who is responsible and how they managed to get here before us.”
“Maybe it was the Astraea or Bahamut familia,” Adi suggested. “This place is near their territory.”
“No, that can’t be,” Shakti replied sharply. “They would have at least contacted us. They wouldn’t leave things this chaotic.”
“Let’s keep searching,” sighed Adi.
Despite the shock and confusion that gripped them, the Ganesha familia advanced cautiously into the church’s main hall.
Their uneasy investigation was interrupted by a sudden voice echoing through the spacious hall.
“Why has it become so noisy again?” The tone was one of lament mixed with irritation.
In an instant, the entire familia sprang to high alert.
At first, no one could pinpoint where this gloomy voice originated.
It was only when a heavy cloud obscuring the moon parted that a sliver of silver light seeped through one of the stained glass windows, illuminating a shadowy corner of the hall.
There, the silhouette of a woman clad in a thick robe was gradually revealed.
Her hood was pulled up, concealing her face, but the ash-grey strands of her hair spilled over her shoulders.
With the moonlight filtered through colored glass creating an eerie glow, she bore a striking resemblance to a witch from old tales.
“The distractions never cease! Why can’t everyone just be quiet?” she declared mournfully, as if grieving a long-forgotten sorrow.
The unexpected appearance left everyone dumbfounded.
“Orario hasn’t changed at all,” the mysterious woman continued, her voice carrying a tinge of bitterness.
“It remains as restless as ever. I cannot even sleep in peace. Now I remember why I despise this land.”
The Ganesha familia stood in stunned silence, unsure of how to interpret the sorrowful yet disdainful tone of this enigmatic figure.
Adi’s mind raced with questions: ‘Who is she? An adventurer? Perhaps a member of Evilus? No, she can’t be one of them—why would she attack her own allies?’
Meanwhile, Shakti shuddered with a deep-seated fear. She alone sensed the gravity of the situation.
‘Where did she come from? How long has she been standing there?’ Shakti wondered silently, troubled that until now, she had not noticed even the slightest hint of the stranger’s presence.
Her voice, presence, no, her very being was way too faint.
It was so faint that; if she wasn’t looking at the woman now, she wouldn't believe she existed.
Mustering her courage, Shakti finally broke the silence, “D…did you do this?” Her voice trembled slightly, though she dared not show her fear in front of her familia members.
Being the strongest present, any display of vulnerability might spell disaster.
“Are you perhaps slow?” the mysterious woman replied coolly. “Who else could it have been?”
Maintaining her composure despite the provoking remark, Shakti held her ground.
Just as she was preparing to press for more answers, Adi interjected sharply, “Why?”
Though Shakti felt a sting from her little sister’s blunt interruption, she recognized the usefulness of Adi’s question.
“They were nothing more than an annoyance, that is all,” the woman responded with aloof detachment.
Unsure of this response, Adi pressed further, “W…what do you mean by that?”
“These worthless worms have ravaged the elven forest and desecrated its sacred trees,” the woman explained, her tone laced with condescension.
“To compound my irritation, they even defiled this holy place. So, I took care of them,” she said without sparing even a glance at the fallen Evilus members strewn about, her voice chillingly unemotional.
For reasons she couldn’t quite articulate, Adi felt an inexplicable unease.
“This church… you mean this very place?” she asked for confirmation.
“Indeed, my sister was enamored with this sanctuary,” the woman replied quietly, a hint of melancholy underlying her words.
Suddenly, a faint plea broke through the muted tension—a merchant, having regained consciousness, cried out, “H…help…help us!”
“I ought to kill every last one of them so they may never defile this place with their existence,” the woman declared flatly.
After a moment’s pause, she added, “But to stain this sacred ground with their blood would only worsen my mood, so I will allow you to clean up this mess.” With that, she turned to leave.
Before she could vanish, Shakti could not allow herself the luxury of inaction.
“Sorry, but we can’t simply let you go,” she interjected, her tone firm.
Unsure whether the enigmatic woman was friend or foe, Shakti knew the risk of letting her escape was too great.
“Then catch me if you can, child,” the woman taunted carelessly, her words laced with an unsettling familiarity.
Adi’s mind momentarily registered the subtle implication—the woman was referring to her Onee-chan as ‘child,’ which suggested she might be older or way stronger than Shakti.
“Adi, get back! This isn’t the time for idle thoughts,” Shakti snapped, pulling her sister aside for safety.
Aware of the unpredictable threat posed by this stranger, Shakti also understood that Adi, among all of them, was the least experienced in such confrontations.
“Attention, all troops! Capture her!” Shakti commanded her familia.
Immediately, the charge was on; over twenty warriors, including many level 3 adventurers, surged forward in coordinated pursuit.
“Sigh, so noisy,” the woman muttered in annoyance before uttering a single enigmatic word. With the sound of her command reverberating in the hall, a tremendous wall of noise erupted from her location—like the combined fury of a thunderclap, earthquake, and explosion at once.
Combatants were violently thrown to the ground, their ears buzzing and bodies crashing into wooden beams and stone walls that shattered under the force of the attack.
Amid the ensuing chaos and swirling dust, the mysterious woman disappeared without a trace.
“Ugh, was that magic?” Adi asked, clutching her ears as she struggled to regain her balance. Shakti had taken the full brunt of the destructive force while protecting her sister, so Adi wasn't badly affected, unlike the others.
“Onee-chan" Adi called out in worry, rushing to aid her sister.
Using her spear and sister as support, Shakti managed rising to her feet.
With a grim, sour expression on her face, the weight of new worries now settled upon her shoulders.
Another powerhouse had emerged in Orario, and this time, it was a woman.
If this unknown mage was indeed affiliated with the Evilus forces, then the enemy now boasted at least three confirmed powerful figures on their side.
“What do we do now?” Adi asked, her gaze shifting to her fellow familia members who were still struggling on the ground.
“We need to secure the church,” Shakti declared sharply. “There is no point in chasing after that woman. Our focus must remain on the black market traders.”
Without further hesitation, Adi found a place to settle her sister, then she dashed off to summon healers for the injured members, while some others began the meticulous work of retrieving their targets and tidying up the aftermath.
“All Evilus and black market traders have been accounted for,” reported one vigilant familia member.
“Good work,” Shakti replied, now fully recovered and resolute. “And what about the stolen goods?”
“We have located a few,” a man responded promptly.
“Split up and search the premises thoroughly,” Shakti instructed. “Every hidden corner must be scrutinized.”
“Yes, ma’am!” the man answered, immediately setting off to execute the orders.
Thus, while the unsettling mystery of the enigmatic mage lingered in the tense air of the church, the Ganesha familia pressed on with their investigation, each step underscored by caution and determination in the ominous twilight of Orario.