Chapter 132: Exposing the Truth Behind the Ikelos Familia! The Black Glove of the God Ouranos!
The moment Shirou projected a sky full of swords, he instantly annihilated all the members of the Ikelos Familia present at the scene.
At the same time, he deliberately spared one member alive in order to interrogate the location of the Ikelos Familia's base.
Last time, he had nearly died at the hands of the Ikelos Familia's captain, Dix.
No matter what, he had to take revenge for that near-death experience.
And after seeing the abilities Shirou used, the surviving member of the Ikelos Familia was completely terrified.
Because he had recognized that the man in front of him was the infamous "Sword Demon"—a name known throughout the entire Dungeon, a fearsome existence who made everyone tremble at the mention of him.
Because of that, he dared not hide anything and revealed all the information he knew about the Ikelos Familia.
"So that's how it is... The Ikelos Familia's main base is located in the artificial labyrinth in the 18th floor..."
After obtaining the intel, Shirou didn't hesitate further and killed the poacher with a single sword strike.
To Shirou, there was no real difference between Xenos and humans, so in his eyes, poachers were on the same level as human traffickers.
In today's Orario, there were no institutions left to carry out proper justice. Even if someone was a criminal, it was difficult to eliminate them through official means.
Therefore, Shirou could only deliver justice through vigilante means.
Killing might not count as true justice, but it was undoubtedly the fastest way to achieve it.
Shirou had no hesitation in that regard.
Meanwhile, after Shirou had finished everything, Ranye and the other Xenos could only stare at him dumbfounded, unable to believe what had just happened.
"Did you... really do all that just now?"
The spider-girl Ranye looked at Shirou in a daze, as if only now realizing how powerful the man in front of her truly was, feeling deeply shaken by it.
Shirou didn't explain much, only spoke calmly: "More or less. Rather than focusing on me, you should hurry and take that injured Xenos back for treatment."
"Ah, right—okay!"
Ranye and the other Xenos froze for a moment, then all nodded.
It was clear they had been completely overwhelmed by Shirou's strength. The initial barrier they felt toward him for being human had quietly disappeared.
Ranye and the others quickly began treating the bird-girl in their hands, then carried her as they headed toward a safer area.
Along the way, Ranye removed her helmet.
As her human-like beauty was revealed, she couldn't help but glance at Shirou and ask, "Why are you helping us?"
"Do you need a reason to help others?"
Shirou responded with a question of his own.
His overly straightforward attitude left Ranye speechless for a moment.
"But we're not humans," Ranye said hesitantly, "To humans like you, we're no different from monsters!"
"If I saw you as monsters, I wouldn't have stepped in earlier," Shirou replied calmly. "Regardless of how others see it, at least in my eyes, there's no difference between Xenos and humans."
"..."
Upon hearing Shirou's words, which were spoken as if they were only natural, a blush appeared on Ranye's face.
But she stubbornly turned her head away, seemingly unwilling to show any embarrassment to a human.
As they moved, Shirou was deep in thought, pondering the information he had just gathered about the Ikelos Familia.
Now that he knew their base of operations, what he needed to do most was rush there and wipe out all the poachers, including Dix.
At the very least, he couldn't allow the Xenos to suffer senseless harm any longer.
However, deep inside, Shirou still held a trace of hesitation.
The source of his hesitation was the Ikelos Familia's deity—Ikelos.
As a dark god on the same level as Thanatos, aside from the dangerous divine powers Ikelos might possess, Shirou feared even more that he could be connected to the celestial god Ouranos.
Previously, when Shirou was attacked by the Hermes Familia, he had simultaneously been restricted by two divine powers, nearly dying in the process.
If Ikelos was also a pawn of Ouranos, then news of his survival would likely reach Ouranos himself.
If something similar happened again, and he were to be surrounded by numerous gods using their divine powers, even Shirou might not survive it.
"I must only make contact with the Ikelos Familia when I'm absolutely sure it's safe..."
Shirou pondered various plans in his mind.
But as the saying goes, plans can never keep up with change.
While Shirou was thinking about how to deal with the Ikelos Familia, he never expected them to come to him first.
When Shirou and Ranye returned to the Xenos' safe zone, they found the place had already become a fierce battleground.
Numerous adventurers from the Ikelos Familia had launched a surprise attack, assaulting the Xenos' settlement and clashing with them in a chaotic fight.
And leading the charge was none other than the captain of the Ikelos Familia—Dix.
"So they actually came knocking on their own?"
Faced with such a sudden development, Shirou paused for a moment, then couldn't help but smile.
All his previous worries vanished completely with Dix's unexpected arrival.
On the other side, Dix and the Ikelos Familia were completely unaware of the situation they had walked into.
They charged excitedly into the Xenos' settlement, capturing every Xenos in sight and letting out wild laughter.
"We finally got them all! This time's a huge win!"
"Seriously... These guys were even more troublesome than the ones before."
"Well, this is a monster nest, after all. A bunch of dangerous freaks. But that just makes them all the more valuable, haha!"
The members of the Ikelos Familia reveled in the joy of their victory.
Captain Dix gripped his spear, stepping on several Xenos beneath his feet.
Dix, relying on the cursed power inherited from the Daedalus bloodline, could freely manipulate monsters and influence their minds.
Because of that, even though there were many strong beings among the Xenos at the base—like the Level 5 siren girl, Rey—they were still completely defeated by Dix and his subordinates.
Now, the Xenos at the stronghold had suffered heavy casualties. Many were already dead.
Rey was barely hanging on to life, utterly powerless to resist the Ikelos Familia's attack.
"You few, don't just stand there! Hurry up and cage these monsters. Their comrades could show up at any time, so stay alert."
Dix knew what they took down was just one of the Xenos' many bases.
There were still other bases, and even stronger Xenos out there.
Even though he could control monster minds, he had no intention of fighting all the Xenos at once. His plan was to divide and conquer.
Thinking this, Dix lifted his spear and ordered everyone to throw the captured Xenos into cages for transport.
Facing such an act, Rey showed a look of despair, unable to resist.
Just then, spider-girl Ranye rushed in with a team, launching an attack on the poachers led by Dix!
"There's still survivors?"
Seeing this, Dix sneered.
He raised his twisted, deep-red spear and pointed it at Ranye.
"Fall into madness!"
"What!?"
Ranye couldn't understand what Dix was doing at first, but in the next second, she felt her consciousness suddenly no longer belonged to herself. Her thoughts nearly shut down.
Even though she barely maintained her sense of self, her combat ability dropped drastically.
Only then did Ranye realize why Rey and the others at the base had been so easily defeated by the poachers—it was all because of this strange power!
"Heh... I hate the curse passed down through my bloodline, but the power it gives is quite useful."
Dix laughed as he walked toward Ranye.
"With just one command, monsters fall into madness. With just a surge of magic, they become mine to control. This is power befitting a god!"
Faced with Dix's mocking words, Ranye found herself falling into despair.
She could clearly feel the terrifying power of Dix — a power that could drive monsters into madness. It was simply the natural enemy of all Xenos.
As long as they were facing Dix, it would be extremely difficult for the Xenos to defeat him.
On the other side, Dix stared at the beautiful spider girl, her face twisted in pain and rage. He planned to take her down directly and end the chaos. But just then, a man's figure entered his vision.
"You... you're—"
"Long time no see, Dix."
Shirou gazed at the leader of the Ikelos Familia with an expression as cold and sharp as a blade. Dix's frivolous attitude vanished in an instant. He stared at the man in front of him with a terrifying look and shouted loudly: "You're actually still alive, Emiya Shirou!"
"Well, I was lucky enough to escape from Enyo's hands."
Shirou spoke calmly with Dix. Although his tone was flat, as if making casual conversation, the pressure he exuded caused Dix's expression to contort with fear.
Dix vividly remembered the scene where the man before him, while burning with fever, nearly wiped out his entire Familia.
Thus, Dix immediately called upon his subordinates to surround Shirou, attempting to use a human wave tactic to overwhelm him.
"I don't care if you're human or a demon — don't even think about leaving here! This time, there won't be Enyo's dogs to stop me!"
As he shouted, Dix decisively swung his long spear. Facing Dix's icy attitude, Shirou responded with a smile:
"That's my line — today, you're not escaping, Dix."
As the words fell, Shirou decisively raised his right hand.
"Trace On!" "Phoebus Catastrophe: "Complaint Message on the Arrow"!"
Shirou's projection was fast and decisive. After witnessing the vile acts of the Ikelos Familia, he had no more mercy for these poachers. He would eliminate them all with the sharpest methods.
As the projection completed, a special bow appeared in Shirou's hand. The bow was entirely pitch black and lacked any visible arrows.
However, as Shirou pulled back the bowstring, invisible light began to gather — light like a flicker in the darkness, like a meteor in the night sky.
The more he drew the string, the brighter the light became, until it mirrored the brightness of a full moon, shining down from the heavens.
"Answer my prayer, Artemis!"
The " Phoebus Catastrophe: "Complaint Message on the Arrow" " was a Noble Phantasm born from the very concept of drawing and releasing a bow.
Its prototype was the celestial bow given to the Heroic Spirit Atalanta by the goddess Artemis. As such, firing an arrow in prayer to the Moon Goddess Artemis would cause a rain of light arrows to fall from the sky like a storm, delivering wide-area devastation upon the enemy.
Shirou had heard that Orario also had a moon goddess named Artemis. However, he never believed that the Noble Phantasm he projected had any actual connection to that goddess.
But what he did not expect was that, the moment he activated this Noble Phantasm, a vision suddenly appeared before him — a blue-haired woman.
However, the woman with blue hair was not in a normal state; she seemed to be encased within the crystalized belly of some kind of monster.
"What is this...?"
Shirou thought it was just an illusion.
But then, the blue-haired girl sleeping inside the crystal suddenly opened her eyes, as if she had sensed Shirou's prayer and was responding to it.
"..."
Clear words came from her mouth — words so real that Shirou could not doubt them.
And in the instant her voice rang out, the vision before him vanished completely.
"???" What the hell was that? Could that blue-haired girl be the moon goddess Artemis? But if she's a goddess, why would she be inside the belly of a monster?
What kind of monster was that?
A flood of thoughts raced through Shirou's mind.
But by the time he snapped back to reality, the activated Phoebus Catastrophe had already begun its attack. It transformed into a downpour of arrows that swept across the entire Ikelos Familia.
"Pah!" "Pah!" "Pah!"
Arrows of death rained indiscriminately down upon every member of the Ikelos Familia.
However, under Shirou's precise control, not a single Xenos was harmed. Almost all of the damage was exclusively inflicted on the poachers.
"Don't... don't joke with me!"
By the time Dix came to his senses, he realized he was the only one still standing. But even he had been struck by multiple arrows and was now on the brink of death. He no longer had the will to fight Shirou — only a desperate desire to flee this hell.
But Dix's wish would not come true.
Shirou casually projected a long sword and pinned him to the ground with it.
Seeing Shirou's method of attack, Dix immediately realized who he was. In disbelief, he murmured:
"So it's really you... You're the Sword Demon!"
"You guessed right. So now, you can die."
Shirou could not allow anyone who knew his identity to survive — especially not someone as dangerous as Dix.
"Heh... So that's how it is. I see now..."
Dix seemed to come to a realization.
"In the end, I was still just a pawn. I broke free of my bloodline's control, only to fall under the thumb of a more powerful figure. Pathetic... and disgusting. I brought this on myself!"
"A powerful figure's control?" Shirou looked at Dix and questioned, "Who's behind you?"
"Who's behind me? Heh... you'll never guess it, Emiya Shirou. You couldn't possibly imagine what kind of person it is."
"It's Ouranos, isn't it?"
"What?!"
Shirou's words caused Dix's face to change drastically. His reaction confirmed that Shirou's guess had hit the mark.
Shirou quietly continued:
"To manage the Xenos and keep their existence hidden, it's not enough to just control them from within.
There must also be external pressure to keep them from contacting humans.
The Ikelos Familia's role is to provide that external oppression, making the Xenos afraid to approach humanity."
"You bastard... How do you know this?!"
"Because I investigated Orario's monster transport logs.
Although your Familia claims to hunt and sell Xenos outside the city, I couldn't find any traces of Xenos ever appearing in markets beyond Orario.
And if you were truly selling them, why is there no information or demand outside the city? Why does no one even know what Xenos are?"
Shirou stared at the stunned Dix.
"That makes the answer simple. The ones you're 'selling' the Xenos to aren't external nobles — but someone inside Orario.
Someone with the power to erase all traces, someone capable of hiding everything about the transactions.
And in the entire Dungeon city, there's only one being capable of that — the heavenly god, Ouranos."
"In short, the Ikelos Familia are Ouranos's secret 'black glove,' the scythe he uses to harvest Xenos. The Xenos in the Dungeon were all cultivated by Ouranos for some secret purpose.
But since it would be improper for him to reap them personally, he employed you to do it — using illicit means to hunt and deliver the Xenos to him.
If Ouranos is the farmer raising the Xenos, your Ikelos Familia is the estate manager.
You're not engaging in monster trade — you're just supplying Ouranos.
And that's exactly why he's been covering for you, allowing you to operate so freely in the Dungeon without ever facing suppression like other dark factions have from the order-aligned ones."
Shirou, in a calm voice, laid bare his entire theory about the Ikelos Familia.
And from Dix's horrified expression, it was clear that not a single word was wrong.
Shirou had completely revealed the hidden truth — the secret collusion between the Ikelos Familia and the heavenly god Ouranos.
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