In one of the deepest corners of Knossos, far from the elegant and precise construction areas, lay a sector whose stench always made anyone nauseous. The air there was stuffy, smelling of rust, sweat, and dried monster blood.
It was the operational barracks of the Ikelos Familia.
As the faction holding a monopoly over the black market, smuggling, and the dirty work of Evilus that required no elegance, their headquarters looked more like a bandit's lair than the sanctuary of a Familia. Wooden crates filled with illegal weapons and smuggled monster materials were scattered in the hallway. Several rough-faced members of the Ikelos Familia appeared busy cleaning their daggers or counting blood-stained Valis coins in the corners of the room.
In the center room of the barracks, sat Dix Perdix.
The man leaned back in a large iron chair, propping his boot-clad feet up on a wooden table. Dix wore thick goggles that always covered his eyes—an attempt to hide the curse of the letter "D" engraved on his pupils. A condescending smile was clearly printed on his rough face as he twirled a black-and-red spear in his hand.
"Level Three..." muttered Dix, his voice filled with arrogance. He looked at the veins on his own arms, feeling the dense new power flowing beneath his skin. "It took a long time for that crazy god to update my Falna, but it doesn't feel bad. This power... it makes me want to find some lowly prey just to break their legs."
Right as Dix was smirking, thinking of ways to test his new strength, the bronze door of the barracks opened with a heavy creak.
Measured footsteps filled with cold arrogance echoed, halting the activities of the Ikelos Familia smugglers who were dealing with their stolen goods.
Dix took his feet off the table. His goggles reflected the torchlight as he saw the cloaked figure stepping in. His previously relaxed jaw now hardened, but a second later, a wide mocking smile graced his face once more.
"Well, well. Look who came down from his stone throne," sneered Dix, spreading his arms in a theatrical manner. "Our grand architect. The pride of the Daedalus bloodline. How unusual for the ace pawn of the Thanatos Familia to set foot in my dirty place, Brother?"
Barca Perdix stood in the middle of the room, his cloak remaining free of dust thanks to his very careful steps. The thin man with dark bags under his eyes stared at Dix with an expression as cold as ice. Hearing the word 'Brother' come out of the mouth of the barbarian before him made Barca's stomach churn slightly.
"Don't call me that," hissed Barca sharply. "The blood flowing in our bodies might be the same, but the contents of your head are nothing more than mud."
The relationship between the two Daedalus descendants was indeed very poor. Barca was the architect who lived for the perfection of the labyrinth, while Dix was a cunning hunter who relished chaos and cowardly acts. Barca hated his younger brother's barbaric nature, and Dix was sick of his older brother's sanctimonious attitude.
However, in this harsh underground world, pragmatism always defeated personal hatred. Barca knew exactly that for low-level dirty work, there were no better bloodhounds than the Ikelos Familia.
"Still as stiff as ever," Dix laughed hoarsely, spinning his spear and stabbing it into the wooden table. "So? What brings you here? Do you need new forced laborers to clear the labyrinth rock rubble that fell on your waterways due to that massive explosion down there? Or did you finally realize that staring at walls is boring and want to join me in finding smuggled prey?"
Barca had absolutely no intention of entertaining the cheap small talk. He walked closer, ignoring the hostile stares of the several Ikelos Familia members around him.
"I didn't come here because I wanted to see your face," said Barca, his tone of voice flat. "This is a request from Enyo. Valetta is busy fixing the mess and the personnel shortage, so your gang will execute this little mission."
The name "Enyo" made Dix's smirk subside slightly. In the Evilus underground network, that masked mastermind was a shadow existence who never descended directly, but his authority and plans always brought absolute destruction.
"What mission?" asked Dix, leaning his body forward.
"Surveillance and kidnapping," Barca pulled out a sheet of deciphered code paper, then threw it onto the table, right next to Dix's spear. "The target is the Barbatos Familia. More specifically, a new member of theirs. A rookie girl named Sylphie."
Dix took the paper and read it briefly. His eyebrows knitted behind his goggles. A second later, he laughed uproariously until his shoulders shook. The hoarse laugh echoed, bouncing off the stone walls.
"Barbatos Familia?! A new member?!" Dix snorted loudly, throwing the paper back onto the table. "Barca, you must be joking! I just leveled up to Level Three! I am a mid-tier adventurer now. And you come here... telling the Ikelos Familia... to kidnap a Level One rookie brat?! Do you take me for an amateur child kidnapper?!"
"That is why I hate you. You can never see the big picture," cut Barca coldly, looking straight at his brother. "Enyo doesn't care about the target's Level. The Barbatos Familia is a new Familia sheltered by Alfia, the former Hera Familia executive. Enyo wants to know what that small familia is really hiding. That rookie girl named Sylphie is the perfect bait to provoke their reaction and extract information."
Hearing Alfia's name, Dix's shoulders instantly flinched. His guts as a coward reacted immediately. The reputation of Alfia the Silence as a combat monster from the Hera Familia was enough to make anyone sane in Evilus think twice before looking for trouble with her.
Barca, noticing the change in his brother's body language, immediately took advantage of the situation. He knew exactly how to manipulate Dix's ego.
"Of course, Enyo knows exactly who is suited for this mission," continued Barca, poisoning his brother's mind with logic. "You are cunning, Dix. You don't like throwing your life away fighting fair against top-tier adventurers. Hunting down and mentally breaking weak prey is your absolute specialty. Besides... didn't you just reach Level Three? Don't you need a live target to test your new strength without high risk?"
Dix's eyes narrowed behind his goggles. Barca's words pierced right to the weak point of his ego.
Torturing. Intimidating. Dominating adventurers far weaker than him until they cried in despair. That was the twisted satisfaction Dix liked best. The image of intercepting a rookie girl in a dark corner of the Dungeon, showing her how terrifying the difference between Level Three and Level One was, suddenly sparked his enthusiasm.
"A test of strength, eh?" Dix licked his dry lips. His sadistic smile slowly bloomed again. "Kidnapping a rookie from a new Familia. Crushing their hopes when they realize the Dungeon isn't a hero's playground. Yeah... that sounds entertaining enough to celebrate my level up."
Barca nodded slowly inwardly. His brother was indeed very predictable.
"However, there is one absolute condition," Barca's tone of voice turned into a stern warning, ensuring every word was planted in Dix's brain. "You may only move when the girl is separated from her guard."
Dix swallowed softly. "You mean..."
"Conduct your ambush in the Dungeon only when Alfia is not accompanying her," asserted Barca. His gaze pierced through his brother's goggles. "Use your smuggler instincts. Wait until the girl named Sylphie goes exploring alone to the Upper Floors. If you are careless and provoke Alfia's wrath... let alone hiding underground, that former Hera executive will level the entire area with her magic until nothing is left."
The warning sounded very real. Not a single Evilus member dared to face a former Hera executive directly.
However, instead of backing down, the warning actually made the smirk on Dix's face even sharper. The sense of danger added a spice of excitement to his plan. Stealing prey right from behind her monster guardian's back. That was the true pride of a street scoundrel.
"Relax, Barca. You know I'm not a fool who likes crashing into steel walls," chuckled Dix, pulling his spear from the table and shouldering it. "I will wait behind the shadows of the Upper Floors. When that little rookie steps into the Dungeon without the supervision of that former Hera Familia, I will snatch her without causing the slightest commotion."
Dix stepped closer to Barca, his arrogant smile on full display.
"I will bring her to my lair. Torture her slowly until she spills all the secrets of the Barbatos Familia," whispered Dix, his voice filled with cruel intent. "I will bring that information to you, wrapped in the wails of a rookie's despair."
Barca looked at his brother one last time before turning his back on the man.
"Just make sure she can still talk when you question her," replied Barca flatly, stepping back toward the bronze door of the barracks. "And do not disappoint Enyo."
The bronze door closed, leaving Dix Perdix and the rest of the Ikelos Familia members inside the stuffy room.
As soon as his brother left, Dix turned to look at his subordinates who were now slowly rising and stopping their work. There was no more trace of laziness in the air. There were only the pure instincts of a pack of street predators who had just found a very soft target.
"Did you hear what the Architect said?!" shouted Dix, his voice booming commanding the barracks. "We have a new toy! The Barbatos Familia! A rookie girl named Sylphie!"
The rough-looking smugglers grinned broadly, feeling for their respective weapons. Hunting weak Level One adventurers was always fun entertainment for them.
"Send a few men to the surface, but listen carefully!" ordered Dix quickly, his tone turning into an absolute threat. "None of you are to dare set foot near that old church in the Mid-Western Sector! If that former Hera executive catches wind of your murderous intent near her nest, we all die. Just watch the entrances to the Tower of Babel and its main square!"
"Yes, Captain!" replied one of his scar-faced deputies. "How many men should I bring into the Dungeon later?"
Dix smirked, rubbing his rough chin. "Bring a full squad. I don't want any witnesses. Once the girl passes the Upper Floors alone, ambush her in a blind spot. If there are other rookie adventurers with her, slit their throats on the spot. Leave only the girl Sylphie alive for me."
That night, at the bottom of the gloomy Knossos, the most cowardly kidnapping plan began to be rolled out.
For Dix Perdix, this mission was free entertainment. He didn't have to risk his life against elite adventurers. He only needed to oppress a fragile Level One rookie. The image of Sylphie's terrified face when surrounded by a squad of killers in a dark Dungeon corridor made him grin broadly.
The shadow hunter had chosen his prey.
However, within the arrogance of the Level Three he had just acquired, Dix Perdix was completely unaware of one highly crucial fact.
Up there on the surface, the "Level One rookie girl" he intended to make his torture prey was not an ordinary human. Sylphie was an elemental existence that transcended the logic of the gods' artificial Falna.
Dix was not setting a trap for a lost rabbit. Unbeknownst to him, the Ikelos Familia had just pointed the tip of their spears right into the heart of a typhoon that would tear them apart without mercy.
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