Creak!
The wooden door was gently pushed open.
The room was pitch black, devoid of any light despite it being nighttime.
Eiji peeked inside.
The golden-haired elf girl was curled up on the bed in a defensive posture that screamed insecurity.
Her eyes were vacant, her delicate face looked haggard from a day without care, her hair was disheveled, and her clothes were tangled from her fetal position.
"Lefiya, please say something! At least eat something!"
Her roommate pleaded with a voice on the verge of tears.
But Lefiya remained motionless, as if completely deaf to her words, like a lifeless puppet.
Eiji closed the door again.
"She's been like that since returning last night," Tiona said, her pained gaze piercing through the door.
"No matter who comes or what they say, it's useless. Ais, Riveria, Alicia—they've all tried, but Lefiya shows no signs of snapping out of it."
The Dionysus Familia had been wiped out before her eyes.
Filvis had died tragically in front of her.
And she had been powerless to do anything, dragged away by Riveria like a mere ornament, forced to watch as Filvis's corpse was devoured by the green flesh until nothing remained.
This had dealt Lefiya an unimaginable blow, pushing her spirit to the brink of collapse.
In simple terms, she had shut down.
"Eiji, why don't you try talking to her?" Tiona suggested.
"No. If Ais couldn't get through to her, neither can I," Eiji shook his head, dismissing the idea.
But then his tone shifted.
"However, I have another way to wake her up. But we'll need to wait a few days—until everything is fully investigated."
That's right. Once the truth came to light, Lefiya's condition would naturally improve.
But that was only if the truth aligned with Eiji's expectations.
Right now, everything hinged on one crucial question:
Who was Enyo?
"That's a relief!" Tiona brightened immediately.
"By the way, Eiji, how about switching tasks tomorrow? You've been running around all day—it must be exhausting. Why not join me in the library to research the evil dragon murals? Tione can handle Loki's escort duty!"
A date!
Tiona cheered inwardly.
"About that... I have somewhere else to be tomorrow," Eiji replied, as if reminded of something.
"Let Ais take over Loki's escort duty. I have other matters to attend to."
"Seriously?" Tiona's shoulders slumped in disappointment.
...
The second day after the raid.
Eiji arrived before an imposing structure in the southern part of the city.
"Wow, this place is as big as Twilight Manor!"
He clicked his tongue in admiration and knocked on the door.
"Mr. Eiji? What brings you here?"
The one who answered was a rabbit-eared man.
His face lit up upon seeing Eiji, but then his expression shifted inexplicably to nervousness. At the same time, his hands, hidden behind his back, frantically signaled to his Familia companions.
"I have something to ask you. Aren't you going to invite me in? After all, I did help you win such a grand building!"
Eiji said with a smile.
This was the base of the Hestia Familia, formerly the stronghold of the sun god Apollo. After the Familia War ended, this magnificent mansion had been seized by the Hestia Familia.
"Uh... please come in."
Bell's expression was somewhat unnatural.
With Eiji putting it that way, he couldn't very well refuse.
After all, their victory back then had been largely due to Eiji's behind-the-scenes assistance.
Bell led Eiji into the Familia's main hall, glancing around nervously as if sitting on pins and needles.
"You seem tense?"
"No, no, not at all!"
Bell waved his hands repeatedly, stammering before hastily changing the subject.
"Ah! Mr. Eiji, you mentioned having something to ask me. What is it?"
"Oh, it's about the Evil Dragon and the six individuals..."
Eiji didn't pay much attention to Bell's nervousness.
After all, when he sat down in front of someone, it was hard for that person not to feel tense.
He pulled out a sheet of white paper with a drawing of the mural's contents.
"Uh... forgive me for saying so, but this is a bit... abstract."
Bell took a look and gave an awkward smile.
"...Oh, I didn't draw this."
Eiji fell silent for a moment, then expressionlessly crumpled the paper into a ball.
He seemed to be putting quite a bit of force into it.
Bell wanted to say, "If you didn't draw it, isn't crumpling it up a bit much?" But he suddenly sensed a dangerous aura and wisely decided to keep his mouth shut.
Eiji proceeded to describe the mural's contents verbally.
Though words alone weren't the most vivid, Bell was the protagonist after all—surely he'd be useful in this situation?
"Ah! Are you talking about the story of the Evil Dragon Nidhogg and the six Great Spirits?"
Bell immediately perked up.
Eiji's gaze sharpened—coming to the protagonist at a time like this was definitely the right move!
"Tell me everything!"
"Sure!"
Bell was full of enthusiasm, his excitement palpable.
He seemed to love storytelling.
According to Bell, this was a tale he'd heard from his grandfather as a child.
In ancient times, thousands of years before Leviathan, Behemoth, and the One Eyed Black Dragon emerged from the Dungeon, a terrifying Evil Dragon had ravaged the land.
That dragon's name was—Nidhogg.
It was the first monster to emerge from the Dungeon onto the surface. The ancient humans were powerless against it, forced to endure the calamities it brought. People of that era lived in utter misery.
At this point, one might expect a great hero to rise from despair and slay the Evil Dragon.
But in reality, there was no such hero.
In that ancient era millennia ago, the gods had yet to descend, and even spirits didn't exist. There was simply no way to oppose the Evil Dragon.
Then, the six Great Spirits appeared.
Moved by the suffering of the lower world, a few compassionate gods convened and dispatched six Great Spirits to the surface—the very first spirits in existence.
These six Great Spirits, following divine command, descended to the lower world. Each wielded power over a different element, and together, they formed an enormous magic circle.
That magic circle was called—the Spirit Hexagram.
"And then?"
Eiji listened intently and couldn't help but press for more details.
"There was no 'after that'."
Bell shook his head, his expression full of regret.
"The evil dragon was gone, the six great spirits were gone, the surrounding lands, mountains, and lakes—all of it vanished in a colossal pillar of light that reached the heavens."
After that, the gods realized that spirits could aid the people of the earth, and so they sent spirits down to assist humanity. Thus, the legends of the spirits began to spread across the land.