All of Orario was in turmoil after the Guild released an official statent: the Hephaestus Familia had defeated the Ishtar Familia and sent the goddess Ishtar back to Heaven.
As a result, male adventurers glared furiously at any mber of the Hephaestus Familia seen walking around in public.
Even when Freya had crushed the Ishtar Familia in the original tiline, people complained—so it was even worse now with Hephaestus' group.
After all… these adventurers, every last one of them, were nothing but lecherous old perverts.
But the mbers of the Hephaestus Familia weren't bothered in the slightest. As long as those adventurers still wanted to explore the Dungeon, they would have to co knocking eventually.
Their hostility was trivial. The real consequences ca from the Guild.
The Guild strictly regulated conflict between Familias. No matter the dispute, it was only to be settled through a sanctioned war ga. So, the Hephaestus Familia's outright destruction of the Ishtar Familia was a serious violation.
As punishnt, the Guild confiscated all assets that would've counted as war spoils from the Ishtar Familia and imposed a mandatory mission: the Hephaestus Familia was now required to provide the Guild with a large stock of equipnt.
Thankfully, the Guild didn't go overboard. They only demanded third-tier equipnt suitable for beginners, not high-grade goods.
After all, Ishtar had instigated the conflict. And kidnapping a mber of another Familia was a serious offense that warranted severe consequences.
The key point was that Charles submitted the cursed weapon from the Ishtar Familia as evidence of their collusion with the dark factions.
The Guild kept this detail under wraps but transferred part of the Ishtar Familia's assets to the Hephaestus Familia as compensation.
To Charles' surprise, among the Ishtar Familia's archives, he discovered so unusual materials.
Ishtar's confidence in confronting the Freya Familia hadn't just co from her ties to the dark factions or the Ganesha Familia outside of Orario. Her biggest trump cards had been Haruhi and the Killing Stone.
Though Haruhi's "Uchide no Kozuchi" was powerful, without the awakened "Jusshu," she could only elevate one target's level at a ti.
So Ishtar had planned to sacrifice Haruhi's life in a ritual that combined the power of the Killing Stone—which could absorb the abilities of fox people—to enable a mass level ascension.
In this sche, both the rare Killing Stone and Haruhi herself were critical components, but the ritual itself was also essential.
The data Charles had acquired docunted the ritual process in ticulous detail.
In fact, rituals were a third category of power alongside curses and magic.
However, rituals were usually complicated, often requiring rare materials or very specific conditions to perform.
For example, a sacrificial ritual had to be held under a full moon and required rare materials like the Killing Stone.
As a result, practical-minded adventurers never gave rituals much thought.
But for a [Mystery] holder—especially soone as imaginative as Charles—it was a whole different story. And that was how Charles' latest creation ca into being.
What he didn't expect was that completing this artifact imdiately leveled up his [Mystery] ability.
Five days after the fall of the Ishtar Familia, Charles updated his status again and found [Mystery] had reached Grade G.
Now, he faced a new problem: he had no one suitable to test the artifact's abilities.
This was Charles' first ti working with rituals and his first attempt to rge ritual technique into a Developnt Ability.
Even though the rank-up proved it was a success, he couldn't be sure there were no flaws.
Charles tried activating it himself, but perhaps because he was a visitor from another world, it didn't respond.
He sighed. If he'd known this would happen, he might've chosen a different ritual. But this one had inspired him—and it was just so damn cool.
As Charles was pondering all this, a knock ca at the door.
He snapped out of his thoughts and opened it to find Bell, Welf, and Lili standing outside.
Welf raised a hand and said, "Yo! We're here to thank you for what you did."
Charles' eyes lit up when he saw Bell. Without a word, he grabbed Bell's hand and pulled him inside.
"Bell, perfect timing. I need your help with sothing."
Welf and Lili quickly followed. Their eyes fell on the object lying on the table, and Welf imdiately perked up—his blacksmith instincts kicking in.
It was a war banner, with a three-ter-long pole and a flag that hung like a flowing ribbon.
The pole was engraved with ancient-style bas-relief carvings, and the dark red flag bore intricate gold borders. Curiously, the center of the flag was blank—there was no emblem at all.
Welf's eyes sparkled. "Oreichalcum pole, and the flag itself is made from Cadmus dragonhide. That's top-tier material!"
Lili's jaw dropped when she heard that. Both Oreichalcum and dragonhide were materials she wouldn't even dare dream of. The materials alone made the artifact unbelievably valuable. She couldn't even begin to calculate how much it might sell for—her money-loving brain had short-circuited.
"Good eye," Charles praised Welf, then picked up the banner and handed it to Bell. "We can talk later—right now, help test out my latest work."
Bell took the banner and said, "If I can help you, Charles, then I'd be happy to. What do I need to do?"
Charles replied, "Hold the banner with both hands, and pray to it. If it responds to you, it will absorb your mana and activate."
Bell did as instructed, gripping the banner and setting it upright before him.
Though there was no wind inside the workshop, the flag began to flutter on its own. Then, lightning-shaped patterns spread across its surface.
Charles watched eagerly—and then saw countless motes of light gather behind Bell. They coalesced into the figure of a man holding a longsword crackling with electricity.
That man's face bore an uncanny resemblance to Bell, and he wore a set of armor so ornate it looked more decorative than practical.
Charles sighed in awe. "Of course it's him... That's just like Bell!"
The First Hero—Argonaut. Though Charles had never seen him, he had no doubt that the figure was his spirit.
As if stepping out from the river of ti itself, the legendary hero of a thousand years ago had appeared in this era once more.
Naturally, Bell didn't have that kind of power himself. It was the effect of Charles' newest creation: the Spirit Banner.
In this world, adventurers' souls did not vanish or pass on to so afterlife. Instead, they returned to their patron deity's divine realm.
That was the basis for Charles' design, inspired by the summoning rituals used to communicate with the dead.
It reminded him of the famous Servants from the Type-Blood world—and thus, the Spirit Banner was born.
Charles had embedded the summoning ritual into the flag itself. When the user offered a prayer, the flag would summon a spirit linked to them and channel the user's mana into a single, powerful attack.
The Spirit Banner had three modes:
The first used a divine blessing as a catalyst to summon a forr mber of the user's own Familia. Since those souls resided in the sa god's divine realm, the mana cost was lower.
The second mode worked through bloodline. If the user had a blood relative who had belonged to another Familia—and that Familia's god did not object—they could summon that relative's spirit.
Charles had actually hoped Bell might summon his aunt—the silent embodint of talent, "Tranquility." But instead, Bell triggered the third thod and called forth Argonaut.
In ancient tis, there had been no divine blessings. As such, it was unclear whether the spirits of those ancient heroes still existed.
But Charles believed that the legends of those heroes, passed down for a thousand years, must have preserved their souls.
Whether through willpower, shared traits, or even reincarnation—he believed that so mysterious force could still call them forth.
That had just been a theory.
But now Bell had proven it true.
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